A Roundup of Historical Fiction Books to Read
By: Olivia Scherzer
Reading fiction can teach us empathy, build vital critical thinking skills, and give us a good story. Reading historical fiction can do all of that… while also giving us a glimpse into the past.
Essayist Anais Nin has said, quoted in an article from the LitHub: “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” Historical fiction is often overlooked in online bookish spaces, but it’s a powerful genre to understand stories of the past, much like looking through a window to significant (and sometimes, not so significant) historical events.
In the same article from the LitHub on why historical fiction is more important than ever, author Stephanie Dray emphasizes that it shines a light on a variety of perspectives and builds empathy not only for the past but for present-day populations: “Historical novels don’t just tell us what happened; they make us feel. They create empathy for what other people went through in different times.” Stephanie Dray is the author of several novels, including “America’s First Daughter,” a book about the life of Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, Patsy Jefferson Randolph.
Understanding the past is how we move into the future. Reading is political. Reading historical fiction is very much political—it helps us understand the past so we can fight for the present and future.
And again, all while enjoying a good story.
The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
This story follows the partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune—who, during the 1930s, formed an unlikely friendship. Mary McLeod Bethune was a fierce activist and educator who started a private school for African American students, which later became Bethune-Cookman University. The story alternates between the First Lady and Mary’s chapters—taking us throughout Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration in the 1930s, and how these women bonded over their belief in the power of education and championing civil rights.
I loved the two narratives of these different yet equally formidable women and the lives they led. The chapters were short, which made it a fast read, though I took my time because I was soaking up so much information about their friendship and not only the impact they had on each other, but the impact they (and their unlikely friendship) had on the growing Civil Rights Movement. Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray are two fantastic historical fiction authors who partnered to write this novel.
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
When I read this book years ago, I fell in love with the historical fiction genre. This is a fascinating story set both in the aftermath of WWII (1947) and during the Great War (1915). One timeline throughout the novel follows a female spy during WWI in 1915, and another follows an American woman searching for her cousin in 1947. The premise is based on the Alice Network, a real-life collection of female spies in France during WWI. I loved the 1947 timeline, where a pregnant American college girl, Charlie St. Clair, gets sent overseas to “take care of her problem.” Instead, she sets off in London to find out what happened to her cousin during the war. This is where she meets veterans of the Alice Network. The 1915 timeline follows Eve Gardiner as she becomes a spy in enemy-occupied France for the Alice Network. While working at a restaurant, Eve uncovers critical information and later conveys it to the Allied network (resistance organizations that supported the Allied cause—Allies including the UK). The parallel timelines that tell a story of courage and redemption flowed smoothly and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Yaa Gyasi wrote Transcendent Kingdom, which I loved, so her debut novel has been on my TBR list for some time now. The story starts with two half sisters who live much different lives and takes us through 300 years in Ghana and America. Esi is sold into the slave trade and shipped off to America with thousands of enslaved Africans. Meanwhile, Effia and her descendants face centuries of warfare in Ghana. Each timeline follows their descendants: Esi’s through slavery, Civil War, and the Great Migration, from 20th century Harlem to present day, and Effia’s descendants in Africa over the centuries. The author weaves an impactful, moving, and unforgettable tale of two different experiences.
The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki
If you found yourself streaming “the last great american dynasty” by Taylor Swift on repeat, then The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post is for you. The book is a fictionalization of the real life of Marjorie Post: a businesswoman, socialite, and heiress of a popular breakfast foods corporation during the late 19th century and early 20th century, and shows how she uses her wealth for good and carries out a legacy for her family. The book also follows her four marriages. While I loved how the author captured Marjorie’s extravagant, lovely, and bold life and love affairs, I also loved that the author championed Marjorie’s voice to be a real leader of this corporation, the company her father founded, during a time when women didn’t have a lot of say in business.
The Mayor of Maxwell Street by Avery Cunningham
If you like The Great Gatsby, then you’ll get a kick out of this book set during the Prohibition Era, better known as the Roaring 20s. There are speakeasies, gangs and ganglords, mobs, and flappers. The book follows a wealthy Black family in Chicago, in particular, their young adult daughter as she enters society. However, the daughter, Nelly, secretly moonlights as a journalist, going undercover at speakeasies, socializing with ganglords, and investigating for stories to submit to the local paper. There’s a bit of romance in this one, particularly with the male main character, but it’s not the main plot. The story is filled with twists and turns—even ones that turn to the mob—that keep readers engaged. With each chapter, I looked forward to the very descriptive setting of 1920s Chicago.
Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray
Victoria Christopher Murray’s writing fascinates me. While I didn’t find myself glued to the pages of this book, I loved the main character, Jessie Faucet, as well as the Roaring 20s and Harlem Renaissance time period. The story picks up in early 1920s Harlem when Jessie Faucet arrives in town to begin her new role as literary editor at The Crisis, a national magazine for African American writers, poets, and storytellers. She works for editor W.E.B. DuBois, whom she’s had an affair with—something that the author depicts well with meticulous research and creative liberties. The story introduced me to several prolific writers and poets during this time period like Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and Nella Larsen. While the story’s pacing ebbed and flowed—mainly due to the story leaning more on historical events and characters rather on the plot—it is a tremendously alive and engaging story set on the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance.
Hera by Jennifer Saint
Obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology during childhood? Same. This one’s for the Percy Jackson fans. While Hera felt more like a handful of stories stitched together, I loved the classic retelling of the goddess of marriage’s story. The novel depicts the family dynamics of the different Greek gods and goddesses, and, honestly, like the book depicts, they often acted like a dysfunctional family. That was the most interesting part! I had even recognized popular Greek myths like Medusa, Hercules (Heracles, actually), and the story of how twins Artemis and Apollo were born (characters who were important to this particular novel).
Hera was a fantastic yet complicated character as the goddess of marriage. Seeing how she coped with her philandering husband Zeus was a big part of the story—the glue of the story! She’s normally referred to as “Vengeful Hera” but Jennifer Saint did a great job of diving deeper than retribution and sharing a different perspective than what society knows of Hera. The author has other books on different Greek mythological characters as well.
The Queen of Sugar Hill: A Novel of Hattie McDaniel by ReShonda Tate
Movie lovers, this one’s for you. Hattie McDaniel was the first African American woman to win an Academy Award in 1940, for her portrayal as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. This book follows Hattie’s life and career after her historic win—and what a life she lived. Hattie had thought her win would open all sorts of doors and transcend her into more serious roles, especially as the silver screen era was kicking off, but the calls weren’t coming. Or, they weren’t coming as fast as they were for white actresses like Scarlett O’Hara and her other co-stars. She found herself typecast as one role: the housekeeper or maid (a.k.a the role of Mammy). Through it all, she continued her fight to pave a path for Black actors—in the way she had thought possible. The book also shares her focus on war efforts, fighting housing discrimination in a historically white neighborhood, and navigating four failed marriages.
With the help of her friends, a formidable Hattie took on Hollywood and paved the way for generations of Black actors to come. I loved this novel and the author did an incredible job of telling Hattie’s story—without seeming like a history textbook.
And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie May Thornton
Does every girl go through a Kennedy family hyperfixation… or just me? Regardless, this historical fiction exploration follows Jackie Onassis Kennedy and her life, not only during her marriage to John F. Kennedy and as the illustrious First Lady, but as a socialite before, during, and after her first marriage. We all know her for her incredible sense of style and the trendsetter that she was. The author did a wonderful job of weaving this story of Jackie’s life, taking creative liberties when she could (like the particularly close friendship with Robert Kennedy), and including the more vulnerable parts of Jackie’s life (like that infamous day in Dallas) that had a lone tear falling down my cheek.
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Life of a Showgirl… in 1940. Elizabeth Gilbert is a well-known and phenomenal historical fiction author, but her 2019 City of Girls stands out amongst the rest to me. Vivian Morris is 19 years old and has just been kicked out of Vassar College. She is sent to live in Manhattan with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant midtown theater. There, she’s introduced to showgirls, actors, writers, and other crew members. While set on the backdrop of 1940s New York, this is slightly a love story, but also explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, but mostly human desire and connection. I highly recommend this book—mainly for the Swifties with The Life of a Showgirl on repeat, but really, for any theater enthusiast.
Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen
This book made me a true connoisseur of print magazines. When I say print magazines, I mean Cosmopolitan. I had no idea the rich history behind this institutional magazine. It all started in 1960 when the brazen Helen Gurley-Brown, author of Sex and the Single Girl, joined the magazine’s ranks as editor-in-chief. Fresh off the heels of her book, she hit the ground running, determined to turn a failing magazine into a voice and an outlet for all women, particularly modern women, and ignite conversations about all things off-limits, including birth control, abortion, sex, and more.
Park Avenue Summer doesn’t follow Helen, but rather, her assistant Alice Weiss, who joined the staff at the same time as Helen. Learning about Helen through the eyes of this fictional assistant was a thrilling experience. Getting the chance to read about life in the 1960s working on a modern magazine like Cosmo and what it took to not only make a magazine, but make history as the country—as the world, tbh—was ushering in a new era of enlightenment. This remains one of my favorite books of all time.
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
Like many historical fiction novels, The Stolen Queen has a dual timeline, with one timeline taking place in Egypt in 1936, and one in 1979 in New York. This story is a tale of strong women with a backdrop of the Met Gala and Egyptian mythology, including a strong fictional female pharaoh, Hathorkare, based on a real lesser-known female pharaoh, Hatshepshut, and her valuable necklace on display at the Met.
The Stolen Queen also weaves in critical mother-daughter dynamics. In 1979 New York, all Annie wants is a strong female role model to look up to, after her own mother has failed to rise to the task, and she is thrilled when she lands a job to work for former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland at the Met, on the eve of the Met Gala. The other timeline, in 1936 Egypt, focuses on Charlotte as a young anthropology student working on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. There is a bit of romance in this one, but like Fiona Davis’ other books, the romance isn’t the main plot. Rather, The Stolen Queen has mystery and intrigue that made me nostalgic for the film National Treasure. The mystery revolves around a rare (fictional) female pharaoh, one which Charlotte has researched for most of her adult life, when this pharaoh suddenly goes missing. Charlotte and Annie, in 1979, team up in an unlikely turn of events, and head off to Egypt to solve this mystery.
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? By Crystal Smith Paul
If a book mentions that it’s set in old Hollywood, I’m there—the book is already in my hands. I loved the premise and main point of this book: to tell the fictional story of Kitty Karr, a showgirl. The story starts with Kitty’s birth (actually somewhat before that), and her growing up in the Deep South. When Kitty turns 18, she moves to Los Angeles and begins not only a new chapter, but a new life as a promising young actress. Due to her complexion, she passes as white. As she works through her promising film career throughout the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, she keeps this huge secret from those around her. While there was some romance, it wasn’t the main plot, which I liked. The story focuses on Kitty’s career, her life, friendships, and connections she made with people in the industry.
This novel also has a second timeline, in present day, following Elise, who, alongside her sisters, mysteriously inherits Kitty’s multi-million dollar estate. Elise, fresh off the heels of a bad breakup and controversy of her own, scrambles to put the pieces of Kitty’s life together and solves the mystery of the inheritance. The main premise of the book shined through Kitty’s perspective: her life story.
Wrapping Things Up
Whether you’re an avid reader of historical fiction, or you’re looking to dip your toes into the genre, let these books whisk you away and envelop you in the lively pages of a text more interesting than a history textbook.