Top new historical-fiction books in October 2024
Last updated:
October 31, 2024
October 2024 featuring new releases by Nikki May, Chris Hammer, Louise Erdrich, C.J. Cooke, Susanna Clarke, Victoria Sawdon, Diana R. Chambers, Samantha Greene Woodruff, Lynda Cohen Loigman, Andrew Miller, Jennifer Donnelly and many more.
-
This Motherless Land by Nikki May
READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAYFrom the acclaimed author of Wahala, a “vibrant” (Charmaine Wilkerson) decolonial retelling of Mansfield Park: Jane Austen meets The Vanishing HalfQuiet Funke is happy in Nigeria. She loves her art teacher mother, her professor father, and even her annoying little brother (most of the time)...fiction · historical-fiction · audiobook · literary-fiction · contemporary · retellings · family · coming-of-age · racism · poc-mc -
![The Valley by Chris Hammer]()
The Valley by Chris Hammer
The latest stunning thriller from the bestselling author of Scrublands and The Seven.Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic are back – as Nell is thrown into her most emotionally fraught investigation yet.A controversial entrepreneur is murdered in a remote mountain valley, but this is no ordinary case. Ivan and Nell are soon contending with cowboy lawyers, conmen, bullion thieves and grave robbers...crime · fiction · mystery · audiobook · historical-fiction · thriller · killer · law-enforcement · police-procedural · contemporary -
![The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich]()
The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich
In this stunning novel, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award–winning author Louise Erdrich tells a story of love, natural forces, spiritual yearnings, and the tragic impact of uncontrollable circumstances on ordinary people’s lives.History is a flood. The mighty red . . .In Argus, North Dakota, a collection of people revolve around a fraught wedding... -
![The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke]()
The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke
A mother must fight for her daughter’s life in this fierce and haunting tale of witchcraft and revenge from the author of A Haunting in the Arctic.Clem gets a call that is every mother’s worst nightmare...horror · fantasy · historical-fiction · witches-wizards · fiction · mystery · gothic · audiobook · historical · paranormal -
![The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke, Victoria Sawdon]()
The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke, Victoria Sawdon
'A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They're the same thing really.'Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scott is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees—and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox...fantasy · fiction · magical-realism · audiobook · animals · season-winter · historical · historical-fiction · outdoors · magic -
-
![The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R. Chambers]()
The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R. Chambers
Before she mastered the art of French cooking in midlife, Julia Child found herself working in the secrets trade in Asia during World War II, a journey that will delight both historical fiction fans and lovers of America's most beloved chef, revealing how the war made her into the icon we know now...asia · south-asia · india · urban · sri-lanka · myanmar · china · romance · historical-fiction · fiction -
![The Trade Off by Samantha Greene Woodruff]()
The Trade Off by Samantha Greene Woodruff
A brilliant and ambitious young woman strives to find her place amid the promise and tumult of 1920s Wall Street in a captivating historical novel by the author of The Lobotomist’s Wife.Bea Abramovitz has a gift for math and numbers. With her father, she studies the burgeoning Wall Street market’s stocks and patterns in the financial pages...urban · new-york-state · romance · historical-fiction · fiction · family · historical · audiobook · female-mc · 20th-century -
![The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman]()
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
It's never too late for new beginnings.On the cusp of turning eighty, newly retired pharmacist Augusta Stern is adrift. When she relocates to Rallentando Springs—an active senior community in southern Florida—she unexpectedly crosses paths with Irving Rivkin, the delivery boy from her father’s old pharmacy—and the man who broke her heart sixty years earlier...north-america · usa · florida · urban · new-york-state · romance · historical-fiction · fiction · magical-realism · fantasy -
![The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller]()
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
December 1962, a small village near Bristol. Eric and Irene and Bill and Rita. Two young couples living next to each other, the first in a beautiful cottage - suitable for a newly appointed local doctor - the second in a rundown, perennially under-heated farm... -
![Where Roses Fall by Jennifer Donnelly]()
Where Roses Fall by Jennifer Donnelly
Bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Donnelly continues her Rose Petals series – novella-length stories set within the world of her beloved Tea Rose saga.It’s the summer of 1900 in London’s gritty East End. The ruthless, complicated gangster Sid Malone rules the streets of Whitechapel with an iron fist, but cannot rule his own heart...romance · historical-fiction · audiobook · fiction · medical · mystery · industrial-era · victorian · edwardian · literary-fiction -
![Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger]()
Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger
An enthralling novel about three generations of strong-willed women, unknowingly shaped by the secrets buried in their family’s past.Detroit, 1960. Lila Pereira is two years old when her angry, abusive father has her mother committed to an asylum. Lila never sees her mother again...fiction · historical-fiction · literary-fiction · contemporary · mystery · family · audiobook · drama · feminism · friendship -
![The Murderess by Laurie Notaro]()
The Murderess by Laurie Notaro
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Laurie Notaro comes a haunting true-crime novel about Winnie Ruth Judd, one of the twentieth century’s most notorious and enigmatic killers.It’s October 1931. When Winnie Ruth Judd arrives at the Los Angeles train station from Phoenix, her shipping trunks catch the attention of a suspicious porter...north-america · usa · california · urban · arizona · historical-fiction · fiction · mystery · true-crime · historical -
![The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon]()
The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon
From beloved Saturday Night Live alum Kate McKinnon comes a madcap new adventure about three sisters, a ravenous worm, and a mysterious mad scientist. So, you want to be a young mad scientist. Congratulations! Admitting it is the first step. The second step is reading the (definitely true) tale of the Porch sisters… Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee Porch do not belong...middle-grade · fantasy · audiobook · fiction · humor · children-books · young-adult · mystery · children · magic -
![Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst]()
Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst
From the internationally acclaimed winner of the Booker Prize, a piercing novel that envisions modern England through the lens of one man’s acutely observed and often unnerving experience, as he struggles with class and race, art and sexuality, love and violence... -
![None Left to Tell by Noelle W. Ihli]()
None Left to Tell by Noelle W. Ihli
Three women, connected by one of the most brutal mass slayings in US history.Lucy is sick of turning the other cheek. Ten years ago, an anti-Mormon mob drove her family and friends from their homes in Illinois. But now, the tables have turned. Rumor has it, some of those same men are traveling through Utah on their way to California. And this time, Lucy won’t run...historical-fiction · mystery · true-crime · suspense · fiction · audiobook · historical · crime · thriller · psychological -
![The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys, Steve Sheinkin]()
The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys, Steve Sheinkin
A stunning collaboration between award-winning and bestselling authors Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin, this middle grade historical adventure follows two siblings at Bletchley Park, the home of WWII codebreakers, as they try to unravel a mystery surrounding their mother’s death.Remember, you are bound by the Official Secrets Act…Summer, 1940...historical-fiction · middle-grade · historical · ww2 · war · mystery · children · fiction · children-books · law-enforcement -
![The Invisible College by Jeff Wheeler]()
The Invisible College by Jeff Wheeler
A mortal sorcerer sets out to defy the dark magic of an ancient race awakening to wage war on mortals in an epic fantasy of adventure and love by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jeff Wheeler.Millennia ago, a magical race called the Aesir found a new home on a distant world. Attracted to the cold during an ice age, they hibernated for hundreds of years at a time...romance · fantasy · fiction · audiobook · magic · sci-fi · historical-fiction · young-adult · disability · urban-fantasy -
![Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner]()
Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner
A wry and riveting debut novel about family, mental illness, and a hard-won path between two sistersIt is said that when one person in a family is unstable, the whole family is destabilized. Meet the Shreds. Olivia is the sister in the spotlight, but when her stunning confidence morphs into something erratic and unpredictable, she becomes a hurricane leaving people wrecked in her wake...fiction · contemporary · mental-illness · literary-fiction · family · coming-of-age · audiobook · psychological · dark · season-spring -
![The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan]()
The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan
A murder mystery set in a seaside town filled with pirate lore, family secrets, unforgiveable grudges, secret societies, and of course, a treasure lost to time. WELCOME TO MAPLE BAY, NOVA SCOTIAFor nearly a century, people have ventured to the idyllic seaside town of Maple Bay in search of a legendary lost pirate treasure, but locals know there’s more than just gold buried in the sand...mystery · fiction · action-adventure · cozy · audiobook · crime · thriller · murder · contemporary · suspense -
-
![Lover Girl by Raegan Fordemwalt]()
Lover Girl by Raegan Fordemwalt
Lover Girl is the dreamy debut from poet and breakout TikTok star Raegan Fordemwalt, enhanced with a new cover and never-before-shared poems and art.In her fully illustrated debut collection Lover Girl, poet Raegan Fordemwalt writes the story of a girl boldly and devastatingly fond of love... -
![The Hanging of Hettie Gale by Tess Burnett]()
The Hanging of Hettie Gale by Tess Burnett
A mother's love will never die. Neither will a mother's fury . . . The moor is a difficult place for a young woman to grow up in the eighteenth century, and life for Hettie Gale is no different. Abused by her father and abandoned by her family, she builds a new life for herself and her young son...historical-fiction · horror · fiction · mystery · historical · paranormal · gothic · time-travel · supernatural · audiobook -
![Polostan by Neal Stephenson]()
Polostan by Neal Stephenson
The first installment in Neal Stephenson’s three-part Bomb Light cycle, Polostan follows the early life of the enigmatic Dawn Rae Bjornberg. Born in the American West to a clan of cowboy anarchists, Dawn is raised in Leningrad after the Russian Revolution by her Russian father, a party line Leninist who re-christens her Aurora...fiction · historical-fiction · sci-fi · historical · audiobook · fantasy · espionage · 20th-century · politics · mystery -
![Sugar by Mia Ballard]()
Sugar by Mia Ballard
Love, betrayal, murder, and witchcraft.When 35-year-old Satara Stratton discovers her husband Dean’s treacherous affair with her best friend, Lilah, she plunges into familiar deceit and death. Having disposed of men before without a hitch, she finds a new thrill in this betrayal. But with Lilah on a crusade to expose her guilt, Satara must outpace everyone to keep her secrets safe...horror · fiction · contemporary · historical-fiction · mystery · literary-fiction · witches-wizards · thriller · suspense · spooky -
![The Fabled Earth by Kimberly Brock]()
The Fabled Earth by Kimberly Brock
Inspired by the little-known history of Cumberland Island, The Fabled Earth is a sweeping story of family lore and the power of finding your own voice as Southern mythology and personal reckoning collide with a changing world.1932...historical-fiction · fiction · mystery · historical · literary-fiction · womens-fiction · audiobook · family · small-town · secrets -
![The Witches of El Paso by Luis Jaramillo]()
The Witches of El Paso by Luis Jaramillo
A lawyer and her elderly great-aunt use their supernatural gifts to find a lost child in this richly imagined and empowering story of motherhood, magic, and legacy in the vein of The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina and La Hacienda.If you call to the witches, they will come... -
![Reverence by Milena McKay]()
Reverence by Milena McKay
Two ballerinas. Two fates. One stage. It's the carefree '80s and Juliette Lucian-Sorel has it all. She’s the greatest dancer to ever grace the floorboards of Palais Garnier, she's royalty to her adoring fans, and Paris is at her feet. Or so it seems…Katarina Vyatka is defecting from behind the Iron Curtain, desperate to save herself and her career...romance · wlw · lgbtq · historical · historical-fiction · fiction · grumpy-mc · lesbian-mc · enemies-to-lovers · age-gap -
![A Lark's Release: A Regency Cozy by Lynn Messina]()
A Lark's Release: A Regency Cozy by Lynn Messina
It is hardly surprising Verity Lark can’t sleep at night with all the thoughts darting through her her recent stay in Newgate, her debt to Colson Hardwicke, the horrible abuse suffered by the children at Fortescue’s that her reporting on the orphan asylum several years earlier had failed to uncover...romance · historical-fiction · mystery · fiction · cozy · female-mc · female-author · suspense · friendship · industrial-era -
![The Scandal of Rose by Joanna Shupe]()
The Scandal of Rose by Joanna Shupe
When actress Rose O'Donahue agrees to become the mistress of the formidable tycoon Moore Emerson, she knows the part all too well: fancy champagne, opulent parties, and late nights full of wickedness.The arrangement with Moore suits her perfectly. He’s generous and caring, a fantastic lover. Best of all, she’ll soon have enough money saved to secure her future independence for good...romance · historical · historical-fiction · fiction · steamy · age-gap · class-difference · betrayal · billionaire · female-author -
![Murder at the Foundling Hospital by Irina Shapiro]()
Murder at the Foundling Hospital by Irina Shapiro
Gemma’s boots slip on uneven ground and her black cape catches in the wind as she runs. “Please, not Lucy,” she prays. Nurse Gemma Tate is heartbroken when she hears that one of her young charges at the Foundling Hospital has been killed...mystery · historical-fiction · audiobook · historical · fiction · murder · crime · cozy · suspense · law-enforcement -
![Rough Pages by Lev A.C. Rosen]()
Rough Pages by Lev A.C. Rosen
Private Detective Evander "Andy" Mills has been drawn back to the Lavender House estate for a missing person case. Pat, the family butler, has been volunteering for a book service, one that specializes in mailing queer books to a carefully guarded list of subscribers...mystery · historical-fiction · historical · lgbtq · fiction · audiobook · murder · noir · mlm · found-family -
![The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen]()
The Black Hunger by Nicholas Pullen
John Sackville will soon be dead. Shadows writhe in the corners of his cell as he mourns the death of his secret lover and the gnawing hunger inside him grows impossible to ignore.He must write his last testament before it is too late...horror · gothic · historical-fiction · fantasy · historical · fiction · lgbtq · audiobook · spooky · romantic-love -
![The Colony Club by Shelley Noble]()
The Colony Club by Shelley Noble
When young Gilded Age society matron Daisy Harriman is refused a room at the Waldorf because they don’t cater to unaccompanied females, she takes matters into her own hands. She establishes the Colony Club, the first women’s club in Manhattan, where visiting women can stay overnight and dine with their friends; where they can discuss new ideas, take on social issues, and make their voices heard...historical-fiction · fiction · historical · mystery · womens-fiction · friendship · urban · 20th-century · killer · family -
![Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux]()
Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux
Madeleine Roux’s next season in Regency England follows a rebellious writer and the man who risks everything to publish her.In a world where women are expected to be demure and dainty, Margaret Arden would much rather be passionate and daring like the characters in her novel...romance · historical-fiction · fiction · historical · industrial-era · regency · gothic · adaptations · action-adventure · suspense -
-
![Women's Hotel by Daniel M. Lavery]()
Women's Hotel by Daniel M. Lavery
From the New York Times bestselling author and advice columnist, a poignant and funny debut novel about the residents of a women’s hotel in 1960s New York City.The Beidermeier might be several rungs lower on the ladder than the real-life Barbizon, but its residents manage to occupy one another nonetheless...historical-fiction · fiction · literary-fiction · humor · historical · lgbtq · wlw · comedy · politics · urban -
![Dead Beside The Thames by Stephanie Laurens]()
Dead Beside The Thames by Stephanie Laurens
#1 NYT-bestselling author Stephanie Laurens returns with a confounding case that sees her favorite sleuths acting to save a friend wrongly accused of murder.When a detested viscount is found murdered by the banks of the Thames and Charlie Hastings becomes the prime suspect, Barnaby and Penelope Adair join forces with Stokes to discover the real story behind the unexpected killing...romance · historical · mystery · audiobook · historical-fiction · fiction · industrial-era · regency · suspense · victorian -
![Now Comes the Mist by Julie C. Dao]()
Now Comes the Mist by Julie C. Dao
WINNER OF THE 2025 RNA FANTASY ROMANTIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARDDracula’s Lucy Westenra like you’ve never seen her In this retelling from critically acclaimed author Julie C. Dao, the perfect woman bites back.Lucy Westenra is beautiful, rich, loved by three men—every inch a lady...romance · horror · fantasy · vampires · gothic · retellings · historical-fiction · audiobook · historical · paranormal -
![Curdle Creek: A Novel by Yvonne Battle-Felton]()
Curdle Creek: A Novel by Yvonne Battle-Felton
“ Curdle Creek is a thoughtful, sinister tour-de-force.”―Tananarive Due, L.A. Times Book Prize-winning author of The Reformatory For fans of “The Lottery” and The Hunger Games, this novel set in a small town with a sinister tradition is chilling in the best possible way.Welcome to Curdle Creek, a place just dying to make you feel at home...horror · gothic · fiction · historical-fiction · audiobook · supernatural · historical · fantasy · mystery · dystopia -
![The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H.G. Parry]()
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H.G. Parry
From the author of The Magician's Daughter comes The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door, a mythic, magical tale full of secret scholarship, faerie curses, and the deadliest spells of all—the ones that friends cast on each other. All they needed to break the world was a door, and someone to open it. 1921...fantasy · historical-fiction · historical · fae · dark-academia · fiction · portal-travel · alternate-history · supernatural · horror -
![The Wolf of Mayfair by Christi Caldwell]()
The Wolf of Mayfair by Christi Caldwell
USA Today bestselling author Christi Caldwell weaves a sensuous tale of innocence lost in this blistering romance about a young woman on the run and the lecherous cad she can't seem to resist.I don't want visitors. But when the butler says the caller is a she, I spring to attention. The night just got a lot more interesting... -
![The Gentleman's Confession by Anneka R. Walker]()
The Gentleman's Confession by Anneka R. Walker
Inexperienced in love, Jemma seeks help from her best friend, Miles, unaware that he has secretly loved her for years.Brookeside, England, 1822Jemma Fielding has always considered herself an independent woman, but to honor her beloved grandmother’s dying wish, she makes a promise that she will marry and fall in love...romance · historical-fiction · industrial-era · regency · historical · audiobook · fiction · christian · friends-to-lovers · humor
