“For all stories have an ending as well as a beginning. But a beginning is where you choose to plant your foot, and the ending is only the edge of one’s own knowledge.”
Historical fiction has always been one of the most popular book genres but, lately, it feels as though it has gone through a serious boom in popularity that has taken it to new heights. From ancient legends being given a fresh take, gripping tales of family and survival from the Far East to the stories of women’s lives in the twentieth century finally being told, new historical fiction books have the ability to whisk readers to different eras, as well as different places. Which is why we here at What We Reading thought we would help you with your foray into the past by pulling together all of our favourite historical fiction novels from 2024. Whether you’re a newcomer to the genre or a veteran in it, 2024 historical fiction books are sure to keep you hooked!
The Women – Kristin Hannah
First up on our list of the best historical books from 2024 is Kristin Hannah’s The Women. Raised in the sun-drenched world of Southern California, twenty-year-old nursing student Frances ‘Frankie’ McGrath has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But, with the world dramatically changing in 1965 and her brother being shipped out to serve in Vietnam, she decides to enlist in the Army Nurse Corps and follow behind.
Like the men around her, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos, destruction and constant gamble between life and death that war is. But the Vietnam War is just the beginning for her and her veteran friends. The real battle comes from returning home to a changed and divided America, filled with angry protestors keen to forget Vietnam. The Women is a fascinating read that sheds light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way, and whose sacrifices to their country have too often been overlooked by history.
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The Fox Wife – Yangsze Choo
Manchuria, 1908. A young woman is found frozen in the snow. Her death is clouded by rumours of foxes, who many believe lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women. Bao, a detective with a nose for sniffing out the truth, is hired to investigate the woman’s identity. Since childhood, Bao has been fascinated by the fox gods. Yet, they have always been out of reach. Until, perhaps, now.
Meanwhile, a family that owns a renowned Chinese medicine are able to sell all kinds of cures for all kinds of ailments but is powerless against the one that afflicts them. Their eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthday. Their grandson is twenty-three but, when a mysterious woman enters their household, their luck appears to be changing. Or does it? In her 2024 book The Fox Wife, Yangsze Choo presents a world of mortals, spirits, humans, and beasts and how they all intersect.
The American Queen – Vanessa Miller
Over the twenty-four years she’s been enslaved on the Montgomery Plantation, Louella learned to feel one thing: hate. Hate for the man who sold her mother, and the overseer who left her daddy to hang from a noose. Her emotions are so potent that even the honourable Reverend William, the man she respects enough to marry, cannot break through. But, when William finally listens to Louella’s pleas and leads their formerly enslaved people out of their plantation, she begins to replace her hate with hope.
Soon, William and Louella become the appointed king and queen of their self-proclaimed Kingdom of Happy Land. And, though still surrounded on all sides by opposition, they continue to spread their message of joy and goodness, fighting for the freedom and dignity of all. A superb piece of Civil War and Christian historical fiction from 2024, The American Queen is a story of courageous people who dared to dream of a different way of living.
The Familiar – Leigh Bardugo
Set during the height of the Spanish Golden Age, The Familiar is a fantasy historical fiction book from 2024 by Leigh Bardugo, bestselling author of Ninth House, Hell Bent and the Grishaverse series. In a shabby house in Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her endless days of toil as a scullion. But, when her mistress discovers her abilities, she demands Luzia use them to better the family’s position.
What starts off as a simple series of tricks to entertain the bored nobility, things take a drastic turn when Luzia catches the eye of Antonio Perez, the disgraced secretary to the king. Both are determined to seize what might be their one chance to better their fortunes. Before she knows it, Luzia is being plunged into a world of dodging the Inquisition, of seers, alchemists, holy men and hucksters where the line between magic, science and fraud is never certain.
Song Of The Huntress – Lucy Holland
Hoping to save her lover, land and her people from the invading Romans in 60AD, Herla makes a desperate pact with the king of the Otherworld. But years pass unheeded in his realm, and she escapes to find everyone she loves long dead. Cursed to wield his blade, Herla becomes Lord of the Hunt. For centuries, she rides, reaping wanderers’ souls. That is until she meets a woman on the battlefield with icy blue eyes.
Queen Aethelburg of Wessex is a proven fighter. And King Ine needs Aethel more than ever as the dead kings of Wessex begin to wake and his own brother plans to usurp him from the throne. When their paths cross, Herla realises it’s no coincidence. Something dark is stirring in the Wessex court. The Otherworld looks to rise and bring the people of Britain under its dominion in Lucy Holland’s 2024 novel, Song of the Huntress.
The Briar Club – Kate Quinn
In Washington 1950, everyone inside the Briarwood House, an all-female boardinghouse, keeps to themselves. Secrets hide behind white picket fences. But, when the enigmatic and mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic, she draws her oddball collection of neighbours into the unlikeliest of friendships.
Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun team become a healing balm for all of their lives. But she is also hiding a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears apart the house, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all who the real enemy is within their midst.
Daughters Of Shandong – Eve J. Chung
Civil War ravages the Chinese countryside but, in Shandong, the wealthy Angs are more preoccupied with their lack of an heir. Nevertheless, as the Communist army closes in on their town in 1948, the household flees, leaving behind four sisters and their mother. As the army inflicts their punishments on the Angs, the family plot their escape. Starving, penniless but undeniably resourceful, they forge travel permits and travel a thousand miles to confront the family that abandoned them.
From the countryside to the city of Qingdao, to British Hong Kong and, finally, Taiwan, the Angs witness the dramatic changing tide of a nation and the plight of millions caught up in the wake of revolution. But, through losing their home and the life they’ve always known, a freedom to take hold of their own fate, shake free of their bonds and claim their own story soon emerges in Eve J. Chung’s stunning 2024 historical fiction novel, Daughters of Shandong.
Unsinkable – Jenni L. Walsh
After her mother becomes too ill to work, as the eldest of nine, the responsibility to provide falls on Violet Jessop. When the world falls into the horrors of the Great War, she serves as a nurse, helping men who could very well be her brothers. Working as a stewardess and wartime nurse, Violet survives a shipwreck and two sinkings, one of which on the infamous Titanic. Few can understand why Violet would ever want to return to sea, but something keeps drawing her back to its tumultuous waters.
Daphne Chaundanson grows up as an unwanted child but throws herself into education in an effort to earn her father’s approval. When Special Operations Executive invites her to become an agent in France during World War II, her love of languages makes her the perfect fit. But, the dangers of war challenge Daphne in a way she could have never imagined, exposing secrets from her past that she has to confront if she wants a future beyond the conflict. Inspired by real-life stories from Violet Jessop and the Special Operations Executive, Unsinkable is a 2024 historical fiction book about two incredible women and the one connection that reshapes both their lives.
Hatfield 1677 – Laura C. Rader
Colonist Benjamin Waite, a devoted husband, father and skilled military scout, reluctantly obeys orders to guide a brutal attack on a camp of Algonquian Natives. After the catastrophic event, Benjamin is burdened by guilt and longs for peace. But, led by the revered sachem Ashpelon, the Algonquians soon retaliate with vengeance. They raid the town of Hatfield and capture over a dozen colonists, including Benjamin’s pregnant wife, Martha, and three young daughters.
Laura C. Rader’s Hatfield 1677 is a historical fiction novel from 2024 where three tales intertwine. Based on the lives of Rader’s own ancestors, the unforgettable stories of Benjamin, Martha and Ashpelon capture the wildness and battlegrounds of North America before the Declaration of Independence beautifully.
Medea – Eilish Quin
Among the women of Greek mythology, the witch Medea might just be the most despised. Known for killing her own children as an act of vengeance against her deceitful husband, Jason, leader of the Argonauts, Medea’s infamy has endured for thousands of years. Yet, in her 2024 debut, Medea, Eilish Quin attempts to finally tell the full story of Medea with a fresh feminist lens.
The daughter of a sea nymph and the granddaughter of a Titan, Medea feels the power of the bloodline flowing through her but is made powerless by being a woman. She begins to submerge herself in sorcery and witchcraft and soon encounters Jason, a man ordained by the gods to be both her husband and lifeline away from her isolated existence. Medea embarks on a journey across the treacherous seas with the Argonauts, battling demons she had never conceived of and falling in love with the man who may prove to be her downfall.
James – Percival Everett
When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man from New Orleans, doomed to be separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on Jackson Island until he can think of a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, and has reluctantly returned to town.
James is a historical fiction 2024 book by Percival Everett and both an action-packed and harrowing reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim. Whilst the narrative set pieces of this classic piece of American literature remain in place, Jim’s intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically different light, making for a fresh portrait of the unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.
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Becoming Madam Secretary – Stephanie Day
Raised on the stories of her revolutionary ancestors, Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the century armed with her trusty parasol and an unflinching determination to make a difference. She throws herself into the social scene in Greenwich Village, befriending an electric group of politicians, artists, and activists, including millionaire socialite, Mary Harriman, flirtatious budding author Sinclair Lewis and the brilliant, albeit troubled, reformer Paul Wilson.
But when Frances meets a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt, sparks fly in all the wrong directions. Nevertheless, whilst they might not know it at first, the pair will spend the next two decades forming a historic partnership that will take them both to the White House. As she struggles to balance her public career against marriage and motherhood, and vicious political attacks and personal tragedies threaten to derail her ambitions, Frances is forced to decide what she is willing to do, and what she is willing to sacrifice, to save a nation.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
