We read historical fiction to travel through time and space. Generally speaking, historical fiction is any story that is set in a time period in the past. It is no longer considered as bodice-rippers rife with anachronisms or depressingly dull textbooks dressed up in barely discernible plots. Historical fiction is now gaining the respect of readers and critics alike, regularly appearing on bestseller lists and on shortlists for major literary awards around the world. Whether or not you consider yourself a fan of historical fiction, you’ve heard the names Hilary Mantel, Eleanor Catton, Anthony Doerr and Kristin Hannah repeatedly over recent years.

What is Historical Fiction?

“HISTORICAL FICTION IS A LITERARY GENRE IN WHICH THE PLOT TAKES PLACE IN A SETTING LOCATED IN THE PAST.”

A historical fiction definition seems simple enough: it’s fiction that takes place in the past. Typically, historical fiction books are written about 30–50 years after the event has taken place. The read historical events and the time period of the book play as crucial of a role in the story as any character or plot twist. In addition, historical fiction is usually considered more realistic in nature. Though some of the Genre-bending books have added a bit of fantasy or magical realism flavour to enhance our understanding of the past.

Adding all historical fiction books into one manageable list is quite impossible, truly. This list, I believe, will give you the broadest view of our world’s shared past. Let us know in the comments below if we missed your favorite historical fiction book.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Time Period and Setting: 1920s, Russia

Publication Year: 2019

Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is sentenced to house arrest, except his ‘house’ arrest is confinement to the luxurious hotel Metropol. Should he leave the Metropol, he will be shot immediately. You get a view of his life by looking from the outside in. You see him living, working, entertaining, and growing over many years of his life in the hotel. His friendships with the staff at the hotel, his interactions with Anna, Nina, Sophia, and others are just wonderful. You hear of the many changes that occur in Russia over a long period of time. And you come to see that Count Rostov, is the luckiest man in all of Russia.

Count Rostov is a true gentleman. He has exquisite taste, loves literature, and has the most excellent manners. And he expects the same from others (well, manners at least). Having read Towles first book, I felt that he was really striving for this sense of elegance. But he just did not achieve it. Perhaps it was due to his character. In this book, he found that particular character and did achieve an elegant novel.

As in his first book as well, you can see his love of literature that is often discussed in this book. You get detailed descriptions of not only classic literature, but history, food, politics, and more. Oh the wonderful descriptions of the food will leave you salivating.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Time Period and Setting: 1960s-1970s, U.S.

First Publication: 2018

Deeply moving and poignant, Where The Crawdads Sings is a coming of age tale like no other. Abandoned by her family as a small child, and shunned by society, Kya, the so-called ‘Marsh Girl’ grows up on her own on the fringes of society. With few friends, she gets by with the company of the marsh and sea birds that surround her home.

One day Kya chances across Tate, a friend of her long lost brother, who takes her under his wing and teaches her to read, opening up a whole new world for her. Years later another young man from the town, Chase, is found dead at the bottom of an old fire tower, and suspicion immediately falls on ‘The Marsh Girl’.

A touching tale, Delia Owens tells a emotional story of an outcast, who the townspeople rally against because she is ‘different’. This is a book to savor as Kya grows up amongst nature, surviving in her own way. The setting in the marsh comes alive as we befriend the birds, fish, and hunt for shells and mussels with Kya. She is a tragic figure, but has an amazing inner strength about her. A truly memorable character.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Time Period and Setting: 1500s, England

First Publication: 2009

Wolf Hall provides an immersive experience into the 16th century court of Henry VIII. The plot involves the rise of Thomas Cromwell from humble beginnings to one of the most influential people in the realm. His character is articulated extremely vividly – ambitious, intelligent, flawed, at times ruthless. Other deeply drawn characters include Cardinal Wolsey and Sir Thomas More.

This historical fiction novel elevates Thomas Cromwell, adviser to Henry VIII, from villain-hood (as portrayed in “A Man For All Seasons”) to sympathetic character. It also pulls Thomas Moore’s reputation down from its saintly perch. Moore in this story is a sniveling sanctimonious character running his own inquisition searching for heretics (utilizing torture and burning at the stake). Cromwell on the other hand is portrayed as the consummate administrator, accountant and politician astute at reading people. He is portrayed as a family man hardened by his personal losses and with skeptical regard for the merits of religion.

In this historical fiction, Hilary Mantel imagines and interprets her characters but remains true to historic events. No wild inventions are needed to provide the intrigue, romance, power plays, and betrayals characteristic of the period. The people are portrayed in a manner that feels authentic.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Time Period and Setting: France and Germany during WWII

First Publication: 2014

All the Light We Cannot See has two main storylines–about a French girl and a German boy–that intersect during the bombing of Saint-Malo on the French coast in 1944. Marie Laure is a blind French girl who leaves Paris with her father during the Nazi occupation to stay with her great uncle in Saint-Malo. Her devoted father has taught her to be self-reliant by building model cities of miniature buildings so she could learn her way around Paris, and later Saint-Malo. Marie Laure uses her sense of touch to become proficient at identifying sea creatures, and loves to read the nautical adventure stories of Jules Verne in her Braille books.

Werner is a precocious German orphan who is very skillful at fixing radios. Although he dreams of becoming an engineer, the boys in his village are destined to work in the coal mines. After he repairs the radio of a Nazi, he receives a recommendation to the National Political Institute of Education at Schulpforta. The light blond, blue-eyed boy fits the Aryan profile, and he’s soon on his way to becoming a soldier. The chapters about the school are exceptionally chilling where the students often have to choose between their own survival and their personal moral code. Werner often has his sister’s voice in his mind, reminding him what is ethically right, but he knows he will be crushed if he displays any weakness. Werner is assigned to a unit that works to detect the radio signals of Allied citizens, including the French Resistance in Saint-Malo.

The presence or absence of sensory perceptions is at the heart of the story with Marie Laure coping with blindness, Werner involved in listening to radio communication, and the citizens of both countries feeling cold and hungry. In this historical fiction book, Anthony Doerr puts his lyrical gifts to work in beautiful sensual descriptions. Marie Laure and Werner were sympathetic and courageous, two bright lights set against the background of a brutal war.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Time Period and Setting: Late 1800s, U.S.

Publication Year: 1987

Beloved is a devastating portrayal of the horrific tragedy of slavery in the aftermath of the civil war. Sethe escaped from slavery but her freedom has brought her little joy. The house is haunted by her dead daughter (a fact we learn almost immediately). The novel is compelling while almost unremittingly painful–Morrison does not soften the impact of slavery and the ongoing racism that continues.

The pain and suffering of slavery can, as we discover, haunt people in many heartbreaking ways, even ones who haven’t directly experienced it. Morrison is brave enough to ask, not if we can let go of that pain (because that is impossible), but how we will give that pain a place in our life.

The female relationships – between Sethe and her daughters, between Sethe and Baby Suggs, and even between Sethe and the village women – give so much depth and color to the story, and yet I don’t want us to forget the brave, loyal men we meet.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Time Period and Setting: 1930s, Germany

Publication Year: 2005

This book is set during WWII Germany and tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Her younger brother has died and her mother has been “taken away.” She has been taken in by a German couple who are scraping out a meager existence.

Liesel learns to read with the help of her accordion playing foster father. She develops a love of books and cannot help stealing them when the opportunity presents itself. She forms a closed relationship with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. Liesel also forms another close friendship with a boy who has hair the color of lemons, Rudy Steiner. Two people who will have an impact on her life. “The Book Thief” is narrated by Death. It’s an unlikely narrator, but a very appropriate one for a book set during the Holocaust.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Time Period and Setting: 1800s, Colombia

Publication Year: 1967

One Hundred Years of Solitude is the historical fiction story of the rise and fall of the town Macondo, founded by José Arcadio Buendía, through a span of 100 years. It starts telling the story of that said man and his family – the complications that surge, the relationships between them and other people, etc – and continues with his heirs, but the story itself is about the town. It tells the tender truths and lies of a family from the life of each member by blood and marriage, the passage of time told by the relationships of members who scarcely realize the depth to which their daily actions resonate back to generations before. Habits and quirks are passed on between family, noted only by the eldest family members, their every action and observation poetic.

No one writes magical realism how this author does. There were many mentions of magic, prophecies and aspects not common on real life, however, the story never leaves its reality. It’s just a fusion of fantasy and realism, with the latter one predominating.

The fantastic elements never once distract from characters as flawed and real human beings, a boy followed by yellow butterflies, a girl so beautiful she transcends to heaven, the cryptic documents left by a gypsy older than the town itself who appears as a ghost to the Buendia family. Marquez depicts the realities of a family that is constantly reborn in the form of a solitary air, clairvoyant eyes, the craft of small toy animals, or a passion for making things to unmake them in such a way that is flowing, cyclical, and yet always unique.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Time Period and Setting: 1800s, Nigeria

First Publication: 1958

Things Fall Apart is a fascinating historical fiction book that describes an African society both before and after the coming of Western European Imperialism. The first part of the book describes daily life in an area of Nigeria during the 19th Century. During this part, the novel focuses on Okonkwo, an ambitious and driven man who hopes to become a powerful person in his clan. Okonkwo is outwardly strong, but inwardly he is consumed by fear. The fear that he will become like his father: lazy, weak, and unable to support his wives and children. This fear causes him to consciously become everything his father is not. He is an angry and violent man, whose actions are often self destructive.

The characterization of Okonkwo and the overall characterization of the African society is one of the books strong points. Too often, these type of books portray their native characters as noble and their societies as idyllic Edens ultimately destroyed by western Imperialism.

Achebe chooses to portray Okonkwo as all too human and flawed and the Nigerian society he describes is far from idyllic. The clans war on each other and many of their customs are cruel by contemporary standards (twins are considered evil and are abandoned in the forest to die). Still, it is a vibrant culture rich in heritage and beliefs and Achebe does a good job of describing it and making it come alive. In the 2nd half of the book, white missionaries arrive and the society begins to change as their customs are deemed evil and many of their people embrace the new religion.

Written in the 1950’s in the years immediately preceding Nigeria’s independence when the British were losing their hold on Africa, Achebe reasserts the position of African identity in his poignant and seminal novel, Things Fall Apart. In context of when Achebe was writing, pervading dehumanizing stereotypes of Africans were commonplace (in part, a vestige of Conrad’s, Heart of Darkness) and deeply ingrained. When one reads the book in this light, it becomes clear how Achebe redresses the balance and beautifully rewrites the narrative of his ancestors to offer a truer reflection of reality.