13 Fascinating Historical Fiction Novels

I’m not going to lie: I’ve largely steered clear of historical fiction as a genre for many years, mostly because I got so bored of books set during World War II. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of great WWII historical fiction novels, but there are many, many more that are set during that era for no reason other than it Heightens The Drama – blegh. For me, the best (and most fascinating!) historical fiction novels are the ones where the time period is integral to the plot, when it’s a story that wouldn’t work in any other era. For fellow readers who are hesitant when it comes to stories set in the past, I’ve put together this list of fascinating historical fiction novels that fit the bill.

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

Set in the 19th century

By default, many books based on true stories are set in the past, making them both fascinating historical fiction novels and interesting history lessons. Booth is one such novel, a fictionalised account of the lives of the family of John Wilkes Booth (yes, that John Wilkes Booth, the one who shot Lincoln). Throughout the novel, Karen Joy Fowler keeps the day-to-day lives of the Booth siblings in the foreground, with subtle nods and winks to the readers about the massive political and cultural shifts going on around them. Read my full review of Booth here.

The Visitors by Jane Harrison

Set in 1788

January 1788 was the most pivotal month in Australia’s long, long history. Several ships appeared on the horizon off the New South Wales coast, and First Nations men gathered to discuss what to do. Should the strangers be welcomed, or run off? Are they approaching as friends or foes? This is the moment at the heart of The Visitors, Jane Harrison’s debut novel based on her award-winning play. It’s a fascinating historical fiction novel that helps counteract the horribly whitewashed accounts of this interaction we’ve traditionally found in the genre. Read my full review of The Visitors here.

A Room Made Of Leaves by Kate Grenville

Set in 1766-1850

Kate Grenville is one of our most beloved Australian historical fiction writers. While The Secret River is undoubtedly her most popular work, I would direct readers instead to a more recent story, A Room Made Of Leaves. This is an imagined memoir of Elizabeth Macarthur, the wife of wool baron John Macarthur, whom history has all but erased. Grenville dedicates it “to all those whose stories have been silenced”, and it speaks to those gaps in the archive – a work of historical fiction for the #MeToo era. Read my full review of A Room Made Of Leaves here.

Daisy Jones And The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Set in the 1970s

Daisy Jones And The Six tells the story of a (fictional) 1970s pop-rock band, from their formation to international fame and chart-topping hits. It’s styled as an oral history, a Behind The Music-esque series of interviews with the band members, aimed at uncovering – for the first time – why the band split at the height of their success. As the tagline on the cover promises, everyone was there, but everyone remembers it differently. Every Fleetwood Mac fan will gobble up this fascinating historical fiction novel. Read my full review of Daisy Jones And The Six here.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

Set in 1521-1536

The Other Boleyn Girl is a semi-speculative historical romance, which posits that Henry VIII originally fell in love with then-14-year-old Mary Boleyn before famously divorcing his wife, and England from the Vatican, to marry her older sister Anne. Your standard historical romance novel might focus on the Mary and Henry storyline, but that takes up only about the first third of this fascinating historical fiction novel. Philippa Gregory delves much deeper into the politics of the period, and the machinations that might have made her imagined romance possible without appearing in the official historical record. Read my full review of The Other Boleyn Girl here.

The Swans Of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

Set in the 1950s

In The Swans Of Fifth Avenue, Melanie Benjamin tells the story of how Truman Capote infiltrated, and then betrayed, the socialites of Manhattan’s upper-est echelons. After the riotous success of In Cold Blood, he found himself in need of a story, so he befriended the Ladies Who Lunch and then used their lives as fodder. Yes, that really happened, and Benjamin wrote a fascinating historical fiction novel about it! She also provides an extremely helpful author’s note explaining exactly how much of the story is true, or at least as true as she can make it given that the key players were notorious fabulists. Read my full review of The Swans Of Fifth Avenue here.

True History Of The Kelly Gang by Peter Carey

Set in the 1870s

There’s a certain delicious defiance in calling a fascinating historical fiction novel a “true history”, don’t you think? It’s especially so in the case of True History Of The Kelly Gang. It’s a fictional account based rather loosely on the life of renowned bush-ranger Ned Kelly and his gang, styled as Kelly’s own hand-written memoirs. Carey modelled his style off the most famous surviving piece of Kelly’s real-life writing, The Jerilderie letter. He imagines for Kelly a much richer life than Australian folklore has allowed him, including a love child and a defiant determination to escape rather than to die. Read my full review of True History Of The Kelly Gang here.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Set in 1873

Beloved is a fascinating historical fiction novel in its own right, but you can’t truly appreciate it without understanding its true history and context. Toni Morrison was inspired by the real-life story of Margaret Garner, a slave who escaped from Kentucky and fled to the free state of Ohio. When U.S. marshals busted into her cabin and arrested her, they found that she had killed her own two-year-old daughter and was attempting to kill her other children. She hoped to prevent her children being returned to a life of slavery – a fate worse than death. Morrison came across Garner’s story in an old newspaper article, and reproduced it later in a compilation of black history in 1974. But Morrison wasn’t done with Garner’s story; it was the seed that grew into her most beloved work. Read my full review of Beloved here.

Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel

Set in 1500-1535

If you’re looking for all the political intrigue of Game Of Thrones, with fewer dragons and more historical accuracy, you need to pick up Wolf Hall. This has become one of the defining historical fiction novels about the Tudors, the tale of a particularly turbulent period in English history focused on the role of one of the bit players, Thomas Cromwell. This calculating and ambitious man uses the dissolution of the King’s marriage to step up and move forward, a high-risk-high-reward game in a Court of nefarious agendas. Read my full review of Wolf Hall here.

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

Set in 1859

The past is full of curiosities and unexplained mysteries, and Emma Donoghue turns to one of them in The Wonder. In the Irish midlands in the mid-19th century, an English nurse is summoned to examine a girl who is said by the villagers to have survived without food for months. The religious crowds claim its a miracle, the skeptics suspect it’s a scam, and it’s up to the nurse to stand watch and ensure that the girl remains safe (and isn’t faking). This is a fascinating historical fiction novel with so much narrative tension, you’ll tear through it as quickly as you would any psychological thriller. Read my full review of The Wonder here.

Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Gamus

Set in the 1960s

You might notice a theme running through many of these fascinating historical fiction novels: quite a few of them focus on the roles of women in their respective time periods. That’s because gender is a highly effective lens through which we can examine the past, and apply its lessons to the present. Lessons In Chemistry is set in mid-20th century California, and focuses on a woman who defies the rules by using her gender-appropriate cooking television show to explore her passion for science. In so doing, she challenges the status quo, and makes it easier for others to do the same. Read my full review of Lessons In Chemistry here.

March by Geraldine Brooks

Set in 1862

March is a uniquely fascinating historical fiction book, in that it’s an adaptation of a widely beloved classic novel (Little Women), one that explores the perspective of a character who’s relatively silenced in the original story. Louisa May Alcott’s March family is largely defined by the absence of the patriarch, a chaplain supporting the troops on the front lines of the American Civil War. In Geraldine Brooks’ version, the abolitionist Mr March experiences the trauma and devastation of war, while writing letters to his family at home that shield them from the horror. It’s a heart-wrenching read with a tender love story at its core.

Prize Women by Caroline Lea

Set in 1926

The Great Stork Derby might be one of the most unbelievable historical events you’ve never heard of – until you read Prize Women, that is. In early 20th century Toronto, a millionaire passed away leaving behind an extraordinary will, bequeathing his fortune to the woman who bears the most children in the ten years following his death. Naturally, families across Canada scrambled to procreate, in the hopes of a cash injection that would protect them from the worst effects of the Great Depression. This story focuses on two women caught in the slipstream, two unlikely friends from different sides of the track who may be torn apart from the carrot dangling in front of their society.