30 HISTORICAL FICTION BOOKS TO GET EXCITED ABOUT IN 2022
Calling all bookworms! With the new year comes new entries for the historical fiction canon. Here are some books I found coming out this year that I CANNOT WAIT FOR!
This list is not exhaustive and while I’ve put things in order based on publication month, please note that sometimes release dates get moved around. This list goes through August and I will update when more details get released.
January
Out Front the Following Sea by Leah Angstman
“A historical epic of one woman’s survival in a time when the wilderness is still wild, heresy is publicly punishable, and being independent is worse than scorned — it is a death sentence. At the onset of King William’s War between French and English settlers in 1689 New England, Ruth Miner is accused of witchcraft for the murder of her parents and must flee the brutality of her town.” WITCHES!
Her Hidden Genius by Marie Benedict
“Fictionalized story of Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) who unlocked the secrets of DNA only to die in anonymity.” Shame on you Watson and Crick!
The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis
“Novel about the secrets, betrayal, and murder within one of New York City’s most impressive Gilded Age mansions.” Give me Gilded Age everything this year.
Antoinette’s Sister by Diana Giovinazzo
“As Marie Antoinette took her last breath as Queen of France in Paris, another formidable monarch—Antoinette’s dearly beloved sister, Charlotte—was hundreds of miles away, in Naples, fighting desperately to secure her release from the revolutionaries who would take her life. Little did Charlotte know, however, that her sister’s execution would change the course of history—and bring about the end of her own empire.” Yesss, love learning about forgotten royal sisters.
The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews
“Victorian high society’s most daring equestrienne finds love and an unexpected ally in her fight for independence in the strong arms of London’s most sought after and devastatingly handsome half-Indian tailor.” Real talk: I love all of Mimi Matthews’ books. She is so great at Victorian romance and brings the history!
The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher
“An ode to Sylvia Beach, the owner of the beloved Parisian bookstore Shakespeare and Company. This atmospheric story takes you into Paris in the 1920s, as Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Pound wander the stacks, and where Beach almost lost everything when she decided to publish James Joyce’s banned novel, Ulysses. It is a wonderful reminder of the power of literature to change the world.”
February
Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor
“Jillian Cantor reimagines and expands on the literary classic The Great Gatsby in this atmospheric historical novel with echoes of Big Little Lies, told in three women’s alternating voices.”
The Stone World by Joel Agee
“An American boy’s childhood in Mexico, ensconced in a world of communist European exiles, union activists, street children, and avant-garde artists like Frida Kahlo.”
The Hemlock Cure by Joanne Burn
“It is 1665 and the women of Eyam keep many secrets. Isabel Frith, the village midwife, walks a dangerous line with her herbs and remedies. There are men in the village who speak of witchcraft, and Isabel has a past to hide. So she tells nobody her fears about Wulfric, the pious, reclusive apothecary. based on the real history of an English village during the Great Plague.” I swear the 1665 plague is its own genre of fiction because of the witch vibes happening alongside it. Excited for this one!
The Lady of Galway Manor by Jennifer Deibel,
“In 1920 amid the Irish war for independence, Annabeth De Lacy's father is appointed landlord of Galway Parish in Ireland. Bored without all the trappings of the British Court, Annabeth convinces her father to arrange an apprenticeship for her with the Jennings family--descendants of the creator of the famed Claddagh Ring.” I’m currently writing a story that takes place partially in Ireland and features a well-bred daughter who is discouraged from making jewelry. This book counts as “research.”
The Last Grand Duchess by Bryn Turnbull
“This sweeping new novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Woman Before Wallis takes readers behind palace walls to see the end of Imperial Russia through the eyes of Olga Romanov, the first daughter of the last Tsar.” I went down a Romanov rabbit hole over winter break and very excited to dive back in!
March
City of Incurable Women by Maud Casey
“Exploration of the type of female bodily and psychic pain once commonly diagnosed as hysteria―and the hysterical response commonly exhibited by medical men.” Rage inducing but fascinating!
Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu
“Spanning continents and generations, Peach Blossom Spring is a bold and moving look at the history of modern China, told through the story of one family. It’s about the power of our past, the hope for a better future, and the haunting question: What would it mean to finally be home?
The Last Confessions of Sylvia P. by Lee Kravetz
“Told through three narratives, debut novel reimagines a chapter in the life of Sylvia Plath, telling the story behind the creation of her classic semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar”
The Colony of Good Hope by Kim Leine (trans. Martin Aiken),
“Novel about the first encounters between Danish colonists and Greenlanders in early 18th century, of brutal clashes between priests and pagans, and the forces that drive each individual towards darkness or light.” This was published in 2018, but the English translation is due end of March.
Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter by Lizzie Pook
“The Brightwell family has sailed from England to make their new home in Western Australia. Ten-year-old Eliza knows little of what awaits them on these shores beyond shining pearls and shells like soup plates – the things her father has promised will make their fortune.
Ten years later and Charles Brightwell, now the bay’s most prolific pearler, goes missing from his ship while out at sea. Whispers from the townsfolk suggest mutiny and murder, but headstrong Eliza, convinced there is more to the story, refuses to believe her father is dead.”
April
In the Face of the Sun Denny S. Bryce
“A young, pregnant Black woman and her brash, profane aunt embark upon an audacious 1960s road trip across a country convulsed by the Civil Rights Movement.” I love a profane aunt story!
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
“The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon three hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.”
The Mad Girls of New York by Maya Rodale
“For as long as she could remember, Nellie Bly wanted to be a journalist. But in the late 19th century, the only jobs she could get were writing puff pieces for women’s magazines. That is until she got the crazy offer to go undercover as a patient in a women’s insane asylum to report on the terrible conditions. This is the fascinating story of the indomitable Nellie Bly and how she made a name for herself and became one of the most famous reporters of the Gilded Age.” Nellie Bly is definitely on my Storical list!
The Fervor by Alma Katsu
“In this haunting historical horror, we follow Meiko Briggs and her daughter Aiko, as they are forced to leave their home and go to a Japanese internment camp during World War II. They try to make the best of the situation, until a mysterious disease starts to spread throughout the camp…A gripping thriller that is also a cautionary tale about the dangers of demonization and how we must be careful to not repeat the sins of the past.” I’m currently reading the author’s book The Hunger about the Donner Party (I lived in Reno in high school so their story fascinates me) and it is excellent. Very excited for this one because there are not a ton of historical horrors out there.
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
“Kaikeyi is the queen in Ramayana, the ancient Hindu epic that is one of the largest ancient texts in world literature. This book reimagines her life as a young woman trying to make her way in a male and god-dominated world. As she grows from an underrated princess to a fierce diplomat and revered queen, her relationship with her family suffers. Eventually, she is forced to choose between following her own path or the path selected for her.”
Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang
“Stolen from her home country of China and taken to the United States to work in a brothel, Daiyu arrives in the 1880s American West and has to find her way in a foreign land. Reinventing herself again and again, Daiyu works to outrun her past, even disguising herself as a boy to avoid abuse on the streets. When intense anti-Chinese immigrant feeling travels across the country, Daiyu relies on her previous selves to survive the ever-growing racism and violence.” Love a good western and very eager to read one from the perspective of a marginalized person.
The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare by Kimberly Brock
“What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke remains a mystery, but the women who descended from Eleanor Dare have long known the truth lies in what she left behind: a message carved onto a large stone and the contents of her treasured Commonplace Book. Brought from England on Eleanor’s fateful voyage to the New World, her book was passed down through the fifteen generations of daughters who followed as they came of age. Thirteen-year-old Alice had been next in line to receive it, but her mother’s tragic death fractured the unbroken legacy and the Dare Stone and the shadowy history recorded in the book faded into memory. Or so Alice hoped.” LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
May
The American Adventuress by C. W. Gortner
“Story of Jennie Jerome Churchill, mother of Winston, a New York born heiress who always lived life on her own terms.” I’m going deep into dollar princess fiction. Send help.
Elizabeth of York; The Last White Rose by Alison Weir
“When her father, Edward VI, dies, Elizabeth of York must choose her destiny with care.” Omg yes. Alison Weir is my historical fiction queen and I’m so excited that she’s got a new series going. I loved her Six Tudor Queens series. This one is first in a new trilogy.
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
“Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this debut supernatural suspense novel, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, about a remote house, a sinister haunting, and the woman pulled into their clutches...” YAS.
June
Death and Hard Cider by Barbara Hambly
“1840. Musician, sleuth and free man of color Benjamin January gets mixed in politics, with murderous results.” Apparently this is book 19 in a series and now I need to go back and read more. Seriously, click the link and read the description. So much interesting history!
Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
“Epic of betrayal, love, and fate that spans five generations of an Indigenous Chicano family in the American West.” As a person who grew up and went to college in Los Angeles where I also studied Chicano lit…I LOVE THESE STORIES. I’m very excited to sit down with this one.
By Her Own Design by Piper Huguley
“Story of how Ann Lowe, a Black woman and granddaughter of slaves, rose to design and create one of America’s most famous wedding dresses for Jackie Kennedy.” I first encountered Ann Lowe’s story in the before times when I volunteered (in person!) as a reading tutor. My student and I read a picture book about Ann and I’m so excited to have a full-length examination of her story.
August
Big Red by Jerome Charyn
“Set amidst the noir glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Big Red reenvisions the life of one of America’s most enduring icons: Gilda herself, Rita Hayworth, whose fiery red hair and hypnotic dancing helped make her the quintessential movie star of the 1940s.
With narrator Rusty Redburn—a feisty second-string gossip columnist from Kalamazoo tasked with spying on Hayworth by Columbia movie mogul Harry “The Janitor” Cohn—as our guide, we follow the meteoric rise and heartrending demise of the actress.” Ugh I can’t wait.
A Storm in the Stars by Don Zancanella
“Based on the lives and romance of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley and their friendship with the larger-than-life poet, Lord Byron.” YAS.
Add these to your TBR pile
Hope you found a few historical fiction books on this list to pique your interest. What are you most looking forward to reading this year? You can find me on Goodreads if you’d like to share recommendations or reviews!