Past Kindle Book Deals but Still Must Read Books!
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These Books Earned Our Seal of Approval—Snag Them Before They Vanish (Again)
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64 past books matching Historical Literary Fiction
Shortlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize, Imogen Hermes Gowar’s The Mermaid and Mrs.
The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock
Literary Fiction · Historical Literary Fiction · Magical Realism
Our take
Shortlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize, Imogen Hermes Gowar’s The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock is a spellbinding debut of obsession, wit, and wonder. With a 4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon and named a People Best Book of the Fall, this bawdy, magical tale of an 18th-century merchant and a courtesan shimmers with intrigue and unforgettable allure.
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In 1785 London, merchant Jonah Hancock receives news no businessman expects: his ship has been sold for a mermaid. What arrives is no shimmering beauty but a grotesque, shriveled creature with claws, teeth, and the body of a fish. Yet curiosity proves more valuable than cargo, and soon Jonah’s fortune rises as all of London clamors to see the marvel.
His newfound fame carries him from grimy docks to glittering parlors, where he meets Angelica Neal—a dazzling courtesan with ambitions as sharp as her beauty. Their fates intertwine in a dangerous dance of desire, power, and peril.
But obsession carries a price, and the line between wonder and ruin blurs quickly. What will Jonah and Angelica sacrifice in pursuit of the extraordinary?
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Wiley Cash’s The Last Ballad (4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon) is an award-winning, lyrical novel inspired by true events.
The Last Ballad
Literary Fiction · Historical Literary Fiction
Our take
Wiley Cash’s The Last Ballad (4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon) is an award-winning, lyrical novel inspired by true events. In 1929 North Carolina, mill worker Ella May Wiggins risks everything to join the labor movement, defying injustice and facing dangerous opposition. A moving portrait of courage and sacrifice in the fight for workers’ rights.
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About the book
In 1929 North Carolina, Ella May Wiggins works grueling night shifts at American Mill No. 2, earning nine dollars a week to support her four children after her husband abandons them. Alongside African American co-workers, she endures dangerous conditions and a community that judges her for demanding fair pay.
When union organizers promise a better future, Ella May sees a glimmer of hope. But the mill owners, backed by powerful allies, are determined to crush the movement, even through violence. On the night of a major rally, she makes a choice that will change her life—and her family’s—forever.
Inspired by true events, The Last Ballad is a haunting, lyrical portrait of courage, sacrifice, and the forgotten heroes of America’s labor movement.
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A woman vanishes into the colonial woods and the line between escape and enchantment begins to blur.
In the House in the Dark of the Woods
Horror · Historical Literary Fiction
Our take
A woman vanishes into the colonial woods and the line between escape and enchantment begins to blur. In In the House in the Dark of the Woods, a Puritan wife wanders deeper into a forest filled with strange encounters and unsettling transformations. As memory, guilt, and folklore intertwine, this lyrical psychological horror traces a haunting journey through witchcraft, identity, and the darker impulses hiding beneath faith and obedience.
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The eerie, disturbing story of one of our perennial fascinations -- witchcraft in colonial America -- wrapped up in a lyrical novel of psychological suspense.
"Once upon a time there was and there wasn't a woman who went to the woods." In this horror story set in colonial New England, a law-abiding Puritan woman goes missing. Or perhaps she has fled or abandoned her family. Or perhaps she's been kidnapped, and set loose to wander in the dense woods of the north. Alone and possibly lost, she meets another woman in the forest. Then everything changes.
On a journey that will take her through dark woods full of almost-human wolves, through a deep well wet with the screams of men, and on a living ship made of human bones, our heroine may find that the evil she flees has been inside her all along.
In the House in the Dark of the Woods is a novel of psychological horror and suspense told in Laird Hunt's characteristically lyrical prose style. It is the story of a bewitching, a betrayal, a master huntress and her quarry. It is a story of anger, of evil, of hatred and of redemption. It is the story of a haunting, a story that makes up the bedrock of American mythology, told in a vivid way you will never forget.
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Perfect for fans of The Queen’s Gambit and The Mercies.
The Instrumentalist
Historical Fiction · Literary Fiction · Historical Literary Fiction
Our take
Harriet Constable’s The Instrumentalist (4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon) tells the riveting story of Anna Maria della Pietà, an orphan turned violin prodigy under Antonio Vivaldi’s mentorship. Ambition, genius, and betrayal collide in this lush historical novel set in 18th-century Venice. Perfect for fans of The Queen’s Gambit and The Mercies.
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About the book
Anna Maria della Pietà was never meant to live, much less become the greatest violinist of her time. Born to a prostitute in 18th-century Venice, she was left at the Pietà orphanage, where most girls faced strict rules and bleak futures. But the Pietà offered one escape—music.
Under the tutelage of Antonio Vivaldi, Anna Maria’s talent becomes extraordinary. She is determined to rise above her station, mastering her craft and capturing audiences with her genius. But Vivaldi’s mentorship comes with a price, and ambition in a world ruled by men is dangerous.
From Venice’s opulent palaces to its shadowed canals, The Instrumentalist is a vivid tale of talent, betrayal, and the cost of greatness, inspired by the true story of Vivaldi’s most gifted and overlooked muse.
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Kate Morton’s The Clockmaker’s Daughter (4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon) is a sweeping tale of love, loss, and mystery spanning more than a century.
The Clockmaker’s Daughter
Literary Fiction · Historical Literary Fiction · Historical Mystery · Psychological Fiction
Our take
Kate Morton’s The Clockmaker’s Daughter (4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon) is a sweeping tale of love, loss, and mystery spanning more than a century. When a London archivist discovers a photograph and a sketch of a familiar house, she unravels a haunting story watched over by a woman forgotten by history.
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In the summer of 1862, artist Edward Radcliffe and his friends arrive at Birchwood Manor to create and dream. By the end of their stay, one woman is dead, another has vanished, a priceless heirloom is missing, and Edward’s life is shattered.
More than a century later, London archivist Elodie Winslow discovers a leather satchel containing a photograph of a striking Victorian woman and a sketch of a riverside house she is sure she has seen before.
Drawn into the mysteries of Birchwood Manor, Elodie begins to uncover the tangled stories of love, art, and betrayal hidden within its walls. Watching it all is Birdie Bell, the clockmaker’s daughter, whose name history forgot but whose voice refuses to fade.
Some secrets wait lifetimes to be told.
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Robert Morgan’s Chasing the North Star follows Jonah Williams, a young slave who escapes north in 1850 with nothing but courage and determination.
Chasing the North Star
Historical Fiction · Coming of Age · Historical Literary Fiction
Our take
Robert Morgan’s Chasing the North Star follows Jonah Williams, a young slave who escapes north in 1850 with nothing but courage and determination. Pursued by hunters and shadowed by Angel, a spirited companion, Jonah’s journey is one of danger, resilience, and hope. A moving historical novel that celebrates the unyielding fight for freedom.
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On his eighteenth birthday in 1850, Jonah Williams makes a desperate choice: escape the South Carolina plantation where he was born into slavery. With only a few stolen coins, a knife, and the clothes on his back, he heads north, guided by a star and the hope of freedom.
Traveling barefoot and without a map, Jonah hides by day and runs by night, evading slave catchers and bounty hunters at every turn. Unbeknownst to him, Angel, a fellow slave with a fierce spirit, follows close behind. She sees in Jonah her own chance to escape.
In Chasing the North Star, Robert Morgan delivers a gripping, historically rich tale of courage, danger, and the unbreakable will to be free.
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The Surgeon’s Daughter opens in a world where ambition can be dangerous for women and medicine carries lethal risks.
The Surgeon’s Daughter
Historical Fiction · Literary Fiction · Historical Literary Fiction
Our take
The Surgeon’s Daughter opens in a world where ambition can be dangerous for women and medicine carries lethal risks. Nora Beady, the lone female medical student in nineteenth-century Bologna, pushes against institutional resistance while helping refine a revolutionary surgical procedure. As lives hang in the balance, her work tests the limits of science, ethics, and social permission. This is historical fiction driven by innovation, professional defiance, and life-and-death consequence.
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SheReads Best Historical Fiction Of Summer 2022!
"This is an intense, suspenseful, and insightful read about the challenges both women and doctors faced in the 19th century…Our heroine rises to the challenge with courage and determination." —Historical Novel Society
From the USA Today bestselling author of The Girl in His Shadow comes a riveting historical fiction novel about the women in medicine who changed the world forever.
Women's work is a matter of life and death.
Nora Beady, the only female student at a prestigious medical school in Bologna, is a rarity. In the 19th century women are expected to remain at home and raise children, so her unconventional, indelicate ambitions to become a licensed surgeon offend the men around her.
Everything changes when she allies herself with Magdalena Morenco, the sole female doctor on-staff. Together the two women develop new techniques to improve a groundbreaking surgery: the Cesarean section. It's a highly dangerous procedure and the research is grueling, but even worse is the vitriolic response from men. Most don't trust the findings of women, and many can choose to deny their wives medical care.
Already facing resistance on all sides, Nora is shaken when she meets a patient who will die without the surgery. If the procedure is successful, her work could change the world. But a failure could cost everything: precious lives, Nora's career, and the role women will be allowed to play in medicine.
Perfect for book clubs and for fans of Marie Benedict, Tracey Enerson Wood, and Sarah Penner comes a captivating celebration of women healthcare workers throughout history.
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In flood-soaked Florence, a young American book conservator uncovers a forbidden erotic manuscript and begins a passionate affair with a married art restorer.
The Sixteen Pleasures
Literary Fiction · Contemporary Fiction · Historical Literary Fiction
Our take
In flood-soaked Florence, a young American book conservator uncovers a forbidden erotic manuscript and begins a passionate affair with a married art restorer. Sensual, literate, and layered with history, this acclaimed literary romance—called “elegantly moving” by The New Yorker—blends art, desire, and defiance in unforgettable measure. A must-read for lovers of Call Me by Your Name and Possession.
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Florence, with its crumbling frescoes and secretive charm, is a city of passion—and preservation.
Margot Harrington, a 29-year-old American book conservator, has come to restore a convent’s flood-damaged library. But when she uncovers a rare 16th-century erotic manuscript—banned by the Vatican and long thought destroyed—she’s pulled into a delicate scheme: sell it to save the convent, without alerting the bishop.
At the same time, Margot becomes entangled with a married art historian working to preserve Italy’s vanishing masterpieces. Their bond, both intellectual and illicit, deepens into a sensual awakening that blurs the line between sacred and profane.
Set against the richly textured backdrop of Florence, this “elegantly moving” novel (New Yorker) explores art, desire, and the quiet rebellion of a woman daring to live for both.
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With unforgettable characters and prose as bracing as a North Atlantic gale, this 4.2-star novel is a must-read for fans of literary fiction and emotional transformation.
The Shipping News
Historical Fiction · Literary Fiction · Historical Literary Fiction
Our take
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, The Shipping News by Annie Proulx is a darkly comic, sharply written novel about a down-on-his-luck journalist who finds unexpected redemption in a coastal Newfoundland village. With unforgettable characters and prose as bracing as a North Atlantic gale, this 4.2-star novel is a must-read for fans of literary fiction and emotional transformation.
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Quoyle is a failed newspaperman with a disastrous past and no clear future—until his wife’s death sends him spiraling toward the sea.
Dragged to Newfoundland by his formidable aunt, he lands in a crumbling ancestral home with two troubled daughters and a heart too battered to hope. He’s soon reporting the shipping news for a bizarre local paper, surviving on cod cheeks, bleak weather, and stories of wreckage—both literal and emotional.
But as winter seals the coast in ice, something inside Quoyle thaws. Among eccentric townsfolk, haunted histories, and the steady rhythm of the sea, he begins to untangle his identity—and maybe even build something new from the wreckage.
In a land of storms and secrets, can one broken man anchor a life worth keeping?
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A runaway teen becomes Jaipur’s most in-demand henna artist—until the past shows up with a sister she never knew existed.
The Henna Artist
Historical Fiction · Literary Fiction · Historical Literary Fiction
Our take
A runaway teen becomes Jaipur’s most in-demand henna artist—until the past shows up with a sister she never knew existed. The Henna Artist is a lush, emotionally rich bestseller about reinvention, independence, and the cost of keeping secrets. A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and New York Times hit, it’s historical fiction that lingers like the scent of jasmine.
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Lakshmi escapes an abusive marriage at seventeen and reinvents herself in 1950s Jaipur as the city’s most sought-after henna artist and discreet confidante to the wealthy elite. Her skill, independence, and guarded poise earn her power—but also enemies.
When a man from her past appears, bringing with him a spirited young girl claiming to be her sister, Lakshmi’s carefully curated world begins to fracture. Secrets she’s buried threaten to rise, and the life she’s fought so hard to build could unravel.
Set against the lush, intoxicating backdrop of post-independence India, The Henna Artist is a story of self-discovery, resilience, and the delicate balance between freedom and tradition.
A New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick, this is historical fiction at its most intimate and evocative.
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The Ragged Edge of Night follows a man searching for purpose after the Nazis take the life he built and leave him carrying a grief he cannot outrun.
The Ragged Edge of Night
Historical Fiction · Literary Fiction · Historical Literary Fiction
Our take
The Ragged Edge of Night follows a man searching for purpose after the Nazis take the life he built and leave him carrying a grief he cannot outrun. Anton enters a marriage of necessity with a widowed mother, but war draws him toward an underground resistance network and a dangerous act of defiance. This is historical fiction centered on faith, sacrifice, and love formed under pressure.
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For fans of All the Light We Cannot See, Beneath a Scarlet Sky, and The Nightingale comes an emotionally gripping, beautifully written historical novel about extraordinary hope, redemption, and one man’s search for light during the darkest times of World War II.
Germany, 1942. Franciscan friar Anton Starzmann is stripped of his place in the world when his school is seized by the Nazis. He relocates to a small German hamlet to wed Elisabeth Herter, a widow who seeks a marriage—in name only—to a man who can help raise her three children. Anton seeks something too—atonement for failing to protect his young students from the wrath of the Nazis. But neither he nor Elisabeth expects their lives to be shaken once again by the inescapable rumble of war.
As Anton struggles to adapt to the roles of husband and father, he learns of the Red Orchestra, an underground network of resisters plotting to assassinate Hitler. Despite Elisabeth’s reservations, Anton joins this army of shadows. But when the SS discovers his schemes, Anton will embark on a final act of defiance that may cost him his life—even if it means saying goodbye to the family he has come to love more than he ever believed possible.
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In the 1970s, Opal & Nev were an iconic interracial rock duo—until a bold protest and violent fallout tore them apart.
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
Historical Fiction · Literary Fiction · Historical Literary Fiction
Our take
In the 1970s, Opal & Nev were an iconic interracial rock duo—until a bold protest and violent fallout tore them apart. Decades later, a journalist’s investigation into their reunion uncovers dark secrets that could destroy everything. The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is an electrifying, unforgettable novel. A Best Book of 2021 by Barack Obama.
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A Good Morning America Buzz Pick • Named a Best Book of 2021 by Barack Obama, The Washington Post, NPR, and more
In 1970s New York, Opal is an unapologetic Afro-punk pioneer, fierce in both her music and activism. When British singer-songwriter Neville Charles discovers her at a Detroit bar, they form an iconic interracial rock duo that captivates audiences—until a shocking act of protest at a rival band’s concert leads to violence and their sensational breakup.
Decades later, as Opal and Nev consider a reunion tour, music journalist S. Sunny Shelton dives into their turbulent history. But Sunny uncovers a dark, unexpected secret that threatens to unravel everything the duo built—and the lives they’ve tried to rebuild.
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a provocative, electrifying novel that weaves music, politics, and personal truths into an unforgettable story of fame and fallout.
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