Historical fiction
Historical fiction books bring the past to life through narratives that combine era-defining events, vividly realised settings and legendary figures.
Our popular books include works written centuries ago alongside contemporary authors who revisit history with a distinctive perspective, offering readers a rich way to engage with different times and places.
The following titles span continents and years, each offering a distinctive perspective on the past through immersive storytelling and carefully drawn characters.
Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North places an Australian surgeon at the heart of one of history's darkest chapters. Fighting to keep his men alive in a Japanese POW camp, he’s haunted by a forbidden love.
A Far-Flung Life by M.L. Stedman and The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson both explore two very different experiences of place and identity in a post-war Australia. The first is set in the sun-baked plains of Western Australia, on a remote sheep station, where a split-second decision changes everything. The other follows three tea ladies in bustling Sydney who find themselves in the middle of a murder mystery.
Some stories trace connections across multiple time periods. In There Are Rivers in the Sky, Elif Shafak weaves themes of water, cultural memory and displacement through the lives of an Assyrian king, a 19th-century English scholar and two contemporary characters. Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander takes a different approach, catapulting its heroine from 1946 into the heart of eighteenth-century Scotland, where history becomes something she must not just observe but survive.
And then there are characters well ahead of their time. Set in 1960s America, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus introduces a brilliant scientist who finds herself out of the laboratory and in front of the camera, inspiring women through a hit cooking show. Against the backdrop of a 1980s space programme, Taylor Jenkins Reid's Atmosphere follows a female astronaut from training into the vast unknown, where she discovers a passion and a love that redefines what she thought she knew about herself. Together, these titles reflect the enduring special appeal of historical fiction novels.
Eight years after the book was first published, fans of A Gentleman in Moscow will finally be able to see Count Rostov on screen.
Meet the tea ladies from Amanda Hampson’s Tea Ladies series.
Learn about a few of the major characters from Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
Delve into our features to learn more about historical fiction, from author insights and curated recommendations to a deeper look at the social changes behind some of your favourite books.
The classics offer a way to learn about the periods in which they were written, often reflecting the social attitudes, language and narrative styles of their time.
Modern historical fiction novels revisit the past with fresh insight, bringing forward less widely represented voices and reinterpreting events through a present-day lens.
Together, they demonstrate how storytelling continues to deepen our understanding of world history.
Curated book lists are designed to help you discover historical fiction novels that suit your interests, with titles similar in theme, time period or context.
The day Sidonie Montot buried her uncle was never going to be a good day.
What is historical fiction?
Historical fiction examines the past through fictional narratives grounded in real events, settings or time periods. Drawing on research, these stories imagine the lives of characters within earlier eras, offering insight into how people lived while bringing historical moments into focus through creative interpretation.
Take a literary journey through time
Historical fiction novels continue to engage readers through their ability to connect past and present. If you’re interested in related genres, step into our selection of war novels or historical romance books. Fantasy books can also offer an alternative way to enjoy history through imaginative storytelling.