Stories Retold

Reimagine fairy tales, myths, legends, even history and biographies with these fascinating novels!

Updated January 5, 2026
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The bear and the nightingale : a novel
Arden, Katherine
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A wild and willful young woman finds herself at the center of a tale of spirits, ancient evils, and the mysterious winter-king Frost--in the lyrical first novel of the Winternight Trilogy. "A beautiful deep-winter story, full of magic and monsters and the...
Hag-Seed : William Shakespeare's The tempest retold
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
Our greatest literary innovator and beloved novelist has reimagined Shakespeare's final, great play of magic and illusion. Entertaining, gripping, emotionally rich and wise, Hag-Seed is an homage to a master, positioned for the fall celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death...
A man called Ove
Backman, Fredrik
Paper Book
In this bestselling and delightfully quirky debut novel from Sweden, a grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door. Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon--the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars...
Longbourn
Baker, Jo.
Paper Book
* Pride and Prejudice was only half the story *   If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she'd most likely be a sight more careful with them.   In this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to...
The crane husband
Barnhill, Kelly Regan
Paper Book
Nebula Award nominee for Best Novella World Fantasy Award nominee for Best Novella "If I had to nominate a worthy successor to Angela Carter, I would nominate Kelly Barnhill. "--Laura Ruby, two-time National Book Award finalist and author of Bone Gap...
The children's blizzard : a novel
Benjamin, Melanie
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator's Wife comes a story of courage on the prairie, inspired by the devastating storm that struck the Great Plains in 1888, threatening the lives of hundreds of immigrant homesteaders, especially schoolchildren. ...
Iris Kelly doesn't date
Blake, Ashley Herring
Paper Book
A fake relationship after a horrible one-night stand is anything but an act in this witty and heartfelt new romantic comedy by Ashley Herring Blake.   Everyone around Iris Kelly is in love. Her best friends are all coupled up, her siblings have partners that are perfect for...
The city of brass
Chakraborty, S. A.
Paper Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Library Journal | Vulture | The Verge | SYFYWire Step into The City of Brass, the spellbinding debut from S. A. Chakraborty, an imaginative alchemy of The Golem and the Jinni, The Grace of Kings,...
Ready player one
Cline, Ernest.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Now a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg. "Enchanting . . . Willy Wonka meets The Matrix."--USA Today * "As one adventure leads expertly to the next, time simply evaporates."--Entertainment...
Winter King : A Novel of Arthur
Cornwell, Bernard.
Paper Book
In the Dark Ages, a legendary warrior arises to unite a divided land . . . Uther, the High King of Britain, is dead. His only heir is the infant Mordred. Yet each of the country's lesser kings seek to claim the crown for themselves. While they squabble and spoil for war, a host...
The noble servant
Dickerson, Melanie.
Ebook
New York Times bestselling author Melanie Dickerson beautifully re-imagines The Goose Girl by the Brothers Grimm into a medieval tale of adventure, loss, and love. "When it comes to happily-ever-afters, Melanie Dickerson is the undisputed queen of fairy-tale romance, and all I can say is-...
Ladies of the house : a novel
Edmondson, Lauren
Paper Book
Set in high-society Georgetown, an irresistible family drama about two sisters and the public scandal that just may lead them to rewrite the rules... "A stellar novel that celebrates sisterhood and the way women can step out of flawed men's shadows. I delighted in every...
James : a novel
Everett, Percival
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view * In development as a feature film to be...
Neverwhere
Gaiman, Neil.
Ebook
"Neil Gaiman is undoubtedly one of the modern masters of fantasy writing....For those who have not read Neverwhere, the new edition is the one to read, and is a fitting introduction to Gaiman's adult fiction....American readers can experience this spellbinding, magical world the way that...
Immortal longings
Gong, Chloe
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER Chloe Gong's adult epic fantasy debut, inspired by Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, is a "smart, imaginative, and brutal" (Wesley Chu, New York Times bestselling author of The War Arts Saga) collision of...
Abraham Lincoln vampire hunter
Grahame-Smith, Seth.
Ebook
Indiana. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call "Milk Sickness." "My baby boy..." she whispers before dying. ...
The wife upstairs
Hawkins, Rachel
Paper Book
Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller "Compulsively readable...a gothic thriller laced with arsenic." --EW One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2021: CNN * Newsweek * Vulture * PopSugar...
Stone blind : a novel
Haynes, Natalie
Paper Book
Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023 "Haynes is master of her trade . . . She succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories."--Telegraph (UK) The national bestselling author of A Thousand Ships and Pandora's Jar returns with a fresh and stunningly...
A thousand ships : a novel
Haynes, Natalie
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER An NPR Best Book of the Year "Gorgeous.... With her trademark passion, wit, and fierce feminism, Natalie Haynes gives much-needed voice to the silenced women of the Trojan War."--Madeline Miller, author of Circe Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for...
House of hunger
Henderson, Alexis
Paper Book
WANTED - Bloodmaid of exceptional taste. Must have a keen proclivity for life's finer pleasures. Girls of weak will need not apply. A young woman is drawn into the upper echelons of a society where blood is power in this dark and enthralling Gothic novel from the author...
The girl in red
Henry, Christina
Paper Book
From the national bestselling author of Alice comes a postapocalyptic take on the perennial classic "Little Red Riding Hood"...about a woman who isn't as defenseless as she seems. It's not safe for anyone  alone in the woods. There are predators that come out at night...
Miss Austen
Hornby, Gill
Paper Book
A #1 International Bestseller "A deeply imagined and deeply moving novel. Reading it made me happy and weepy in equally copious amounts." --Karen Joy Fowler "You can't help feeling that Jane would have approved." --The Guardian For...
Water Outlaws
Huang, S. L.
Paper Book
Paperback edition includes a Locus-Award Finalist Novelette! A Best-Of Pick for Vulture | The Washington Post | Publishers Weekly | Men's Health | IGN | Polygon | Goodreads | Amazon | Nerd Daily |...
Stormbird
Iggulden, Conn
Paper Book
King Henry V - the great Lion of England - is long dead. In 1437, after years of regency, the pious and gentle Henry VI, the Lamb, comes of age and accedes to the English throne. His poor health and frailty of mind render him a weakling king - Henry depends on his closest men, Spymaster...
The snow child : a novel
Ivey, Eowyn.
Paper Book
In this magical debut, a couple's lives are changed forever by the arrival of a little girl, wild and secretive, on their snowy doorstep. Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart -- he...
Unmarriageable : a novel
Kamal, Soniah
Paper Book
"This inventive retelling of Pride and Prejudice charms."--People   "A fun, page-turning romp and a thought-provoking look at the class-obsessed strata of Pakistani society."--NPR Alys Binat has sworn never to marry--until an encounter...
The beekeeper's apprentice : or, On the segregation of the queen
King, Laurie R.
Paper Book
The Twentieth-Anniversary Edition of the First Novel of the Acclaimed Mary Russell Series by Edgar Award-Winning Author Laurie R. King. An Agatha Award Best Novel Nominee * Named One of the Century's Best 100 Mysteries by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association...
Hemlock & silver
Kingfisher, T.
Paper Book
DELUXE EDITION--a gorgeous hardcover edition featuring bright green sprayed edges, a foil stamp on the casing, and custom endpapers illustrated by the author. From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Hemlock & Silver, a...
A sorceress comes to call
Kingfisher, T.
Paper Book
Named a Best Fantasy Book of the Year by NPR, Elle, and Paste A Goodreads Best Fantasy Choice Award Nominee From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes A Sorceress ...
What moves the dead
Kingfisher, T.
Paper Book
An Instant USA Today & Indie Bestseller A Barnes & Noble Book of the Year Finalist A Goodreads Best Horror Choice Award Nominee A gripping and atmospheric reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" from Hugo, Locus, &...
Orphan train : a novel
Kline, Christina Baker
Paper Book
Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they...
In the lives of puppets
Klune, TJ
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND INDIE BESTSELLER! New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts. Most Anticipated...
I Was Anastasia
Lawhon, Ariel.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the author of The Frozen River, this enthralling feat of historical suspense unravels the extraordinary twists and turns in Anna Anderson's claim to be Anastasia Romanov. Is she the Russian Grand Duchess or the thief of another woman's legacy? ...
Hester : a novel
Lico Albanese, Laurie
Paper Book
Named a Most Anticipated Book for Fall 2022 by Goodreads * Washington Post * New York Post * BuzzFeed * PopSugar * Business Insider * An October 2022 Indie Next List Pick * An October 2022 LibraryReads Pick "A hauntingly beautiful-...
A court of mist and fury
Maas, Sarah J.
Paper Book
The second instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON, romantic fantasy epic and TikTok sensation, ACOTAR. From multi-million and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan - Time Think...
A court of thorns and roses
Maas, Sarah J.
Paper Book
The first instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON and TikTok sensation, from multi-million selling and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan - Time Harry Potter magic, Taylor Swift...
A wild winter swan : a novel
Maguire, Gregory
Paper Book
After brilliantly reimagining the worlds of Oz, Wonderland, Dickensian London, and the Nutcracker, the New York Times bestselling author of Wicked turns his unconventional genius to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Wild Swans," transforming this classic tale into an Italian-American...
A lion among men
Maguire, Gregory.
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller Focusing on the Cowardly Lion, the third book in the Wicked Years series which started with Wicked, the multimillion-copy #1 New York Times bestseller and basis for the smash hit movie series starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande....
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West : a novel
Maguire, Gregory.
Paper Book
The New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, and smash hit movie series starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire's Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our...
Long way gone
Martin, Charles
Paper Book
USA TODAY bestseller | Christy Award Book of the Year Cooper O'Connor thought he could make it big as a musician, but he promptly lost it all. Can he repair his relationship with the father who never stopped calling him home? A Prodigal Son retelling where Redeeming Love meets Walk the...
A game of thrones
Martin, George R. R.
Paper Book
NOW THE ACCLAIMED HBO SERIES GAME OF THRONES--THE MASTERPIECE THAT BECAME A CULTURAL PHENOMENON   Here is the first book in the landmark series that has redefined imaginative fiction and become a modern masterpiece. A GAME OF THRONES  
Emma
McCall Smith, Alexander
Paper Book
An unstoppable combination: Alexander McCall Smith and Jane Austen, as Sandy modernizes the story of Emma Woodhouse. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Emma Woodhouse's widowed father is an anxious man, obsessed with nutrition and the latest vitamins. He lives the life of a...
Marilla of Green Gables : a novel
McCoy, Sarah
Paper Book
A bold, heartfelt tale of life at Green Gables . . . before Anne: A marvelously entertaining and moving historical novel, set in rural Prince Edward Island in the nineteenth century, that imagines the young life of spinster Marilla Cuthbert, and the choices that will open her life to the...
Northanger Abbey
McDermid, Val
Paper Book
Northanger Abbey as envisaged by Val McDermid is a mouth-watering prospect. The queen of modern crime fiction and no. 1 bestselling author will give us a very modern twist on Jane Austen's wonderfully funny and romantic novel. Austen satirized the gothic novel, which was all the rage in her day,...
Queen Macbeth : a novel
McDermid, Val
Paper Book
Shakespeare created the myth of the Macbeths as indefensible murderous conspirators. But now internationally bestselling author Val McDermid drags the truth out of the shadows, exposing the patriarchal prejudices of history Britain's reigning "Queen of Crime" (The Scotsman),...
Circe : a novel
Miller, Madeline
Paper Book
This #1 New York Times bestseller is a "bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story" that brilliantly reimagines the life of Circe, formidable sorceress of The Odyssey (Alexandra Alter, TheNew York Times). In the house of Helios,...
The song of Achilles
Miller, Madeline.
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller "At once a scholar's homage to The Iliad and startlingly original work of art....A book I could not put down." --Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House A thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling of the...
Marmee : a novel
Miller, Sarah
Paper Book
From the author of Caroline, a revealing retelling of Louisa May Alcott's beloved Little Women, from the perspective of Margaret "Marmee" March, about the larger real-world challenges behind the cozy domestic concerns cherished by generations of readers. "Dazzling......
Caroline : Little House, revisited
Miller, Sarah Elizabeth
Paper Book
USA Today Bestseller! One of Refinery29's Best Reads of September In this novel authorized by the Little House Heritage Trust, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in a dazzling work of historical fiction, a captivating story that...
The night circus : a novel
Morgenstern, Erin.
Paper Book
#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * Two starcrossed magicians engage in a deadly game of cunning in the spellbinding novel that captured the world's imagination. * "Part love story, part fable ... defies both genres and expectations." --The Boston Globe The circus arrives...
If the shoe fits
Murphy, Julie
Paper Book
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy comes the first in a brand-new adult series inspired by the classic fairy tale stories we all know and love, perfect for adult readers who crave contemporary, escapist rom-coms. If the shoe doesn't fit, maybe it's...
Spinning silver
Novik, Naomi
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "One of the year's strongest fantasy novels" (NPR), an imaginative retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale from the bestselling author of Uprooted.NEBULA AND HUGO AWARD FINALIST * NAMED ONE OF PASTE'S...
Gingerbread
Oyeyemi, Helen.
Paper Book
"Exhilarating. . . . A wildly imagined, head-spinning, deeply intelligent novel." --The New York Times Book Review "Wildly inventive. . . . [Helen Oyeyemi's] prose is not without its playful bite." --Vogue The prize-winning, bestselling author...
Boy, snow, bird
Oyeyemi, Helen.
Paper Book
In the winter of 1953, Boy Novak arrives by chance in a small town in Massachusetts, looking, she believes, for beauty — the opposite of the life she’s left behind in New York. She marries a local widower and becomes stepmother to his winsome daughter, Snow Whitman.
Kaikeyi : a novel
Patel, Vaishnavi
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "MYTHIC RETELLING AT ITS BEST." (R. F. Kuang, author of Yellowface) * A 2023 IGNYTE AWARD FINALIST * A BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB PICK "With a graceful, measured elegance" (New York Times), this...
The forgotten kingdom : a novel
Pike, Signe
Paper Book
From the author of The Lost Queen, hailed as "Outlander meets Camelot" (Kirsty Logan, author of Things We Say in the Dark) and "The Mists of Avalon for a new generation" (Linnea...
The lost queen : a novel
Pike, Signe
Paper Book
Compared to Outlander and The Mists of Avalon, this thrilling first novel of a debut trilogy reveals the untold story of Languoreth--a forgotten queen of sixth-century Scotland--twin sister of the man who inspired the legend of Merlin. I write because I...
Lady Macbeth : a novel
Reid, Ava
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ava Reid comes a "masterful reimagining" (Publishers Weekly) of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare's most famous villainess, giving her a voice, a past, and a power that transforms the story men have written for her...
Neon gods
Robert, Katee
Paper Book
He was supposed to be a myth. But from the moment I crossed the River Styx and fell under his dark spell...he was, quite simply, mine. A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Hades and Persephone that's as sinful as it is sweet. Society darling Persephone...
Wicked beauty
Robert, Katee
Paper Book
She was the face that launched a thousand ships, the fierce beauty at the heart of Olympus...and she was never ours to claim. A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Helen of Troy, Achilles, and Patroclus that's as sinful as it is sweet. In Olympus, you either have the...
Ariadne A novel
Saint, Jennifer.
Ebook
Elektra
Saint, Jennifer
Paper Book
A spellbinding reimagining of the story of Elektra, one of Greek mythology's most infamous heroines, from Jennifer Saint, the author of the beloved international bestseller, Ariadne. Three women, tangled in an ancient curse. When Clytemnestra marries...
Phaedra : a novel
Shepperson, Laura
Paper Book
DEBUT AUTHOR: A "powerful and compulsively readable" feminist retelling of one of the most maligned figures of Greek mythology--perfect for fans of Madeline Miller's Circe (Booklist). Phaedra has been cast to the side all her life: daughter of an adulteress, sister...
Eligible : a novel
Sittenfeld, Curtis.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Wonderfully tender and hilariously funny, Eligible both honors and updates Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Tackling gender, class, courtship, and family, Curtis Sittenfeld reaffirms herself as one of the most dazzling authors writing today....
Lore Olympus. Volume one
Smythe, Rachel (Comics artist)
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love--witness what the gods do after dark in this stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of the best-known stories in Greek mythology, featuring a brand-new, exclusive short story from creator Rachel...
A touch of darkness
St. Clair, Scarlett.
Paper Book
From bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair comes a dark and enthralling reimagining of the Hades and Persephone Greek myth. "Let me worship you," he said. She remembered the words she had whispered to him in the back of the limo after La Rose. "You will worship me, and I won't even...
A touch of ruin
St. Clair, Scarlett.
Paper Book
The second in the captivating Hades and Persephone series from fan-favorite bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair. "Are you saying you wouldn't fight for me?" Hades sighed and brushed his finger along her cheek. "Darling, I would burn this world for you." Persephone's...
A study in scarlet women
Thomas, Sherry
Paper Book
"I cannot recommend this series enough."--#1 New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas turns the Victorian detective story upside-down by reimagining Sherlock Holmes as a woman in the...
Angelika Frankenstein makes her match : a novel
Thorne, Sally
Paper Book
From USA Today bestselling author of The Hating Game Sally Thorne comes something a little unexpected... a historical rom-com that imagines Victor Frankenstein's sheltered younger sister, and her attempts to create the perfect man. For generations, every Frankenstein has found...
Sense & sensibility
Trollope, Joanna
Paper Book
From Joanna Trollope, one of the most insightful chroniclers of family life writing fiction today, comes a contemporary retelling of Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen's classic novel of love, money, and two very different sisters. John Dashwood promised his dying father that he would take...
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court
Twain, Mark
Paper Book
Hank Morgan, a nineteenth-century American who is accidentally returned to sixth-century England, is a powerful analysis of such issues as monarchy versus democracy and free will versus determinism, but it is also one of Twain's finest comic novels, still fresh and funny after more than 100 years.
Vinegar girl : The taming of the shrew retold
Tyler, Anne
Paper Book
Could the taming of Shakespeare's shrew, Katherina, happen today? Find out in this funny, off-beat version from one of our most beloved novelists. "You can't get around Kate Battista as easily as all that."     Kate Battista is feeling stuck. How...
House of names : a novel
Tóibín, Colm
Paper Book
* A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book of the Year * Named a Best Book of 2017 by NPR, The Guardian, The Boston Globe, St. Louis Dispatch From the thrilling imagination of bestselling, award-winning Colm Tóibín comes a retelling of the story...
The once & future king
White, T. H.
Ebook
The definitive modern take on the timeless tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round table.   The legends of King Arthur date back to medieval Europe, and have become some of the dominant myths of Western culture. In The Once & Future King, T. H. White reinvents the story for...

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