Historical Fiction Books To Give You A Blast From The Past

Reading books about the past might sound fun to you! Who knows! Getting a good book is important, and one of these might be just for you.

1. The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah. Vianne Mauriac says her farewells to her husband in the small French village of Carriveau as he leaves for the Front. Even though the thought of Nazi’s invading France wasn’t thought to happen, they still do, with lines of soldiers and tanks and trucks. Vianne and her daughter must try to survive through the war as a German captain requisitions her house. And all she can make is one choice. Isabelle is Vianne’s sister, and she’s on the search for purpose. Meeting a partisan named Gaetan causes her to fall in love, Gaetan thinking that the French can fight the Nazi’s from the inside. But you can never trust someone with a knife behind your back. Isabelle joins a Resistance, and will never look back. Follow the two sisters through their insights on the Great War through France.
   
2. Lilac Girls: A Novel, by Martha Hall Kelly. Three girls. Three places. Same war. Caroline Ferriday is a New York socialite with her hands full of her post and maybe even new love! It’s all shattered when Germany declares war on Poland, and then sets their sights on France. Kasia Kuzmerick is a Polish teenager an ocean away from Caroline, with her childhood gone as she acts as a courier for an underground resistance movement. With the thick tension-filled atmosphere, watchful eyes and little birds, one slip for Kasia will kill her. Herta Oberheuser is an ambitious, young German doctor, and when she gets hired for a government medical position, she finds herself trapped in the male world of Nazi secrets. A collision course is set for the three, but the unthinkable happens when Kasia is sent to a concentration camp for women. Read as their stories cross oceans and continents, and as Caroline and Kasia try to bring justice for those who have been forgotten.

3. The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead. As a slave on a plantation in Georgia, life is hell for a slave like Cora. An outcast amongst even her fellow Africans, her life seems like never-ending pain. When a recent arrival from Virginia named Caesar tells Cora about a system called the Underground Railroad, the two decide to take the risk and follow the dangerous path, hiding in houses and away from lobsterbacks.

4. Between Shades Of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys. 1941- Lithuania. Fifteen-year-old Lina is preparing for her fine life ahead- Arts school, first dates, and so much more. But all goes downhill when members of the Soviet Union barge into her house, taking her entire family. They are being sentenced to Siberia, a freezing, bone-chilling cold region of Russia. Read as Lina has to fight through a long and harrowing journey, to save her and her families life.

5. Circe, by Madeline Miller. A daughter, a witch, is born in the house of Helios, the eldest, and most powerful of the Titans. But she’s not normal: Not powerful, like her father, not alluring, like her mother. No, Circe finds something else: witchcraft. Witchcraft that transforms people into monsters and power that could rival the gods themselves. Enraged and threatened, Zeus bans Circe to a lonely island, where she must tame beasts and make friends alike, running into famous creatures, such as the Minotaur, or the brilliant Daedalus or the murderous Meda. But there are other dangers too- Circe has pitted herself against the gods, and she must figure out which she will stay with- The gods she was born from, or the mortals she’s grown to love.

Indulge yourself in books from 1941 and behind, and explore places you might only get to read in, following the adventures of characters through the Great War, or trekking through Olympus. Be sure to find a book just for you, and be warned, some of these books could be considered ‘mature’. Credit goes to Kristin Hannah, Martha Hall Kelly, Colson Whitehead, Rupt Sepetys, and Madeline Miller.