“People always say not to forget because then history will repeat itself. But maybe history will repeat itself anyway, and forgetting is how we bear it.”
Historical fiction fans, get ready – spring 2025 is bringing with it a wave of incredible new releases! Whether you love sweeping epics, character-driven dramas, or novels that whisk you to another era, this list of new historical fiction books has something for every reader. From the most anticipated historical fiction novels of 2025 to hidden gems, these novels offer gripping stories, rich settings, and unforgettable characters. If you’re on the hunt for the best historical fiction books in 2025 or wondering what historical fiction books are coming out in spring 2025, this is your guide to discovering your next favourite read. Whether it’s wartime dramas, royal intrigue, or immersive period pieces, join us at What We Reading as we present our favourite upcoming new historical fiction novels to read this spring season!
The Original Daughter – Jemimah Wei
First up on our list of the best new historical fiction books from spring 2025 is Jemimah Wei’s dazzling debut novel, The Original Daughter. The story follows Genevieve Yang, an only child living in a single-room flat in Bedok, Singapore, with her parents and grandmother. Then along comes Arin, an unexpected sibling and the shameful legacy of Genevieve’s deceased grandfather. As the two girls grow closer, they grapple with the incredible pressures their family and society place on them.
The sisters learn to depend entirely on one another as they spurn friendships, leisure, and anything resembling a social life in pursuit of the sort of academic achievement that might bring a better future. But, when a stinging betrayal violently estranges Genevieve and Arin, Genevieve must weigh up the value of ambition against love, home versus the outside world, and allegiance to herself against the loyalties she has to those who made her. The Original Daughter is a searing literary novel, rife with emotional clarity and sharp social insights.
Release Date: 6 May 2025
The Bright Years – Sarah Damoff
Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now proud parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son that she hasn’t told Ryan about. And Ryan has a secret alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about. All of which leads to Georgette coming of age, watching their marriage rise and fall.
When a devastating blow scatters the family trio, Georgette attempts to distance herself from what remains of her parents. Years on, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette returns to her roots, unearthing her family’s history, and wrestling with whether she can open up to love for them – or herself – while there is still time. Told from three different perspectives, Sarah Damoff’s The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life family saga and one of the most exciting spring 2025 historical fiction books that deals with the impact of tragedy, and the power of grace and love.
Release Date: 22 April 2025
Check Out These Books You’ll Want To Read In 2025
Broken Country – Clare Leslie Hall
Beth and her doting husband, Frank, are happily married, yet their relationship depends on the past remaining buried. When Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realise that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. The dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager, the man who broke her heart many years ago. Gabriel has returned to their sleepy village with his son, Leo, a boy who reminds Beth of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.
As Beth is hauled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village begin to mount. Dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Soon, Beth is forced to choose between the woman she once was and the woman she has become. A sweeping love story delivered the pace and twists of an absorbing thriller, Broken Country is one of the best new historical fiction books that dances between past and present in its exploration of the far-reaching legacy of first love.
Release Date: 4 March 2025
My Name Is Emilia Del Valle – Isabel Allende
In 1866, San Francisco, an Irish nun, left pregnant and abandoned following a torrid relationship with a Chilean aristocrat, gave birth to a baby girl named Emilia Del Valle. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia grows into an independent thinker and a self-sufficient young woman. Hellbent on pursuing her passion for writing, she is willing to defy social norms. At the age of sixteen, she began publishing pulp fiction under a man’s pen name. Not content with this, she convinces the San Francisco Examiner to recruit her as a journalist, teaming up with fellow reporter Eric Whelan.
As she proves herself, he restlessness returns, and she soon finds herself signing up to report on the brewing civil war in Chile. Alongside Eric, she begins to uncover the truth about her father and the country that represents her roots. But, as the war escalates, Emilia finds herself in danger and at a crossroads, questioning both her identity and her destiny. A poignant tale of self-discovery from one of the world’s best storytellers, My Name Is Emilia del Valle promises to be one of the most anticipated historical fiction books of 2025.
Release Date: 6 May 2025
The Eights – Joanna Miller
It’s 1920, and Oxford, the world’s most famous university, is admitting female students for the first time in its thousand-year history. Four young women, Beatrice, Dora, Marianne, and Otto (collectively known as ‘The Eights’) come from very different walks of life, but all are giddy with dreams of equality, education and emancipation. Together, they form a close, life-affirming friendship circle.
But Oxford’s dreaming spires cast a dark shadow: 1920s society is rife with misogyny, influenza is still a terrifying threat, and the ghosts of the Great War are still lingering everywhere. As the group navigates this tumultuous moment in time, their friendship will prove to be more vital than ever. Following this unlikely friendship of four of the first women inside Oxford University, The Eights is one of the best new historical fiction books about sisterhood, self-determination, and the many different forms courage can take.
Release Date: 15 April 2025
The Antidote – Karen Russell
Karen Russell’s The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, right as a biblical dust storm hits the town of Uz, Nebraska. Yet Uz is a town already collapsing – not only from the weight of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, but beneath its own violent histories.
As readers are taken inside the town and are introduced to its array of colourful inhabitants, they watch as their lives become increasingly entangled after the storm ravages through. Brimming with fantastical and magical realism elements, this new historical fiction novel comes with its own urgent warnings about our own climate emergency, challenging readers with a vision of what might have been – and what could still be.
Release Date: 11 March 2025
Dream Count – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in the US. Alone in the middle of a pandemic, she recounts her past lovers and wrestles with the decisions from her past. Zikora, her best friend, is a lawyer who, after being betrayed and left brokenhearted, must turn to the one person she thought she needed last. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold and outspoken cousin, is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who starts questioning just how much she knows about herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America – but faces an unthinkable hardship that may unravel all that she has achieved.
Dream Count by Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a poignant and unflinching story about four women and their loves, longings and desires. Its emotional urgency and observations about the human heart undoubtedly make it one of the most exciting new historical fiction books coming in spring 2025.
Release Date: 4 March 2025
The Names – Florence Knapp
In the aftermath of a devastating storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son’s birth. Her husband, local doctor Gordon, is respected within the community, but a terrifying and controlling presence at home. Gordon is insistent that the child be named after him; yet, when the registrar asks what she would like to call him, Cora hesitates.
Spanning thirty-five years, Florence Knapp’s The Names follows three alternate and alternating versions of Cora’s and her young son’s lives, moulded by her choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names meditates on the painful ripples of abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing. Delivered with sensitivity and with depth, this story of one family comes with an imaginative structure, propulsive storytelling and the sort of gut-punching power needed to make this one of the best books of 2025.
Release Date: 6 May 2025
Check Out The Best New Books For Spring 2025
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).
