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Historical Fiction: Home

Why Read Historical Fiction? Famous essayist and diarist Anaïs Nin said “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” Nowhere is that more true than in historical fiction, which allows readers to step inside the minds of those who have shaped the world we live in, and to imagine the all-too human side of history (Literary Hub). The below books give you a taste of bygone eras and an opportunity to travel through time...even if only in your imagination.  
Set in Prehistory & Classical Antiquity (c. BC-500 AD)...
link to the catalog: The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
link to catalog:The October Horse Mccullough
link to catalog:Dictator robert harris
link to the catalog: I, Claudius by Robert Graves
link to the catalog:Caesar colleen
link to catalog: A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
Link to catalog:The Shelters of Stone by Jean M. Auel
link to catalog: the red tent by anita diamant
Set in Medieval Times (c. AD 500-1500)...
link to catalog: Joan: a Novel of Joan of Arc by katherine chen
link to catalog: The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel
link to catalog:Wolf Hall by hilary mantel
link to catalog: Mystery in the Minster by Susanna Gregory
link to the catalog: The Jester by James Patterson & Andrew Gross
link to the catalog: The Physician by Noah Gordon
link to the catalog: The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
link to catalog: Veil of Lies by jeri westerson
link to the catalog: The Lost Queen by signe pike
link to the catalog: A Murdered Peace by Candace Robb
link to catalog:Matrix by lauren groll
link to catalog: The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory
link to catalog: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
link to catalog: Those Who Go by Night by Andrew Gaddes
link to catalog: A Burnable Book by bruce Holsinger
link to catalog: The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer
link to book in the catalog: The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick
link to book in the catalog: The Half-Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker
link to catalog:A King's Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman
link to catalog: Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman
link to the catalog:The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
Set in the Early Modern Period (c. 1500-1760)...
link to The East Indianby brenda charry in the catalog
link to catalog: bring up the bodies mantel
link to catalog: Then and Now by W. Somerset Maugham
link to catalog: Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory
link to catalog:The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
link to catalog: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy chevalier
link to catalog: The Constant Princess by philippa gregory
link to the catalog: The Pope's Daughter by Dario Fo
link to catalg: The Family by Mario Puzo
link to catalog: The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor
link to catalog: The Chocolate Maker's Wife by Karen Brooks
link to catalog: birth of venus by sarah dunant
link to catalog: The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
link to catalog: katherine of aragon, the true queen by alison weir
link to catalog: Golden Hill : a novel of old New York by Francis Spufford.
link to the catalog: The Judge Hunter by Christopher Buckley
link to catalog:The Three Musketeers by Alexandres Dumas
Set during the Industrial Revolution/Napoleonic era (c. 1760-1850)...
link to The Fraud by Zadie Smith in the catalog
link to catalog: The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
link to The House of Lincoln by Nancy Horan in the catalog
link to catalog: A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett
link to the catalog:A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
link to catalog: Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
link to catalog: master and commander patrick o-brian
link to catalog: An Earl, the Girl, and a Toddler by Vanessa Riley
link to the catalog: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
link to the catalog: The Fort by bernard cornwell
link to catalog: Sharpe's Assassin by Bernard Cornwell
link to catalog: The Secret River by Kate Greenville
link to catalog: Ross Poldark by Winston Graham
link to catalog: The Blue Flower by penelope fitzgerald
link to catalog: The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styrom
link to catalog: Perfume by Patrick Suskind
link to catalog: Yonder by jabari asim
link to catalog: Alias Grace by margaret atwood
link to catalog: Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran
Set during Reconstruction & The Gilded Age (1851-1910)...
link to The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner in the catalog
Link to catalog: Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Zhang
link to catalog:The Great Mrs. Elias by Chase-Riboud
link to catalog: North and South by John Jakes
link to catalog: shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor.
link to catalog: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
link to catalog: Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
link to the catalog: the invisible bridge by jule orringer
link to catalog: march by geraldine brooks
link to catalog: The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
link to the catalog: Dust off the Bones by Paul Howarth
link to catalog: The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
Set during recent history (c. 1911-1970s)...
link to The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by james mcbridge in the catalog
link to Lessons in Chemistry in the catalog
link to Absolution by Alice McDermott in the catalog
link to catalog: Violeta by Isabel Allende
link to catalog: Comes the War by Ed Ruggero
link to catalog: The Parisian by Isabella Hammad
link to catalog: The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart
link to catalog: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
link to catalog: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
link to catalog: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
link to catalog: We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
link to catalog: Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
link to catalog: The Road Beyond Ruin by Gemma Liviero
link to catalog: Stella by Takis Wurger
link to catalog: The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen
link to catalog:Shadows of Pecan Hollow by caroline frost
link to Catalog: atonement by Ian McEwan
link to catalog: Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste
link to catalog: Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Watch a historical series...
link to the series Vikings in the catalog
link to the series the tudors in the catalog
link to the series Poldark Season One in the catalog
link to the series the borgias in the catalog
link to the series da vinci's demons in the catalog
Link to series in the catalog: Versailles Season One
http://catalog.westportlibrary.org/polaris/view.aspx?keyword=link to the series jamestown in the catalog
link to the series Sanditon in the catalog
link to the series the crown in the catalog
link to the series hotel portofino in the catalog
link to the series downton abbey in the catalog
Watch a historical movie...
link to the movie Camelot in the catalog
link to movie in the catalog: a man for all seasons
link to the series Elizabeth 1 in the catalog
link to the movie Amadeus in the catalog
link to the movie 12 years a slave in the catalog
link to the movie 1917 in the catalog
link to the movie Gandhi in the catalog
link to the movie schindler's list in the catalog
link to the movie the darkest hour in the catalog
link to the movie Hacksaw ridge in the catalog
link to the movie Hidden Figures in the catalog
link to the movie one night in miami in the catalog
link to movie in the catalog: the queen
link to the movie Malcolm X in the catalog
link to the movie roma in the catalog
Find more book suggestions with these resources!
Link to Reading the Rainbow Resource Guide (Get book recommnedations by color of cover!)
Link to Resource Guide: World Literature in Translation