Your Guide To New Historical Fiction Books For 2026

Skylark by Paula McLain
Out January 6, 2026

⭐ PPT Top Pick ⭐

Setting: Paris in 1664 and the 1940s

Two stories of bravery and resistance, both woven together by an underground Paris, as a young woman fights for freedom from society’s restraints in 1664 and a doctor who must make bold choices during the German’s occupation of France.

I could not put this one down — truly a 5 star read!

Meet The Newmans by Jennifer Niven
Out January 6, 2026

Setting: 1960’s America

A bit of a nod to The Nelsons of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett sitcom, this follows America’s Favorite TV Family who has been playing the picture perfect tv versions of themselves for over two decades and whose well-produced facade, like their ratings, are in freefall as a family.

The Star Society by Gabriella Saab
Out January 6, 2026

Setting: 1940s (post-war Hollywood & WW2 era Holland)

A sister story, the Red Scare in Old Hollywood and a piece of WW2 resistance I’m not well versed in — here for it!

Two sisters are reunited after fleeing war-torn Holland and taking very different paths all those years ago. One sister went from being part of the Dutch Resistance and reinvented herself as a Hollywood scarlet and the other sister is a private investigator on assignment in Hollywood to root out communists finding out that her target is her long lost sister.

The Last of Earth by Deepa Anappara
Out January 13, 2026

Setting: Tibet in 1869

I love finding pockets of history I know nothing about! This is set when Tibet was closed off to Europe and is about two people whose paths cross as they venture into Tibet.

One is an Indian schoolteacher, trained by the Brits to survey to circumvent the rules and spy for them, who takes a job with a British captain disguised as a monk that will allow him to look for his friend he thinks might be imprisoned in Tibet.

The other is a English woman and explorer who has been shut out of the all-male Royal Geographical Society and has her own expedition planned to be the first woman to reach a forbidden city.

Fire Sword & Sea by Vanessa Riley
Out January 13, 2026

Setting: Late 1600s in the Caribbean

Pirate-y fantasy books are fun but I cannot get enough of historical fiction featuring pirates! This historical saga takes on the life of the legendary Jacquotte Delahaye as she carves her own life out as a seafaring pirate woman and later joins forces with the other Black women who are also making their own way in the world.

The Jilted Countess by Loretta Ellsworth
Out January 13, 2026

Setting: 1948 Minnesota

This sounds fun — a woman finds a creative solution to find a husband to make a fresh start in the States after being jilted by an American soldier upon her arrival.

A penniless countess (and aspiring ballerina) heads to the U.S. to reunite with, after waiting 2 years to emigrate, the American soldier who promised her marriage but has moved on and married in that time.

When an newspaper columnist helps tell her story and put out a search for a husband, she wades through 1000s of inquiries before she chooses her husband and settles into a life very different than the one she came from.

The Sea Child by Linda Wilgus
Out January 13, 2026

Setting: Early 1800s England

A young widow must uproot her life from London to the coast of Cornwall to a small village where she was found dripping wet and alone as a child — a village where she soon finds out she is somewhat of a local legend believed to be the daughter of a merman from Cornish folklore.

As she settles into her new life and tries to untangle the mysteries of her past, things get even more complicated when an injured smuggler turns up at her cottage and she decides to care for him.

When We Were Brilliant by Lynn Cullen
Out January 20, 2026

Setting: 1950s & 1960s U.S.

I love books that show someone we might feel we know well in a different lens or from a different angle!

A portrait of how Norma Jean Baker created herself as the Marilyn Monroe with ambitious photographer and friend, Eve Arnold, by her side — a woman able to see and capture the real woman behind the face of superstardom in a way others didn’t.

The Winter Witch by Jennifer Chevalier
Out January 27, 2026

Setting: 17th century Quebec

This one is centers around the experiences of filles du roi – young women from France who were sent with a dowry from the king and promised in marriage to a settler in New France.

Two sisters board one of these bride ships in order to flee scandal back at home and start a new life. One has a dark secret and something she believes is a curse and, when prayers don’t work to rid herself of it, she believes a woman who might be a powerful witch in her village can help her. Soon though, the secrets and the pasts of both women will threaten their lives in the village.

A Great Act of Love by Heather Rose
Out January 27, 2026

Setting: 19th century Europe & Australia

A historical pick for all the lovers of family sagas!

A young woman moves to the penal colony of Van Dieman’s Land to reinvent her life away from her past – as well of that of her father’s crime – and finds interest in upholding her family’s legacy of winemaking at an abandoned vineyard near her cottage.

The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams
Out January 27, 2026

Setting: mostly 1917-Present in U.S. South

Check this one out if you like multi-generational stories of strong women!

A young girl’s search for answers unravels the story different generations of Dupree women that came before her who share a curse of sorts and are bound by the secrets and resilience of each generation.

It spans seven generations of women and starts with their enslaved ancestor through present times but mostly centering around 1917 through present day.

Women of a Promiscuous Nature by Donna Everhart
Out January 27, 2026

Setting: 1940s North Carolina

This one centers around a real government program called “The American Plan” in the 1940s that tried to regulate women’s bodies and “treat” them if they were deemed promiscuous.

A young woman is wrongly picked up – seen as suspicious for being unmarried and living alone – and sent to the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women where she meets other women who have been sent here for various reasons.

As they endure the forced medical treatment and training that they claim is will help reform them, some women decide they won’t wait for their freedom.

Burn Down Master’s House by Clay Cane
Out January 27, 2026

Setting: Civil War era South

Based on the real stories of enslaved people who fought back, the novel weaves together the stories of resistance and rebellion from four different enslaved men and women.

With Love From Harlem by ReShonda Tate
Out January 27, 2026

Setting: 1940s Harlem

I love historical fiction that gives me a light on someone who ran in circles of people known to me but they aren’t someone I’m familiar with personally. That’s the case with this book!

This one is about the rise to fame of renowned jazz performer and trailblazer Hazel Scott and the complicated and often times tumultuous romantic relationship with Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

I already have the PBS documentary about her queued up for after I read this! Highly recommend looking up the videos of her playing two pianos.

Keeper of Lost Children by Sadeqa Johnson
Out February 10, 2026

⭐ A PPT Most Anticipated Pick

Setting: post-WWII Germany and 1960s America

If you like stories of overlooked nooks and crannies of history, check this one out! This author has become one of my favorites for historical fiction.

This one centers around mixed raced children, born during an Occupied Germany to Black American GIs and German women, and abandoned to orphanages and the woman who comes up with a plan to help these children find homes when she finds out their story. This all ties together with the story of a Black American solider in Germany in 1948 and a young woman in the 60’s who learns secrets about her past.

Fireflies in Winter by Eleanor Shearer
Out February 10, 2026

Setting: 1796 Nova Scotia

This part of history is something I’m not familiar with — the story of Jamaicans who were exiled unjustly to Nova Scotia after the Second Maroon War.

We meet two young women fighting for survival in the icy wilderness of Nova Scotia as their paths cross — one a free-born orphan who just arrived to Nova Scotia from Jamaica with her community and a mysterious girl who is on the run from her past and lives in the forest. The bond and love they share will be a safe haven until the past catches up and the dangerous cost of freedom and love becomes clear.

Everything Lost Returns by Sarah Domet
Out February 17, 2026

Setting: 1910 and 1986

This seems like a good one if you like historical fiction meets “women’s fiction”. The story of two women – separated by decades – who are tied together by the arrival of Halley’s comet and a soap company with a complicated history.

Book of Forbidden Words by Louise Fein
Out February 17, 2026

Setting: 1552 Paris & 1952 NYC

This dual time period historical is based on the real life 500 year old Voynich manuscript held at Yale University and still encrypted.

Exploring censorship and banned books through the ages, it tells the story of two women risking everything to publish a manuscript that the elite don’t want published and the chain of consequences more than 400 years later as a woman living in the paranoid McCarthy era U.S. comes into possession of the manuscript and, thanks to her secret past, has the skills to decode it.

All In Her Hands by Audrey Blake
Out February 24, 2026

Setting: 1849 London

*technically book 3 in the Nora Beady series but it can be read as a standalone though you will learn more about her past and her journey into the medical field.

This one is the story of a woman who has been through a lot to on her journey to become the first female surgeon in England especially facing much prejudice along the way in the male-dominated medical field.

The hardships will continue as she takes up the fight to integrate the work of midwives into the medical practice but things take a turn when a deadly disease has her on the frontlines to help her community.

White River Crossing by Ian McGuire
Out February 24, 2026

Setting: 1766 in Northern Canada

This one takes us to the sub-Arctic Canadian wilderness during the 18th century where the greedy hunt for untapped gold turns deadly.

Where The False Gods Dwell by Denny S. Bryce
Out February 24, 2026

Setting: 1935 Jamaica and Chicago

This one is inspired by African American dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham’s expedition to Jamaica to study Caribbean dance and culture and imagines the trip through the eyes of three very different (fictional) women who end up accompanying her. Each woman, strangers to one another in the beginning, is there for their own purpose but the women must unite when a hurricane bears down on the island.

A Crown of Stars by Shana Abe
Out February 24, 2026

Setting: 1915’s Lusitania tragedy

I knew nothing about the Lusitania until many years ago I read Salt to the Sea and you bet I’m going to pick up another book that tells a story of the Lusitania’s fateful last days from the POV of a young actress (Rita Jolivet) who was on the ship.

The Other Moctezuma Girls by Sofia Robleda
Out February 24, 2026

Setting: 1550’s Mexico

* Will be on Kindle Unlimited

Thirty years after the Spanish Conquest, the daughter of the last Aztec empress uncovers the more hidden aspects of mother’s history after her death.

The Determined by Rachel Rueckert
Out February 24, 2026

Setting: 1720’s Caribbean

Set during the Golden Age of Pirates, it tells the story of two of the most infamous lady pirates of the age – Anne Bonny and Mary Read.

Cleopatra by Saara El-Arifi
Out February 24, 2026

Setting: Ancient Egypt

I’m so excited for this peeling back of Cleopatra’s story and see her as she ascends to the throne and freeing her from some of the more sexist takes on her story and her life.

A Far-Flung Life by M.L. Stedman
Out March 3, 2026

⭐ A PPT Most Anticipated Pick

Setting: remote Western Australia from 1950s-1980s

I have been waiting forever for a new book from this author after her debut The Light Between Oceans!!

This one is a historical family saga about a hardworking family who lives on a very remote sheep farm and the lifelong consequences in the wake of a tragedy.

Where The Girls Were by Kate Schatz
Out March 3, 2026

Setting: 1960s San Fransisco

This one explores this period of time where the sexual revolution and second wave feminist movement are surging but reproductive rights for women are still bleak.

It is explored through the eyes of a young protagonist who goes from valedictorian with a Stanford-bound bright future to pregnant teen sent to a home for unwed mothers.

Now I Surrender by Alvaro Enrique
Out March 3, 2026

Setting: US-Mexico borderlands in the later 19th century and the present day

This historical epic centers around the Apache Wars (with a present day timeline) through a few of different POVs and tells the history around the Mexico/America borderlands.

Wait For Me by Amy Jo Burns
Out March 3, 2026

Setting: 1970s & 1990s Nashville and Appalachia

This one centers around a young folk singer from the 1970s who disappears out of nowhere and the aspiring musician, two decades later, who resurrects her hidden history.

The Sisters of Book Row by Shelley Noble
Out March 3, 2026

Setting: 1915 Manhattan

Three sisters band together with the other bookstores of Fourth Avenue’s Book Row – 40 something bookshops across 6 blocks – to combat suppression and censorship that threatens their livelihoods.

Fun fact: The Strand is the only remaining bookstore in operation from Book Row (though it moved decades later due to rising rents).

The Woman and Her Stars by Penny Haw
Out March 3, 2026

Setting: late 1700s England

I love nothing more than stories that pull often forgotten women out of the shadows of men and history and show the historical recognition they should have.

This one tells the story of 18th century astronomer Caroline Herschel as she discovers her love and knack for astronomy while working alongside her astronomer brother and her fight to get out of his shadow and pave her own path as an astronomer in this male-dominated field.

Frida’s Cook by Florencia Etcheues
Out March 10, 2026

Setting: 1940s Mexico City (with a present day timeline)

This one drops into the life of Frida Khalo through the eyes of a (fictional) young woman who has fled from her Oaxaca home and gets a front row view into the artist’s life as first her cook and then her friend.

Then in present day, the granddaughter of the young woman finds a painting of a younger version of her grandmother that threatens family secrets as she uncovers the mystery behind the painting.

It Girl by Alison Pataki
Out March 10, 2026

Setting: Early 1900s NYC & Philly

Alison Pataki is becoming one of my new favorite historical authors and this one looks fantastic.

This is inspired by the life of America’s first self-made “it girl” Evelyn Nesbit (through the fictional character of Evelyn Talbot) and her rise to that celebrity status and later being at the center of the Crime of the Century involving two men from her life.

Paradiso 17 by Hannah Lillith Assadi
Out March 17, 2026

Setting: 1948 to present day

A timely portrait of a man’s life, starting a little before the Nakba of 1948 in Palestine and through the present day war, as a refugee trying to find home as he moves from place to place while in exile from his homeland.

Based on the life of the author’s father!

The Shock of the Light by Lori Inglis Hall
Out March 17, 2026

⭐ A PPT Most Anticipated Pick

Setting: WW2 era England and France as well as the decades after post-war

The story of two twins during WW2 as they take different paths in the war effort and the decades long search for answers when one of them never comes home.

I have a feeling this is going to be a standout historical fiction for the year!

Daughter of Egypt by Marie Benedict
Out March 24, 2026

Setting: 1920s + Ancient Egypt

This one is the story of the young woman, who would help uncover King Tutankhamun’s tomb, and her determined search to find the secret tomb and unearth the truth behind Egypt’s first woman Pharaoh (Hatshepsut) who history tried to erase no matter the cost.

I’m really excited to learn about both of these real life women who history would try to erase or minimize! I honestly had never heard of Lady Evelyn Beauchamp.

Cue up the non-fiction because I just know this one is going to have me digging for more about her as well as Hatshepsut.

The Moonlight Runner by Karen Robards
Out March 24, 2026

Setting: Ireland 1918

I love a good historical fiction set in Ireland so this one really piqued my interest!

A young Irish nurse finds herself pulled into the Irish rebellion when she overhears the British soldiers at the hospital talking about an ambush on the rebels and she takes a risk to warn the boy she has loved forever who has gotten involved with gunrunning.

The Moonshine Women by Michelle Collins Anderson
Out March 31, 2026

Setting: Prohibition era Missouri Ozarks

This one is about three sisters who are part of a family who has a moonshine business in the Ozark Mountains as they deal with personal tragedies, the impact of the Great War and prohibition that threaten to tear their family apart.

The Hired Man by Sandra Dallas
Out March 31, 2026

Setting: 1930’s/Dust Bowl era Colorado

Set amidst the Dust Bowl years, this one is about a young girl whose family decides to hire a drifter who saved a young boy from a storm.

The decision upsets their small community and when tragedy strikes they – and the man they hired – find themselves in the crosshairs when prejudice and hardship collide.

Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han
Out April 7, 2026

Setting: 1902 to 1992 East Asia

This multi-generational family saga (with some magical realism) really centers around the Japanese invasion and occupation of Korea and the horrors and atrocities that happened during that time — particularly shedding light on the dark history of “comfort women”.

The Midnight Show by Lee Kelly & Jennifer Thorne
Out April 7, 2026

⭐ A PPT Most Anticipated Pick

Setting: 1980s NYC

I think this is historical fiction in the vein of Daisy Jones (with the same type of oral history format) and I am excited, as someone who thinks Hacks is a god-tier level show, about this story exploring a woman coming of age and working in comedy in the boys club that was the 1980s in New York….until this promising young star disappears.

Elizabeth and Marilyn by Julie Owen Moylan
Out April 7, 2026

Setting: 1950s London

This one centers around the brief meeting between Queen Elizabeth and Monroe but re-imagines the months leading up to that infamous introduction for both women.

The Last Woman of Warsaw by Judy Batalion
Out April 7, 2026

Setting: late 1930s Warsaw

Set in Warsaw in the years leading up to German invasion, it follows two very different Jewish woman in Warsaw who are unlikely allies but who come together when someone they have in common goes missing.

I feel like I’ve read a lot of Poland during the German occupation but not so much one of Jewish resistance in the years as Hitler and his ideals started to rise before occupation.

City of the Muse by Kate Hilton
Out April 14, 2026

Setting: Egypt, 1903 (with a present timeline)

For the lovers of a good mystery and a vivid setting, check out this book about a present-day researcher trying to solve a 100-year old murder to do with an excavation site in Egypt in 1903 while exploring these often forgotten contributions of women in archeology and artifact repatriation.

The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton
Out April 14, 2026

⭐ A PPT Most Anticipated Pick

Setting: Tudor era England (with a present timeline)

It centers around Elizabeth Barton and her rise to the prophecy that lead to her demise as a woman discovers a lost manuscript of Elizabeth’s prophecies that lands her smack dab in the midst of a present-day murder mystery where Elizabeth once lived.

The Mountains We Call Home by Kim Michele Richardson
Out April 21, 2026

Setting: 1950s Kentucky

This one is a standalone companion novel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series and brings us back to Cussy Lovett years later as she returns home!

The Chambermaid’s Key by Genevieve Graham
Out April 21, 2026

Setting: 1929 Toronto

This one is a murder mystery centered around an opulent hotel, with timelines in 1929 and the present, where a young woman will become a chambermaid in an attempt to better her life but will find something darker beneath all the elegance — especially when it comes to the wealthy gangster who is their most notorious guest and who is involved in something that will make him profit greatly from the economic devastation to come.

The Unforgettable Mailman by April Howells
Out April 21, 2026

Setting: 1960s Chicago

This one, set amidst the very real postal boom in the 60s that left the postal service basically shut down with a huge backlog of mail, is mostly a book about connection and friendship as a determined elderly man embarks on the adventure of making sure the mail gets to where it needs to.

Mrs. Benedict Arnold by Emma Parry
Out April 21, 2026

Setting: 1770s Philadelphia

This one is centered around Peggy Shippen, most known for being the beautiful wife of infamous traitor Benedict Arnold, and just how influential she was during the war and in her husband’s act of treason.

Won’t Be Long Now by Elizabeth Hardinger
Out April 28, 2026

Setting: 1950s & 60s in Kansas

A coming of age story about a misunderstood young girl living in Kansas in the 50s and 60s in a society that refuses to accept her “oddness”.

Among other things, it explores neurodivergence (autism specifically) in a time before general society had a word or understanding of it.

Edmonia by Brianne Baker
Out April 28, 2026

Setting: 1860 to 1907

If you like stories about remarkable women who broke boundaries but aren’t giving the historical accolades they deserve, check this one out.

It’s about the life and success of the trailblazing Black sculptress Edmonia Lewis — a woman who defied hardship, adversity and who refused to let racism and sexism get in her way in creating art.

The Island Club by Nicola Harrison
Out April 28, 2026

Setting: 1950s Southern California

If you want something a little bit lighter but still really explores some of the issues of the day for women in the 1950s, check this one out.

It’s about three different women, all going through their own things and holding their own secrets under facades, who meet at The Island Club on Balboa Island and build unexpected friendship through playing tennis that becomes a safe space for them to land against different pressures of the day.

The Young Will Remember by Eve J. Chung
Out May 5, 2026

⭐ A PPT Most Anticipated Pick

Setting: Korean War (1950 in North Korea)

Set amidst what is sometimes known as “the forgotten war”, we follow a Chinese American journalist who is on assignment to cover the war and ends up stranded in enemy territory in North Korea when her plane is shot down and, with the help of two women who take her in, tries to find her way home.

Liberty Island by Virginia Hume
Out May 5, 2026

Setting: 1900 & 1922 Maine

This one tells a story about a family who summers in Maine but it more broadly tackles, through the eyes of two women in the story, the ever-changing societal pressures and constraints for women of the time and the challenging of those things both on a personal level and with societal changes through the years.

If you’ve read Haven Point by this author you will already be familiar with the coastal setting in this one!

Fives Weeks in the Country by Francine Prose
Out May 5, 2026

Setting: 1857 England

Oh my gosh I had no idea about this Charles Dickens and Hans Christian Andersen drama! I had to go on a rabbit hole after I saw this book.

This book re-imagines the summer where Andersen came to stay with Charles Dickens and his family and totally outstayed his welcome by staying for 5 weeks. Add to that the fact that there is A LOT going on the the life at Charles Dickens at this time which further strains this visit.

A Founding Mother by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie
Out May 5, 2026

Setting: American Revolution era

It’s Abigail Adam’s time to shine and I know I can count on Stephanie Dray to give us an in-depth and compelling portrayal of this Founding Mother who certainly made a mark.

Treat Them As Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall
Out May 5, 2026

Setting: 1885 Saskatchewan

Billed as an anti-Western and set amidst the North-West Resistance of 1885, it takes us into an indigenous Métis community where teenage boys have started going missing and a community-led investigation leads to a horrifying revelation as to who kidnapped the young MCs beloved friend.

Last Summer at Maine Chance by Jessica Everett
Out May 12, 2026

Setting: 1950s Maine

Drop into the 1950s at a rural lake town where a real Elizabeth Arden spa existed and people like Judy Garland and Ava Gardener were guests the the luxury retreat.

It’s about a young woman and budding economist who decides to spend the summer as a maid at the spa in order to fund her education after a scholarship doesn’t pan out due to them only wanting to fund men.

Through the job and two women she meets, this summer job brings more to her understanding to the career she wishes to prefer than any college professor.

The Foursome by Christina Baker Kline
Out May 12, 2026

Setting:19th century North Carolina

It’s about two sisters who meet and end up marrying the world-famous conjoined twins – Eng and Cheng Bunker – as the twins settle down in rural North Carolina trying to build a life.

What interests me most is that the author is a distant relative so I just know the story will be handled with care as their life is re-imagined.

The Hope Keeper by Heather Webb
Out May 19, 2026

Setting:1919 Washington D.C.

I remember my mom dragging us to see the Hope Diamond as a kid (I was so over the museum at that point ) but now I can have more of an appreciation for it as an adult and am excited to see it and its alleged curse at the center of a novel.

It’s about a woman, daughter of a renowned jeweler family and assumed to take over the family business, who gets caught up in the glitzy but toxic world of Washington D.C. elite by way of the alluring woman who is the owner of the infamous Hope Diamond.

Pollock’s Last Lover by Stephen P. Kiernan
Out May 19, 2026

Setting:1950s (and a 2000s storyline)

Weeks after Jackson Pollock’s final painting is sold, an older woman claims to have his true last work as his former mistress — forcing a woman at the auction house she walked into to determine its authenticity while uncovering secrets about the artist and the alleged mistress.

A Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys
Out May 26 2026

⭐ A PPT Most Anticipated Pick

Setting: 1920s Detroit

Ruta Sepetys is one of my all time favorite writers of historical fiction and I’m so excited for her adult debut!

Set in Prohibition-era Detroit, it follows the youngest daughter of an automotive dynasty – kind of a black sheep in her family – who escapes to an artist retreat that turns out to be nothing like she’d imagine.

The Boleyn Secret by Alison Weir
Out May 26, 2026

Setting: Tudor England

I love Alison Weir’s work so much and I’m excited to again dive into Henry VIII’s court through the mysterious life of Catherine Carey -Anne Boleyn’s niece -and how her life was shaped by all the drama, violence and secrets she saw growing up as lady-in-waiting to a young Lady Elizabeth.

This one is a standalone unlike some of her others!

When No One Else Will by Amanda Skenandore
Out May 26, 2026

Setting: 1940s Chicago

As timely as every, it’s a story inspired by a real life illegal women’s clinic that wound up at the center of a high profile trial explored through the eyes of a fictional nurse who risked everything to work there and help women in a time where abortion was illegal.