The Most Anticipated Historical Fiction of Fall 2025
Time travel to distant eras and locales with this collection of historical fiction novels coming to shelves this fall.
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1
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by Thomas Pynchon
Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation business shifting from labor-management relations to the more domestic kind. Hicks McTaggart, a onetime strikebreaker turned private eye, thinks he’s found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who’s taken a mind to go wandering. By the time Hicks catches up with her he will find himself also entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal, outlaw motorcyclists, and the troubles that come with each of them, none of which Hicks is qualified, forget about being paid, to deal with …
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2
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I, Medusa
by Ayana Gray
From New York Times bestselling author Ayana Gray comes a new kind of villain origin story, reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek mythology as a provocative and powerful young heroine. Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heart’s desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.
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3
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Buckeye: A Read with Jenna Pick
by Patrick Ryan
“A small-town novel of epic proportions” (Tom Perrotta), this captivating story weaves the intimate lives of two midwestern families across generations, from World War II to the late twentieth century. Sweeping yet intimate, rich with piercing observation and the warmth that comes from profound understanding of the human spirit, Buckeye captures the universal longing for love and for goodness.
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4
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Bad Bad Girl
by Gish Jen
The award-winning author of The Resisters returns with an engrossing, blisteringly funny-sad autobiographical novel tracing a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship. Spanning continents, generations, and cultures, Bad Bad Girl is a novel only Gish Jen could have written: Genre-bending, courageous, wise, and as immensely incisive as it is compassionate.
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5
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Lady Like
by Mackenzi Lee
Worlds collide, dramatically and hilariously, when both women decide on the very same duke as their best possible chance at a tolerable husband and a secure future. A tongue-in-cheek romp through London’s summer season, from balls to brothels, horseraces to duels, Harry and Emily compete for the duke’s favor, only to find their true hearts’ desires may be more compatible than they could have ever predicted.
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6
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The Hong Kong Widow
by Kristen Loesch
Hong Kong, 1953: In a remote mansion, witnesses insist a massacre took place. The police see nothing but pristine rooms and declare it a collective hallucination. Until decades later, when one witness returns … from the Edgar®-nominated author of The Last Russian Doll.
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7
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Slashed Beauties
by A. Rushby
A gothic feminist body horror in two timelines revolving around three Anatomical Venuses — ultrarealistic wax figures of women — that come to life at night to murder men who have wronged them.
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8
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The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes
by Chanel Cleeton
A mysterious book with a legacy spanning from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day unites three women — and their secrets — in this unforgettable novel from New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton.
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9
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A Land So Wide
by Erin A. Craig
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth Child comes an irresistible blend of dark fairytale and romantic fantasy. The town of Mistaken has a secret … and it’s up to one woman to uncover the truth, confront her past, and save the man she loves. Playfully drawing from Scottish folklore, Erin A. Craig’s adult debut is both a deeply atmospheric and profoundly romantic exploration of freedom versus security: A stunning celebration of one woman’s relentless bravery on a quest to reclaim her lost love — and seize her own future.
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10
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Venetian Vespers
by John Banville
1899. As the new century approaches, struggling English writer Evelyn Dolman — a hack, by his own description — marries Laura Rensselaer, daughter of an American oil tycoon. Evelyn anticipates that he and Laura will inherit a substantial fortune and lead a comfortable, settled life. But his hopes are dashed when a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, just before the patriarch’s death, leads to her disinheritance. The unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice to celebrate the New Year. From their first moments in the mist-blanketed floating city, otherworldly occurrences begin to accumulate. Evelyn’s already jangled nerves fray further. Could he be losing his mind? Venetian Vespers is a haunting, atmospheric novel from one of the most sophisticated stylists of our time.
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11
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If the Dead Belong Here
by Carson Faust
When six-year-old Laurel Taylor vanishes without a trace, her family is left shattered, struggling to navigate the darkness of grief and unanswered questions. As their search turns to despair, Laurel’s older sister, Nadine, begins experiencing nightmares that blur the line between dream and reality, and she becomes convinced that Laurel’s disappearance could be connected to other family tragedies. Guided by her elders, Nadine sets out to uncover whether laying the ghosts to rest is the key to finding her sister and healing her fractured family.
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12
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From Cradle to Grave
by Rhys Bowen
Lady Georgiana “Georgie” Rannoch is just like any other new mother, balancing responsibilities of being 34th in line for the British throne and solving the shocking deaths of several young men, in this new Royal Spyness novel from the queen of historical mystery, Rhys Bowen.
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13
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Lion Hearts
by Dan Jones
1353. The Hundred Years’ War erupts again, and the band of brothers known as the Essex Dogs are thrown into the fray once more. The Black Death rages as the characters’ fates are decided in this thrilling, merciless, blood-soaked finale. The epic conclusion to the Essex Dogs trilogy, from the New York Times bestselling historian.
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14
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The White Octopus Hotel
by Alexandra Bell
Journey to a magical hotel in the Swiss Alps, where two lost souls living in different centuries meet and discover if a second chance awaits them behind its doors. Each of them has been through the trenches, but for an impossible moment, love and healing are just a room away … if only they have the courage to step through the door.
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15
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Mothers
by Brenda Lozano
From the author of Witches, a gripping, kaleidoscopic tale of two women in 1940s Mexico — one whose daughter has just been kidnapped and another who has just adopted a little girl. With the twists and turns of a thriller, and Brenda Lozano’s sharp yet poignant sense of humor, the novel asks how far mothers are willing to go in the name of love for their children, and at what cost.
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