Historical Fiction About a Scientific Discovery

Updated April 27, 2026
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The Signature of All Things A Novel
Gilbert, Elizabeth
Paper Book
A glorious, sweeping novel of desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, from the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love, Big Magic, and City of Girls In The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction,...
Euphoria: A Novel
King, Lily
Paper Book
From New England Book Award winner Lily King comes a breathtaking novel about three young anthropologists of the '30's caught in a passionate love triangle that threatens their bonds, their careers, and, ultimately, their lives. English anthropologist Andrew Bankson has been alone in the...
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a lavish historical drama reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico. "This is...
The Circus Train: A Novel
Parikh, Amita
Paper Book
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER At the World of Wonders, Europe's most magnificent travelling circus, every moment is full of magic, and nothing is as it seems--especially for the people who put on the show Lena Papadopoulos has never quite found her place within the circus, even as the...
Vanished in the Crowd: A Molly Murphy Mystery
Bowen, Rhys
Paper Book
In the latest in the New York Times bestselling series from Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles, retired detective Molly Murphy Sullivan investigates the disappearance of a female scientist New York is busier than ever as two million visitors come to the city to witness the...
Outside Looking In A Novel
Boyle, T.C.
Paper Book
A provocative new novel from bestselling author T.C. Boyle exploring the first scientific and recreational forays into LSD and its mind-altering possibilities In this stirring and insightful novel, T.C. Boyle takes us back to the 1960s and to the early days of a drug whose effects have...
Us conductors in which I seek the heart of Clara Rockmore, my one true love, finest theremin player the world will ever know
Michaels, Sean
Paper Book
Winner of the 2014 Scotiabank Giller Prize A beautiful, haunting novel inspired by the true life and loves of the famed Russian scientist, inventor and spy Lev Termen - creator of the theremin. Us Conductors takes us from the glamour of Jazz Age New...
The last days of night : a novel
Moore, Graham
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "A world of invention and skulduggery, populated by the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla."--Erik Larson   "A model of superior historical fiction . . . an exciting, sometimes astonishing story."--The Washington Post<...
A bend in the stars
Barenbaum, Rachel
Paper Book
All the Light We Cannot See meets The Nightingale in this literary WWI-era novel and epic love story of a brilliant young doctor who races against Einstein to solve one of the universe's great mysteries. In Russia, in the summer of 1914,...
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch
Galchen, Rivka
Paper Book
The startling, witty, highly anticipated second novel from the critically acclaimed author of Atmospheric Disturbances. The story begins in 1618, in the German duchy of Württemberg. Plague is spreading. The Thirty Years' War has begun, and fear and suspicion are in the...
The confessions of Frannie Langton : a novel
Collins, Sara
Paper Book
Don't miss the TV miniseries, streaming now exclusively on BritBox! "A blistering historical thriller." -- Entertainment Weekly A servant and former slave is accused of murdering her employer and his wife in this breathtaking debut that moves from a Jamaican sugar plantation to...
The Trial of Katterfelto : A Novel
Redhill, Michael.
Paper Book
A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2025 "I will grant here at the outset that the Doctor was not who he seemed, but this shall turn out to be of little import in the tale to come. He is, as am I, but a charge in a wire. We were conductors for another force, vassals to a vessel....
West with giraffes : a novel
Rutledge, Lynda
Paper Book
An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America. "Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes..." Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But...
The Oppenheimer alternative : a novel
Sawyer, Robert J.
Paper Book
"Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds," physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer famously exclaimed when the first atomic bomb exploded in 1945. His Manhattan Project gathered the greatest scientists ever assembled, including Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, Edward Teller, Leo Szilard, and...
Butcher : father of modern gyno-psychiatry
Oates, Joyce Carol
Paper Book
From one of our most accomplished storytellers, an extraordinary and arresting novel about a women's asylum in the nineteenth century, and a terrifying doctor who wants to change the world In this harrowing story based on authentic historical documents, we follow the career of Dr...
Her Hidden Genius A Novel
Benedict, Marie.
Paper Book
"Brings to life Franklin's grit and spirit...an important contribution to the historical record." --The Washington Post The new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery of Mrs. Christie! She changed the world with her discovery. Three men took the credit. ...
Flight of dreams : a novel
Lawhon, Ariel
Paper Book
With everyone on the Hindenburg harboring dark secrets and at least one person determined that the airship won't make the return trip, Flight of Dreams gives an utterly suspenseful, heart-wrenching explanation for one of the most enduring mysteries of the twentieth century.
The alienist
Carr, Caleb
Paper Book
In 1896 New York, psychologist--or in period terminology, an alienist--Laszlo Kreizler joins forces with journalist John Schuyler Moore to track a vicious serial killer.
All the light we cannot see : a novel
Doerr, Anthony
Paper Book
*NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES--from producer and director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) starring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and newcomer Aria Mia Loberti* Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, the beloved instant New York Times bestseller...
The German wife
Rimmer, Kelly
Paper Book
"Skillfully researched and powerfully written, The German Wife will capture you from the first page." --Madeline Martin, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London For fans of All the Light We Cannot See and The Tattooist of Auschwitz--from...
The only woman in the room
Benedict, Marie
Paper Book
The New York Times and USA Today Bestseller! She possessed a stunning beauty. She also possessed a stunning mind. Could the world handle both? Her beauty almost certainly saved her from the rising Nazi party and led to marriage with an Austrian arms dealer. Underestimated in...
The other einstein : A novel.
Benedict, Marie.
Paper Book
From beloved New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Marie Benedict comes the story of a not-so-famous scientist who not only loved Albert Einstein, but also shaped the theories that brought him lasting renown. In the tradition of Beatriz Williams and Paula McClain, Marie...
Skylark : a novel
McLain, Paula
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK! The New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife weaves a mesmerizing tale of Paris above and below--where a woman's quest for artistic freedom in 1664 intertwines with a doctor...
A bend in the stars : a novel
Barenbaum, Rachel.
Paper Book
All the Light We Cannot See meets The Nightingale in this literary WWI-era novel and epic love story of a brilliant young doctor who races against Einstein to solve one of the universe's great mysteries. In Russia, in the summer of 1914,...
The last animal : a novel
Ausubel, Ramona.
Paper Book
Teenage sisters Eve and Vera never imagined their summer vacation would be spent in the Arctic, tagging along on their mother's scientific expedition. But there's a lot about their lives lately that hasn't been going as planned, and truth be told, their single mother might not be so happy either....

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