A Bookworm’s Guide to the Best Historical Fiction Book

“Once you can read anything, you can learn everything.” - Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing

When I was about about eight years old, my sister and I discovered American Girl dolls. We spent hours pouring over the American Girl catalog and started saving our allowances up to buy our dolls. (In the end, our MawMaw could never pass up an opportunity to spoil her grandkids and bought them for us for Christmas.)

For those who are unfamiliar with the American Girl doll concept, each doll comes from a specific era in American history. The first doll I got was Molly, an American girl from the World War II era. The main reason I picked her was because she kind of looked like me with her mousy brown hair and glasses.

Each doll also came with a series of short chapter books about her life during the era. While they are by no means literary masterpieces, I loved them. These books not only fostered my love of reading, but more specifically, instilled a lifelong love for historical fiction.

Since I have yet to get my hands on Doc Brown’s Delorean, I have to I rely on books to travel back in time. Here are six of my favorites. (I know five would have been a nice, round number, but I couldn’t bear to leave one of these off my list.)

Kindred by Octavia Butler

I’ll be honest, aside from a few notable exceptions such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Gone With the Wind (both of which I’m sure are being banned from required reading lists these days), I typically hated reading required books in school. This was a book on the syllabus for my American Literature class in college. I purchased a copy of it early and ended up reading it before the semester started. Now it is probably my all time favorite book. 

The main character, Dana, finds herself being transported back in time to the antebellum South. Each time she gets taken back, the more dangerous it becomes for her. It is listed as a science fiction novel, which is a genre I have absolutely no interest in, but the only “sci-fi” element is time travel.  

The FX Channel recently announced it is turning Kindred into a TV series. Even if the series isn’t great, I hope it will get more people reading the book. 

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton 

This story begins when Marisol, a Miami journalist, travels to Cuba to scatter her grandmother’s ashes in
Havana, the place her family fled in 1958.  It goes back and forth between the past and present day, demonstrating the both the overwhelming courage of the Cuban people and the heartbreaking consequences of the Castro regime. 

This book led me to learn more about the Cuban Revolution, which has made me even more grateful to live in a free country, given me newfound empathy for the families who attempt the dangerous 90-mile journey to Miami, and keeps me praying for the people of Cuba. 

The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel

This is a great World War II novel. Like many of the books on my list, it goes back and forth between past and present day. The story is set on a vineyard in Champagne, France and revolves around the a love triangle between Inez, her husband, Michel, and Celine, a woman who happens to be half-Jewish. 

Maybe I have an odd sense of humor, but the love triangle aspect of the story made me chuckle a bit. It would not be nearly as romantic if it wasn’t set against the backdrop of a war in a vineyard in France. For those who have read it, can y’all imagine if this had happened in rural Kentucky in 2022? It would have made a great episode of Maury. It’s still a great book, though, and definitely worth the read!

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

I know, I know…everyone and their brother had told you to read this one. There’s a reason for that; it lives up to the hype. While it is mainly a mystery/suspense novel, it is set in the 1960s in a segregated town in North Carolina. The book goes into more detail than the movie about racial tension  and what it was like to be an outsider in the community. 

The movie was one of the best film adaptions of a book I have ever seen. I was stunned when all of the settings were exactly as I pictured them in my mind when I read the book. Even Jumpin’s boat dock and store were exactly as I imagined it. 

If you haven’t seen the movie yet, read the book first. If you’ve seen the movie already, read the book anyway. You will not be disappointed!

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

This was one of my favorite books I read this summer. This novel was inspired by the true story of Pino Lella, an Italian teenager who helps Jews escape the Nazi-occupied country and later joins the Nazi army and acts as a spy for the resistance, becoming a driver for one of Hitler’s closest military officials.

There are parts of this book that felt like an absolute punch to the gut, and there were a few times I had to put my Kindle down and walk away for a few moments. While some people may not want to feel that kind of emotion when they read, I think it’s a testament of a well-written book and a story that needed to be told. 

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate 

This book is a fictional portrayal of the true story of Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. I live about three hours from Memphis and cannot believe I didn’t know anything about it until I read this book. While Tann was known as the inventor of modern adoption at the time, it has since been revealed the woman was a child trafficker who was responsible for tearing apart countless families.

After you read the book, check out Episode 95 of my favorite true crime podcast, Southern Fried True Crime. 

I am sure I am leaving out some other great novels, but these are the six that immediately came to my mind. What should I add to my growing list of “To Be Read” historical fiction? Let me know!

Happy reading! 

- Meg