The World War II-era is certainly fascinating and has inspired many writers, but there's so much more historical fiction to explore! If you're looking for stories from different eras and perspectives, check out this list. It's got everything from a retelling of the Trojan war to 1980s Burkina Faso. Yes, the 1980s can be considered historical fiction now!
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Summer of '69
by Elin Hilderbrand Time period: 1960s Massachusetts As a man flies to the moon and Ted Kennedy sinks a car in Chappaquiddick, four siblings experience the drama, intrigue and upheaval along with the rest of the country during the summer of 1969. |
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When we left Cuba
by Chanel Cleeton Time period: 1960s Cuba Recruited by the CIA to infiltrate Fidel Castro's inner circle, Beatriz Perez, who is consumed with revenge and the desire to reclaim the life she lost in the Cuban Revolution, will risk everything--including the man who has stolen her heart. |
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Half of a yellow sun
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Time period: 1960s Nigeria A novel by the author of Purple Hibiscus dramatically re-creates the 1960s struggle of Biafra to establish an independent republic in Nigeria, following the intertwined lives of the characters through a military coup, the Biafran secession, and the resulting civil war. |
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Saints for all occasions
by J. Courtney Sullivan Time period: 1950s Boston After moving to America, a shy and responsible older sister and a gregarious young sister who thrives in their new Boston home endure the long-term repercussions of a fateful decision when the younger sister becomes pregnant. |
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Red at the bone
by Jacqueline Woodson Time period: 1980s and 2000s New York City As Melody celebrates a coming of age ceremony at her grandparents’ house in 2001 Brooklyn, her family remembers 1985, when Melody’s own mother prepared for a similar party that never took place in this novel about different social classes. |
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The giver of stars
by Jojo Moyes Time period: 1930s Kentucky Volunteering for Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library in small-town Kentucky, an English bride joins a group of independent women whose commitment to their job transforms the community and their relationships. |
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How much of these hills is gold
by C Pam Zhang Time period: 1850s American West Two orphaned Chinese immigrant siblings flee the threats of their gold rush mining town across an unforgiving landscape where their survival is tested by family secrets, sibling rivalry and disparate goals. |
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The great alone
by Kristin Hannah Time period: 1970s Alaska When her volatile, former POW father impulsively moves the family to mid-1970s Alaska to live off the land, young Leni and her mother are forced to confront the dangers of their lack of preparedness in the wake of a dangerous winter season. |
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Insurrecto
by Gina Apostol Time period: 1900s Philipines and today Two women, a Filipino translator and an American filmmaker, go on aroad trip in Duterte's Philippines, collaborating and clashing in the writing of a film script about a massacre during the Philippine-American War. Chiara is working on a film about an incident in Balangiga, Samar, in 1901, when Filipino revolutionaries attacked an American garrison, and in retaliation American soldiers created "a howling wilderness" of the surrounding countryside. Magsalin reads Chiara's film script and writes her own version. Insurrecto contains within its dramatic action two rival scripts from the filmmaker and the translator--one about a white photographer, the other about a Filipino schoolteacher. Within the spiraling voices and narrative layers of Insurrecto are stories of women--artists, lovers, revolutionaries, daughters--finding their way to their own truths and histories. |
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The stationery shop
by Marjan Kamali Time period: 1950s Iran The award-winning author of Together Tea presents a debut novel in which a young couple, separated in 1953 Tehran by a violent coup d'état, reunite by chance after more than half a century. |
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What the wind knows
by Amy Harmon Time period: 1920s Ireland/Irish Independence era Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather's stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time. The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar.Mistaken for the boy's long-missing mother, Anne adopts her identity, convinced the woman's disappearance is connected to her own. As tensions rise, Thomas joins the struggle for Ireland's independence and Anne is drawn into the conflict beside him. Caught between history and her heart, she must decide whether she's willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she'd find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make? |
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The song of Achilles
by Madeline Miller Time period: Antiquity/Trojan War This epic retelling of the legend of Achilles follows Patroclus and Achilles, the golden son of King Peleus, as they, skilled in the arts of war and medicine, lay siege to Troy after Helen of Sparta is kidnapped--a cause that tests their friendship and forces them to make the ultimate sacrifice. |
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American spy : a novel
by Lauren Wilkinson Time period: 1980s Burkina Faso Marie Mitchell, a Cold War FBI intelligence officer, joins an undercover task force to undermine Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary Communist president of Burkina Faso, who she secretly admires and comes to love, in a novel inspired by true events. |
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The queen of the night
by Alexander Chee Time period: 1850s France A legendary opera singer tries to discover who betrayed her secret past as a courtesan when she is offering her a chance at immortality through a libretto that tells her tale in the new novel from the author of Edinburgh. |
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Gods of jade and shadow
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Time period: 1920s Mexico A dark fairy tale inspired by folklore is set against the Jazz age in Mexico’s underworld, where a young dreamer is sent by the Mayan God of Death on a life-changing journey. |
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The secrets we kept
by Lara Prescott Time period: 1950s Cold War Russia A thrilling tale of secretaries turned spies, of love and duty, and of sacrifice--inspired by the true story of the CIA plot to infiltrate the hearts and minds of Soviet Russia, not with propaganda, but with the greatest love story of the twentieth century: Doctor Zhivago. |
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The water dancer : a novel
by Ta-Nehisi Coates Time period: Antebellum era/Plantation era American South A Virginia slave narrowly escapes a drowning death through the intervention of a mysterious force that compels his escape and personal underground war against slavery. |
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The court dancer
by Kyng-suk Sin Time period: Korean Joseon Empire, 1880s The New York Times best-selling author of Please Look After Mom presents the story of an enigmatic orphan-turned-dancer who is caught up in the dizzying sweep of court life in the dramatic final years of the Korean Empire. |
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Meet me in Monaco : a novel of Grace Kelly's royal wedding
by Hazel Gaynor Time period: 1950s French Rivera A struggling perfumer who has forged an unlikely friendship with Grace Kelly against a backdrop of the latter's high-profile wedding considers what she is prepared to sacrifice when she falls in love with a British press photographer. |
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The night tiger
by Yangsze Choo Time period: 1930s Malaysia A vivacious dance-hall girl in 1930s colonial Malaysia is drawn into unexpected danger by the discovery of a severed finger that is being sought by a young houseboy who would protect his late master's soul. |