Historical Fiction Books of the 2020s
The 104 most-read historical fiction books first published between 2020 and 2029, led by The Things We Leave Unfinished (2021), Mexican Gothic (2020) and What Moves the Dead (2022).
This list collects 104 books from the 2020s by 92 authors, published between 2020 and 2026. Books are ranked by how many readers have shelved, rated or downloaded them.
The Things We Leave Unfinished
Rebecca Yarros
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
What Moves the Dead
T. Kingfisher
Ring Shout
P. Djèlí Clark
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone
Diana Gabaldon
A Dowry of Blood
S T Gibson
Weyward
Emilia Hart
Slewfoot
Brom
A Marvellous Light
Freya Marske
In Memoriam
Alice Winn
To Paradise
Hanya Yanagihara
Chain of Iron
Cassandra Clare
Foul Lady Fortune
Chloe Gong
Nineteen Steps
Millie Bobby Brown
The Hacienda
Isabel Cañas
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
V. E. Schwab
Magic Lessons
Alice Hoffman
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
Grady Hendrix
The Reformatory
Tananarive Due
The Chosen and the Beautiful
Nghi Vo
The Paper Girl of Paris
Jordyn Taylor
The Safekeep
Yael van der Wouden
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch
Rivka Galchen
House of Hunger
Alexis Henderson
Highland Treasure
Lynsay Sands
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
Stephen Graham Jones
Hungerstone
Kat Dunn
The Rose Bargain
Sasha Peyton Smith
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino
Lies We Sing to the Sea
Sarah Underwood
The Liar's Dictionary
Eley Williams
Music from Another World
Robin Talley
Gwen and Art Are Not in Love
Lex Croucher
Don't Want You Like a Best Friend
Emma R. Alban
The Court of Miracles
Kester Grant
Don't Cry for Me
Daniel Black
Outlawed
Anna North
The Starving Saints
Caitlin Starling
A Language of Dragons
S. F. Williamson
Here We Are
Graham Swift
This Ravenous Fate
Hayley Dennings
The Prophets
Robert Jones Jr.
Glutton
A. K. Blakemore
The Everlasting
Alix E. Harrow
Light Changes Everything
Nancy E. Turner
Not for the Faint of Heart
Lex Croucher
Everlasting
Katy Simpson Smith
Infamous
Lex Croucher
Dark Heir
C. S. Pacat
The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls
Ursula Hegi, Angela Dawe
The Unsuitable
Molly Pohlig
Orphan of Cemetery Hill
Hester Fox
Clash of Steel
C. B. Lee
Behind Five Willows
June Hur
Lonely Crowds
Stephanie Wambugu
The Criminal Narratives
Melchior Weiss
Lone Stars
Justin Deabler
Primordial
Jeff Lemire
The Wicked and the Willing
Lianyu Tan
Blitz
Daniel O'Malley
When the Tides Held the Moon
Venessa Vida Kelley
The Fox and the Devil
Kiersten White
More Miracle Than Bird
Alice Miller
Wages of Sin
Judith Cutler
Fraternity
Andy Mientus
Muñeca
Cynthia Gómez
Girls Girls Girls
Shoshana von Blanckensee
The Hymn to Dionysus
Natasha Pulley
A Lady for All Seasons
TJ Alexander
Ladies of the Knight
Fiona Marchbank
Robot Artists & Black Swans
Bruce Sterling, Neal Stephenson
Glorious Poison
Kat Dunn
When They Burned the Butterfly
Wen-yi Lee
Vhaidra and the DESTINY of Nikodemos
Nicholas Stanosheck, Obed Joshua
Mr. Pembroke's Ward
Ashley J. Barner, Jennifer Sanders
The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray
Christine Calella
A Language of Limbs
Dylin Hardcastle
The Girl with a Thousand Faces
Sunyi Dean
The Wolf and His King
Finn Longman
The King's Delight
Sarah Honey
The Stablemaster's Heart
Sarah Honey
Rottenheart
Kat Dunn
The Empress
Robert Reid
Queen of Archers
Ruslana Pidsadiuk
The King's Path
Ruslana Pidsadiuk
Where the River Settles
Kemma MarShall
Firestarter
Tara Sim
Forever's Promise
Missouri Vaun
Wearing the Lion
John Wiswell
Mrs. Victoria Buys a Brothel
Talhí Briones
Order
Dan Morris
Flowers by Night
Lucy May Lennox
A Husband for Hartwell
Lisa Henry, J.A. Rock
A Case for Christmas
J.A. Rock, Lisa Henry
The Duke
Anna Cowan
An Affair for Aumont
J.A. Rock, Lisa Henry