Historical fiction that isn’t set during WWII

Island Beneath the Sea

by Isabel Allende

Allende writes sweeping novels with magical realism. This historical novel is set in the sugar plantations of Haiti and the parlors of New Orleans.

Finally, a follow-up to Bennett’s smashing debut The Mothers—and it’s worth the wait. Identical twins Desiree and Stella grew up in a town so small it doesn’t appear on maps. They’re closer than close, so Desiree is shocked when Stella vanishes one night after deciding to sacrifice her past—and her relationship with her family—in order to marry a white man, who doesn’t know she’s Black. Desiree never expects to see her sister again. The twins grow up, make lives for themselves, and raise daughters—and it’s those daughters who bring the sisters together again. It’s a reunion Stella both longs for and fears, because she can’t reveal the truth without admitting her whole life is a lie. Bennett expertly weaves themes of family, race, identity, and belonging into one juicy, unputdownable novel spanning five turbulent decades.

Another Brooklyn

by Jacqueline Woodson

An evocative story of a woman making sense of how moving to Brooklyn as a young girl changed her and her sense of family. Angela, Sylvie, and Gigi are more than August's friends: they’re part of her sisterhood. They go through adolescence together and support each other through tragedy. Woodson's lyrical prose brings the story to life.

Hamnet

by Maggie O'Farrell

In this 2020 award-winning historical novel, Maggie O’Farrell takes a few historically known facts about Shakespeare’s wife and family and, from this spare skeleton, builds out a lush, vivid world. You should know this book is devastating, and I consumed the better part of a box of Kleenex while reading it. Yet with its captivating central character and evocative storytelling, I didn’t want to leave Shakespeare’s world—or put down O’Farrell’s writing. The story centers on Agnes, Shakespeare’s wife, who is torn apart by grief when their son Hamnet dies at age 11. Soon after, Shakespeare writes Hamlet—and O’Farrell convincingly posits that the two events are closely tied. In her distinctive style, O’Farrell takes you to the heart of what really matters in life, making you feel such a deep sense of loss for Hamnet that you won’t look at your own life the same way.

The Pillars of the Earth

by Ken Follett

I adored this sweeping historical novel when I first read it (in high school!) This epic tale set in Medieval England revolves around a monk’s quest to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known and the mason who becomes his architect. I had no idea how fascinating religious architecture and masonry could be. Content warnings apply.

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

This is on my TBR, and comes highly recommended by MMD editor Leigh Kramer. She inhaled the last 400 pages of this Dickensian literary mystery and had to know what would happen next. The relationship between gentry and servant can be fraught—and even more so when one is running a con on the other. Maud and Susan are complex characters that beg a reaction (and a book club discussion), particularly when they do disagreeable things. With striking twists and turns, their relationship runs the full gamut of emotions, particularly because literary fiction is not known for giving queer characters a Happily Ever After.

Pachinko

by Min Jin Lee

In this sweeping domestic drama, Lee tracks four generations of a 20th-century Korean family back to the time when Japan annexed the country in 1910, affecting the fates of all. Lee portrays the struggles of one struggling Korean family against the backdrop of cultural and political unrest, as they endure fierce discrimination at the hands of the Japanese. A compelling portrait of a little-explored period of history.

Malibu Rising

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This page-turning family saga has everything you could want in a beach read: surfers, rockstars, 80s pop culture, and a mansion going up in flames. It’s 1983, and the four adult children of rockstar Mick Riva are preparing to host Malibu’s party of the year, unaware of how this one night will irrevocably change their lives. Reid employs an interesting structure to unpack what happens, hour by hour, the day of the party, intercutting the present-day narrative with scenes from the family’s past that go back generations. With well-drawn characters and a strong sense of time and place (I hung on every reference to Tab, big hair, and belted t-shirts), it’s a perfect summer selection for fans of messy family stories and compulsively readable literary fiction. I couldn’t put it down. (Content notes include an open door sex scene, substance abuse, and death of a loved one.)

The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding

by Jennifer Robson

Historian-turned-novelist Robson sets her latest historical release in 1947, when times are grim: so many have lost so much, war rationing continues, Britain is in ruins. But in a bleak year, there’s a bright spot: Princess Elizabeth’s royal wedding captured the hearts of a nation, and was a beacon of hope to a country on its knees. Britain was on its knees, but the people insisted on a real celebration, including a beautiful gown. Robson’s story shifts among three protagonists and spans 70 years, but the common thread is Elizabeth’s gown—and specifically, the women who make it. While Robson has a fine eye for detail, and her behind-the-scenes descriptions of the fine autelier’s workroom are riveting, the heartbeat of the story comes from female friendship, secret pasts, and life after loss. A must-read for fans of The Crown, and recommended for all seeking an intimate take on the often-neglected postwar era.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

by Dawnie Walton

Black female power and creative freedom take center stage in this vividly imagined oral history. Fierce and fashionable Afro-punk singer Opal Jewel and ambitious British musician Nev Charles made a stunning addition to the 1970s music scene. Looking to make it big, the hit interracial duo reluctantly opened for a popular Southern band, and before the infamous concert was over, relationships were irredeemably broken, a man was dead, and a photographer captured an unforgettable flashpoint moment. But what really happened? Decades later, a journalist with a personal stake in the outcome sets out to uncover the answer. The resulting journalistic interviews are so convincing I had to make sure Opal & Nev exist only on the page. This rock-umentary style story is superb on audio, especially when narrated by a full cast including favorites like Janina Edwards, Bahni Turpin, and Gabra Zackman. It took me an hour to adjust to the format, but when I did: WOW. Heads up for violence, racial slurs, and substance abuse.

The Nickel Boys

by Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead brings Jim Crow-era Florida to life through the real story of a reform school in Tallahassee that claimed to rehabilitate delinquent boys and instead abused and terrorized them for over one hundred years. Elwood Curtis is bound for a local black college when an innocent mistake lands him at The Nickel Academy instead. Elwood finds comfort in Dr. Martin Luther King's words and holds to his ideals, whereas his friend Turner believes the world is crooked so you have to scheme to survive. All this leads to a decision with harrowing repercussions for their respective fates.

Lessons in Chemistry

by Bonnie Garmus

A life-affirming tale of a chemist ahead of her time, a life-changing love affair, a dog with a huge vocabulary, and the combustible combination of chemistry, cooking, and afternoon television. Elizabeth Zott only ever wanted to be a scientist—but because she’s a woman in the 1960s, she has to go begging for beakers despite being the smartest researcher in the building. After Elizabeth is ostensibly fired for being unwed and pregnant (but really for being smarter than her boss and dating a rival scientist he loathes), she can’t make ends meet. Out of desperation she accepts a job hosting a tv show called Supper at 6. She loves to cook, because cooking, after all, is chemistry. The producers want her to smile and look pretty, but Elizabeth is much more interested in teaching housewives not just how to make dinner, but how to change their lives. Lively and life-affirming, with an unforgettable protagonist.

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

by Lisa See

Li-yan and her family, Akha ethnic minorities, farm tea in their remote mountain village in 1980s China. When a stranger arrives at the village gate, Li-yan’s life takes a turn and she begins rejecting the rituals and routines that shaped her life thus far. When she becomes pregnant, she leaves the baby in an orphanage but never stops thinking about her. That baby is ultimately adopted by a white American family in California. Haley wonders about her birth parents and where she came from. A moving story about family, tea farming, and what gives life meaning.

The Sympathizer

by Viet Thanh Nguyen

This Pulitzer Prize winner follows the fall of Saigon during the Vietnam War. Our narrator, a captain, served as a communist spy for the Viet Cong…and continues to do so once he moves to America with the general of the South Vietnamese army and others fleeing the country. Caught between two worlds and conflicted in his loyalties, he has an uneasy relationship with both the duality of his work and his origin as an illegitimate son treated with scorn and distrust by those around him. Nguyen explores the legacy of the Vietnam War and what it means to survive.

The Lost Queen

by Signe Pike

The "lost queen" is Languoreth, a real sixth century Scottish queen whose twin brother inspired the legend of Merlin. Ancient Scotland is the perfect setting for a fantasy novel. Ancient magic, complex politics, and clashing religions all conspire to create an intriguing story. Reminiscent of the Arthurian legends, this book is perfect for fans of Phillippa Gregory.

The Covenant of Water

by Abraham Verghese

At 736 pages, the much-anticipated new novel from physician and author Verghese is the longest book in the guide. He puts every page to good use, portraying three generations of an Indian family who suffer from what they have come to call the “condition.” For each of the past seven generations, at least one family member has drowned unexpectedly, even though they avoid the water. But this family is determined to find meaning despite the suffering they experience and anticipate. Unfolding in 20th century rural South India (with one short trip to Scotland), this is a sweeping tale of love, family, faith, and medicine. For fans of Verghese’s Cutting for Stone and Nino Haratischwili’s The Eighth Life.

The Signature of All Things

by Elizabeth Gilbert

Gilbert's sweeping novel follows the life of the enigmatic Alma Whittaker, a 19th century scientist (before that was even a word). A maker at heart, and very aware of her strengths and limitations, Alma struggles to develop her unifying "Theory of Competitive Alteration" to describe her findings. Gilbert brings the field of botany to life in this ambitious novel. (Who would have thought moss could be so interesting?)

The Secrets We Kept

by Lara Prescott

The story behind this historical thriller could launch its own novel. Lara Prescott has always loved the book Dr Zhivago, and was stunned—along with the rest of the world—when the CIA declassified documents revealing that it had played a role in the book's covert publication and distribution in Russia during the Cold War. This is Prescott's imagining of what that might have looked like. The story moves between East, where the focus is on Pasternak and his muse/mistress, and West, where readers get to know the female spies of the OSS. The book has the feel of Kate Quinn’s The Huntress, with some of the storytelling flavor of Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, or Brit Bennet’s The Mothers.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club

by Malinda Lo

This coming-of-age tale for mature YA readers (and grown-ups!) is set at a lesbian bar in 1950s San Francisco Chinatown. When seventeen-year-old Lily Hu meets Kathleen Miller outside the Telegraph Club, her world tilts on its axis. This isn’t a safe time for two girls to fall in love, especially given the Red Scare and Lily’s father’s looming deportation. Her parents urge her to do whatever she can to stay safe, but Lily believes some risks may prove to be worth it. This book reads as a celebration of romantic and familial love, and a love letter to the city of San Francisco.

The Last Train to Key West

by Chanel Cleeton

In this standalone novel from the author of Next Year in Havana, three women’s lives become entangled over the course of Labor Day weekend, 1935, when the storm of the century slams into Key West. The story is told from three perspectives, that of three different women who seem to share little in common, but whose lives are about to intersect in ways no one could foresee. Helen is a Key West native, poor and pregnant, fleeing her abusive husband. Mirta is Cuban, newly married to a man she barely knows, and just beginning her honeymoon. And Elizabeth, who’s come south on a dangerous search for a long-lost loved one. A captivating novel about a little-known historical event.

Matrix

by Lauren Groff

Never underestimate a visionary. When Eleanor of Aquitaine decrees Marie de France will be sent to an impoverished abbey in England, Marie is shocked and desperate to get back in Eleanor’s good favor. But as she gets used to life with the nuns, she finds she has much to give as prioress and that includes her own divine revelations. Marie takes protecting her fellow nuns seriously, no matter how the world changes around them. An urgent exploration of religion, power, and sexuality.

The Kite Runner

by Khaled Hosseini

Many of you call this the best book you ever read. Hosseini's critically acclaimed, bestselling novel is about an unlikely friendship between two boys growing up in Afghanistan: one from a privileged family, one the son of that family's servant.

The Lions of Fifth Avenue

by Fiona Davis

This novel is a book lover’s dream. In 1913, Laura Lyons lives with her family in the New York Public Library, a perk of her husband’s job as superintendent of the grand building. Her dream to become a journalist conflicts with her husband’s desire to provide for his family himself. Eighty years later, in 1993, Sadie Donovan’s scored her dream job as an NYPL curator, landing a plum appointment on the team for the famed Berg Collection. But when valuable manuscripts start disappearing from under Sadie’s nose, she’s first scorned for her incompetence—and then suspected as a thief. Sadie suspects the theft traces back to her grandmother, the renowned feminist journalist Laura Lyons, but Sadie can’t imagine how. A literary mystery that’s full of surprises.

The Vanished Days (Slains #3)

by Susanna Kearsley

Scotland is still recovering from the disastrous Darien expedition eight years prior when Queen Anne's commissioners begin paying out those that participated and their survivors. Lily, a young widow, submits a claim to collect her husband’s wages but it’s challenged and Adam is called to investigate the marriage claim. With only days to get to the bottom of the issue, he must figure out the truth, no matter how much he’s drawn to Lily. Set in 1707 with flashbacks to 1683, Kearsley takes us through the Jacobite quest and the new Union with England, with suspicion and intrigue on every corner. (This is a prequel to The Winter Sea but, while you might see some familiar names, there’s no need to read that one first.)

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker

An incredible modern classic. From The Nation: “The Color Purple is about the struggle between redemption and revenge. And the chief agency of redemption, Walker is saying, is the strength of the relationships between women: their friendships, their love, their shared expression."

Historical fiction that isn’t set during WWII

a gateway

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summer reading starts May 16th