Historical fiction

Arguably, historical fiction is my favourite genre. These are the books I feel most at home with. Stories set in the past never fail to fascinate me. So, I’ve compiled this list to index all of my reviews in this category. I’m not sure whether I’ll put every single historical novel in this list, or just the best ones. But know if they have four or five stars, they are well worth reading. There are many debates as to what makes a book “historical” so I’ve gone with the industry definition of anything set 20+ years ago. I’ve also included books where the main storyline is set in the past.

In WWI, two Senegalese soldiers are fighting for the French in the trenches.

In the early 20th Century, a Black girl is born into poverty in the rural south U.S.A.

Starting in 1750, a Ugandan family is cursed throughout the generations.

A mixed-race actress in Victorian London must save her missing friend.

Starting with his mother’s death, it follows Henry VIII from a young boy and the idealism of his early reign through to becoming old and embittered

In Malaysia during WWII, Cecily is a bored housewife seduced by a Japanese spy.

Strasbourg, 1519. Several women begin manically dancing in the town square.

Nigeria, 1939. Obi joins the British Army to impress his childhood love, but is shipped to Burma.

In the Salpêtrière Asylum in Paris, 1885 a ball allows the bourgeois to mix with women cast out of society.

A young Black boy is sent to a harsh reformatory school for boys in the 1960’s.

Set in 1492, an ordinary Muslim family must survive the Christian conquest of Arabic Spain.

Book 1 of an in-depth trilogy about the life of Eleanor of Aquitane.

On Christmas Eve in 1617, a storm ravaged the Norwegian Island of Vardø. Most men drowned while fishing at sea, leaving a community of women behind.

In 17th century Amsterdam, a young woman has just married a wealthy merchant.

In 1561, a woman secretly attempts to stage her own plays by paying an actor, William Shakespeare, to front her work.

1936. Two Black sisters, a writer and a dancer, navigate London’s Jazz Age.

Set during the Wars of the Roses, Cecily’s son ascends the English throne.

In 1958, three women in post-war Britain tackle troublesome partners

In 1920’s Brazil, a woman must choose between her head and heart.

In 1158, Marie de France is a royal bastard thrust from court and sent to an abbey by Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Gothic horror set in 1850 about the great niece of Victor Frankenstein.

Starting in China, 1938, a young mother and her son flee the Japanese invasion. Their journey spans generations and continents.

In the 1500’s, Lucrezia Medici is forced to marry the Duke of Ferrara for a politics.

Based on the real Mirabel sisters, revolutionaries who fought against Dominican Republic’s dictator Trujillo

A maid becomes guard to Emperor Hailie Selassie during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935.

A maid is sentenced to death in 1800’s Iceland.

Book 2 of an in-depth trilogy about the life of Eleanor of Aquitane.

1914, a young Englishwoman dreams of becoming an archaeologist, but as World War One breaks out, she goes to India as a nurse.

A multi-generational novel that spans 100 years of a Ugandan-Indian family.

Two children are banished to the same attic almost 100 years apart. In 1907, twelve-year-old Celestine is taken from the Congo to England. In 1993, a traumatised young woman digs up the truth about her childhood home.

Set in Vienna in 1913, four women are connected by the artist Egon Schiele.

In 1969, two sisters leave their rural village to work as bar girls in Saigon.

In the late 1800’s, Lutheran immigrants from Prussia colonize Australia.

A novel about Joan of Arc set in medieval France.

In Victorian England, Eliza gets entangled with a former slave during a big court case.

1850’s Virginia. When a jailor notices Pheby, a sheltered light-skinned girl, she must become his “yellow wife”.

Belfast, 1914. An impoverished professor sets out to prove that there’s no such thing as spirits.

Singapore, 1942. A young girl is stolen by Japanese troops and forced to a brothel.

During the Wars of the Roses, Cecily marries Richard of York – de facto heir to the English throne.

Set in 1596, it tells the fictionalized story of Shakespeare’s wife Agnes and the death of their son, Hamnet.

In WWII Hetty, an assistant director of London’s Natural History Museum, is tasked with evacuating the mammal collection to a country house.

Book 3 of an in-depth trilogy about the life of Eleanor of Aquitane.

A book conservation expert is tasked with restoring the Sarajevo Haggadah. She uncovers its history, from Spain during the 1492 expulsion of the Jews to 17th century Venice, to near destruction by the Nazi’s in Austria.

1934, Texas. During the Dust Bowl era of the Great Depression, a woman fights to move her family west to California.