DH Historical Fiction Recommendations

Updated August 12, 2025
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Before Dorothy /
Gaynor, Hazel
Paper Book
THE USA TODAY BESTSELLER ∙ Long before Dorothy visits Oz, her aunt, Emily Gale, sets off on her own grand adventure, leaving gritty Chicago behind for Kansas and a life that will utterly change her, in this transporting novel from New York Times bestselling author Hazel...
The book club for troublesome women :
Bostwick, Marie
Paper Book
USA TODAY BESTSELLER · SOUTHERN INDIE BESTSELLER · A BRENDA NOVAK BOOK GROUP PICK · GLOSS BOOK CLUB PICK · THE GIRLFRIEND BOOK CLUB PICK · A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025 (SheReads) · Margaret never really meant to start a book club . . . or a feminist revolution, for that matter in...
The frozen river :
Lawhon, Ariel
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * GMA BOOK CLUB PICK * AN NPR BOOK OF THE YEAR * From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha...
Trust /
Dâiaz, Hernâan,
Paper Book
An unparalleled novel about money, power, intimacy, and perception Even through the roar and effervescence of the 1920s, everyone in New York has heard of Benjamin and Helen Rask. He is a legendary Wall Street tycoon; she is the daughter of eccentric aristocrats. Together, they...
The new life :
Crewe, Tom,
Paper Book
Winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, the Prix du Premier Roman Étranger, the Sunday Times Young Writer Award, the Betty Trask Prize, and the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Literature * Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, Los...
Tough luck :
Dallas, Sandra
Paper Book
In this homage to True Grit, a young woman makes a perilous journey west in 1863 in search of her gold-mining father. After their mother dies, Haidie Richards and her younger brother, Boots, are put to work in an orphanage. Their father left four years earlier to find a...
The heart in winter :
Barry, Kevin,
Paper Book
A BEST BOOK OF 2024 FROM THE ECONOMIST AND THE MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE Award-winning writer Kevin Barry's first novel set in America, a savagely funny and achingly romantic tale of young lovers on the lam in 1890s Montana. "A wedding of Cormac McCarthy with Flann O'Brien;...
Blonde Dust
Rosnay, Tatiana de
Paper Book
"A lovely portrait of female friendship, loss, and the unexpected ways in which a life can change. Haunting."-- Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Women   A "Hollywood tale with heart" about a reimagined friendship between...
The night watchman :
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2021 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WASHINGTON POST, NPR, CBS SUNDAY MORNING, KIRKUS, CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY, AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich's...
Shadows of Berlin :
Gillham, David R.
Paper Book
"Reminding us that history is made up of infinite individual choices, Shadows of Berlin is a masterful story of survival and redemption." -- Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman with the Blue Star A captivating novel of a Berlin girl on the run from the guilt of her...
The nightingale
Hannah, Kristin
Paper Book
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK A #1 New York Times bestseller, Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year, and soon to be a major motion picture, this unforgettable novel of love and strength in the face of war has enthralled a generation. With...
Hungry ghosts :
Hosein, Kevin Jared
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE SWANSEA UNIVERSITY DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE WINNER OF THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION "This is a deeply impressive book, and I think an important one. Its intensity, its narrative attack, the fascinations of its era and setting, make it impossible to tear...
Pachinko /
Lee, Min Jin
Paper Book
One of the New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century In this New York Times bestseller, four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan-the inspiration for the television series on...
The rose code :
Quinn, Kate
Paper Book
Don't miss the thrilling new novel from Kate Quinn, The Briar Club, coming July 9th! "The reigning queen of historical fiction" -- Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue   The New York Times and USA Today bestselling...
The Lost Masterpiece
Shapiro, B. A.
Paper Book
An enigmatic painting. The mystery of who painted it. A riveting thriller from the bestselling author of The Art Forger. In a gripping novel full of plot twists, B. A. Shapiro embeds us in a circle of famous painters in late-nineteenth-century Paris, centering on the...
The listeners /
Stiefvater, Maggie,
Paper Book
National Bestseller · An Oprah Daily Best Summer Read of 2025 · A Christian Science Monitor Best Book of June "A wonderfully observed--actually, flat-out wonderful--historical novel." --The Wall Street Journal "Richly imagined . . ....
The house of doors :
Tan, Twan Eng,
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER, NPR, SLATE, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, AND A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE WORK...
In the upper country /
Thomas, Kai
Paper Book
Winner of the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The fates of two unforgettable women--one just beginning a journey of reckoning and self-discovery and the other completing her life's last vital act--intertwine in this sweeping, powerful novel set at the...
The cardinal :
Weir, Alison,
Paper Book
In this "immersive tale of Tudor intrigue" (Publishers Weekly), the New York Times bestselling author of The Last White Rose explores the rise of Thomas Wolsey, who was Henry VIII's chief adviser--until the king accused him of treason. "Henry VIII's...

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