• Top Picks
  • Staff-Created List

Historical Fiction

On May 7, 2024, we're hosting a Tea & Books to share the best and newest Historical Fiction! Here are the library staff's top picks for books set in the 1900s or earlier. Tea & Books are hosted bi-monthly and focus on a different theme or genre each session. Check out our event listings to register for future events!

Pickering Public Library

22 items

  • Ancient Greece: Known for the brutal act of killing her own children to exact vengeance on her deceitful husband, the Argonauts leader Jason, Medea has carved out a singularly infamous niche in history, but in this propulsive, beautifully…
    BookNew York : Atria Books, 2024. — FIC Quin
  • Sicily, 412 BCE: Blood and glory abound in this heart-pounding and surprisingly hilarious historical tale about two unemployed friends who come up with a plan to direct a play with Athenian prisoners of war.
    BookNew York : Henry Holt and Company, 2024. — FIC Lenno
  • Indian Ocean, 12th Century: Amina al-Sirafi, a retired pirate, is lured back into a life of adventure to rescue a kidnapped girl. This thrilling high-seas fantasy promises magic, ancient mysteries, and a battle for Amina's very soul.
    BookNew York, NY : Harper Voyager, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2023. — FIC Chakr
  • Dorsetshire, 1348: During the Black Death, a widowed Lady Anne takes charge of her serfs, creating a new social order within a quarantined manor. Fear of starvation and a mysterious murder test the community's courage and their fragile…
    BookToronto, Ontario : HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2018. — FIC Walte
  • China, 1469: Sent into an arranged marriage, Tan Yunxian, forbidden to continue her work as a midwife-in-training as well as see her forever friend Meiling, is ordered to act like proper wife and seeks a way to continue treating women and…
    BookNew York : Scribner, 2023. — FIC See
  • Florence, 1550: Third daughter Lucrezia de' Medici is thrust into the spotlight when her sister dies. Married for political gain to the Duke of Ferrara, Lucrezia must navigate a treacherous court and prove her worth as a duchess while…
    BookToronto : Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2022. — FIC O'Farr
  • Japan, 1579: Enslaved Yasuke navigates cultural clashes and internal conflicts, while becoming a samurai.
    BookToronto, Ontario : Scribner Canada, 2023. — FIC Shrev
  • New England, 1600s-2020s: A multi-generational saga told through the lens of a single house in the New England woods, exploring themes of life, death, and our connection to nature and history.
    BookNew York : Random House, 2023. — FIC Mason
  • Boston, 1662: A young Puritan wife trapped in a violent marriage, plots her escape, but seeking a divorce makes her a target for accusations of witchcraft, forcing her to fight for her freedom and her life.
    BookNew York : Doubleday, 2021. — FIC Bohja
  • Maine, 1789: Martha Ballard, a respected midwife, investigates the suspicious death of a man found frozen in the river, defying societal norms and risking her reputation to uncover the truth.
    BookNew York : Doubleday, 2023. — FIC Lawho
  • Babel

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

    Kuang, R. F. (Rebecca F.)
    Oxford, 1830: In this blend of historical fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction, the reader follows Robin, who, as someone who is Chinese, grapples with the fact that his work at Babel supports British colonialism in China in this alternate…
    BookNew York : Harper Voyager, 2022. — FIC Kuang
  • Barbados, 1834: Promised freedom with the abolition of slavery, Rachel is instead bound to her plantation for six more years. Undeterred, she embarks on a perilous journey across continents, driven by an unyielding love to find the…
    BookNew York : Berkley, 2023. — FIC Shear
  • New Orleans, 1860s: A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.
    BookNew York : Doubleday, 2024. — FIC Evere
  • Kansas, Post-Civil War: A folk horror epic about a ragtag posse that must track down a witch through a wild west beset by demons and ghosts―and where death is always just around the bend.
    BookNew York : Nightfire, Tor Publishing Group, 2023. — FIC Greci
  • America, 1901-1930: At the turn of the twentieth century, in a time of great change, two women—separated by societal status and culture but bound by their expected roles as the daughters of famed statesmen—forge a lifelong friendship.
    BookNew York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2024. — FIC Hugul
  • Pennsylvania, 1905: Orphaned Peter finds a home at a Pennsylvania orphanage, but when a visitor arrives harboring an ancient evil, the boys are turned against each other in a fight for survival.
    BookNew York : Nightfire, Tor Publishing Group, 2023. — FIC Fraca
  • Panama Canal, 1907: The Great Divide weaves together the stories of those impacted by the the construction of the Panama Canal. From a Panamanian fisherman and his son to a resourceful Barbadian girl and a dedicated scientist, the novel…
    BookNew York, NY : Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2024. — FIC Henri
  • Manchuria, 1908: Detective Bao investigates the death of a woman rumored to be a victim of fox spirits. As he delves deeper, the line between myth and reality blurs, forcing him to confront a world of magic and vengeance where a vengeful…
    BookNew York : Henry Holt and Company, 2024. — FIC Choo
  • Cairo, 1912: A resourceful young woman with a mysterious connection to Djinns must outsmart a ruthless magician to protect her city and her family.
    BookNew York : Tor, 2021. — FIC Clark
  • St. Catherine's, 1913: Torn from his scholar's dream, 13-year-old Hoi Wing works in a Canadian laundry, facing bullies and racism, when a friendship with a kind maid and a chance to learn English rekindles his hope for a brighter, educated…
    BookToronto, Ontario : Harper Avenue, 2024. — FIC Lee