This post was written by Erin Cotter, author of A Traitorous Heart.
Maybe it was growing up in the city that hosted the Pan-American exposition in 1901, or maybe it was being gifted an American Girl Doll at an impressionable age, but whatever it was, it’s made me obsessed with history for as long as I can remember. No book in the Dear America or the Royal Diaries series was safe from the inside of my grubby backpack.
Even though I loved historical fiction, when it came to writing my own stories, I was scared to try historical. What if I got something wrong? Why would anyone care about something that happened 200 years ago? This, of course, didn’t make any sense, as I was one of those people who cared deeply and enthusiastically about things that had happened 200 years ago, but creative anxiety has a way of gnawing on your brain that’s hard to shake off.
The following books were so fun, so immersive, they finally gave me the courage to try and write about all the weird things I thought no one else was thinking about. If you’re thinking of adding more historical fiction to your shelf, I hope you give them a try!
The Boy in the Red Dress by Kristin Lambert
It’s New Year’s Eve, 1929, and Millie is running the Cloak & Dagger, a swinging speakeasy in the French Quarter, while her aunt is out of town. Everything’s going well and fine—until a young socialist comes in asking questions about their star performer and falls to her death minutes later.
Ugh, I don’t even know where to start with this book! I’m absolutely obsessed with it. Queerness, speakeasies, segregation (by race and class), New Orleans, compelling characters, and just the right amount of 1920s swag are just some of the things explored in this book. If you love well-written historical novels featuring fun, diverse characters and tight twisty plots this book’s for you!
The Lady Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzie Lee
Felicity Montague has two goals: enroll in medical school and dodge a marriage proposal from a starry-eyed suitor. When the doors of higher education are slammed in her face because of her gender, Felicity goes a cross-continental European journey to forge her own path into medicine.
The hardest part of writing this list was picking only one Mackenzie Lee book to put on here because I love them all so much! Lady’s Guide is my very favorite because Lee doesn’t shy away from showing how infuriatingly, exhaustingly limiting the 1700s were for girls who wanted to be more than wives and mothers. Lee does this in a way that doesn’t masculine Felicity or demean women’s hobbies and work, (There’s a daring escape involving embroidery that I especially love!) but instead Lee makes it very clear that women shouldn’t have to be more like men to succeed.
The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett
Set in the late 1930s, Theodora Fox has always craved adventure, but her treasure-seeking father often leaves her behind. When her father gets disappears whilst searching for Vlad the Impaler’s ring, it’s up to Theo and her former best friend/former sweetheart Huck Gallagher to take charge.
Did you know YA contemporary queen Jenn Bennett also does historical? Now you do! This book is an Indiana Jones-esque romp through Romania. It’s fast-paced, witty, and as a sucker for vampires and vampire lore, this book was such a delight for me.
Charming Young Man by Eliot Schrefer
Léon Delafosse is supposed to be France’s next great pianist, but he needs a patron to make it in glittering 1890s Paris. When young gossip columnist Marcel Proust introduces Léon to the fabulous Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fézensac, it seems like all of Léon’s ambitions are finally within reach. Except he can’t stop thinking about Félix—the best friend and maybe something more he left behind in his country life.
I think about this book all the time. It’s lovely and lyrical and reads more like a series of vignettes. Léon Delafosse’s story is based on a true story, and Schrefer was inspired to write it about stumbling across a John Singer Sargent portrait of Léon and imagining who he was.
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
In 1910, the Davenports are the richest Black family in Chicago. Their wealth was created from the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company. Now Mr. Davenport’s daughters live surrounded by luxury. The novel, told in alternating POVs, follows the four girls discovering the courage to steer their own paths in life—and in love.
I’m a sucker for anything set in the 1910s, and Marquis makes this world come to life in an unputdownable way. It’s rare to see this period of Black history explored and Marquis expertly dives into the way race and class intersect in high society Chicago. I love the love stories here (seriously, they’re adorable) and I love the journey of each of the four girls finding her passion and purpose even more!
Get your copy of A Traitorous Heart by Erin Cotter here.