10 Historical Fiction Books Written by Women Everyone Should Read at Least Once

If you only read a handful of historical fiction novels this year, make sure some of them are on this list. Written by incredibly talented women, these books transport you across centuries, countries, and unforgettable moments in history. Some have become modern classics, while others deserve far more attention, but every one of them tells a story that lingers long after the final chapter.

The Alice network by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network weaves together two unforgettable timelines that eventually collide in a deeply satisfying way. In 1915, Eve Gardiner is recruited into a real network of female spies working behind enemy lines during World War I. Decades later, Charlie St. Clair travels to Europe searching for her missing cousin after World War II, only to cross paths with the haunted Eve. Also read 10 Historical Novels Featuring Strong Female Leads

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the “queen of spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.

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Lilac girls by Martha Hall Kelly

Inspired by true events, Lilac Girls follows three women whose lives intersect during World War II in unforgettable ways. From occupied Poland to Nazi Germany and New York, the novel explores courage, impossible choices, and the devastating impact of war through multiple perspectives. Despite the heartbreaking subject matter, it never loses sight of hope and resilience.

Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this powerful debut novel reveals an incredible story of love, redemption, and terrible secrets that were hidden for decades.

On the eve of a fateful war, New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.

An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she sinks deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspect neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.

For ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. But, once hired, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.

The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious female-only Nazi concentration camp. The tragedy and triumph of their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, and Germany to Poland—capturing the indomitable pull of compassion to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.

In Lilac Girls, Martha Hall Kelly has crafted a remarkable novel of unsung women and their quest for love, happiness, and second chances. It is a story that will keep readers bonded with the characters, searching for the truth, until the final pages.

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The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel

Set among the champagne vineyards of France during World War II, The Winemaker’s Wife blends family secrets, forbidden love, and wartime sacrifice into an emotional story. The dual timeline moves between occupied France and the present day as long-hidden truths finally come to light. I especially loved the unique setting, which feels just as important as the characters themselves. Also read 66 Must-Read Historical Fiction Books of 2024.

The author of the international bestseller The Room on Rue Amélie returns with a moving story set amid the champagne vineyards of northern France during the darkest days of World War II.

Champagne, 1940: Inès has just married Michel, the owner of storied champagne house Maison Chauveau, when the Germans invade. As the danger mounts, Michel turns his back on his marriage to begin hiding munitions for the Résistance. Inès fears they’ll be exposed, but for Céline, half-Jewish wife of Chauveau’s chef de cave, the risk is even greater—rumors abound of Jews being shipped east to an unspeakable fate.

When Céline recklessly follows her heart in one desperate bid for happiness, and Inès makes a dangerous mistake with a Nazi collaborator, they risk the lives of those they love—and the champagne house that ties them together.

New York, 2019: Liv Kent has just lost everything when her eccentric French grandmother shows up unannounced, insisting on a trip to France. But the older woman has an ulterior motive—and a tragic, decades-old story to share. When past and present finally collide, Liv finds herself on a road to salvation that leads right to the caves of the Maison Chauveau.

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Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson

Yellow Wife is inspired by real events and follows Pheby Brown, an enslaved woman whose dream of freedom is stolen when she is sold to Virginia’s infamous Devil’s Half-Acre slave jail. Forced to make impossible decisions to protect the people she loves, Pheby’s journey is heartbreaking, powerful, and unforgettable. While this is a difficult story to read at times, it’s also a moving portrait of resilience, survival, and hope that stays with you long after the final page. 10 Historical Fictions To Read Before You Die

In the tradition of Wench and Twelve Years a Slave, this harrowing story follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.

Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Brown was promised her freedom on her eighteenth birthday. But when her birthday finally comes around, instead of the idyllic life she was hoping for with her true love, she finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half-Acre, a jail where slaves are broken, tortured, and sold every day. Forced to become the mistress of the brutal man who owns the jail, Pheby faces the ultimate sacrifice to protect her heart in this powerful, thrilling story of one slave’s fight for freedom.

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The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

Set during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah follows Elsa Martinelli as she fights to protect her family when drought and poverty leave them with almost nothing. Faced with an impossible choice, Elsa heads west in search of a better future, discovering just how much strength she truly possesses. Also check out 26 Lesser-Known Historical Fiction Books for Your Beach Vacation

Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance.

In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes an epic novel of love and heroism and hope, set against the backdrop of one of America’s most defining eras—the Great Depression.

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The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye

The Far Pavilions is one of those epic historical novels you can completely lose yourself in. Set in nineteenth-century India during the British Raj, it follows Ashton Pelham-Martyn, an Englishman raised as a Hindu, as he struggles with divided loyalties, political conflict, and a forbidden romance. The vivid setting, unforgettable characters, and sweeping adventure make this feel like a true classic. If you love immersive historical fiction, this is well worth the commitment. Also read 7 Most Popular Historical Fiction Books Of 2025

A magnificent romantic/historical/adventure novel set in India at the time of mutiny. The Far Pavilions is a story of 19th Century India, when the thin patina of English rule held down dangerously turbulent undercurrents. It is a story about and English man – Ashton Pelham-Martyn – brought up as a Hindu and his passionate, but dangerous love for an Indian princess. It’s a story of divided loyalties, of tender camaraderie, of greedy imperialism and of the clash between east and west. To the burning plains and snow-capped mountains of this great, humming continent, M.M. Kaye brings her quite exceptional gift of immediacy and meticulous historical accuracy, plus her insight into the human heart.

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Land by Maggie O’Farrell

Set in Ireland in the years following the Great Famine, Land follows a father and son working on the ambitious Ordnance Survey project to map the country. What begins as a practical task slowly becomes something much more mysterious as buried secrets, grief, and old folklore emerge from the landscape itself. Also read, 17 Most Anticipated Historical Fiction Books of 2026

A spellbinding story of separation, longing, recovery and survival as a family makes a new home in the aftermath of tragedy.

On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one. Tomás, however, is determined that his maps will be a record of the disaster.

The British soldiers in charge are due to arrive any day, expecting the work to be completed, but Tomás is sent off course by an unsettling encounter in a copse. His life, and those of his family, will never be the same again. Liam is terrified by the sudden change in his taciturn father. What was it that caused such cracks to open in Tomás and how is Liam, aged only ten, going to finish the mapping, and get them both home?

Land is a story of buried treasure, overlapping lives, ancient woodland, persistent ghosts, a particularly loyal dog, and how, when it comes to both land and history, nothing ever goes away.

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Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants transports readers into the fascinating world of a traveling circus during the Great Depression. After losing everything, Jacob Jankowski joins the circus as its veterinarian, where he falls for the married star performer, Marlena, while forming an unforgettable bond with Rosie the elephant. The circus comes vividly to life, filled with colorful personalities, danger, romance, and adventure. It’s an immersive historical novel that’s every bit as entertaining as it is emotional.

When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.

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Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Gone with the Wind follows Scarlett O’Hara as she struggles to survive the American Civil War and the years of Reconstruction. Scarlett is flawed, determined, selfish, and incredibly memorable, making her one of literature’s most iconic heroines. Blending romance, family drama, and sweeping historical events, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has captivated readers for generations. Whether you admire Scarlett or not, it’s hard not to be swept away by the sheer scale of her story.

Since its original publication in 1936, Gone with the Wind—winner of the Pulitzer Prize and one of the bestselling novels of all time—has been heralded by readers everywhere as The Great American Novel.

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

Widely considered The Great American Novel, and often remembered for its epic film version, Gone with the Wind explores the depth of human passions with an intensity as bold as its setting in the red hills of Georgia. A superb piece of storytelling, it vividly depicts the drama of the Civil War and Reconstruction.

This is the tale of Scarlett O’Hara, the spoiled, manipulative daughter of a wealthy plantation owner, who arrives at young womanhood just in time to see the Civil War forever change her way of life. A sweeping story of tangled passion and courage, in the pages of Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell brings to life the unforgettable characters that have captured readers for over seventy years.

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Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Outlander begins when Claire Randall, a former World War II nurse, is mysteriously transported back to eighteenth-century Scotland. There she meets Highland warrior Jamie Fraser, and her life changes forever. Blending historical fiction with romance, adventure, and a touch of time travel, the story feels remarkably immersive. Also read 19 Unforgettable Historical Fictions That Will Leave You With the Best Book Hangover

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord…1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

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The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Based on the true story of Lale Sokolov, The Tattooist of Auschwitz follows a Jewish prisoner forced to tattoo identification numbers on fellow inmates at Auschwitz. Amid unimaginable cruelty, Lale risks his own life to help others and falls in love with Gita, another prisoner whose courage matches his own. Although heartbreaking, this novel is ultimately about hope, resilience, and the extraordinary strength of love.

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov’s experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.

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