The Best Historical Fiction of 2024

This instant New York Times bestseller reimagines Twain’s classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through the eyes of his enslaved sidekick Jim as he embarks down the Mississippi in search of freedom. "Huck Finn' Is a Masterpiece. This Retelling Just Might Be, Too," raved The New York Times.

In this “bittersweet tragicomedy,” the author of multiple historical novels, including Jackie & Me and The Pale Blue Eye, turns his critically-acclaimed pen on the legendary Irish poet and his family, as they grapple with the aftermath of the famous playwright's imprisonment for homosexuality. “Bayard turns the Wilde family's tragedy into an engrossing, eternally relevant fable of fame, scandal, and love," declared Kirkus in its starred review.

Art lovers and historical fiction fans won’t want to miss Peggy, a buzzed-about new novel that follows the legendary art collector and heiress Peggy Guggenheim’s “whirlwind life through the art worlds of America and Europe, and the interesting, high-brow, and often sexist circles she traveled in,” according to W magazine.

The Washington Post observed that the acclaimed Irish novelist’s fourth book, which follows two renegade lovers on the lam in 1890s America, is “a western and a love story, which would make it a departure for Barry if it weren’t for the fact that all his novels have been departures."

The latest masterwork from this Nobel Prize winner "reckons with some of the major intellectual questions of the 20th century while simultaneously spinning a mysterious—and spooky—web of intrigue and suspense," praised Kirkus in their starred review, calling it "a crucial addition to Tokarczuk's oeuvre."

This Read with Jenna pick brings to life the untold stories of the people who shaped the construction of the Panama Canal, from local fishermen to foreign laborers, doctors and engineers and others. The Washington Post declared that it “joins novels by Julia Alvarez, Sandra Cisernos, and Gabriel García Marquez in deepening the people's literary history of Latin America. Henríquez is a master of prose whose enchanting words capture the landscape…”

In this unforgettable “blend of historical fiction and modern-day settings,” a contemporary playwright struggles for recognition, while in 1581, her ancestor Emilia Bassano secretly writes plays for Shakespeare. “The novel gives us timelines that intertwine and surprise,” remarked Harper's Bazaar. “This one is definitely for fans of Shakespeare's work; Picoult has done her research."

Fans of Slate’s former "Dear Prudence" advice columnist will be delighted to learn that the Something That May Shock and Discredit You author has finally applied his trademark literary wit to a full-fledged novel set in 1960s New York City, brimming with “unique characters whose entertaining dramas over minor rules of social interactions read like Emily Post on her second martini," according to the Washington Post.

Amor Towles offers his devoted fans a clutch of short stories set in turn-of-millenium New York City, plus a helping of golden age glam with a novella set in 1938 Hollywood. "Superb ... This may be Towles' best book yet. Each tale is as satisfying as a master chef's main course, filled with drama, wit, erudition and, most of all, heart," raved the Los Angeles Times.

The Guardian was enthralled by this “rich, sweeping tale spanning centuries, continents and cultures” from Ancient Mesopotamia to modern day London, which interweaves the lives of “an extraordinary child born at the edge of the dirt-black Thames in Victorian London, a Yazidi girl journeying across war-torn lands in 2014 Turkey, and a broken-hearted hydrologist in 2018 London.”