Top new historical-fiction books in September 2023
Last updated:
September 30, 2023
September 2023 featuring new releases by Jessica Knoll, Sara Goodman Confino, Janie Chang, Kate Quinn, Mick Herron, Zadie Smith, Charles Cumming, William Kent Krueger, Kathleen Rooney, N.R. Walker, K.J. Charles and many more.
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Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
An extraordinary novel inspired by the real-life sorority targeted by America's first celebrity serial killer in his final murderous spree.January 1978. A serial killer has terrorized women across the Pacific Northwest, but his existence couldn’t be further from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority on Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee...fiction · mystery · historical-fiction · crime · historical · audiobook · true-crime · thriller · suspense · horror -
![Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino]()
Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino
In 1960, a young woman discovers a freedom she never knew existed in this exhilarating, funny, and emotional novel by the bestselling author of She’s Up to No Good . When Marilyn Kleinman is caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole congregation, her parents ship her off to her great-aunt Ada for the summer...north-america · usa · new-jersey · urban · pennsylvania · romance · historical-fiction · fiction · womens-fiction · humor -
![The Phoenix Crown by Janie Chang, Kate Quinn]()
The Phoenix Crown by Janie Chang, Kate Quinn
Versailles, 1912. At the height of an intoxicating Paris summer, a mysterious American millionaire attends a sumptuous costume ball with his bride, on whom he has bestowed the legendary Phoenix Crown—a priceless relic of Beijing’s fallen Summer Palace...historical-fiction · fiction · historical · mystery · suspense · romantic-love · family · espionage · crime · female-mc -
![The Secret Hours by Mick Herron]()
The Secret Hours by Mick Herron
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching...mystery · fiction · espionage · historical-fiction · historical · thriller · audiobook · psychological · crime · humor -
![The Fraud by Zadie Smith]()
The Fraud by Zadie Smith
From acclaimed and bestselling novelist Zadie Smith, a kaleidoscopic work of historical fiction set against the legal trial that divided Victorian England, about who deserves to tell their story—and who deserves to be believedIt is 1873. Mrs...historical-fiction · fiction · historical · literary-fiction · industrial-era · victorian · female-author · poc-mc · slavery · family -
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![Judas 62 by Charles Cumming]()
Judas 62 by Charles Cumming
The second book in Charles Cumming’s gripping new thriller series surrounding BOX 88 – a covert intelligence organization that operates below the radar.A spy in one of the most dangerous places on Earth…1993: Student Lachlan Kite is sent to post-Soviet Russia in the guise of a language teacher. In reality, he is there as a spy...espionage · fiction · mystery · crime · historical-fiction · action-adventure · thriller · cold-war · audiobook · murder -
![The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger]()
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
In 1958, a small Minnesota town is rocked by the murder of its most powerful citizen, pouring fresh fuel on old grievances in this dazzling standalone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of This Tender Land...historical-fiction · mystery · fiction · literary-fiction · historical · suspense · thriller · audiobook · killer · small-town -
![From Dust to Stardust by Kathleen Rooney]()
From Dust to Stardust by Kathleen Rooney
From the bestselling author of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk comes a novel about Hollywood, the cost of stardom, and selfless second acts, inspired by an extraordinary true story.Chicago, 1916. Doreen O’Dare is fourteen years old when she hops a Hollywood-bound train with her beloved Irish grandmother...historical-fiction · fiction · historical · 20th-century · feminism · audiobook · urban · female-mc · literary-fiction · romance -
![EWB: Enemies With Benefits by N.R. Walker]()
EWB: Enemies With Benefits by N.R. Walker
MarshallI hate Valentine Tye.I’ve hated him since we were ten years old. I hate everything he is, everything he stands for. Even the mention of his name gets my back up.And when I see him?My blood boils. My jaw clenches and my hands curl into fists. That’s how much I hate him.I want to cause him pain. I want to hold him down and actually hurt him...romance · mlm · contemporary · lgbtq · sports · mental-illness · enemies-to-lovers · workplace · steamy · boss-employee -
![A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by K.J. Charles]()
A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by K.J. Charles
Major Rufus d'Aumesty has unexpectedly become the Earl of Oxney, master of a remote Norman manor on the edge of the infamous Romney Marsh. There he's beset on all sides, his position contested both by his greedy uncle and by Luke Doomsday, son of a notorious smuggling clan...romance · historical · historical-fiction · lgbtq · fiction · mlm · industrial-era · regency · suspense · mystery -
![The Novelist from Berlin by V.S. Alexander]()
The Novelist from Berlin by V.S. Alexander
An engrossing novel inspired by the mysterious true story of Irmgard Keun, a female novelist who defied all the rules during Berlin’s volcanic post-WWI years, as a young German writer exiled for her ideas flees her country and her Nazi-supporting husband, fighting for her art, her life, and her child.1920s Though the world has changed in the wake of the Great War, it is still ruled by men...historical-fiction · ww2 · fiction · historical · war · ww1 · 20th-century · female-mc · violent-conflict · book -
![North Woods by Daniel Mason]()
North Woods by Daniel Mason
A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries—a daring, moving tale of memory and fate from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Piano Tuner and The Winter Soldier...historical-fiction · fiction · historical · outdoors · literary-fiction · family · audiobook · male-author · book · adult -
![All You Have to Do Is Call by Kerri Maher]()
All You Have to Do Is Call by Kerri Maher
A dramatic and inspiring novel based on the true story of the Jane Collective and the brave women who fought for the right to choose, from the national bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller.Chicago, early 1970s Who does a girl call when she needs help? Jane...historical-fiction · fiction · historical · feminism · audiobook · female-mc · friendship · book · adult -
![The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab]()
The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and set in the world of A Darker Shade of Magic, V. E. Schwab opens a new door into perilous adventure and tangled schemes with The Fragile Threads of Power.Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power, and connected by a single city: London...fantasy · fiction · high-fantasy · magic · historical-fiction · young-adult · action-adventure · gaslamp · industrial-era · historical -
![The Golden Gate by Amy Chua]()
The Golden Gate by Amy Chua
Amy Chua's debut novel, The Golden Gate, is a sweeping, evocative, and compelling historical thriller that paints a vibrant portrait of a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at war and a society about to undergo massive change...historical-fiction · mystery · fiction · crime · historical · ww2 · audiobook · law-enforcement · police-procedural · horror -
![Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian]()
Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian
A folk horror epic about a ragtag posse that must track down a witch through a wild west beset by demons and ghosts―and where death is always just around the bend.Sadie Grace is wanted for witchcraft, dead (or alive). And every hired gun in Kansas is out to collect the bounty on her head, including bona fide witch hunter Old Tom and his mysterious, mute ward, Rabbit...horror · fantasy · historical-fiction · western · fiction · historical · witches-wizards · paranormal · audiobook · spooky -
![Every Duke Has His Day by Suzanne Enoch]()
Every Duke Has His Day by Suzanne Enoch
Michael Blumley, Duke of Loriton (age 28), is viewed as an eccentric by his peers in the ton. He does his duty, of course, but his interest—and talent—lies in the science of electricity. He has no interest in what the frivolities of Society...romance · historical-fiction · fiction · animals · industrial-era · regency · humor · female-mc · historical · book -
![An Engagement with the Enemy by Sally Britton]()
An Engagement with the Enemy by Sally Britton
James Aldwick isn’t ready to settle down, but his father, Baron Retford, doesn’t give him a choice. The stigma of illegitimacy has haunted the baron his whole life, and it’s up to his son to reestablish their good name by marrying into a family with a perfect pedigree...romance · industrial-era · regency · historical-fiction · historical · enemies-to-lovers · fiction · humor · womens-fiction · religion -
![The Otherworld by Abbie Emmons]()
The Otherworld by Abbie Emmons
Orca Monroe wants only one thing for her eighteenth birthday: to experience the Otherworld—the mysterious “mainland” across the sea that her father has forbidden her from visiting. Growing up in a lighthouse on a remote island, Orca has lived isolated from the world… until one day when she finds a cell phone washed up on the beach...romance · fiction · contemporary · historical-fiction · new-adult · young-adult · literary-fiction · love-triangle · cozy · family -
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![Into the Bright Open: A Secret Garden Remix by Cherie Dimaline]()
Into the Bright Open: A Secret Garden Remix by Cherie Dimaline
In the Remixed Classics series, authors from marginalized backgrounds reinterpret classic works through their own cultural lens to subvert the overwhelming cishet, white, and male canon. This queer YA reimagining of The Secret Garden subverts the cishet and white status quo of the original in a tale of family secrets wonderful and horrifying...young-adult · retellings · historical-fiction · historical · fantasy · lgbtq · fiction · female-author · wlw · loner-mc -
![Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong]()
Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends comes the second book in the captivating Foul Lady Fortune duology following an immortal assassin in 1930s Shanghai as she races to save her country and her love.Winter is drawing thick in 1932 Shanghai, as is the ever-nearing threat of a Japanese invasion...romance · fantasy · historical-fiction · young-adult · historical · mystery · retellings · fiction · poc-author · asian-mc -
![After the Forest by Kell Woods]()
After the Forest by Kell Woods
Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon. Flour. A drop of blood to bind its power. 1650: The Black Forest, Wurttemberg. Fifteen years after the witch in the gingerbread house, Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their mother and stepmother are long dead, Hans is deeply in debt from gambling, and the countryside lies in ruin, its people recovering in the aftermath of a brutal war...romance · fantasy · retellings · fiction · witches-wizards · historical-fiction · audiobook · historical · magic · fairy-tale -
![Talonsister by Jen Williams]()
Talonsister by Jen Williams
Uncover a magical past that refuses to be forgotten in a world of mythical creatures and ruthless religion in this brand-new duology from the multi-award winning author of The Ninth Rain, perfect for fans of John Gwynne and Andrea Stewart.Leven has no memory of her life before she was a soldier...europe · scandinavia · fantasy · high-fantasy · epic · magic · fiction · mythical-creatures · lgbtq · new-adult -
![The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan]()
The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan
Ariel Kaplan’s The Pomegranate Gate is the lyrical first installment of the Mirror Realm Cycle, a vibrant and heartfelt Inquisition-era Jewish epic fantasy in the vein of Naomi Novik, Katherine Arden, and Tasha Suri.Toba Peres can speak, but not shout; she can walk, but not run. She can write with both hands, in different languages, but has not had a formal education... -
![A Christmas Betrothal by Mary Kingswood]()
A Christmas Betrothal by Mary Kingswood
A family in trade moving up in the world. A family of landed gentry stepping aside for them. And the sons and daughters caught in the middle.Michael Plummer has never forgotten the woman he fell passionately in love with a few years ago...romance · historical · industrial-era · regency · fiction · female-mc · female-author · historical-fiction · religion · spirituality -
![My Rogue to Ruin by Erica Ridley]()
My Rogue to Ruin by Erica Ridley
The riotous Wynchester family has taken on a new case to expose a forger, but the prime suspect isn't at all what he seems in this captivating Regency romp from a New York Times bestselling author.Lord Adrian Webb is a no-good, roguish, rakish scoundrel of the first order, which is why his father sends him to the Continent and cuts him off without a farthing... -
![Flipping Boxcars by Alan Eisenstock, Cedric The Entertainer, Cedric Kyles]()
Flipping Boxcars by Alan Eisenstock, Cedric The Entertainer, Cedric Kyles
The first novel from one of the original Kings of Comedy, Cedric “The Entertainer,” an engaging and entertaining crime caper that is a valentine to close-knit black families and tightly woven communities struggling to get by during the Depression and World War II. Babe is a charismatic and widely loved man, a gambler with a gift for gab that often gets him out of tricky situations...fiction · historical-fiction · family · heist · audiobook · mystery · poc-mc · humor · comedy · historical -
![Gallows Hill by Lois Ruby]()
Gallows Hill by Lois Ruby
Salem, Massachusetts - 1692Thomas is marked as an outcast the moment he steps off the ship from England. As a Quaker, he’s outnumbered and distrusted by Salem’s Puritans. And as an orphan without any useful skills, he has nowhere to live and no way to earn his keep. In a stroke of luck―perhaps good, perhaps not―he’s taken in by the aged widow Prudence Blevins, who’s rumored to be a witch...historical-fiction · young-adult · audiobook · witches-wizards · historical · fantasy · fiction · children-books · religion · multi-pov -
![Death and the Sisters by Heather Redmond]()
Death and the Sisters by Heather Redmond
The tangled relationships between Frankenstein author Mary Shelley, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary’s stepsister Jane Clairmont form the backdrop for an intriguing historical mystery, set in London in 1814, that explores the complex dynamic between sisters and the birth of teenaged Mary’s creative genius... -
![My Brother's Keeper by Tim Powers]()
My Brother's Keeper by Tim Powers
THE TRUE STORY OF THE BRONT Ë SISTERS AS ONLY TIM POWERS COULD WRITE IT.This is a ghost story. It is a story about werewolves, and things that go bump in the night. It is a story of an ill-fated land, the pathless moors of Northern England so well chronicled in Wuthering Heights . And it is the story of a real family whose destiny it is to deal with this darkly glamorous and dangerous world...fantasy · horror · historical-fiction · gothic · historical · shapeshifters · fiction · literary-fiction · folk-horror · rural -
![The Grand Mistletoe Assembly by Edie Cay, Pamela Gibson, Tanya Wilde, Nina Jarrett]()
The Grand Mistletoe Assembly by Edie Cay, Pamela Gibson, Tanya Wilde, Nina Jarrett
Can the festive ball of the Season bring these couples together in time for the holidays? A collection of Regency romances with star-crossed lovers, fast-paced plots, and timeless connections...Cuddling under the mistletoe, fine lace, snowy linen, and true love to be found in the flickering light of a hundred gas lamps... -
![A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey]()
A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey
Enter the bazaar of the bizarre where fate and fortunes are for sale in this high-stakes magical adventure across a London not quite like our own, perfect for fans of Neverwhere and The Night Circus.Below Covent Garden lies the Untermarkt, where anything and everything has a price: a lover’s first blush, a month of honesty, a wisp of fortune...romance · fantasy · lgbtq · historical-fiction · historical · magic · fiction · urban-fantasy · mlm · audiobook -
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![The Dead Won't Tell by S.K. Waters]()
The Dead Won't Tell by S.K. Waters
“VERDICT: Waters’s first novel is an engrossing mix of small-town lack of privacy, quirky friendships, feisty women, and several plot twists that truly do surprise . . .” — Library Journal “ The Dead Won’t Tell is a remarkable and impressive debut.” —Kris Calvin, award-winning author of Under A Broken Sky No secret is buried deep enough...mystery · fiction · audiobook · suspense · contemporary · whodunit · historical-fiction · crime · small-town · killer -
![The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White]()
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all.London, 1883. The Veil between the living and dead has thinned. Violet-eyed mediums commune with spirits under the watchful eye of the Royal Speaker Society, and sixteen-year-old Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife. According to Mother, he’ll be married by the end of the year...horror · fantasy · lgbtq · historical-fiction · young-adult · historical · trans-mc · fiction · gothic · dark-academia -
![Agent Gatz: A Great Gatsby Prequel by R.M. Spencer]()
Agent Gatz: A Great Gatsby Prequel by R.M. Spencer
A young Jay Gatsby finds himself working as a foreign spy in this riveting debut novel by R.M. Spencer. Set eight years before The Great Gatsby at the beginning of World War I, this slyly funny, ingeniously plotted historical thriller enchants with its compelling cast of characters and unexpected twists and turns.August 1914. Assuming a false identity, Jay boards an ocean liner bound for England...mystery · historical-fiction · fiction · historical · retellings · suspense · ww1 · espionage · thriller · lgbtq -
![The Witchfinder's Serpent by Rande Goodwin]()
The Witchfinder's Serpent by Rande Goodwin
Something wicked this way comes . . .When fifteen-year-old Nate Watson moves to Windsor to live with his mysterious Aunt Celia, the last things on his mind are witches and magick and ancient vendettas. While Nate focuses on building a new life for himself and his younger brother, making new friends and adjusting to a new high school, he can’t escape the feeling that something isn’t as it seems...fantasy · young-adult · paranormal · horror · fiction · audiobook · witches-wizards · high-fantasy · mystery · historical-fiction -
![Twisted Tome by Vanora Lawless]()
Twisted Tome by Vanora Lawless
For empathic illusionist Warren 'Sully' Sullivan dreamwalking Captain Elliot Stone is more than the only thing keeping him sane and safe. He's the keeper of Sully's heart, even if he can't seem to admit it out loud.When an ancient grimoire infused with catastrophic magic comes into play, they've got to do everything in their power to keep it from landing in enemy hands...historical · lgbtq · fantasy · mlm · historical-fiction · romance · fiction · psychics · paranormal · book -
![Dracula Daily: Reading Bram Stoker's Dracula in Real Time With Commentary by the Internet by Bram Stoker]()
Dracula Daily: Reading Bram Stoker's Dracula in Real Time With Commentary by the Internet by Bram Stoker
The wildly popular email newsletter that has been described as an "internet sensation" ( The New York Times ) and "the coolest book club on the internet" ( Fast Company ) is breathing new life into Bram Stoker's classic vampire novel. Now, the internet phenomenon can be experienced in this deluxe hardcover book that includes hilarious commentary and artwork from Dracula Daily readers...classics · horror · vampires · fantasy · humor · gothic · fiction · epistolary · historical-fiction · supernatural -
![Nineteen Steps by Millie Bobby Brown]()
Nineteen Steps by Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown's Nineteen Steps is a moving tale of love, longing, and loss, inspired by the true events of her family's experience during World War II.Love blooms in the darkest days…It’s 1942, and London remains under constant threat of enemy attack as the second world war rages on...romance · historical-fiction · fiction · historical · fantasy · ww2 · mystery · audiobook · season-winter · 20th-century
