The Best Historical Fiction of 2024
Whether you're a fan of action-packed westerns, Victorian wit, a Greek mythology enthusiast, drawn to the nostalgic charm of the 1950s, or looking for the perfect discussion fodder for your book club, there's something here for every historical fiction aficionado.
29 books

A brilliant retelling of Huck Finn from the perspective of Jim
Barack Obama & Ron Charles

James
Percival EverettThis 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.


Hardcover, 2024
$28.00$14.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
The latest from this historical fiction specialist is perfect for Victorian lit lovers


The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts
Louis BayardIn 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.
Hardcover, 2024
$29.00$14.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book
For art lovers yearning for a historical European jaunt

Gary Shteyngart & Elin Hilderbrand

Peggy
Rebecca GodfreyArt 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.


Hardcover, 2024
$29.00$14.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book
If you’re looking for an action-packed western but still crave a little romance

The New Statesman & Sandra Newman

The Heart in Winter
Kevin BarryThe 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."


Hardcover, 2024
$28.00$14.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
An eerie literary tale tailor made for fans of Thomas Mann

Chelsea Davis & Chicago Review of Books

The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story
Olga TokarczukThe 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."


Hardcover, 2024
$30.00$15.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
A must-have for any history buff's book club
shannon carlin & The New York Times

The Great Divide
Cristina HenriquezThis 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 GarcĂa Marquez in deepening the people's literary history of Latin America. HenrĂquez is a master of prose whose enchanting words capture the landscape…”


Hardcover, 2024
$30.00$15.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
A Shakespearean gem for time traveling literary detectives

The History of Literature Podcast & Christine Pride

By Any Other Name
Jodi PicoultIn 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."


Hardcover, 2024
$30.00$15.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
A hilarious debut novel inspired by New York’s famed Barbizon Hotel for Women
Rebecca Meloan & Clea Simon

Women's Hotel
Daniel M. LaveryFans 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.


Hardcover, 2024
$28.99$14.49 + Free shipping50% off your first book
A time-hopping story collection from the wildly popular author of A Gentleman in Moscow
leigh haber & Hamilton Cain

Table for Two: Fictions
Amor TowlesAmor 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.


Hardcover, 2024
$32.00$16.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
A novel tracking the journey of a drop of water over centuries by a Booker Prize finalist

There Are Rivers in the Sky
Elif ShafakThe 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.”
Hardcover, 2024
$30.00$15.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book