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The Best Historical Fiction Books

While time travel will probably never happen, we’ll always have the next best thing: historical fiction novels. Through the magic of fiction (and authors’ dedication to researching endless incredible details), readers can feel as though they’ve been everywhere and every time, from Ancient Greece to colonial Asia to the American Revolution. If you’re a fiction lover who wants to learn more about the past but isn’t sure about diving into the world of history books, it’s the best of both worlds. 

Another reason to love historical fiction is that it can be crossed with any other genre. From historical mysteries to steamy historical romance to hilarious historical fiction, whatever genre you enjoy can be placed in another period.

Clearly, this is a genre that truly has something for everyone. Whether you prefer novels that bring you to times of war and terror or more whimsical stories set in the past; historical fiction that is surprisingly accurate or tales that take creative license with their settings, you'll find endless books to add to your TBR pile in the lists below.

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Miss Burma
Miss Burma
by Charmaine Craig
The Color Purple Collection
The Color Purple Collection
by Alice Walker
The Kindly Ones
The Kindly Ones
by Jonathan Littell
Bright Flows the River
Bright Flows the River
by Taylor Caldwell
The Keepers of the House
The Keepers of the House
by Shirley Ann Grau
In The Full Light Of The Sun
In The Full Light Of The Sun
by Clare Clark
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Becoming Madame Mao
Becoming Madame Mao
by Anchee Min
Riders of the Purple Sage
Riders of the Purple Sage
by Zane Grey
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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
by Ron Hansen
The Tenth Muse
The Tenth Muse
by Catherine Chung
Evening Is the Whole Day
Evening Is the Whole Day
by Preeta Samarasan
A Stranger in the Kingdom
A Stranger in the Kingdom
by Howard Frank Mosher
The Liam Devlin Novels
The Liam Devlin Novels
by Jack Higgins
Testimony of Two Men
Testimony of Two Men
by Taylor Caldwell
Pavilion of Women
Pavilion of Women
by Pearl S. Buck
Oil and Marble
Oil and Marble
by Stephanie Storey
Frenchman's Creek
Frenchman's Creek
by Daphne Du Maurier
All the Beautiful Sinners
All the Beautiful Sinners
by Stephen Graham Jones
Homeland
Homeland
by John Jakes
The Winthrop Woman
The Winthrop Woman
by Anya Seton
Death Comes for the Archbishop
Death Comes for the Archbishop
by Willa Cather
A Sport and a Pastime
A Sport and a Pastime
by James Salter
The Thief of Time
The Thief of Time
by John Boyne
Beneficence
Beneficence
by Meredith Hall
The Long Song
The Long Song
by Andrea Levy
The Temple of My Familiar
The Temple of My Familiar
by Alice Walker
A Soldier of the Great War
A Soldier of the Great War
by Mark Helprin
Freeman
Freeman
by Leonard Pitts Jr.
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Z
Z
by Therese Anne Fowler
An Extraordinary Union
An Extraordinary Union
by Alyssa Cole
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
by Henry Farrell, Mitch Douglas
Penmarric
Penmarric
by Susan Howatch
Brighton Rock
Brighton Rock
by Graham Greene
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The Bastard
The Bastard
by John Jakes
Tobacco Road
Tobacco Road
by Erskine Caldwell
One Clear Call
One Clear Call
by Upton Sinclair
Archie Meets Nero Wolfe
Archie Meets Nero Wolfe
by Robert Goldsborough
Monkey
Monkey
by Wu Ch'eng-en, Arthur Waley
Dragonwyck
Dragonwyck
by Anya Seton
The Other Windsor Girl
The Other Windsor Girl
by Georgie Blalock
The Seeing Garden
The Seeing Garden
by Ginny Kubitz Moyer
Light at Lavelle
Light at Lavelle
by Paullina Simons
All God's Children
All God's Children
by Aaron Gwyn
The Custom of the Country
The Custom of the Country
by Edith Wharton
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The Beginning of Spring
The Beginning of Spring
by Penelope Fitzgerald, Andrew Miller
The War of the End of the World
The War of the End of the World
by Mario Vargas Llosa, Helen R. Lane
The Season of Lillian Dawes
The Season of Lillian Dawes
by Katherine Mosby
To Catch a King
To Catch a King
by Jack Higgins
Her First American
Her First American
by Lore Segal, Stanley Crouch
Meridian
Meridian
by Alice Walker
Showing 51-100 of 336 results

Historical fiction is a genre where a fictional plot is set in a real historical setting or uses real historical characters. While there can be a mix of real and fictional events in the plot, historical fiction focuses on its fictional plot-points. 

The goal of historical fiction is to transport readers to another time. To do that, you’ll need to make the details of your story believable, even though it’s fiction. You want to focus on time period significance, historical accuracy, and detailed descriptions of characters and settings. 

Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth is often considered the first historical fiction novel.