10 Essential Historical Fiction Books

From retellings of Ancient Greek classics to World War II stories, here are some of the best historical fiction books you need to read right now.
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[@Albinojackrussel]

I shouldn't be watching this. I already have more books on loan from the library than I can reasonably read in time thanks to the horror list

[@krisprepolec5616]

Same! Thank goodness my library does not have late fees ;-)

[@user-jl2bh1lw6r]

한국어해 임마 💢

[@daxylol1277]

Your book recommendations are so different from others. It’s plot and the storyline is so different and interesting and after being introduced to Piranesi by you I’ve never stopped coming back to you for BR because I know you will urge me to read books that are so diff from the usual ones every other youtuber talks about.

[@gloomspell]

I just want you to know that I get excited every time I see you upload! You’re so criminally underrated as a book youtuber and I really hope your videos continue to reach more people 🩷💕

[@booksfrommybookshelf]

I love your highly intelligent and genuinely passionate recommendations of books - so glad I found your channel. As a new booktuber (and historical novelist btw), I am very inspired by your channel. I've put several of these books on my TBR - especially Hamnet. As a lover of Shakespeare, this is definitely one I need to read!

[@marya4632]

Thank you for your entertaining and articulate book recommendations. I've been adding so many books to my TBR list because of you. xxx

[@Galdra]

I just found you, and became addicted. ❤

[@labben1697]

This might be the most intriguing recommendations video I’ve ever seen. I liked one a lot (Little) and loved two of the books on your list (Lincoln and Hamnet), and I already had one on my tbr (The Wolf Den). The rest I have not heard of, and I want to read every single one. I’m tempted to do just that, starting with the two shortest ones, since I’m on the last day of a very intense readathon where reading short books gives the greatest chance of winning 😅

[@saifonlawrence2044]

Ive read Wolf Den..great book...cant wait to explore some of your other picks...well done video.

[@UncleBuck3t]

i dont know what it is, but i love listening to your videos before i begin writing for the day. it gets me in the zone.

[@maryhlavin5986]

Fantastic presentation..Thank You 💕

[@probablyatthelibrary5509]

Wow! Thank you for so many great recommendations!

[@imrejk]

Our Hideous Progeny sounds incredible! I love historical fiction, Matrix by Lauren Groff is one of my personal favourites.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Oh yeah. Matrix is incredible!!

[@noct505]

I immediately went from this video to my library app and got instant access to Leviathan, Lincoln in the Bardo, and For Thy Great Pain so that's my reading week sorted tyvm 😍

[@camiloflores1592]

Sorry for the off-topic but lovely outfit!!! And good recommendations as always

[@StephanieJCohen]

Adding Little to my TBR!

[@Calcprof]

Thank you. Some of my favorite historical fictions favorites include the Three Musketeer Saga by Dumas - (Usually 5 novels in modern editions). The Sot Weed Factor by John Barth (a farce on the early history of Maryland). Against the Day by Pynchon. Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys - the back story of Berta the madwomen locked in the attic in Jane Eyre. Clara Reeve by Tom Disch (as Leonie Hargrave),

[@tracieperez2629]

WOW! I was watching your video and I thought to myself ...I am going to be in so much trouble $$$, lol. So many great recommendations! I don't think I had heard of any of these aside from Hamnet, which I LOVE and also need to reread. I'm so very excited, I really enjoy historical fiction and I really enjoy Gothic! Thanks so much ❤️

[@awebofstories]

Great list! I just added Nettleblack to my TBR. I am really looking forward to Clymenestra. I actually got the ebook through Libby just yesterday, but I quickly realized that I would rather read it in print (thanks to the family tree and cast of characters at the front), so I returned it and am now waiting for the physical book.

[@SM-vr8dz]

Little is also one of my top 5 books! It is stunning.

[@MsPixieD]

Hi Willow, I'm watching your historical fiction back catalogue because Shelley Swearingen is doing a historical fiction event in June. (Your video from 2 yrs. ago had me writing down so many authors who now have even more books out, not sure where to start!) As you like camp, when you were talking about The Leviathan and feeding something in the attic, it reminded me of the very (to me anyway) camp film version of Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror. 1970, Sandra Dee and Dean Stockwell. I'm not seeing a dvd listed at my library, so maybe it was on Kanopy? Watch it if you can find it. Chef's kiss!!

[@autumnof1992]

These are some great recommendations!

[@KristinKravesBooks]

Wolf Den is staring at me from my tbr cart!

[@rolanddeschain6089]

Yay! There is not enough historical fiction on booktube, compared to Sci-Fi, Horror or Fantasy. More. More! 😊

[@badger-1984]

I saw Our Hideous Progeny on social media advertising but didn't really pay any attention and now I regret that. Frankenstein and dinosaurs sounds like the perfect mix for me

[@davidmorales8793]

You can't talk about historical fiction without mentioning Mario Vargas Llosa. "The war of the end of the world", and "the feast of the goat" are masterpieces.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

And yet I did. You can call me a miracle-worker if you want; I won’t stop you 😌

[@timetoread1795]

I have only read Lincoln in the Bardo of these you mentioned, so you added a lot to my list! Although I will say I have Hamnet but haven't started it yet cause I am nervous I won't like it...

[@Sayantika_Sarkar]

This video has truly inspired me to delve into the world of historical fiction! I've never explored this genre before, but after watching this video and hearing your passionate recommendations, I'm eager to give it a try. The way you described the immersive historical settings and the captivating characters has sparked my curiosity, and I can't wait to embark on these literary journeys through time. Thank you for sharing your love for historical fiction and for encouraging newcomers like me to give it a chance. I'm excited to expand my reading horizons and discover the magic that lies within these beautifully woven tales. Keep up the fantastic work Willow ❤️✨and I'll definitely be checking out the books you mentioned. Cheers!

[@storiesofroa]

i love julian of norwich! i'm so excited to see a book about her :D

[@06Yvonne06]

I love historical fiction and this was definitely a list for me!!!

[@carolbresnahan1244]

My favourite genre! Thought Fingersmith may have been in the top10 . . . Thank you for the recommendations🌻

[@WillowTalksBooks]

This isn’t a top ten, just ten books I recommend :)

[@carolbresnahan1244]

@@WillowTalksBooksmy mistake, apologies 😊

[@AdrienneG-km8by]

Thank you so much for this list! I loved Little and can't wait to check out the rest. I would be very interested to hear your opinion on "Tyll" by Daniel Kehlmann

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I was so excited for Tyll; it seemed like my perfect book. But I actually found it very bland 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@Newsbro89]

If you like historical fiction you should read “Fatal Throne.” It’s about the six wives of Henry VIII, but each part is told from the wives first person point of view. The audiobook is amazing as well because it’s done by multiple narrators as well, including a narrator with a Spanish accent for Katherine of Aragon and a narrator with a German accent for Anne of Cleves. Both the book and audiobook are amazing.

[@juliettemacguffin4045]

It sounds good, yum🤤 I love the three musketeers and water music by TC Boyle (hilarious). This summer, I try an historic novel by Jean Christophe Rufin, Rouge Brésil. 1555, Catherine de Medicis, Henri II. The first chapter is funny and promising 😊 For fall, I will try a japanese historic novel by Eji Yoshikawa about a samurai Misashi😊

[@roxannemead2827]

Late to... like everything but that first book i am particularly excited about because i loved madame tussaud by Michelle Moran which is a book i feel like everyone should read once in life and only once b.c. its something i personally couldn't emotionally handle reading again lol

[@krisprepolec5616]

You had me at pretty, creepy, and wonderfully morbid :-) You also had me at TerryPratchettesque. I highly recommend the audiobook for Lincoln in the Bardo. It is full cast, and it is wonderful. Have you read The Huntress by Kate Quinn? If so, what did you think of it? I loved the Night Witches.

[@lisacole6037]

You sold me on 'Little'.

[@verosnotebook]

Great list! With quite a few titles new to me (Little + Nettleblack). Thanks. Have Hideous Progeny planned for Oct. Sometimes I wish I didn’t like so many genres… Nah🤓

[@jessclemas4704]

Great recommendations! I read for thy great pain from this video and adored it! Have you read The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas? I think you'd love it based on these books, it's a novel set in a women's asylum in Paris in the late 1800's where the supposedly 'mad' women of Paris are sent. Amazing read

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I did really enjoy that, aye! But I was disappointed by the ending

[@jessclemas4704]

It did feel a little abrupt I agree, but I think just the writing and atmosphere of it will stay with me for a while! ☺️

[@jennyrbaker]

I loved Hamnet! I'm one of the few people who didn't like Lincoln in the Bardo. I tried the audiobook, and it was too many POVs.

[@MsPixieD]

I didn't like Lincoln in the Bardo either, but it had enough going for it that I didn't dnf it, and probably gave it a fairly positive rating. Since then I've read a short story collection called Vampires in the Lemon Grove, which predates the Lincoln book, that includes a story of historical presidents in Bardo. I much preferred that story, and loved the whole collection. Note to Willow, there's a story in that book set in Japan that I think you'd like.

[@lorifrederick2367]

Love your video. I am new here. I will watch more from you. Have you read Margaret George and W J Small HF. I appreciate all the research into their books. Plus, I love your Bunny! I have seen that website. Of course, I want my Zodiac (Scorpio) and I think there is one that is a cancer survivor. These bunnies...so cool and cute and so bad*ss!

[@barbarapaige4587]

I love Margaret George's books, most particularly The Autobiography of King Henry VIII. The audiobook is fantastic, and the story is told by Henry himself and then his fool Somers. You can imagine how they see the same events differently and in parts it's hilarious. It's long, but you can't stop reading because it's that good.

[@rachel1021]

For Thy Great Pain sounds really interesting! And I plan on getting to Nettleblack sometime this year. Right now I'm reading a queer historical romance called Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall. It is not very historically accurate and I'm fine with that. Both of the love interests are non-binary. :)

[@Albinojackrussel]

Have you ever read Eowyn Ivy? And if so, do you have much of an opinion?

[@dauntingful]

Excellent, bloat-free video. I'm checking out others of yours.

[@tabuknight2730]

Hello, can you do a review on The Forbidden Man by Gerald R. Knight

[@WillowTalksBooks]

No

[@Troy-ol5fk]

High Rise by J G Ballard is a quite interesting novel, I hope to see your thoughts on it

[@WillowTalksBooks]

It’s fine

[@EduardoRodriguez-du2vd]

❤