7 Extraordinary Historical Fiction Books to Read Now!

May 10 2021

Your current read just not doing it for you? Let us suggest these seven spellbinding historical must-reads that will captivate even the most restless mind! With vivid settings and richly realized atmospheres, every title here has the mesmerizing ability to transport you to another place and time, from Revolutionary-era New York to 1940s London. And while each of these titles promises to give you a panoramic view of the past, each are told with the precision and intimacy of personal experience.

The Boston Girl
by Anita Diamant

Bestselling author Anita Diamant’s THE BOSTON GIRL recounts the life of the vivacious and compassionate Addie Baum. Addie, born to a Jewish immigrant family in a Boston tenement building in 1900, has big dreams. Captivated by American celebrity culture and the broadening opportunities for women, Addie is determined to leave her parents and two sisters behind to go to college and find true love. A vivid and moving portrait of one woman’s coming of age, Addie’s story offers a glimpse into an entire generation of oft-forgotten women.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo
The Tumbling Turner Sisters
by Juliette Fay

When their father loses his job, the four Turner sisters—Gert, Winnie, Kit, and Nell—find themselves unable to make rent. Their mother encourages the girls to work in vaudeville, a burgeoning opportunity for daring women in 1919. Soon the girls find themselves in the eccentric company of a diverse group of performers as the show travels by train from city to city. And, while the daring life offers each girl her fair share of excitement, the seedier side of the business threatens to tear them apart.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo Libro.fm logo
In the Shadow of the Banyan
by Vaddey Ratner

Seven-year-old Raami’s world is forever altered when her hometown Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, is overwhelmed by civil war. In the midst of the Khmer Rouge’s unimaginable atrocities and disciplinary conformity, Raami finds hope in the legends and poems her father once lovingly shared with her. In this powerful coming-of-age story, one girl grows ever more determined to fight for her own survival and the survival of the stories that inspire her, despite the cruelty and oppression that surrounds and threatens to destroy her.

Amazon logo Barnes & Noble logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo
Mrs. Poe
by Lynn Cullen

In this mesmerizing reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s infamous affair with poetess Frances Sargent Osgood, Frances and Edgar’s paths cross in the wake of his incredible success with “The Raven.” Stunned by his magnetic presence, Frances finds herself swept away by their passionate affair. But soon Edgar’s sickly wife, Virginia, insists on befriending Frances and the strangeness of the relationship that ensues can only be beat by one of Poe’s own twisted tales. Darkly captivating, MRS. POE is a macabre romance set in the shadowy corners of 1845 New York City.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo
Everyone Brave Is Forgiven
by Chris Cleave

A bestseller inspired by the real love letters of Chris Cleave’s grandparents, EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN follows three London residents during the onset of war from 1939 to 1942. Mary North, a finishing school dropout, is eager to be a spy for the War Office but is assigned instead to work as a teacher. Tom Shaw, who wanted to ignore the war’s presence altogether, finds himself dedicated to helping Mary. And Alistair Heath, Tom’s roommate, enlists to fight on the frontlines and captures Mary’s heart in this dazzling story of passion, heroism, and tragedy.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo
The Traitor's Wife
by Allison Pataki

Behind the infamous Revolutionary War general and traitor Benedict Arnold, there was his young and beautiful socialite wife, Peggy Shippen, the mastermind of the whole affair. Peggy, who has long harbored loyalties to the British, seduces and marries the famous war veteran Arnold. Economically and physically crippled from his service in the war, Arnold is growing increasingly disillusioned with his hero George Washington, leaving Peggy and her ex-lover, John André, the perfect opportunity to guide him into a plot that will change all of their lives.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo
Jackie's Girl
by Kathy McKeon

In this intimate portrait into one woman’s coming of age alongside one of America’s biggest leading ladies, Jackie Kennedy, Kathy McKeon reflects on her life as the personal assistant and nanny to the Kennedy family. Kathy, who arrived in America from Ireland in 1964 at age nineteen, was soon hired as a personal assistant to Jackie, who she came to know not only as her employer but as a big sister figure. In this memoir, Kathy shares her perspective on the inner life of Jackie, her children, and her extended family during one of the most tumultuous times in American history.

Amazon logo Audible logo Barnes & Noble logo Books a Million logo Google Play logo iBooks logo Bookshop logo Libro.fm logo

Photo credit: iStock / artisteer