The Best Historical Fiction Books to Read in 2025

The Goncourt Prize–winning author of The Anomaly turns from speculative fiction to history, tracing the life of André Chaix, a young French Resistance fighter killed at 20 in 1944. After discovering Chaix’s name carved into the wall of his new Paris home, Le Tellier pieces together fragments of his brief life and love, blending archival detail with personal reflection. The Los Angeles Times calls it “a stirring tale of valor and romance, death and duty during the darkest days of World War II.”

In I Am You, Victoria Redel reimagines the life of still-life painter Maria van Oosterwijck through the perspective of her servant, muse, and lover. Their intimacy deepens and fractures as Maria’s fame grows, transforming loyalty into rivalry. Redel, an award-winning poet and novelist, situates questions of gender, art, and power within the vivid world of 17th-century Amsterdam. Sarah Jessica Parker calls the novel “wonderfully atmospheric...impossible to forget.

Two sisters facing wartime upheaval find solace—and unexpected power—through a secret book club in this dual-timeline novel from the bestselling author of Lilac Girls.

A painter is found dead in 1557 Florence—his final work a controversial fresco implicating the ruling elite. "This gossipy, epistolary novel is as full of epic characters as the Sistine Chapel ceiling: naughty Médicis, wine-drunk nuns, proto-Marxist painter's assistants," writes The New Yorker. "Sinfully fun to read."

Inspired by the life of G.W. Pabst, one of cinema’s greatest directors, The Director follows his journey from Hollywood to Nazi-occupied Austria. Forced to create propaganda films for the regime, Pabst confronts the blurred lines between artistic integrity and survival, while grappling with his pact with the devil. Zadie Smith called it “a wonderful book about complicity and the complicity of art… funny and brilliant.”

"Historical fiction you can feel in your bones," declared the Los Angeles Times in their list of most anticipated books of 2025. The author of Room reconstructs the infamous 1895 Montparnasse train disaster through diverse passengers from across Europe and beyond.

When a West Virginia resort is conscripted to host Axis diplomats in 1942, its general manager must keep secrets, spirits, and staff from unraveling. "A brilliant historical enemies-to-lovers tale with a magical sweetwater spring running through it," praise Oprah Daily.

Set in the turmoil of civil war, Isabel Allende’s latest historical novel follows a young writer’s journey to South America in search of the truth about her father and her own identity. "Isabel Allende never fails to deliver on the sweeping and spellbinding front," praised Today. "Her latest historical novel is about an ambitious young aspiring writer who goes after her dreams--much like Allende herself did."