Recommended historical fiction

Paperback

Sunbirds

Mirandi Riwoe

1941, West Java. Love and revolution are in the air. And war is on its way.

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A Dictator Calls

Ismail Kadara, John Hodgson (trans.)

A fascinating meditation on Soviet Russia, authoritarianism, power structures and a period of great writers.

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The House of Doors

Tan Twan Eng

From the Booker-shortlisted author of The Garden of Evening Mists comes an evocative, rich tale of love, betrayal and morality in 1920s Penang

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The Future Future

Adam Thirwell

Marie Antoinette meets Gossip Girl in this supermodern novel of scandal and slander, from the two-time Granta Best Young British Novelist

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North Woods

Daniel Mason

In his transcendent fourth novel, Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason delivers a magisterial and highly inventive tale brimming with love and madness, humor and hope. Following the cycles of history…

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River Sing Me Home

Eleanor Shearer

A mother’s desperate search to find her stolen children and her freedom takes her across the Caribbean in a gripping, moving, redemptive and unforgettable story of survival and hope.

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Learned By Heart

Emma Donoghue

Adding to the already moving, richly told and gripping collection of historical fiction from Emma Donoghue, Learned By Heart is the breathtaking story of two young girls on the margins…

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The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

James McBride

The unforgettable new novel from the National Book Award-winning, Oprah Book Club-picked, Barack Obama pick, James McBride.

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Iris

Fiona Kelly McGregor

Acclaimed and bestselling literary novelist Fiona Kelly McGregor dives into the criminal underground of 1930s Sydney and the life of petty criminal, prostitute and murderer Iris.

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Violeta

Isabel Allende

One extraordinary woman. One hundred years of history. One unforgettable story.

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Beasts of a Little Land

Juhea Kim

An epic story of love and war, set during the turbulent decades of Korea’s fight for independence

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Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, Book 1)

Hilary Mantel

The first book in Hilary Mantel’s award-winning Wolf Hall trilogy, with a new cover design to celebrate the publication of the much anticipated The Mirror and the Light.

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Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray River of Dreams

Anita Heiss

Gundagai, 1852

The powerful Murrumbidgee River surges through town leaving death and destruction in its wake. It is a stark reminder that while the river can give life, it can…

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The Marriage Portrait

Maggie O'Farrell

Set at the heart of the treacherous political world of the Italian Renaissance, this is the masterful story of a young woman's battle for her very survival, written with all…

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The Dance Tree

Kiran Millwood Hargrave

The gripping new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mercies, The Dance Tree is a transporting story of lust, family secrets and women under the eye of…

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The Great Reclamation

Rachel Heng

They would look back and ask themselves, what was the moment that changed everything? Could she blame him? Could he blame her?

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The Language of Food

Annabel Abbs

Eliza Acton, despite having never before boiled an egg, became one of the world’s most successful cookery writers. Her story is fascinating, uplifting and inspiring. With recipes that leap to…

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Great Circle

Maggie Shipstead

It is Marian’s life dream and her final journey, before she disappears without a trace. Half a century later, Hadley Baxter, a scandal-ridden Hollywood actress whose own parents perished in…

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Sparrow

James Hynes

Meet Jacob - aka Sparrow - a boy slave in a brothel in the Spanish city of New Carthage in the last years of pagan Rome, and one of the…

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Cursed Bread

Sophie Mackintosh

From the Booker-nominated author of The Water Cure - an eerie historical mystery about desire, memory and madness

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Crossroads

Jonathan Franzen

'His best novel yet ... A Middlemarch-like triumph' Telegraph

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The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho

Paterson Joseph

Meet Charles Ignatius Sancho: his extraordinary story, hidden for three hundred years, is about to be told by Paterson Joseph, one of Britain’s best-loved actors

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Nothing Special

Nicole Flattery

A wildly original debut novel about two young women navigating the complex worlds of Andy Warhol's Factory, and coming of age in 1960s New York

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Hardback

Joan: The stunning feminist retelling of Joan of Arc

Katherine J. Chen

Girl. Warrior. Heretic. Saint? A stunning feminist reimagining of the life of Joan of Arc, perfect for fans of Cecily and Alison Weir.

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The East Indian

Brinda Charry

A Dickensian-style yarn about family, friendship, and finding oneself in the seeds of a new world.

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Trespasses

Louise Kennedy

Tender and shocking, Trespasses is an unforgettable debut of people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times.

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Small Things Like These

Claire Keegan

An exquisite winter tale of courage - and its cost, set in Catholic Ireland.

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Devotion

Hannah Kent

The powerful, moving and truly unique new novel from the international bestselling author of Burial Rites and The Good People.

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The Mountains Sing

Que Mai Nguyen Phan

An intimate, stirring portrait of a country at war and a family’s battle to survive

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Harlem Shuffle

Colson Whitehead

From two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead, a gloriously entertaining novel of heists, shakedowns and rip-offs set in Harlem in the 1960s.

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The Eighth Life (For Brilka)

Nino Haratischvili, Charlotte Collins (trans.), Ruth Martin (trans.)

At the start of the twentieth century, on the edge of the Russian Empire, a family prospers. It owes its success to a delicious chocolate recipe, passed down the generations…

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The Imitator

Rebecca Starford

A page-turning World War Two spy thriller, based on true events.

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The Seamstress of Sardinia

Bianca Pitzorno, Brigid Maher (trans.)

An immersive and vividly written historical novel for anyone who loved Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels or Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring.

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House of Longing

Tara Calaby

A compulsively readable historical romance, House of Longing combines an effortless instinct for narrative with impeccable research, lightly worn. The debut of a major talent.

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Booth

Karen Joy Fowler

A major new novel from million-copy bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.

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The Bass Rock

Evie Wyld

Three women, hundreds of years apart, slip into each other’s lives in a novel of darkness, violence and madness.

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Song of the Crocodile

Nardi Simpson

A captivating Australian saga from the winner of the 2018 black&write! fellowship.

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The Dutch House

Ann Patchett

Told with Ann Patchett’s inimitable blend of wit and heartbreak, The Dutch House is a story of family, betrayal, love, responsibility and sacrifice; of the powerful bonds of place and…

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Hamnet

Maggie O'Farrell

Two extraordinary people. A love that draws them together. A loss that threatens to tear them apart.

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The Luminaries

Eleanor Catton

The astonishing and epic novel that won the 2013 Man Booker Prize

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Betty

Tiffany McDaniel

A stunning, lyrical novel set in the rolling foothills of the Appalachians in which a young girl discovers stark truths that will haunt her for the rest of her life.

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Small Pleasures

Clare Chambers

A novel of unexpected second chances set in 1950s England.

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The Prophets

Robert Jones Jr.

Love, in all its permutations, is the discovery at the heart of Robert Jones Jr’s breathtaking debut, The Prophets.

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The Dictionary of Lost Words

Pip Williams

In 1901, the word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.

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The Shadow King

Maaza Mengiste

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2020, this is an utterly captivating novel about female strength. Set during Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King casts a light on the…

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The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and he will become busier still. From the highly-acclaimed author of The Messenger and…

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A Long Petal of the Sea

Isabel Allende

A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile and belonging, A Long Petal of the Sea is Isabel Allende at the height of her powers.

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The Imitator

Rebecca Starford

A powerfully insightful and luminous portrait of courage and loyalty, and the sacrifices made in their name.

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Recommended historical fiction

Sunbirds

A Dictator Calls

The House of Doors

The Future Future

North Woods

River Sing Me Home

Learned By Heart

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

Iris

Violeta

Beasts of a Little Land

Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, Book 1)

Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray River of Dreams

The Marriage Portrait

The Dance Tree

The Great Reclamation

The Language of Food

Great Circle

Sparrow

Cursed Bread

Crossroads

The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho

Nothing Special

Joan: The stunning feminist retelling of Joan of Arc

The East Indian

Trespasses

Small Things Like These

Devotion

The Mountains Sing

Harlem Shuffle

The Eighth Life (For Brilka)

The Imitator

The Seamstress of Sardinia

House of Longing

Booth

The Bass Rock

Song of the Crocodile

The Dutch House

Hamnet

The Luminaries

Betty

Small Pleasures

The Prophets

The Dictionary of Lost Words

The Shadow King

The Book Thief

A Long Petal of the Sea

The Imitator