Top new historical-fiction books in January 2025
Last updated:
January 31, 2025
January 2025 featuring new releases by Sarah Penner, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Charmaine Wilkerson, Fiona Davis, Heather O'Neill, Sejal Badani, Damien Boyd, Karissa Chen, Victoria Scott, Aria Aber and many more.
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The Conjurer's Wife by Sarah Penner
In nineteenth-century Venice, a young woman’s marriage to an illusionist hides secrets that go deeper than his spectacular acts. The stage is set for transformation in a mesmerizing short story by the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary.In 1820s Venice, world-renowned magician Oscar Van Hoff confounds sold-out crowds with his astounding manifestations...fantasy · historical-fiction · fiction · magic · historical · mystery · witches-wizards · magical-realism · feminism · family -
![Will's Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes]()
Will's Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes goes West in this thrilling adventure story about a son and his father who set out to win land during the Oklahoma Land Rush. It’s 1889, barely twenty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and a young Black family is tired of working on land they don’t get to own... -
![Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson]()
Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson
The daughter of an affluent Black family pieces together the connection between a childhood tragedy and a beloved heirloom in this moving novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Black Cake, a Read with Jenna Book Club PickWhen ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped...historical-fiction · fiction · audiobook · literary-fiction · mystery · contemporary · family · poc-mc · slavery · grief -
![The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis]()
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
From New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, an utterly addictive new novel that will transport you from New York City’s most glamorous party to the labyrinth streets of Cairo and back. Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity...historical-fiction · fiction · mystery · historical · fantasy · action-adventure · audiobook · crime · literary-fiction · sci-fi -
![The Capital of Dreams by Heather O'Neill]()
The Capital of Dreams by Heather O'Neill
“The Capital of Dreams is not so much a novel to read but one to live (and dream) in. A dark, wistfully comic fable that's as imaginative as it is poignant. An entire world that only Heather O'Neill could create.”—Iain Reid, bestselling author of We Spread and FoeFrom the hugely acclaimed author beloved by literary lights, including Emily St...fantasy · fiction · historical-fiction · literary-fiction · dystopia · historical · myths · humor · coming-of-age · crime -
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![The Sun's Shadow by Sejal Badani]()
The Sun's Shadow by Sejal Badani
From the bestselling author of The Storyteller’s Secret comes an unflinching exploration of betrayal, forgiveness, and the healing power of a second chance.Celine’s life is spiraling out of control. She’s in danger of losing the beloved equestrian farm that was her childhood home. Her distant husband, Eric, is devoting a suspicious amount of time to a stunning new colleague...fiction · contemporary · audiobook · drama · family · womens-fiction · grief · mystery · historical-fiction · journey -
![Deceived by the Light by Damien Boyd]()
Deceived by the Light by Damien Boyd
An innocent man framed. A case closed. A serial killer free to kill again.It is 1985. Detective Inspector Mungo ‘Bob’ Willis is being forced out of Avon and Somerset Police on medical grounds. His career is in tatters, his body broken, his mind shattered, and his partner—DS Lizzie Harper—dead in a sting operation gone wrong...mystery · historical-fiction · thriller · law-enforcement · fiction · police-procedural · crime · audiobook · serial-killers · murder -
![Homeseeking by Karissa Chen]()
Homeseeking by Karissa Chen
Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593712993.An epic and intimate tale of one couple across sixty years as world events pull them together and apart, illuminating the Chinese diaspora and exploring what it means to find home far from your homeland.A single choice can define an entire life...romance · historical-fiction · fiction · literary-fiction · historical · audiobook · family · war · coming-of-age · violent-conflict -
![The Storyteller's Daughter by Victoria Scott]()
The Storyteller's Daughter by Victoria Scott
A secret buried for decades… A story that will change everything.1940: When twenty-one-year-old Nita Bineham is offered the chance of independence, away from the high walls of her family’s Surrey estate, she grasps it with both hands. But her new role at a local newspaper coincides with the emergence of a sinister rumour in their quiet village: that there is a traitor in their midst...historical-fiction · mystery · fiction · historical · audiobook · ww2 · family · grief · friendship · multi-pov -
![Good Girl by Aria Aber]()
Good Girl by Aria Aber
An electric debut novel about the daughter of Afghan refugees and her year of nightclubs, bad romance, and self-discovery—a portrait of the artist as a young woman set in a Berlin that can't escape its historyA girl can get in almost anywhere, even if she can’t get out...europe · western-central-europe · germany · urban · fiction · literary-fiction · contemporary · lgbtq · coming-of-age · audiobook -
![I'll Come to You by Rebecca Kauffman]()
I'll Come to You by Rebecca Kauffman
A story of family, I'll Come to You chronicles intersecting lives over the course of 1995, anchored by the anticipation and arrival of a child... -
![Playworld by Adam Ross]()
Playworld by Adam Ross
A big and big-hearted novel—one enthralling, transformative year in the life of a child actor coming of age in a bygone Manhattan, from the critically acclaimed author of Mr. Peanut (“A brilliant, powerful, and memorable book” —The New York Times)“In the fall of 1980, when I was fourteen, a friend of my parents named Naomi Shah fell in love with me... -
![Bitter Passage by Colin Mills]()
Bitter Passage by Colin Mills
A nineteenth-century Arctic expedition descends into a chilling nightmare in a gripping and epic historical novel of discovery, rescue, deliverance, and survival by any means.In May 1845, Sir John Franklin, commander of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, departed England to seek a navigable route across the top of the Americas. He and his 128 men never returned...historical-fiction · fiction · historical · horror · suspense · action-adventure · survival · audiobook · cannibalism · exploration -
![Isaac's Song by Daniel Black]()
Isaac's Song by Daniel Black
The beloved author of Don’t Cry for Me and Perfect Peace returns with a poignant, emotionally exuberant novel about a young queer Black man finding his voice in 1980s Chicago—a novel of family, forgiveness and perseverance, for fans of The Great Believers and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.Isaac is at a crossroads in his young life...north-america · usa · illinois · urban · arkansas · historical-fiction · fiction · lgbtq · historical · literary-fiction -
![The Girls of the Glimmer Factory by Jennifer Coburn]()
The Girls of the Glimmer Factory by Jennifer Coburn
From the author of Cradles of the Reich comes a poignant and inspiring tale of resistance, friendship, and the dangers of propaganda, based on the real story of Theresienstadt, for fans of The Forest of Vanishing Stars and The German Wife...europe · western-central-europe · germany · urban · historical-fiction · fiction · ww2 · historical · audiobook · war -
![We Rip the World Apart by Charlene Carr]()
We Rip the World Apart by Charlene Carr
From the acclaimed author of Hold My Girl comes a sweeping multi-generational story about motherhood, race, and secrets.When 24-year-old Kareela discovers she's pregnant with a child she isn't sure she wants, her struggle to understand her place in the world as a person who is half-Black, half-white—yet feels neither—is amplified...fiction · historical-fiction · contemporary · audiobook · suspense · drama · family · literary-fiction · poc-mc · mystery -
![My Inconvenient Duke by Loretta Chase]()
My Inconvenient Duke by Loretta Chase
USA Today bestselling author Loretta Chase continues her Difficult Dukes series with this charming brother’s best friend second-chance historical romance.Of all the dukes in all the world, why does it have to be him?Lady Alice Ancaster needs a husband, and fast, because her reckless brother is going to get himself killed, leaving the dukedom—and her future—in their repellent cousin’s clutches... -
romance · fantasy · young-adult · lgbtq · mlm · fiction · historical · high-fantasy · historical-fiction · magic
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![The Artist and the Feast by Lucy Steeds]()
The Artist and the Feast by Lucy Steeds
A captivating novel of love, art, food, desire and thwarted ambition, which builds propulsively over one scorching French summer in 1920s Provence.During a scorching summer in 1920s Provence, a young journalist, Joseph Adelaide, turns up at the farmhouse of reclusive artist Edouard Tartuffe, hoping to write an article about him... -
![A Gorgeous Excitement by Cynthia Weiner]()
A Gorgeous Excitement by Cynthia Weiner
A dazzling debut novel set in 1980s New York, when cocaine is as easy to get as ice cream, about one young woman’s summer of infinite possibility—and looming danger.It was the summer of 1986, when the girl was found dead in Central Park behind the Metropolitan Museum—half-naked, legs splayed, arms flung over her head. Larynx crushed... -
![Deathbound: The Eynhallow Saga, Part 1 by Freya Mavor, Heather Palmer, Jessie Mei Li]()
Deathbound: The Eynhallow Saga, Part 1 by Freya Mavor, Heather Palmer, Jessie Mei Li
Audible presents the start of a thrilling new enemies to lovers, sapphic romantasy trilogy, for fans of Sarah J Maas, Leigh Bardugo and Rebecca Yarros, performed by Jessie Mei Li (SHADOW AND BONE) and Freya Mavor (INDUSTRY)In the kingdom of Eynhallow, Princess Ythsie is preparing to choose a husband, in order to secure the kingdom’s future...romance · fantasy · audiobook · wlw · lgbtq · mystery · magic · action-adventure · fiction · lesbian-mc -
![The Lost Ones by Eva Apelqvist, Johan Rundberg]()
The Lost Ones by Eva Apelqvist, Johan Rundberg
Mika will do what it takes to make sure there are no more lost ones―and to bring the infamous killer, the Dark Angel, out into the light.It’s summer in 1880 Stockholm, and the city bakes in the heat―but the heat on twelve-year-old Mika is lifting. After lying low following the dramatic blast at the jail, Mika’s relieved to learn her name is finally cleared... -
![I Am Cleopatra by Natasha Solomons]()
I Am Cleopatra by Natasha Solomons
From the internationally bestselling author of Fair Rosaline comes a captivating historical novel—a powerful retelling of the life of one of the most beguiling and misrepresented female figures in history, Cleopatra...africa · northern-africa · egypt · historical-fiction · fiction · historical · myths · retellings · audiobook · fantasy -
![Miss Bee e il principe d'inverno by Alessia Gazzola]()
Miss Bee e il principe d'inverno by Alessia Gazzola
Derbyshire, dicembre 1924. È un freddo Natale ad Alconbury Hall, la residenza di campagna della nobile famiglia Lennox. Così freddo che nemmeno generose dosi di sherry riescono a riscaldare la mente e il cuore di Lady Millicent Carmichael, mentre detta le sue scandalose memorie alla nuova segretaria...romance · crime · fiction · historical-fiction · historical · murder · mystery · cozy · drama · book -
![The Indigo Heiress by Laura Frantz]()
The Indigo Heiress by Laura Frantz
In 1774, Juliet Catesby lives with her father and sister at Royal Vale, the James River plantation founded by her Virginia family over a century before. Indigo cultivation is her foremost concern, though its export tethers her family to the powerful Buchanan clan of Glasgow, Scotland... -
![Let's Call Her Barbie by Renée Rosen]()
Let's Call Her Barbie by Renée Rosen
She was only eleven-and-a-half inches tall, but she would change the world. Barbie is born in this bold new novel by USA Today bestselling author Renée Rosen.When Ruth Handler walks into the boardroom of the toy company she co-founded and pitches her idea for a doll unlike any other, she knows what she’s setting in motion. It might just take the world a moment to catch up...historical-fiction · fiction · historical · season-winter · female-mc · literary-fiction · friendship · book · adult -
![The Vanishing Bookstore by Helen Phifer]()
The Vanishing Bookstore by Helen Phifer
‘Every story needs a happy ending. And you can’t have yours until you find the bookstore.’1692. On the outskirts of Salem, a bookstore stands covered in overgrown vines. Inside, a young woman hides a linen-wrapped journal under a loose floorboard and runs away, panicked by the sound of hounds barking in the distance. The bookstore vanishes into thin air…Present day...fantasy · historical-fiction · mystery · fiction · audiobook · witches-wizards · magic · historical · magical-realism · supernatural -
![The Heart of Winter by Jonathan Evison]()
The Heart of Winter by Jonathan Evison
The extraordinary new novel by Jonathan Evison, about a married couple in their golden years, from when they met across big ups, deep downs, and survive-it-all, opposites-attract loveAbe Winter and Ruth Warneke were never meant to be together—at least if you ask Ruth...romance · fiction · literary-fiction · contemporary · season-winter · family · audiobook · historical-fiction · book · adult -
![Confessions by Catherine Airey]()
Confessions by Catherine Airey
For fans of The Goldfinch and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, an ambitious and absorbing debut that follows three generations of women from New York to rural Ireland and back again.New York City, late September 2001. The walls of the city are papered over with photos of the missing. Cora Brady’s father is there, the poster she made taped to columns and bridges...urban · new-york-state · fiction · historical-fiction · literary-fiction · contemporary · audiobook · family · grief · season-spring -
![Old Soul by Susan Barker]()
Old Soul by Susan Barker
In Osaka, two strangers, Jake and Mariko, miss a flight, and over dinner, discover they’ve both brutally lost loved ones whose paths crossed with the same beguiling woman no one has seen since...horror · fiction · mystery · fantasy · literary-fiction · audiobook · supernatural · suspense · paranormal · lgbtq -
![Remember When: Clarissa's Story by Mary Balogh]()
Remember When: Clarissa's Story by Mary Balogh
Discover the beauty of second chances at love and life in this heartfelt new novel from New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh.The Dowager Countess of Stratton, Clarissa Ware, née Greenfield, has just presented her younger daughter to the ton, and the rest of her life belongs only to herself. She returns to Ravenswood, intending to spend the summer alone there...romance · historical-fiction · historical · fiction · wlw · fated-mates · family · audiobook · industrial-era · regency -
![The Boy I Love by William Hussey]()
The Boy I Love by William Hussey
Lyrical, tender, and incredibly moving. William Hussey masterfully balances brutal realism with pockets of sincere hope and joy - Becky AlbertalliIt’s a tale from the past, with a message for today. A stunningly poignant, devastating, and ultimately beautiful tour-de-force - Simon James GreenAt just nineteen, Stephen has already survived a year at the front...romance · historical-fiction · lgbtq · historical · young-adult · mlm · war · audiobook · fiction · military -
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![Los nombres de Feliza by Juan Gabriel Vásquez]()
Los nombres de Feliza by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
El 8 de enero de 1982, la escultora colombiana Feliza Bursztyn murió en un restaurante de París. Tenía cuarenta y ocho años. En el momento de su muerte repentina la acompañaban su marido y cuatro amigos. Uno de ellos, el escritor Gabriel García Márquez, publicó días después un artículo que incluía tres palabras en apariencia simples, pero misteriosas en el fondo: «Murió de tristeza»... -
![The Naming of the Birds by Paraic O'Donnell]()
The Naming of the Birds by Paraic O'Donnell
Something is troubling Inspector Henry Cutter. Sergeant Gideon Bliss is accustomed to his ill-tempered outbursts, but lately the inspector has grown silent and withdrawn.Then, the murders begin. The first to die is the elderly Sir Aneurin Considine, a decorated but obscure civil servant who long ago retired to tend his orchids...mystery · historical-fiction · fiction · gothic · historical · crime · audiobook · law-enforcement · industrial-era · victorian -
![When Stars Light the Sky by Elizabeth Camden]()
When Stars Light the Sky by Elizabeth Camden
Inga Klein's carefree life in New York takes a dramatic turn when she sails for Berlin, Germany, to serve as the secretary for America's ambassador. Amid the glamour of life at the embassy, she continually finds herself at odds with the straitlaced and imposing Benedict Kincaid, the diplomatic chief of staff who harbors deep misgivings toward the German-born Inga... -
![The Tides of Time by Sarah M. Eden]()
The Tides of Time by Sarah M. Eden
In 1793, a storm propels Lili forward through time, kindling a love that transcends the ages... -
![Everything Is Poison by Joy McCullough]()
Everything Is Poison by Joy McCullough
A Blood Water Paint-style historical YA in prose and verse from New York Times bestselling author Joy McCullough. For as long as she can remember, Carmela Tofana has desperately wanted one to be an important part of La Tofana Apothecary, her mother’s apothecary in the Campo Marzio neighborhood of Rome...historical-fiction · young-adult · historical · feminism · fiction · audiobook · dark · family · friendship · fantasy -
![Boudicca by P.C. Cast]()
Boudicca by P.C. Cast
From P. C. Cast, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the landmark House of Night urban fantasy series, comes an epic, lusty, magic-filled romantasy about British warrior queen Boudicca. Perfect for fans of Sue Lynn Tan and Madeline Miller!In Roman-occupied Britain, the Iceni tribe crowns an extraordinary new queen...romance · historical-fiction · fantasy · historical · myths · urban-fantasy · fiction · retellings · audiobook · ancient-civilization
