For school I had to create a brochure about a genre and include titles and authors from that genre. Of course I chose historical fiction. I decided to adapt the brochure into a blog post for you all. Here’s what you’ll find in this article: a brief description of the genre, a list of sub-genres, book suggestions, and a list of authors who write in this genre.

First, what is historical fiction? Historical fiction is a genre of fiction books that take place in the past. These books can be based on real events or just set in a time period of the past. This genre contains subgenres such as historical romance, historical fantasy, and alternate history.

There is many authors who write in the historical fiction genre. Some of the popular ones include Stacey Lee, Patricia MacLachlan, Ken Follett, Ruta Sepetys, Lois Lowry, and Bernard Cornwell. Be sure to check them out!

Now on to the fun part, book suggestions! I have read most of these myself. A few of them have descriptions I pasted from NoveList as I have not read them before. I put asterisks next to the ones I have never read. If you want to learn more about NoveList you can read my article about it here.

Adult-

  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
    • In this epistolary novel, author Juliet Ashton connects with Guernsey Island residents who formed a book club to cover up their dinner party gone wrong during the German occupation of World War II.
  • *All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
    • “A blind French girl on the run from the German occupation and a German orphan-turned-Resistance tracker struggle with their respective beliefs after meeting on the Brittany coast.” -NoveList description
  • The Librarian Spy by Madeline Miller
    • During World War II, Ava, a librarian at the Library of Congress, goes abroad to Spain to help gather information for the U.S. military. Meanwhile in France, Elaine has started working at a printing press that prints newspapers for the members of the Resistance. The two women communicate through these papers to send information to each other.
  • *The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
    • “Set in twelfth-century England, this epic of kings and peasants juxtaposes the building of a magnificent church with the violence and treachery that often characterized the Middle Ages.” -NoveList description

Middle Grade-

  • When Molly Was a Harvey Girl by Francis M. Wood
    • Thirteen-year-old Molly and her sister Colleen move to New Mexico following their father’s death. There they become “Harvey Girls.” Harvey girls are women who are employed by Fred Harvey houses. These houses are restaurants located along the railroad. It’s a good an respectable job. There’s only one problem. Molly’s not old enough to work there. The two sisters hide Molly’s true age and hope their secret doesn’t get discovered.
  • *Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
    • “In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.” -NoveList description
  • Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia McLachlan
    • Sarah is a mail order bride that goes to live on a farm on the prairie. Caleb and Anna aren’t sure how to feel about their father’s new wife at first, but they come to love her.
  • A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck
    • This book details the adventures of twelve-year-old Bob Barnhart in 1958. Bob’s family recently moved to a small Illinois town and now Bob is dealing with bullies, a eccentric next door neighbor, and the general strangeness of moving to a new place.

Young Adult-

  • The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
    • It’s 1890 in Atlanta, Georgia. Seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works for the horrid Caroline Payne. After she is fired, Jo writes an advice column in a local newspaper under a pseudonym. She also tries to hide the fact that she’s homeless and living underneath the house of the newspaper owners.
  • A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper
    • On her sixteenth birthday, Princess Sophia FitzOsborne receives a journal as a gift. Sophia writes her observations of everyday life on Montmaray and the impending threat of World War II.
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
    • The narrator of this story is Death. Death tells the story of Liesel, a young German girl who learns to read after stealing a book. Her family is also hiding Jewish man in their basement. Liesel entertains herself by reading to him.
  • Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
    • Told from four different perspectives, this book follows the journey of three refugees as World War II is ending.

I hope you find a suggestion you might enjoy from this list. Head over to your local library to check them out! Let me know if there’s any other genres you would like to see suggestions for. It would be good practice for me, to find books without having read them myself.