Best Historical Fiction books of 2020

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • Now a major motion picture starring ACADEMY AWARD® winner Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, and Joe A... Read more

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERNAMED A BEST BOOK BY THE NEW YORK TIMES • THE WASHINGTON POST • NPR • PEOPLE • TIME MAGAZINE • VANITY FAIR • GLAMOUR • BARACK OBAMANew... Read more

“An extraordinary novel . . . a triumph of insight and storytelling.” —Associated Press“A true masterpiece.” —Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed An ... Read more

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick and a New York Times bestseller!   “A page-turner for booklovers everywhere! . . . A story of family ties, their lost dreams, and the redemptio... Read more

In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history in this powerful novel of magic, family, and the suffragette movement.  "A gorgeous and thrilling paean to ... Read more

#1 New York Times BestsellerAn Amazon Best Book of 2020 The thrilling and addictive prequel to The Pillars of the Earth—set in England at the dawn of a new era: the Middle Ages"... Read more

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER!"A stunning story... The ending is ingenious, and it's possible that Benedict has brought to life the most plausible explanation for why Christie... Read more

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of The House of the Spirits, this epic novel spanning decades and crossing continents follows two young people as they flee the aftermath of th... Read more

In Dublin, 1918, a maternity ward at the height of the Great Flu is a small world of work, risk, death, and unlooked-for love, in "Donoghue's best novel since Room" (Kirkus Reviews).I... Read more

"The perfect summer read" (USA TODAY) begins with a shocking tragedy that results in three generations of the Adler family grappling with heartbreak, romance, and the weight of family secrets over ... Read more

In this electric debut novel set against the twilight of the American gold rush, two siblings are on the run, trying not just to survive but to find a home.NATIONAL BESTSELLER * ONE OF BARACK OBAMA... Read more

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An epic novel rooted in the unlikely real-life friendship between two fathers—one Palestinian, one Israeli, both connected by grief and working together for p... Read more

Welcome to Burning Cove, California where 1930s Hollywood glamour conceals a ruthless killer…   Vivian Brazier never thought life as an art photographer would include nightly wake-up ca... Read more

A mother and daughter with a shared talent for healing—and for the conjuring of curses—are at the heart of this dazzling first novel  WINNER OF THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN HISTORIANS P... Read more

With "themes worthy of the Bronte sisters" this Regency romance "captures the sublime nature of the Gothic" as a fallen woman seeking justice finds love (Entertainment Weekly). She's a Rakess on a ... Read more

A New York Times bestsellerNamed a Best Book of 2020 by the Australian Book Review, AV Club, Books-a-Million, Electric Literature, Esquire, the Financial Times, Good Housekeeping (UK), The Guardian... Read more

"Will appeal to readers of Elena Ferrante and Margaret Atwood . . . the unusual setting offers an interesting twist on the portrait of an artist as a young woman." —Bookpage In 1960s Iceland, Hekla... Read more

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICKA BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB PICK For fans of The Hours and Fates and Furies, a bold, kaleidoscopic novel intertwining the lives of three women across three centuries... Read more

Shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, and named a best book of the year by the New York Times, NPR, Elle, Time, and more, The Shadow King is an "unforgettable epic from an immensely talented autho... Read more

"The book I most often give as a gift to cheer people up." —Hilary Mantel * "Tart, beguiling, witty and compassionate...a literary boost for the spirits." —Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air *... Read more

From award-winning author Paul Yoon comes a "spellbinding" (The Washington Post) novel about three kids orphaned in 1960s Laos—and how their destinies are entwined across decades, anointed by... Read more

*WINNER OF THE 2021 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE**ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021*Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fictionShortlisted for the 2022 DUBLIN Literary... Read more