Open Books Challenge 2025: A Book Set in the Victorian Era (1837-1901)

Updated December 31, 2024
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Don't want you like a best friend : a novel
Alban, Emma R.
Paper Book
A swoon-worthy debut queer Victorian romance in which two debutantes distract themselves from having to seek husbands by setting up their widowed parents, and instead find their perfect match in each other--the lesbian Bridgerton/Parent Trap you never knew you needed! Gwen has a brilliant...
Victoria the queen : an intimate biography of the woman who ruled an empire
Baird, Julia
Paper Book
The true story for fans of the PBS Masterpiece series Victoria, this page-turning biography reveals the real woman behind the myth: a bold, glamorous, unbreakable queen--a Victoria for our times. Drawing on previously unpublished papers, this stunning portrait is a story of love and...
The Wildes : a novel in five acts
Bayard, Louis
Paper Book
In this singularly powerful novel, bestselling author Louis Bayard brings Oscar Wilde's wife Constance and two sons out from the shadows of history and creates a vivid and poignant story of secrets, loss, and love.   In September of 1892, Oscar Wilde and his...
My dear Henry : a Jekyll & Hyde remix
Bayron, Kalynn
Paper Book
A young man searches for the reason behind his best friend's disappearance and the arrival of a magnetic stranger in this haunting retelling of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, perfect for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson and Mexican Gothic. "Addressing invisibility, power, and...
The worst woman in London
Bennet, Julia
Paper Book
A Bridgerton-inspired humorous Victorian romance featuring a defiant heroine who fights to escape a bad marriage, while her love for a forbidden man jeopardizes her chance at freedom. "Romantic, feminist, and shimmers with intelligence. Let's hope Ms. Bennet...
Wishes and Wellingtons
Berry, Julie
Paper Book
From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Julie Berry comes a brand new middle-grade fantasy adventure full of friendship, magic, and mischief. Be careful what you wish for ... Maeve Merritt chafes at the rigid rules at her London boarding school for "Upright Young...
Premeditated Myrtle
Bunce, Elizabeth C.
Paper Book
A 2021 Edgar® Award Winner, Best Juvenile A BookPage Best Book of 2020: Middle Grade A Mighty Girl's 2020 Books of the Year Introducing Myrtle Hardcastle, your favorite new amateur detective: a wickedly smart...
The stolen book of Evelyn Aubrey
Burdick, Serena
Paper Book
What if you could write a new ending for yourself? England, 1898. When Evelyn first married the famous novelist William Aubrey, she was dazzled by his brilliance. But their newlywed bliss is brief when William is gripped by writer's block, and he becomes...
The ornithologist's field guide to love
Holton, India
Paper Book
INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER! "So riotously clever it almost defies description...an alchemy of romantic elements held in perfect harmony."--NPR Rival ornithologists hunt through England for a rare magical bird in this historical-fantasy rom-com reminiscent of...
Ana Mari?a and the fox
De la Rosa, Liana
Paper Book
Ana Maria Luna Valdes has strived to be the perfect daughter, the perfect niece, and the perfect representative of the powerful Luna family. So when Ana Maria is secretly sent to London with her sisters to seek refuge from the French occupation of Mexico, she experiences her first taste of freedom...
A shore thing
Lowell, Joanna
Paper Book
Former painter and unreformed rake Kit Griffith is forging a new life in Cornwall, choosing freedom over an identity that didn't fit. He knew that leaving his Sisterhood of women artists might mean forfeiting artistic community forever. He didn't realize he would lose his ability to paint altogether...
Stalking Jack the Ripper
Maniscalco, Kerri
Paper Book
This #1 New York Times bestseller and deliciously creepy horror novel has a storyline inspired by the Ripper murders and an unexpected, blood-chilling conclusion. Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege...
The nightingale affair : a novel
Mason, Timothy
Paper Book
In this twisty Victorian detective thriller from the author of The Darwin Affair, Inspector Charles Field hunts a serial killer with a sinister signature targeting Florence Nightingale's nurses in Crimea and women in London.  Who is stalking...
The London Séance Society
Penner, Sarah
Paper Book
Don't miss THE AMALFI CURSE! Sarah's next spellbinding book to unearth a centuries-old curse, powerful witchcraft, and perilous love on the high seas.  "An atmospheric and evocative whodunnit steeped in suspense, mystery, and illusion." --Nita Prose, #1...
The midnight hour
Read, Benjamin (Children's story writer)
Paper Book
For fans of portal fantasies like Jessica Townsend's Nevermoor, Colin Meloy's Wildwood, and The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, and unlike so many other fantasies that introduce readers to a world of enchantment and wonder, The Midnight Hour is one...
The five : the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper
Rubenhold, Hallie
Paper Book
Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction Five devastating human stories and a dark and moving portrait of Victorian London--the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper. Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine...
The library thief : a novel
Shenj,̌ Kuchenga
Paper Book
The fraud
Smith, Zadie
Paper Book
The New York Times bestseller * One of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year * One of NPR's Best Books of the Year * Named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly and BookPage * One of Oprah Daily's Best Novels of 2023 "[A] brilliant...
The case of the missing marquess : an Enola Holmes mystery
Springer, Nancy.
Paper Book
When Enola Holmes, the much younger sister of detective Sherlock Holmes, discovers her mother has disappeared--on her 14th birthday nonetheless--she knows she alone can find her. Disguising herself as a grieving widow, Enola sets out to the heart of London to uncover her mother's...
Queen Victoria's bathing machine
Whelan, Gloria
Paper Book
Prince Albert comes up with a royally creative solution to Queen Victoria's modesty concerns in this true story that reveals an overlooked splash of history. Poor Queen Victoria! She loves to swim, but can't quite figure out how to get to the water without her devoted subjects...
The spirit bares its teeth
White, Andrew Joseph
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! A Stonewall Honor Book in Young Adult Literature! A blood-soaked and nauseating triumph that cuts like a scalpel and reads like your darkest nightmare. New York Times bestselling author Andrew Joseph White...
Where the dead wait : a novel
Wilkes, Ally
Paper Book

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