Historical Fiction

The Antidote

By Karen Russell

The gorgeous language and fantastical premises Karen Russell (Orange World and Other Stories, Swamplandia!) employs are always animated by deep feeling and big ideas. The Antidote (only her second novel!), shares that depth and heft: It opens with the April 1935 “Black Sunday” dust storm enveloping the tiny town of Uz, Nebraska. Uz is home to a prairie witch, known as the Antidote, who possesses the ability to store memories that her neighbors would rather not retain themselves. But when the darkness and terror passes, the Antidote discovers that it has blown away all the memories she’d kept for the townspeople along with their topsoil. Russell unspools a story of holding on to community through hardship that’s also an investigation of what has been omitted from American memory, and how we could reclaim it.

The gorgeous language and fantastical premises Karen Russell (Orange World and Other Stories, Swamplandia!) employs are always animated by deep feeling and big ideas. The Antidote (only her second novel!), shares that depth and heft: It opens with the April 1935 “Black Sunday” dust…

Atmosphere: a Love Story

By Taylor Jenkins Reid

Fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid and all things space and astronomy will find themselves united in anticipation of the bestselling author’s upcoming release, Atmosphere: A Love Story. The Daisy Jones & The Six, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising author’s latest complex protagonist is one of the first women to train with NASA in the 1980s. Of course, with space travel, the stakes are incredibly high, and the close bonds she forms with her fellow candidates will be tested to the max in this suspenseful romantic drama.

Fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid and all things space and astronomy will find themselves united in anticipation of the bestselling author’s upcoming release, Atmosphere: A Love Story. The Daisy Jones & The Six, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising author’s latest complex…

The Paris Express

By Emma Donoghue

The author of Room also writes some seriously good historical fiction, like 2023’s Learned by Heart, which fictionalized the youth of Anne Lister. The Paris Express, set later in the 19th century, follows a large cast of characters, each with their own reasons for taking a train to Paris—one of whom is an anarchist with a plan to derail the fated trip.

The author of Room also writes some seriously good historical fiction, like 2023’s Learned by Heart, which fictionalized the youth of Anne Lister. The Paris Express, set later in the 19th century, follows a large cast of characters, each with their own reasons for taking…

Babylonia

By Costanza Casati

Costanza Casati’s captivating and historically insightful second novel, inspired by a real Assyrian queen, is a resonant page turner.

Costanza Casati’s captivating and historically insightful second novel, inspired by a real Assyrian queen, is a resonant page turner.

Another Man in the Street

By Caryl Phillips

Caryl Phillips (The Lost Child) once again explores the impact of the strictures of colonial rule in the Caribbean in the absorbing Another Man in the Street.

Caryl Phillips (The Lost Child) once again explores the impact of the strictures of colonial rule in the Caribbean in the absorbing Another Man in the Street.

The Stolen Queen

By Fiona Davis

What do the 1978 Met Gala and a 1936 Egyptian archeological dig have in common? According to the latest historical novel from Fiona Davis, the answer might be an ancient curse.

What do the 1978 Met Gala and a 1936 Egyptian archeological dig have in common? According to the latest historical novel from Fiona Davis, the answer might be an ancient curse.

The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf

By Isa Arsén

Isa Arsén delightfully details the dramatics of the 1950s theater sphere in The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf, which follows the lavender marriage between two Shakespearean players.

Isa Arsén delightfully details the dramatics of the 1950s theater sphere in The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf, which follows the lavender marriage between two Shakespearean players.

The Life of Herod the Great

By Deborah G. Plant, By Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston’s familiarity with the political and spiritual workings of the Roman Empire makes The Life of Herod the Great a thought-provoking read, particularly in her depiction of Herod’s visits to Cleopatra, Marc Antony and Caesar.

Zora Neale Hurston’s familiarity with the political and spiritual workings of the Roman Empire makes The Life of Herod the Great a thought-provoking read, particularly in her depiction of Herod’s visits to Cleopatra, Marc Antony and Caesar.

Confessions

By Catherine Airey

Catherine Airey excavates the intertwining stories of three generations of Irish American women in Confessions, a firecracker of a debut novel that never gives up any slack.

Catherine Airey excavates the intertwining stories of three generations of Irish American women in Confessions, a firecracker of a debut novel that never gives up any slack.

Homeseeking

By Karissa Chen

Karissa Chen’s Homeseeking is both a love story and a family story, capturing the ever-present yearning for “people, people who shared the same ghosts as you, of folks long gone, places long disappeared.”

Karissa Chen’s Homeseeking is both a love story and a family story, capturing the ever-present yearning for “people, people who shared the same ghosts as you, of folks long gone, places long disappeared.”

Time of the Child

By Niall Williams

Niall Williams demonstrates his genius for making you laugh out loud while breaking your heart at the same time in Time of the Child, his follow-up to This Is Happiness.

Niall Williams demonstrates his genius for making you laugh out loud while breaking your heart at the same time in Time of the Child, his follow-up to This Is Happiness.

The Bishop’s Villa

By Sacha Naspini, Translated by Clarissa Botsford

Sacha Naspini’s The Bishop’s Villa is a gut-wrenching story of survival set in Grosseto, a Catholic diocese in Tuscany which was rented out by its bishop as a prison camp during the Holocaust.

Sacha Naspini’s The Bishop’s Villa is a gut-wrenching story of survival set in Grosseto, a Catholic diocese in Tuscany which was rented out by its bishop as a prison camp during the Holocaust.

Shy Creatures

By Clare Chambers

Clare Chambers’ historical novel Shy Creatures is tenderly told, with just the right balance of melancholy and hope to keep the pages turning.

Clare Chambers’ historical novel Shy Creatures is tenderly told, with just the right balance of melancholy and hope to keep the pages turning.

Sign Up

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.

Sign up now

Trending Features

All Features