Readers, we just released a delightful episode of What Should I Read Next featuring our first grandmother-granddaughter duo. Rebekah and Beverly might be from different generations, but judging by their taste in books, you’d never know it!
One of their favorite spans of common ground is their mutual love of realistic books that are based around—or simply include—lesser-known historical events. I so enjoyed hearing their favorites when we talked, and after our recording I spotted a plethora of titles on my own shelves that would likely make similarly-minded readers very happy.
Although I certainly enjoy nonfiction about historical events, there’s something special about the way a fictional story illuminates a piece of history. Fictional characters spark our imaginations and immerse us in the setting, inviting us to empathize with their journeys while we learn something new on every page.
Today I’m sharing 15 novels that incorporate real historical events and careful research but focus on the story. And we’re betting these novels focus on events you didn’t learn about in history class!
If you’re looking for even more page-turning untold stories—or inspiration to form your own intergenerational book club— don’t miss WSIRN Episode 273: Realism, redemption, and reading across generations.
15 fiction books about lesser-known historical events
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
China Dolls
The Secrets We Kept
As Bright as Heaven
The Last Train to Key West
The Cold Millions
Flight of Dreams
Outrun the Moon
Salt to the Sea
The Bird King
The Stars Are Fire
Flygirl
The Huntress
This Lovely City
The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding
Do you have a favorite book about a lesser-known historical event? Build out our TBR in the comments.
P.S. If you love history, check out these 25 fascinating true stories you didn’t learn about in history class or try 8 novels paired with 8 nonfiction books to illuminate your reading experience.
210 comments
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier was pretty popular a few years ago. Chevalier has written a lot of historical fiction during ‘random’ times throughout history. Fiona Davis is another author who writes historical fiction that I love. Her novels are always set in NYC which is fun.
This is such a great post. I love historical fiction but even I am running out of steam for another WWII story.
Loved The Gown and Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek! Thanks for the recommendation on some new-to-me titles.
I really liked Molokai. It tells the story of people living on the island that was a leper colony. It was amazing.
Also Remarkable Creatures (or anything) by Tracy Chevalier.
Molokai was amazing!
Running from Molokai is another good one on this topic, told from the perspective of people trying to save their loved ones from exile to Molokai.
Loved, loved, loved Molokai!
“The Children’s Blizzard”. Tells the story of the blizzard of 1888. It was a balmy day when students went to school in January 1888. While in school a blizzard to end all blizzards arrived. Many did not survive. Melanie Benjamin weaves a fascinating story about this sad event. 2 sisters. Both school teachers. One becomes a hero and one is ostracized. This book will stay with you.
I immediately thought of The Children’s Blizzard as well. So, I’ll add a recommendation for Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline.
Yes! I loved this one as well!
Candice, I loved this book. I read Molokai years ago and it has stayed with me.
Loved Remarkable Creatures! Like so many other amazing women “erased” from history, Mary Anning was unknown to me before I read this book.
I LOVED Molokai too! The audiobook was great.
Molokai is my all time favorite book!
I also loved The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Have you read The Radium Girls?
I loved Book Woman, too. Radium Girls is another astonishing story most people have never heard of. Unfortunately, I didn’t care for the writing style in the book Radium Girls, so I didn’t finish it. I was glad it was made into a movie so I could see how it ended!
I was also going to mention Radium girls. Crazy story of how things could just be swept under the table for money!
Anne, you introduced me to THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK a few years ago, and I fell in love with these fierce ladies and their commitment to getting books to the far-reaching corners of Appalachia. That book led me on a research adventure which led to my own Pack Horse Librarian picture book, on submission now. Fingers crossed. Thank you!
Your books are always so wonderful! I too will be crossing my fingers—this sounds like a great one.
I just finished “The Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah. I certainly knew of the dust bowl but I learned so much from this book about all the farmers went through and the struggles of those who migrated to California.
I am reading this book now. It is informative about the Dust Bowl/Depression and worker’s rights. But I am disappointed in the actual writing. I am finding it repetitive and just not literary as I had hoped since it got such rave reviews. What do you think?
I am baffled that so many people think Four Winds is so fabulous. I have read so many historical novels that are superior in terms of writing and content. Thank you for confirming my thoughts.
I’m glad that others thought the same thing I did when I tried to read Four Winds. She is my favorite author, this just wasn’t her best book!
I agree. I thought it started well but the second half was repetitive and as you said, not very literary. “The Nightingale” is one of my favorite books ever. This book was no where near that mark for me.
I found The Four Winds disappointing, too. Read The Grapes of Wrath again instead!
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan is a great readable nonfiction title about the dust bowl if you want to dig deeper into this time period.
I loved Beneath a Scarlet Sky, set in Milan during the last years of WW2 and based on the true story of Italian resistors.
One of my all time favorites!
One of my favorites too. Well written and I learned history I did not know.
I loved this book!! I recommend to anyone who likes WW2 historical fiction.
Me too!
My second favorite book behind A Town Like Alice about the Japanese Death March!
A Town Like Alice is one of my all-time favorites! I actually saw the mini-series on PBS as a teenager before I read the book. I’ve wanted to go to Australia ever since!
A Town Like Alice is one of my mother’s favorites, and so I also saw the series as a teenager before I read the book! I haven’t thought about that in years.
Anne, that’s so cool! I haven’t met very many people who’ve seen that miniseries!
I loved A Town Called Alice. Great on audio. I wish I had seen the mini series.
A real treasure! The PBS Masterpiece was also very good.
Carole, I love that you’ve seen it, too! 🙂
I LOVED A Town Like Alice. I read it on holiday in 1984 and was up half the night because I couldn’t put it down.
My Dad and others escaped after two years in an Italian prison camp in W.W.11. Many Italian people helped them stay hidden and fed them on their journey from Udine to Pesaro where they met up with the Americans coming up from the south. This book helped me to understand the different attitudes of the “ordinary” ( for want of a better word) Italians towards these escapees. We will be everlasting grateful for their efforts, which put them in much danger.
Yes, an unforgettable story and all-time favorite!
Thank you for sharing this! My grandfather was stationed in Trieste during the final years/years following the war, I believe his work was to search for POW/MIA soldiers. My grandmother spoke often of the time there during that time. I look forward to reading this!
Excellent list, and although I’ve read most there are a few I added to my TBR list. I’m sure it was difficult to choose just 15, but I would not be able to leave off “All the Light We Cannot See” from this list!
I loved that book, too!
I was just thinking of that one as well!
I’m currently finishing The Kitchen Front regarding rations and cooking challenges during The WW 2 Britain. The story is so well written and displays the courageous action of my Brit ancestors!!!
I just finished The Kitchen Front and loved it. I loved reading a WWII book that focused on women on the home front during that time
Have you read Jennifer Ryan’s other books? Chilbury Ladies Choir, and The Spies of Shilling Lane. Both very good, focusing on different aspects of women on the British home front.
I really enjoy Jennifer Ryan’s WW2 novels and watch for new titles from her. Have to keep her sorted out for the “other” Jennifer Ryan who writes western romances!
I enjoyed the story of cussy and her life. A character to remember. The girl who wrote in silk is another one that has fact base fiction. It also is generational and spans some decades.
A beautiful story.
Thanks for the adds to my TBR
I also really liked The Girl Who Wrote in Silk!
Anne,thank you so much for this list. So many of these titles are new to me. I am adding to my library holds list immediately following the typing of this comment. Also, Tuesday’s podcast was a delight!
I love the historical fiction of Rilla Askew. Set in Oklahoma, her fiction tells of different times in that state’s history. “Fire in Beulah” is set in Tulsa in 1921, and is about the race riots there, and is her best, I think. I also really liked “Harpsong” set during the depression in the 1930’s.
Another favorite author for historical fiction is Geraldine Brooks. I loved People of the Book, Year of Wonders, and Caleb’s Crossing. I have yet to read The Secret Chord, about the life of King David.
Geraldine Brooks is terrific! I learned a ton about Jewish history from People of the Book.
I just finished The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, and was pleased to find new historical fiction about a period that I haven’t yet read much about. I’m a huge fan of this type of fiction for the many reasons you mentioned, though mostly I’ve read WWII and historical fiction set during the time of slavery. I can definitely vouch for The Huntress, it’s a fantastic read! I’ll be happy to delve into some more of these and am adding them to my Goodreads account now.
As always, thanks for your recommendations! Of this list I enjoyed The Secrets We Kept. Years ago I found Triangle by Katherine Weber in my favorite used bookstore. It is a story about a survivor of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire in NYC. After her death (at 106) her granddaughter seeks to unravel the events of the tragic fire. Weber weaves triangle themes throughout (music, DNA, etc.) NYC is a character as well! I was so affected that, after reading it, I sought out the historical landmark near Washington Square Park while on a trip there. Enjoy!
Ashes of Roses by Mary Jane Auch is another oldie but goodie about the Triangle Fire.
Thanks, Trish and Stephanie, for these recommendations. Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix is another good one on this topic.
My next novel, “Fiery Girls”, is about the Triangle fire and the strike that preceded it. It’s releasing March 25th (110th anniversary of the fire) but available on pre-order now. If you’d like more Triangle stories, maybe check it out. 🙂
Highly recommend The 7 or 8 Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames. Italian immigrant woman. Really engaging, very real feeling story.
I feel that “The Children’s Blizzard” fits into this category. I have tended to romanticize the pioneer life, and this story brought the hardships and realities greater into focus for me. It is a great story of toughness and survival too. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who went before us and made such great sacrifices to support their families.
I just heard of this book the other day and put it on my TBR!
Can you share the author’s name? I see a couple books with that title by different authors.
Melanie Benjamin
“Farewell to Manzanar”
I just read In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, and loved it! It’s set during the early 1960s when a dictator cruelly ruled in the Dominican Republic, and follows the Mirabal sisters, called Las Mariposas, who were leaders among those who fought for freedom. Highly recommend!
I loved In the Time of Butterflies, too. I am hoping to get to her new book, Afterlife, soon.
Yes! In the Time of the Butterflies immediately came to my mind for this list.
If you enjoyed this, you must read “To Destroy You is no Loss” (about a family during Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia). I read this in school in high school and it haunts me to this day, but in a strangely positive way, like I know the human spirit can never be stomped out.
I read “First They Killed My Father” by Loung Ung, and the book still haunts me to this day. The book is SO much better than the movie. I visited the Killing Fields in Cambodia. Our tour guide lived through a similar experience. He was 4 years old, he was separated from this parents. Tears were pouring while he told his story.
Before We Were Yours. Mmmm. I was so transfixed by this story, I had to Google to find out if this was based on actual history, because it seemed way too shocking to be real. Loved several of your choices! The Gown! I’m forgetting the exact title but I loved the book based on Mrs Lincoln’s dressmaker. Also a book about Hitler’s fiancé’s midwife.
Thanks for your blog! I give you all the credit for all the books I have enjoyed for the last few years!
Loved this one!!
I recently listened to The Rose Code by Kate Quinn and it was excellent! It is about women who worked as code breakers at a secret location in England during WWII. It fits perfectly in this category.
I LOVED this one too! I listened to it and then had a book hangover for a week – after that, nothing else lived up. I wanted back in their world, fighting the good fight beside those three!
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is on my TBR for March! So glad to see that it is well loved here. This only increases my excitement!
Also, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is a powerful story based on the real life orphan trains of the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys was so interesting that I did a bunch of research on Spain’s civil war and its aftermath when I was done.
Yes! That was the first one I thought of when I saw the title of this list. I loved Fountains of Silence!
Her book Between Shades of Gray is also outstanding. (Not to be confused with that OTHER Shades of Gray book!) It’s about a Lithuanian teenage girl–an artist–and her family who are forced to labor in a Soviet work camp in Siberia in 1941. It was both harrowing and inspiring.
Thank you for this list! The Longest Night by Andria Williams was riveting and well-written. It’s about the only fatal nuclear accident to happen in America.
I didn’t see your comment before I posted mine. I LOVED that book!!!
Historical fiction – well-done historical fiction, that is – is my favorite genre. I don’t even much care about the setting in time, just love all of it (other than Victorian or Regency, I guess).
A STAR FOR MRS. BLAKE, by April Smith, seems like a great entry for this list. I had never heard of the post-WWI gold star mothers before coming across this book. The true historical roots of this story were fascinating to me, and I enjoyed the intertwining stories of the different characters involved in this voyage.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18007514-a-star-for-mrs-blake
Agreed! That was a good book!
I absolutely loved the Book Woman of Troublesome Creek! I am going to try some of the other books listed here. Thanks!
I feel so cool that I have read FIVE of these books! 😉
THE COLD MILLIONS is riveting on audio. Wonderful reading experience. Thank you for the recommendation, Anne!
I would add WINTER GARDEN by Kristin Hannah. It deals with the effects of WWII on Russian citizens, which I had not heard very much about. It has stayed with me; I remember specific scenes. This is a big deal, because I read it years ago, and usually I can’t tell you specifics about a book I finished yesterday!
The Lost Book of Names by Kristin Harmel. Set during WWII it focuses on those who were counterfeiters forging documents for Jewish children to get across borders.
The Longest Night by Andria Williams is based on the only fatal nuclear accident to occur in the U.S., and it was fantastic. It takes place in a remote town in 1959 and the author does such a great job of making that time and setting come alive. The book centers around a young family whose father is stationed at the nuclear reactor where the incident occurs. I am still waiting on her to write another book because this was incredibly good.
Also, another book about the 1918 flu pandemic, since you mentioned it, is The Last Town on Earth, about a logging community in the Pacific Northwest that decides to close itself off from the rest of the area to stop the flu from coming in, which is loosely based on real towns that attempted to do this. The wonderful thing is that while it is definitely about the pandemic, WWI is also relevant, as a soldier comes to the city to seek refuge and the young man guarding the town must decide what to do. For anyone who likes books with moral/ethical dilemmas, this is a great one.
Last Town on Earth might be the best book I ever read!
Death in a Prairie House, about the murders in Frank Lloyd Wright’s house in Wisconsin is fascinating.
This is a great list! I would also add “Band of Sisters” by Lauren Willig. It is a fictionalized version of a group of Smith College women who go to France during WWI to help the people in the French countryside that had been heavily damaged early in the war. I listened to it on audio, and it was amazing!
The Four Winds was a realistic immersion into life during The Great Dust Bowl migration. Highly recommend!
I’m currently reading this. It’s a real eye opener!
These are SUCH great books; I really enjoyed them. I need to add THIS LOVELY CITY and OUTRUN THE MOON, the 2 I haven’t read, to my TBR! I love this topic of lesser-known historical events. When I learned about the Army nurses who were taken prisoner of war in the South Pacific, I made that lesser known historical event the pivotal moment of my 2nd novel, THE GOOD LUCK STONE. Thanks for sharing this great list!
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes is a wonderful story based on true events set in Kentucky where women comprised a bookmobile on horseback.
This was one of my favorite podcasts to listen to, and I love the book recommendations. A couple of historical fiction books I have read recently that opened my eyes to things I didn’t know about are Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini and With This Pledge by Tamera Alexander.
With This Pledge is about the Battle of Franklin during the Civil War. I read it last summer, and in the fall we stopped in Franklin, TN, and visited Carnton (where the book takes place). Alexander did an excellent job retelling this story, as I learned from listening to the tour guides tell us about the historical significance of the battle and the location.
Thank you for this list. This is one of my favorite genres! Salt to the Sea was fascinating as long as you stuck it out past a difficult, slow beginning, I felt.
I would add This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger to this list.
I’m not sure it allowed, but my last book, Shadows in our Bones, fits this category and has been well received. The story tells of the devastating consequences of a little-known, terrible racial incident in Maine, 1912. The fictionalized stories of Malaga Island residents are traced through historical documentation and interviews with the descendants; descendants affected even today.
Yay! My favorite genre. Happy to see a few familiar titles. Another I would suggest is ‘Nory Ryan’s Song’ and ‘Maggie’s Door’ by Patricia Reilly Giff about the Irish Potato Famine in 1845 and the subsequent immigration movement.
The Weight of Ink (Rachel Kadish) was as though entire chunks of history were completely unknown to me. I thought perhaps my lack of knowledge on the treatment of European Jews was simply because I’m a Christian but I learned that even American Jewish friends were not aware of the extent of the laws and migrations that occurred for several hundred years. It’s a beautifully written book and I recommend it.
Oh, yes, I loved that one too! So many good books mentioned here!
“A Violet Season” is a well researched piece of historical fiction by Kathy Leonard Czepiel. It’s about the violet growing industry in the Mid-Hudson Valley of NY during the turn of the century. I grew up in this area and I never new how difficult it was to grow flowers commercially! I’m currently reading Kristen Hannah’s new novel “The Four Winds” which is about a family from Texas during the Great Depression/Dust Bowl.
I feel like it might be tangential, but The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer is spectacular. It is WWII era, but set on the island of Guernsey which most people know little about.
Yes! I loved this book so much
That is another favorite. I just finished The Girl From the Channel Islands by Jenny LeCoat. It is very different that the Guernsey Literary, but still quite good, about a very brave woman living there during WWII.
May I suggest Island of the World by Michael O’Brien. It deals with Croatia, WW2, political prisoners, and more. It has taken the place for my favorite book of all time (gasp).
Wow, that is high praise!
A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner which includes the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in 1911. Very good read with a little known historical event tied into the story. I’m reading The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and I’m really enjoying it so far. Thank you for all the great suggestions!
My favorite in this category is Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.
Such a good book! Have you read “The Girl Who Wrote In Silk”?
Apparently this is the genre I read most because I’ve read more than a few titles on this list! I loved Salt to the Sea and also anything by Ariel Lawhon (especially I Was Anastasia). I also recommend Above All Things by Tanis Rideout about George Mallory’s attempt to climb Everest (told through his perspective and his wife’s). It was a serendipitous library find a couple years ago. It’s described as The Paris Wife meets Into Thin Air and I think that’s pretty accurate!
I recently read Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. I didn’t know about that history of the deportment of many to work camps in Siberia. It led me to look into it more.
I’m suggesting “Water Darling” by Evan Ramspott. It’s fiercely poetic and engrossing, bringing alive the Oklahoma of 1921 as a young woman searches for the charlatan who left her- and brings rain to the dusty state. The brooding climax is one we prepare for as the “love” stories develop- the 1921 Tulsa Massacre. As a Canadian, I appreciated learning about this horrible event through a humane novelist’s words.
Thanks for the great list, Anne! In this genre I LOVED Ship of Brides by JoJo Moyes. It’s about war brides from Australia who married British soldiers who were stationed in Australia for training or leave, then after the war were ferried at British government’s expense to England to reunite with their husbands. It’s based on Moyes’ grandmother’s experience, which I found really neat.
I also loved A Well Behaved Woman, which is a fictionalized version of Alva Vanderbilt’s life. She grew up in modest circumstances, then ended up marrying into one of the richest families in the world. Incidentally, I got this for my own grandmother as a Christmas present, and she loved it also!
I have my signed copy of The Cold Millions sitting on my desk, waiting to be read! I loved Beautiful Ruins years ago, long before Spokane was on my radar, and lo and behold, now I live here. I can’t wait to dig into it!
Born and raised in Spokane! I also have it on my TBR and we have signed copies from Auntie’s. I’m usually a Seattleite but living in Spokane because of Covid.
A book I read years ago that has stuck with me for its creativity and historical sense of place is Jack Finney’s “Time and Again”. It is a time travel book with the main character going back to 1882, New York City, a time of sweat shops and tragic fires. The novel is illustrated with sketches and photos to help you get the feel of NYC in the 19th century. Highly recommended!
Oh, I love this book! It introduced me to the time travel genre, which is a favorite. Have you read the sequel, ‘From Time to Time’? It’s also very good. Jack Finney also wrote a few collections of short stories about time travel that are fun, quick reads.
Hi Adrienne! I am glad to hear that someone else knows about this book. No, I didn’t know there was a sequel until today, although it has been so long since I read “Time and Again” that I should reread that before going to the sequel. Thank you for letting me know about the short stories too!
Hi Monica! I think there was a long time lag after he wrote ‘Time and Again’ before ‘From Time to Time’ was released – about 20 years or so. The titles of the short story collections are ‘About Time’, ‘The Third Level’, and ‘Three by Finney’. The last is three novellas. I love them all! Suprisingly (to me anyway), Jack Finney also wrote the book on which the movie ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ was based. Totally different type of book…..
JUST finished the Book Woman of Troublesome Creek! Amazing!
This is my favorite niche of historical fiction.
My #1 recommendation is Molokai by Alan Brennert. This is probably my all time favorite book. It’s about a young woman who is sent to the leper colony on Molokai and covers her life from about 1895-1960. Daughter of Molokai is the sequel. Brennert’s other books are also really good!
I’d also suggest The Four Winds- while I knew some about the dust bowl, I didn’t know very much.
Island of Sea Women is about the women divers in South Korea. Went down a Google rabbit hole on that one.
Any of Jamie Ford’s books, but particularly Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It’s about the Japanese internment from Seattle. I live in Seattle and walk by the hotel that’s a main part of the story a lot (when I’m going to work, that is). I also really, really liked his book Songs of Willow Frost.
Half of a Yellow Sun is a recommendation I got from here and it would also be a great fit for this list. It’s about the Biafran War. I still think about the characters sometimes.
I didn’t realize that this was a favorite genre of mine, but I’m
intrigued by every book on the list, and I have only read a few. Oh, my huge TBR list!
The Long Flight Home by Alan Hlad. I enjoyed it!
The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian is about the Armenian genocide, an event I was completely unaware of until I read this book.
I listened to The Stars are Fire. I was amazed that I’d never heard of that natural catastrophe. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian is about the Armenian genocide, an event I was completely unaware of until I read this book.
This is a type of book that I love and I have a read a few of the books on the list. Thank you for everyone’s great suggestions. My TBR just expanded:)
Loved The Cold Millions…and I second In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, that someone mentioned above. Also: The Murmur of Bees by Sophia Segovia (Spanish Influenza), Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell and Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (if the death of famous people’s sons count as historical events…Shakespeare and Abe Lincoln, respectively), and Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks (John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry)
Between Shades of Gray Ruth Septys, Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire Elizabeth Wein
The Woman in the Photo by Mary Hogan. Johnmstown PA at a private retreat of society’s elite a lake high above the working class town below. Epic flood. Clara Barton founder of the Red Cross. Amazing story
Thank you so much for this list! I love to read about history and I added quite a few of these to my “to-read” list. I’m especially interested in The Gown after watching season upon season of The Crown. The last place we were able to visit before everything shut down was England. I’ve been fascinated with their history over the last year!
I recently read The Flight of Dreams. I learned so much about the Hindenburg. The author used the real names of the people on the airship and what their jobs were. The real fictional part was how it might have blown up and crashed. It was a 4 star read for me.
I’ve read 8 of these and just added several more to my TBR! Great list!
Welp. My TBR list just grew by a lot. 😂🥳
YES! I am happy to see so many like-minded people with such great suggestions. This is definitely my most preferred genre to read so this post is my JAM. 🙂
Hahaha! MINE TOO. 🙂
The Murmur of Bees is amazing
The Giver of Stars by: Jojo Moyes was a fabulous book. Another historical fiction story about the WPA Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky. Very interesting and inspirational. The characters are rich and vibrant. The plot deals with friendship, marriage, love, abuse, and segregation. Set in the 1930’s when women are wanting more than staying home and tending house. I listened to the book and the narrator was great.
The Nature of Fragile Things. Takes place during the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake.
Last summer I read the book Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie about the Nigerian civil war in the 60s. It was something I knew next to nothing about and I learned a ton (I googled so much!).
Another one is The German Girl about a ship carrying Jewish refugees trying during World War II that tried to land in Cuba. It was also a part of history I knew nothing about. Really interesting story.
Our book club just finished reading The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. It tells the story of the Grimke sisters, early abolitionists and suffragettes.
Another one of my absolute favorites. I think it’s her best book yet.
“The Mercies” by Kiran Millwood Hargrove. Story of the Vardo Storm and the 1621 Witch trials in Norway. Sooo good.
This is my all time favorite – Historical Fiction where I learn something new about history! Sign me up please! I love anything by Lisa See or Ruta Sepetys for this category. I’ve read 7 of these, so I definitely have some more reading to do.
Here are a few others not mentioned yet that I read that taught me something new about history:
A Night Divided – tells the story of what life was like in Germany when the Berlin wall was built and how it instantly divided some families. Middle grade novel.
The Indigo Girl – the story of a teenage girl who teachers herself how to produce indigo dye to keep her family’s South Carolina farm going after her father leaves . The story behind the indigo dyeing process was fascinating.
Dreamland Burning – current day story and historical story of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. I knew nothing about Black Wall Street or the Black community of Greenwood where over 1200 homes were burned by whites over a rumor involving a white woman and a black man.
The Kitchen House – This is a dual story of a black slave and white indentured servant. The story of how a child became an indentured servant and then was treated by both slaves and their master was well told.
Memoirs of a Geisha – The Geisha tradition in Japan was new to me and this book really brought the struggles and realities of that to life.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – Tells the story of 2 girls’ friendship in China and about the secret communications used by women on fans. I’d heard about foot bindings, but never knew how gruesome and debilitating they were for women until reading this book.
The Flight Girls was wonderful, as it talked about the women pilots in WWII. It was a wonderful way to read about WWII, from those who were left at home.
Dreamland Burning is a great book about the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921
Love this list – and the comments with additional suggestions! Can’t wait to get started!
The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism – a story about the largest man made explosion before Hiroshima.
The Childrens Blizzard by David Laskin – 1888 blizzard hits after a warm day and 500 people die,
Gateway to the Moon by Mary Morris is about the generations of descendants of Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492, migrate to Portugal and New Mexico and end up in modern-day New Mexico and don’t know they are Jewish. Novel is told in two voices/timelines – 1492 and present day. There is also a parallel storyline about astronomy, so I learned a lot from this book.
Here are some books I have read that would also fit this category:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore
The Island of Sea Woman by Lisa See
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
I loved Wild Swans by Jung Chang. The story of three generations of Chinese women though now that I think of it, its a memoir, not fiction. The history of China and women in China is amazing in Wild Swans–an area and time I knew nothing about though my great aunt was a missionary in China and was thrown out during the Cultural Revolution.
Thank you for this amazing list. I’d like to recommend RADIUM GIRLS and THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM about family life during WWII in Hiroshima and then the horror that happens on August 6th to the 12 year old girl’s (my mother’s) family.
Both of these go back a way, but I loved Mary Doria Russell’s A Thread of Grace and Sena Jeter Naslund’s Four Spirits, which is recent history. I love the many suggestions. I think I could make a 2-year reading list from your and other suggestions.
I absolutely loved The Huntress, one of my favourites reads from last year.
I loved this one too – I didn’t know about the Russian “Night Witches” before this book and have since learned as much as I can about them – what brave fighters! I loved the audiobook. If you liked The Huntress, you might also like Code Name Helene!
Have you read Jennifer Ryan’s other books? Chilbury Ladies Choir, and The Spies of Shilling Lane. Both very good, focusing on different aspects of women on the British home front.
Wiley Cash’s The Last Ballad – labor struggles in NC. So good!
The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen is based on the true story of a woman freed from slavery in Richmond, Virginia and educated in Philadelphia who returned to Richmond at the onset of the Civil War to spy on the Confederates. She posed as an illiterate slave in Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s household and, while cleaning his office, read letters and other papers containing battle plans and (with her photographic memory) relayed them to Union leaders. It could be argued that her spy work was instrumental in ending the war, but until I attended a lecture on Civil War female spies, I had never heard of her–or of her mentor Elizabeth Van Lew. Elizabeth, the daughter of a wealthy slaveholder, freed Mary after her (Elizabeth’s) father died, paid for her education, and invited her back to Richmond to work with her in the elaborate spy ring she operated during the war. Elizabeth avoided suspicion about her abolitionist and espionage activities by feigning mental illness– and was affectionately known by her neighbors as “Crazy Bet”!
There’s also a historical romance (open door) based on Mary Bowser by Alyssa Cole- ‘An Extraordinary Union.’
Thanks, Mary!
A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London’s Flower Sellers
by Hazel Gaynor is based on actual events and experiences in late 19th/early 20th century London.
Our book club’s most recent book was Keith Ross Lechie’s Coppermine set in 1917 Northern Canada about the true disappearance of 2 missionaries and the NW police search and capture of 2 Inuit hunters and their return to Edmonton to stand trial; had a lot of journalists at the trial; has some romance interests and surprise ending
Ooh – sounds great! I’m in a virtual book club with several members from Canada. We try to balance our selections and choose some set in Canada. Thank you.
A real treasure! The PBS Masterpiece was also very good.
I would recommend The Moor’s Account by Leila Lalami – about a Spanish expedition in 1527 to what is now Florida.
Also The Walled Orchard by Tom Holt – about a playwright from ancient Greece.
I love Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It’s about two children caught up in the events leading up to and the round up Japanese to be placed in the internment camps during WWII.
My favorite genre- my TBR just exploded 🙂
A couple to recommend:
‘Hannah’s War’ by Jan Eliasberg. Tells the story of Austrian physicist Dr. Hannah Weiss, working to create the hydrogen bomb in the US and suspected of being a German spy. There’s a LOT of WWII fiction out there, so I appreciated this book about a scientist as a new view into the time period.
‘The Summer Country’ by Lauren Willig. Goes back and forth between 1854 and 1812 in Barbados, covering slavery on the sugar plantations and the 1816 slave uprising.
Same same! 💥🧨🤯 Must.leave.now!
This has to be my favorite genre. I’ve read (and loved) a few on this list-especially loved the Anita Shreve book-what courage these characters possess! I always think that these books would make great movies. Examples would be UNBROKEN, THE BOYS IN THE BOAT, and THE PERFECT STORM. I think that Reese Witherspoon is doing something with WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING.
I am currently reading and listening to the 2nd in The Lost Queen saga by Signe Pike. It is a fictionalized historical account of Merlin’s (Lailoken) twin sister Languoreth, who is the lost queen referred to in the series. It is based on over 10 years of research by the author, and she does a phenominal job.
I loved Outrun the Moon! Anything by Stacey Lee is good.
Bookmarking this post so I can read through all of the comments and update my list…
Some of my favorites that would fit this list:
The Chaperone – Laura Moriarty
The Seamstress – Sara Tuval Bernstein
The Worst Hard Time – Timothy Egan
One Thousand White Women – Jim Fergus
The Promise – Ann Weisgarber
This list explains why my idea of heaven is a huge library with comfy chairs, coffee and/or tea, and snacks. I could not possibly live long enough to read all the great suggestions here! My favorite would be Edith Pargeter’s The Heaven Tree trilogy, set in medieval England along the border with Wales, and in Wales itself. Beautiful, heartbreaking, inspiring . . . she’s probably better known for her Brother Cadfael stories as Ellis Peters, but I love this story even more.
I’m a little late to the party, but in case anyone is still listening, I HAVE to recommend The Song of the Jade Lily by Kirsty Manning. It’s about Jewish refugees who fled to China to escape the Nazis and it’s SO GOOD.
This one sounds amazing, what a story. I’m going to recommend this to my book club for our next read as this history major knows nothing about the story.
I love this list! I’ve enjoyed everything by Ruta Sepetys and many others on this list.
I would recommend A Pledge of Silence by Flora Solomon. It is about WWII but from the perspective of U.S. nurses in the Philippines who become POWs for years. I had no idea about the war from the Philippines perspective. It also deals with the aftermath and what happened when they returned to the U.S. Very impactful story.
I also loved The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd. It is about a 16 year old girl who ran her father’s plantation in the south in the 1700s. It is based on a true story of Eliza Lucas who was the first woman inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame.
How did I miss this post?!? I need to add a couple. I’ve enjoyed all of Lisa See’s books but Island of the Sea Women mostly fully fits in this category. I knew NOTHING about any of this story and it was fascinating!
Also The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. I learned so much about so many things.
And Florence Adler Swims Forever. How has so much history passed me by?
YES on Island of Sea Women. So wonderful Lisa See tells the story of the Haneyo divers. I put it on my list of 31 titles to read for Women’s History Month.
I second the addition of Lisa See’s Island of the Sea Women. And I’d like to add Christopher Cleese’s novel, Everyone Brave is Forgiven…such a great story set during the Blitz. I read it right after The Splendid and the Vile, by Erik Larson, and it continued my education on the sacrifices and bravery of that time. I thought it was riveting…sometimes witty and romantic, but also heart wrenching and inspiring.
Sorry, spellcheck …Christopher Cleeve!
I read The Atomic City Girls. It was really good. The girls get a job doing things for the government, not realizing this plant was building the atomic bomb. This was in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I lived there as a child, and only live about 25 minutes from there now. Great book!
Surprised that nobody has mentioned The Moonlight School by Suzanne Woods Fisher. I’m currently reading it & highly recommend it – early 1900’s Kentucky & the struggles of teaching literacy.
The Note Through the Wire by Doug Gold
A WWII story from the perspective of a New Zealand soldier and the Yugoslavian girl he falls in love with. A true story, that includes the fight to get them both “home” to New Zealand – gritty reading in parts, and has F-bombs.
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
by David Grann.
An incredible, true story that I still talk about years later.
*Smacks forehead*
Ignore those titles they are not fiction, and were meant to go under this post https://modernmrsdarcy.com/fascinating-true-untold-stories-didnt-learn-history-class/
Please (!) delete my comment above 🙂
I LOVED The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline. The novel is set in the mid-1800s and follows two storylines: one of Mathinna, a native aboriginal child who was brought to live in the British Governor’s mansion against her will, and the other of Evangeline and Hazel, British women who were convicted of (minor) crimes and transported from the UK to Australia under the most dire of circumstances. Despite the dark topic, the spirit of the main characters makes this a thoroughly enjoyable read and learning the history of Australia left my head spinning.
Read historial fiction books and supernatural thriller novels written by an established author Brian Jay Nelson and published by Writers Publishing house. Visit: https://branchview.info/
Hi Anne,
How much do you know about the Spanish Inquisition? If you’re like me, then probably not a lot! After we lived in Madrid for a year, I wrote The Poetry of Secrets (Scholastic, 2021), a historical fiction young adult novel. Here’s what Booklist had to say about it:
“Gordon adeptly weaves all of this intrigue, danger, and secret history into an eloquent, romantic story, also offering historical and cultural references that will inform readers of the real-life events that inspired the plot. Isabel’s fight to pursue the people and passions she loves will speak to adolescent readers as the stakes grow ever higher and the Inquisition and its deathly promise come ever closer to Trujillo.”
Check it out!
Deep River by Karl Marlantes, mostly set around the development of the logging industry along the Columbia River on the border of Washington and Oregon, follows a group of Scandinavian immigrants to the United States. Some political history, labor organizing and unions, midwifery, homesteading.
Trouble the Water by Rebecca Dwight Bruff. This is a beautifully crafted novel about an amazing, heroic man named Robert Smalls. Smalls (also known as Trouble) was born enslaved and eventually commandeered a Confederate warship to escape to freedom. Smalls eventually served multiple terms in Congress. I can’t recommend this book enough!
Everything Sad is Untrue and Dreamland Burning
Thank you, Anne for terrific recommendations. I also loved Orphan Train. I had no idea those event happened here in America!
Orphan Train is SO good
Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan
The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron
Anything by:
Marie Benedict
Jillian Cantor
Fiona Davis
***organized alphabetically
So many of these sound amazing! I just put As Bright as Heaven, The Last Train to Key West, Outrun the Moon (I need to read asap) and Flygirl on my TBR. Loved this post <3
As Bright as Heaven is fabulous – highly recommend. I also used it as research while writing about the Spanish Flu in Philadelphia for my historical fiction, THE UNLOCKED PATH.
Looking forward to tackling this list. I loved The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek because it is set in the area my family hails from, and Flygirl was one of my go-to recommendations as an 8th grade English teacher.
I loved The Cat I Never Named and Between Shades of Grey.
I must add Silence by Shūsaku Endo. It’s the amazing novel about the true story of Christian martyrs in 17th century Japan. There’s an excellent movie directed by Martin Scorsese too. You definitely don’t need to be very religious, but not really recommended for HSPs.
“China Doll” by Lisa See is the middle book of a trilogy by this author, it begins with “Shang Hai Girls.” This is an excellent historical series based in China, events & time period I knew little of. Can’t recommend enough. “The Island of Sea Women” during the Korean war is also a riveting historical fiction.
This year’s winner of the John Newbery Medal, Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson, would be a great addition to this list. As noted in the author’s note, Freewater was inspired by the lesser known “maroon communities” — specifically the Great Dismal Swamp — where enslaved women, men, and children escaped to the swamps and forests of the deep south.
Great list. I have some overlap with my #31titleswomeninhistory list which focuses on biographical historical fiction. The Stars are Fire was an unexpected delight. I’ve lived in New England my whole life and never heard of this fire. Susan Meissner’s As Bright as Heaven is a masterpiece as she crafts four different POVs. I also used it for research while writing about the Spanish Flu in Philadelphia for THE UNLOCKED PATH. THE UNLOCKED PATH celebrates the graduates of the Woman’s Medical College of PA at the turn of twentieth century as the suffrage movement moves forward full throttle and the idea of a New Woman emerges. Hope you’ll check it out.
Not sure if someone mentioned it – Wicketts Remedy by Myla Goldberg.
Wonderful list. I’ve read and enjoyed many of them and added a few more to my TBR pile. I’m happy to suggest my debut historical fiction, THE UNLOCKED PATH, which presents students and graduates of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first and longest running women’s medical school in the country, 120 years (1850-1970).
The Stars are Fire was riveting, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough…well, I couldn’t tap fast enough because I read it on my e-reader. There was one scene involving the husband where I literally yelped out loud. I’ll never forget that scene. I was in LA visiting my friend and was called in to dinner and my friend watched me jump during that particular scene in the story.
It is set in the coastal part of Maine that I vacation to annually with my kids so of course, when I’m on the beach there, I think about the mother hiding from the fire on the mainland. Imagine you escape to the beach with the fires raging behind you, how do you protect yourself and your children? You will have to read to find out 😳
Love this list! Like others I have read several on this list but definitely added more to my the list! I would add The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray.
Wow so many terrific books & recs in the comments that are great reads!! I just added about 20 books to my TBR list. ty!!! 4 I like to add that are so good are “The Third Daughter” by Talia Carner & “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet”plus “All Thirteen” by Christina Soontorntvat & “Rocket Boys” by Homer Hickam
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra had so many new to me historical storylines among the cast of characters. I loved it.
I loved “Deafening” by Frances Itani (WWI era, much of it set in Canada—so good).
Tall Grass by Sandra Dallas (WWII, set in Colorado at/near internment camp for Japanese Americans)
Another book by Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betry You, set in communist Romania. More recently, The Frozen River by Ariel Lowhon. A juvenile fiction I enjoyed, When We Were Young and Brave by Hazel Gaynor, children in a Japanese internment camp during WW2.
There are so many, but The Paper Daughters of Chinatown is outstanding.
I thoroughly enjoyed West With Giraffes set during the Depression.