19 New Historical Fiction Books We Think You're Going To Love

Told from the perspective of the lesser-known Chanel, Coco's sister, Antoinette, this book follows the story of the Chanels, from their childhood in a Catholic orphanage to starting their massive fashion business. In a world that would prefer they be humble wives, these sisters manage to carve their own life paths — even if those paths lead them apart.

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On a plantation in the Deep South, two enslaved young men, Isaiah and Samuel, find moments of intimacy in the barn where they share duties tending to the animals. There, they can let their love — and a rare sense of hope — bloom. But their love threatens the system of the plantation. And when an older man, who is also enslaved, starts preaching of sin, others on the plantation begin to turn against each other. Isaiah and Samuel's love brings the plantation, and the weight of its prisoners' histories, to a powerful moment of reckoning.

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A queer reimagining of Pride and Prejudice's Anne de Bourgh, this novel follows Anne as she breaks free of the laudanum-filled, sheltered life her parents forced upon her. Armed with her vast inheritance, she flees to London, staying with her cousin Col. John Fitzwilliam as she attempts to join high society and forge a new identity — one that is uniquely her own.

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In an alternate version of late-1800s America, babies are a hot commodity after a flu wiped out much of the population. Ada, a young newlywed, hasn't gotten pregnant yet; in a world where women who are unable to have children are treated like witches, her only choice is to become an outlaw. She joins up with the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, a group of misfits who refuse to conform to gender or societal norms. But their dream of creating a utopia for outcasts comes with a dangerous plan — one that Ada isn't sure she can live with.

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Isaiah is a troublemaker with a secret soft spot for poetry; Angel is a quiet, churchgoing girl with trouble at home. The two teens have very different views on how Black people should forge their future in 1921 Tulsa. When their teacher offers them a job they can't refuse, they'll find they have more in common than they had thought. But their differing ideologies — and lives — will be put to the test on a tragic day in May when a white mob destroys their community and their understanding of the world.

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In the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution, rising star Estelita is discovered in a Havana nightclub and invited to live out her dream of singing in America. There she falls in love, but she's forced to flee to Hollywood with her daughter, Nina, when the relationship turns toxic. Thirty years later, Nina is reeling from her mother's death and decides to investigate her tumultuous past. Based on true events and interviews with the real Nina, this story weaves a heartbreaking tale of fame, loss, and an unbreakable bond between mother and daughter.

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Pheby Delores Brown is the daughter of an enslaved medicine woman and a white plantation owner, and her father (and enslaver) has promised her freedom as soon as she turns 18. But when Pheby's mother is killed and her father hurt in an accident, her father's wife sells her to the owner of a jail for enslaved people who have run away. Pheby must protect herself — and the children she ends up bearing — until her ex-lover arrives at the jail, prompting Pheby to hatch a plan to get her family to freedom, no matter the cost.

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In a steampunk version of Victorian England, aristocrat Miss Constance Haltwhistle secretly sells her invented weapons under the title of the "Brass Queen." Threatened with losing her estate if she doesn't marry, Constance throws herself a debutante ball. But when her homemade robotic waiters go rogue and kidnap three scientists, she must team up with a handsome but annoying American cowboy to get them back.

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Based on a real 19th-century Lutheran preacher, Laestadius, To Cook a Bear focuses on his relationship with Jussi, a young runaway turned son. When a string of attacks — chalked up to bears and accidents — hits their village in northern Sweden, the pair set out to find the real culprit. But their investigation doesn't sit well with everyone, and danger lurks around every corner as the duo try to solve the mystery before they're next.

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When American socialite Lily is sent to England to be "cured" of her partygoing ways, she never could have expected the Great War to send her fleeing to her cousin's side as she nurses soldiers in a crumbling Scottish castle. Alex, the castle's laird, prefers to keep to himself as his family home is turned into a makeshift hospital — but when the castle is threatened by mysterious circumstances, he must team up with Lily to save his home and win her heart.

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An unsettling and dark tale of growing up in a family with dark secrets, From the Moon I Watched Her introduces us to the Walters, a pure, good, and churchgoing family in 1977 Texas — at least that's how the seem from the outside. Family patriarch, Preacher Black, spits anti-abortion doctrine vehemently, but when his daughter's mental health spirals and she begins telling ever-changing stories about a baby who died, the family's skeletons threaten to come out.

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Taking inspiration from the author's time as a foreign correspondent in Baghdad under Saddam Hussein's rule in the early 2000s, this novel follows three women as their lives intersect. Huda, who works at the Australian Embassy, has been ordered by the secret police to befriend Ally, the deputy ambassador's wife, and report her learnings. But Ally has secrets of her own. And when Huda's former friend, the desperate daughter of a fallen sheikh, gets involved, the women will have to form a tenuous loyalty in order to keep their families safe.

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Lady Violet Hughes has quite a few secrets: First, she started a sanctuary for England's best women scientists; then she took a confidential job for the Crown; and then she developed feelings for her hunky hired bodyguard, Arthur — feelings she will NOT let distract her from her mission. But Violet and Arthur will have to put their chemistry aside when Violet's experiments (and her life) are threatened.

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M, a 7-year-old, spends most of her time with her dad, a traveling salesperson in Chile, since her mother still lives with the trauma from the Pinochet dictatorship. To M, life on the road is whimsical and carefree — until they meet up with a photographer, E, who captures the ghosts of people the government has disappeared. When M discovers E's connection to her family, it upturns the family's secrets and her childhood innocence.

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Taking place aboard the real-life 1841 voyage of the Rajah, which transported 180 women convicted of petty crimes from England to Australia, this thriller explores what it means to be innocent when you've already been found guilty. When a woman is mortally wounded by an attack in the middle of the voyage, the imprisoned passengers realize someone among them is actually dangerous. But which one?

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In the midst of WWII and forced food rationing, a British radio show holds a cooking contest called "The Kitchen Front" in an attempt to help mothers and wives. The grand prize? A coveted spot as the program's first woman cohost. Vying for the spot are a young widowed mother, a kitchen maid, an unhappy lady of the manor, and a trained chef — but will this competition bring the community together or be too much to handle in the middle of war?

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In the sixth century, women have three choices in life: sex work, motherhood, or a nunnery. But as the church begins to reject and vilify women within its ranks, Clotild, a king's daughter, leads an uprising of nuns to battle against the forces of the patriarchy. But with excommunication and even death growing more and more possible, will this rebel nun be able to change history?

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Vera, the 15-year-old daughter of the owner of San Francisco's most legendary brothel, has always had to be scrappy and resourceful, even as a child. But the great earthquake of 1906 shakes even Vera, who now finds herself an orphan and guardian to her little sister, Pie. Teaming up with a former enemy, Vera is forced to imagine a new world for herself among an unlikely band of survivors.

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As England begins its fight against the Nazis in 1940, three very different women join a brilliant team working on deciphering German code. Society girl Osla, self-made Mab, and shy spinster Beth work together to help the cause — until a betrayal breaks them apart. Seven years later, amid royal wedding fever, the three are reunited to solve an encrypted message as a mysterious traitor from their past looms closer and closer.

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