Historical Fiction bestsellers

James

A Novel

By: Percival Everett
Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
Length: 7 hours 48 minutes

“Loved this book and didn't want to leave it. James is a great character, and Percival Everett does an equally great job creating his world - the constant fear and vigilance, the pain, the power of the river and the land. I listened to the audiobook - excellent narrator - and am already looking forward to coming back to.it and reading again.... Read more

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

A Novel

By: James McBride
Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
Length: 12 hours 21 minutes

“Depression-era Pottsdown, PA. Immigrant Jews and Blacks who moved from the South cope with discrimination from the White Christian community. Moshe runs an integrated musical theater, assisted by Nate, while his wife Chona runs the local grocery store, assisted by Nate's wife Addie, catering to the black community, in the 'Chicken Hill'... Read more

Circe

By: Madeline Miller
Narrated by: Perdita Weeks
Length: 12 hours 8 minutes

“Miller expands on the story Circe, a little-known figure in Greek mythology to create an insightful portrayal of humanity. This is some of the most beautiful writing I've ever experienced. As a society, we are flooded with tales of ordinary to extraordinary, of the special, chosen hero. But what about the power of the ordinary? And of choice?... Read more

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

A Novel

By: Shannon Chakraborty
Narrated by: Lameece Issaq & Amin El Gamal
Length: 16 hours 59 minutes

“Conjuring the magic of The Arabian Nights, you can imagine yourself sitting around a campfire on a cool desert evening as Amina al-Sirafi tells of her adventures. And I hope you aren't sensitive because she is brash, brazen, and foul mouthed! A truly singular and compelling voice, Amina reminded me of all the heroic tales I grew up reading. This... Read more

Weyward

A Novel

By: Emilia Hart
Narrated by: Aysha Kala, Helen Keeley & Nell Barlow
Length: 10 hours 51 minutes

“Three women with a deep connection to nature maneuver their way in a world where men try to corral and control them. In 1619, Altha knows what it means to be a Weyward woman, taught healing skills by her mother and understanding her connection to nature and its power. Not surprisingly, she is accused of witchcraft. Violet, in 1942, and Kate, in... Read more

North Woods

A Novel

By: Daniel Mason
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall, Michael Crouch, Jason Culp, Mark Deakins, Jayne Entwistle, Billie Fulford-Brown, Arthur Morey, George Newbern, Kirsten Potter & Simon Vance
Length: 11 hours 5 minutes

“It's hard to imagine what could be more lovely than this sprawling, constantly evolving, richly textured story of a place in the American Northeast, unless it's Mark Bramhall's gentle and kindly narration of the audio version, supported by an ensemble sharing the odd snippets grafted on to the greater story, in voices ranging from jolly to prim... Read more

Babel

Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of The Oxford Translators' Revolution

By: R. F. Kuang
Narrated by: Chris Lew Kum Hoi & Billie Fulford-Brown
Length: 21 hours 45 minutes

“Finishing a book like this is equal parts pleasure and pain: pleasure in that reading something as striking and beautiful as this is everything a reader hopes to feel in a book juxtaposed by the pain of something beautiful ending and leaving these characters behind in the pages. There are few books that have brought tears to my eyes (I can still... Read more

The Familiar

A Novel

By: Leigh Bardugo
Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
Length: 12 hours 57 minutes

“Two words: Entertaining and propulsive! Set during the inquisition in 16th century Spain, it’s a political thriller and historical fiction with a dose of magic. Full of secret agendas, pain, fear and desire, you won't want to stop listening to this story. Read more

The Frozen River

A Novel

By: Ariel Lawhon
Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer & Ariel Lawhon
Length: 15 hours 5 minutes

“The Frozen River was one of the best historical fiction novels I have read in a while. The audio was fantastic. Based on the diary of a real midwife in the late 1700’s it tells the story of Martha Ballard and her husband Ephraim, their family, and the small town in Maine they live in. The emphasis of the novel was on the laws of the time and how... Read more

A Fate Inked in Blood

Book One of the Saga of the Unfated

Saga of the Unfated: Book #1

By: Danielle L. Jensen
Narrated by: Nina Yndis
Length: 15 hours 15 minutes

“Blood brilliant! (Figuratively and literally!) Oh, this is SO good and addictive! I knew within the first few pages of starting that this book was going to be great. Dark, gritty, bloody, inspired by Norse Mythology, and desperately romantic, A Fate Inked in Blood is an exciting new addition to the romantasy genre that combines the high-octane... Read more

Long Island

By: Colm Toibin
Narrated by: Jessie Buckley
Length: 9 hours 27 minutes

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK * Named a Most Anticipated Book by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Star Tribune (Minneapolis), Good Housekeeping, AARP, and more *

From the beloved, critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author comes a spectacularly moving and intense novel of secrecy, misunderstanding, and love, the... Read more

Mexican Gothic

By: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
Length: 10 hours 39 minutes

“Mexican Gothic is a fairytale turned nightmare, perhaps with a nod to Jordan Peele’s Get Out. In 1950’s Mexico, glamorous debutante Noemí receives a mysterious letter from her newlywed cousin Catalina. In frantic prose, she pleads for Noemí to visit her at High Place, the family residence of her husband, an English expat whom she has grown to... Read more

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

By: V. E. Schwab
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 17 hours 9 minutes

“Epic, beautifully written, heartwarming, and heartbreaking, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a contemplation on life, death, what it means to make your mark on the world, and why we feel it’s important to do so. Addie makes a deal with a demon so she can live her life the way she wants to. But, like most deals, there are strings attached —... Read more

Romancing Mister Bridgerton

Bridgertons: Book #4

By: Julia Quinn
Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
Length: 13 hours 17 minutes

New York Times BestsellerA special TV Tie-In edition to BRIDGERTON, a series created by Shondaland for Netflix, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn: the story of Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, in the fourth of her beloved Regency-set novels featuring her charming, powerful Bridgerton family.COLIN AND PENELOPE’S... Read more

A Gentleman in Moscow

A Novel

By: Amor Towles
Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
Length: 17 hours 51 minutes

“Through Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov's ordinary encounters and activities within the bounds of the four walls of post-revolutionary Moscow's Metropol Hotel, where he is under house arrest, Towles deftly guides readers across a century of Russian history, from the Bolshevik uprising to the dawn of the nuclear age under Krushchev. Grandiloquent... Read more

Horse

A Novel

By: Geraldine Brooks
Narrated by: James Fouhey, Lisa Flanagan, Graham Halstead, Katherine Littrell & Michael Obiora
Length: 14 hours 5 minutes

“Another well researched historical fiction by Brooks. This time she writes about race and horse racing, transporting the reader to the Antebellum South. The book is written from the point of view of several people in the life of the famous race horse and sire named Lexington. We follow his life primarily through the eyes of his enslaved groom... Read more

Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

By: Hernan Diaz
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Jonathan Davis, Mozhan Marnò & Orlagh Cassidy
Length: 10 hours 20 minutes

“Hernan Diaz does things I've never seen in a novel before. Trust ties up threads of money and art, family and history, lies and truth. Think historical fiction turned meta, with a beating heart and spectacular writing. Read more

The Honey Witch

By: Sydney J. Shields
Narrated by: Mia Hutchinson Shaw
Length: 13 hours 1 minute

The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love. That is her curse to bear. But when a young woman who doesn’t believe in magic arrives on her island, sparks fly in this deliciously sweet debut novel of magic, hope, and love overcoming all.
 
Twenty-one-year-old Marigold Claude has always preferred the company of the spirits of the meadow... Read more

The Four Winds

A Novel

By: Kristin Hannah
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 15 hours 20 minutes

“A brilliantly woven narrative set during the Dust Bowl years on the High Plains of Texas, The Four Winds is a story of survival that inspires us to persist. Hannah extensively researched the devastation of this climatic and agricultural phenomenon and its toll on communities, which seamlessly informs the deftly woven narrative of the life of... Read more

The Song of Achilles

A Novel

By: Madeline Miller
Narrated by: Frazer Douglas
Length: 11 hours 14 minutes

“A sweeping emotional tale of war, passion, and devastation. You are given insight into a hero's life through the eyes of Patroclus in a way that has never been done before.You may think you know the story of Achilles and Patroclus but I promise you, you don't. Miller is able to ensnare your imagination and capture the human spirit in a way few... Read more

Hamnet

By: Maggie O'Farrell
Narrated by: Ell Potter
Length: 12 hours 42 minutes

“I wanted to live in this book forever and for it to never, ever end. I have never had a book hangover like the one I had when I finished this book. It is so, so, so, good. Every word is perfectly chosen and often not the expected choice. I can't say enough about both the writing and the narration and I already can't wait to listen to this one... Read more

The Paris Novel

By: Ruth Reichl
Narrated by: Kiiri Sandy
Length: 9 hours 25 minutes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “mouthwatering” (The New York Times) adventure through the food, art, and fashion scenes of 1980s Paris—from the bestselling author of Save Me the Plums and Delicious!

“An enchanting and irresistible feast . . . As with a perfect meal in the world’s most magical city, I never wanted this sublime novel to... Read more

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen

The Doomsday Books: Book #1

By: KJ Charles
Narrated by: Martyn Swain
Length: 11 hours 16 minutes

Abandoned by his father, Gareth Inglis grew up lonely, prickly, and used to disappointment. Still, he longs for a connection. When he meets a charming stranger, he falls head over heels?until everything goes wrong and he's left alone again. Then Gareth's father dies, turning the shabby London clerk into Sir Gareth, with a grand house on the... Read more

The Lincoln Highway

A Read with Jenna Pick (A Novel)

By: Amor Towles
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Marin Ireland & Dion Graham
Length: 16 hours 38 minutes

“THIS BOOK EXCEEDED ALL EXPECTATIONS! As a huge fan of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility, The Lincoln Highway had a lot of pressure and holy cow did it surpass anything I could have hoped for. From the first page, I was immediately drawn into Towles' magical writing and superb characters. This felt like a modern classic, the new and... Read more

The Postcard

By: Anne Berest
Narrated by: Barrie Kealoha
Length: 13 hours 5 minutes

“A powerful personal account of a family’s history over multiple generations with a stunning ending that resolves the mystery of the postcard’s sender! The author launches her family research and investigation of who could have written the anonymous, unsigned postcard a decade earlier when her daughter experiences an anti-semitic incident at... Read more

Night Watch (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

A novel

By: Jayne Anne Phillips
Narrated by: Karissa Vacker, Theo T. Stockman & Maggi-Meg Reed
Length: 10 hours 12 minutes

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION • A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • From one of our most accomplished novelists, a mesmerizing story about a mother and daughter seeking refuge in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War—and a brilliant portrait of family endurance against all odds

"A tour de force."... Read more

Brooklyn

A Novel

By: Colm Toibin
Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
Length: 7 hours 38 minutes

Colm Tóibín’s New York Times bestselling novel—also an acclaimed film starring Saoirse Ronan and Jim Broadbent nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture—is “a moving, deeply satisfying read” (Entertainment Weekly) about a young Irish immigrant in Brooklyn in the early 1950s.

“One of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary... Read more

You Should Be So Lucky

A Novel

By: Cat Sebastian
Narrated by: Joel Leslie
Length: 11 hours 58 minutes

An emotional, slow-burn, grumpy/sunshine, queer mid-century romance for fans of Evvie Drake Starts Over, about grief and found family, between the new star shortstop stuck in a batting slump and the reporter assigned to (reluctantly) cover his first season—set in the same universe as We Could Be So Good.The 1960 baseball season is shaping up to... Read more

The City of Brass

A Novel

By: S. A. Chakraborty
Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
Length: 20 hours 1 minute

“S.A. Chakraborty introduces a fantasy set in the Middle East that thrusts us into the magical world of Daevabad. The City of Brass follows, in parallel, Nahri, a con artist and naturally gifted healer, and Ali, prince of Daevabad and fiercely trained soldier. Nahri and Ali find themselves learning new lessons on how to survive changing... Read more

The Vaster Wilds

A Novel

By: Lauren Groff
Narrated by: January LaVoy
Length: 7 hours 5 minutes

“This thrilling survival story of a girl fleeing a 17th century Virginia colony again demonstrates that Lauren Groff is a literary force of nature. As the girl fights to survive in an unknown, dangerous, yet beautiful wilderness, we learn of the girl’s life in Elizabethan England, and the patriarchy of the colony. Highly recommended! Read more

The Fraud

A Novel

By: Zadie Smith
Narrated by: Zadie Smith
Length: 12 hours 24 minutes

“Hearing Zadie Smith narrate The Fraud only enhances the experience of this already great novel. The characters are unique and easily distinguishable, and her considerable skill with accents is astounding. A thoroughly unique and enjoyable experience, just like everything Smith writes. Listen, and let her words transport you. You won't regret it. Read more

The Marriage Portrait

A novel

By: Maggie O'Farrell
Narrated by: Genevieve Gaunt & Maggie O'Farrell
Length: 13 hours 21 minutes

“Lucrezia de'Medici is only 15 when she's married off to the Duke of Ferrara, and barely 16 when she realizes he intends to have her killed. Lucrezia is thrust into a world of honey-covered lies and manipulation, where her husband's sisters vie for her favor, her husband is kind one moment and volatile the next, and everyone waits for her to... Read more

Cloud Cuckoo Land

A Novel

By: Anthony Doerr
Narrated by: Marin Ireland & Simon Jones
Length: 14 hours 51 minutes

“A beautiful tribute to the human need to preserve and share stories. One to read and read again! One of my Top 3 for 2021! Read more

The Starless Sea

A Novel

By: Erin Morgenstern
Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman & Various
Length: 18 hours 36 minutes

“Rarely is a book such an absolute feast—for the senses, for the intellect, and, above all, for the soul. Morgenstern dazzles in her latest novel, an intricately wrought tale populated by lovers, mystery, and sumptuous magic. The Starless Sea is an ode to book lovers everywhere, reanimating the excitement as well as the pure possibility felt when... Read more

The River We Remember

A Novel

By: William Kent Krueger
Narrated by: CJ Wilson
Length: 13 hours 33 minutes

“Krueger delivers a complex mystery that exposes the attitudes and pain of small town America. Read more

Lady Tan's Circle of Women

By: Lisa See
Narrated by: Jennifer Lim & Justin Chien
Length: 13 hours 15 minutes

“If you enjoy historical fiction, and particularly if you’ve enjoyed Lisa See’s other historical fiction about China, this book won’t disappoint. Based on the true story of a 15th century female physician, See brings the reader into the grand compounds where multiple generations of elite families lived. Her story focuses on the wives, children... Read more

The Nightingale

A Novel

By: Kristin Hannah
Narrated by: Polly Stone
Length: 17 hours 37 minutes

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

A #1 New York Times bestseller, Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year, and soon to be a major motion picture, this unforgettable novel of love and strength in the face of war has enthralled a generation.

With courage, grace, and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War... Read more

The Personal Librarian

A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)

By: Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray
Narrated by: Robin Miles
Length: 12 hours 22 minutes

“I dearly loved this historical fiction based on the life of J.P. Morgan's personal librarian. My favorite combination of entertaining and educational! Read more

The Sicilian Inheritance

A Novel

By: Jo Piazza
Narrated by: Rachel F. Hirsch & Carlotta Brentan
Length: 11 hours 53 minutes

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

From bestselling author and award-winning journalist Jo Piazza, comes a transporting novel rooted in the author’s own family history about a long-awaited trip to Sicily, a disputed inheritance, and a family secret that some will kill to protect . . .

Sara Marsala barely knows who she is anymore after the failure of her business... Read more

A Marvellous Light

The Last Binding: Book #1

By: Freya Marske
Narrated by: David Thorpe
Length: 14 hours 30 minutes

“I'm kind of obsessed with the magic system of this world. I love the nuance of Edwin having less raw power and overcoming that with a wealth of knowledge and perfect technique. And I love Robin having no real clue what's going on, being annoyed at Edwin being a know-it-all and then slowly but surely trusting him with his life. I love two gays... Read more

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde

By: Tia Williams
Narrated by: Mela Lee & Preston Butler
Length: 11 hours 42 minutes

In this enchanting love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Seven Days in June, a free-spirited florist and an enigmatic musician are irreversibly linked through the history, art, and magic of Harlem.

“The book’s calculus of love and loss is brutal, and grounds the dazzling prose and light magical element.” –– The New York Times
... Read more

The Fox Wife

A Novel

By: Yangsze Choo
Narrated by: Yangsze Choo
Length: 14 hours 36 minutes

“The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo is a lovely story brilliantly uses the folk legend of fox who can present as human and live long lives, if they avoid misadventure. Snow is hunting the killer of her child, a photographer of low character who coveted a snow-white fox kit and left it piteously injured to die. Snow will follow him from 1908 Manchuria... Read more

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend

A Novel

The Mischief & Matchmaking Series: Book #1

By: Emma R. Alban
Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells & Morag Sims
Length: 10 hours 47 minutes

“What a vibrant beginning to a new historical romance series! Full of intrigue, stolen kisses, and London drama, this sweet queer love story follows two women who dare to hope in a world not built for them. Read more

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

A Novel

By: Helen Simonson
Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham & Helen Simonson
Length: 15 hours 20 minutes

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Historical fiction of the highest order . . . an absolute joy of a book, warm and romantic, and with so much to say about the lives of women in the years following World War I.”—Ann Napolitano, bestselling author of Hello Beautiful

A timeless comedy of manners—refreshing as a summer breeze and bracing as the British... Read more

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons

By: Kate Khavari
Narrated by: Jodie Harris
Length: 8 hours 11 minutes

London, 1923. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh is the first woman to hold the position at University College of London. When she attends a dinner party for the school, she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon. What she doesn’t expect is for Mrs. Henry, one of the professors’... Read more

The Lost Apothecary

A Novel

By: Sarah Penner
Narrated by: Lorna Bennett, Lauren Anthony & Lauren Irwin
Length: 10 hours 17 minutes

“This book was a wonderful escape and was absolutely lovely to listen to. It switches back and forth between the point of view of two women in London in the 1790s and an American woman visiting London in present day. The story unfolds quickly. I was pleasantly surprised by the twists that I hadn't anticipated and the emotions that welled up... Read more

West with Giraffes

A Novel

By: Lynda Rutledge
Narrated by: Danny Campbell
Length: 10 hours 28 minutes

An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America.“Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes…”Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the... Read more

Heartless Hunter

The Crimson Moth: Book #1

By: Kristen Ciccarelli
Narrated by: Grace Gray
Length: 12 hours 8 minutes

"A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history. I couldn't look away." - Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Champion of Fate

Enemies-to-lovers doesn't get more high stakes than a witch and a witch hunter falling in love in bestselling... Read more

Vampires of El Norte

By: Isabel Cañas
Narrated by: Jose Nateras & Krysta Gonzales
Length: 12 hours 1 minute

“A love story first, vampire story second, we follow two young lovers as they find each other again after a monstrous attack. Amidst the carnage - and vampires - of war in 1840s Mexico, this book has atmosphere to spare. Light on scares, it's a good place to dip your toes into spookier waters. Read more

The Diamond Eye

A Novel

By: Kate Quinn
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
Length: 12 hours 51 minutes

“Ukrainian-born sharpshooter Mila Pavlichenko, or 'Lady Death' was credited with over three hundred confirmed kills during WW2. She is sent to America on a goodwill tour where she becomes a lifelong friend of Eleanor Roosevelt. A student, a mother, a soldier, and a hero, she is a force to be reckoned with. Based on a true story. Read more