Best historical fiction books to read in 2025

The Voyage Home Pat Barker

For centuries, stories about the Trojan War have focused on the male warriors: Achilles, Odysseus and Paris, among others. But what about the women? Pat Barker’s novels The Silence of the Girls and The Women of Troy give voice to the women whose homes were destroyed, and her latest, The Voyage Home, retells the myth of Cassandra, King Agamemnon’s concubine, who foresees her captor’s bloody demise.

Glorious Exploits Ferdia Lennon

In ancient Sicily, unemployed potters and unlikely friends Lampo and Gelon share a love of poetry and plays from rival Athens. So, when a failed invasion of their city leaves thousands of Athenian soldiers imprisoned in a nearby quarry, they decide to stage a production of Medea that is doomed from the outset. Ferdia Lennon’s critically acclaimed debut set amid the Peloponnesian War brings a modern, comical edge to this fascinating chapter of history.

Tyrant Conn Iggulden

The year is 50 AD, and Agrippina has successfully found herself at the epicentre of power in Ancient Rome by marrying Emperor Claudius. In the bloody and brutal world of politics, she will stop at nothing to ensure that her son Nero is in line to become the next emperor. Tyrant is the second instalment in the Nero Trilogy by the master of historical fiction, Conn Iggulden. 

Out May 27th.

The Space Between Lauren Keenan

New Zealand, 1860. Frances is an unmarried Londoner newly landed in New Zealand, at the dawn of the First Taranaki War. When Frances comes face-to-face with Henry White, the man who jilted her a decade earlier, he’s standing outside Thorpe’s General Store with a sack of flour in his arms. Henry is married now — to the proud and hardy Mataria, who is shunned by her whanau due to this controversial marriage. As conflict between settlers and iwi rises, both women must find the courage to fight for what is right, even if it costs them everything they know. 

Precipice Robert Harris

The year is 1914, and Prime Minister Lord Asquith is leading his country into war. But there is another matter keeping him preoccupied: his obsessive affair with the 26-year-old Venetia Stanley, an aristocratic socialite less than half his age. When a leak of top-secret information prompts an investigation, it transpires that this affair has not only been salacious, but a threat to national security, in a scandal that will change the course of British politics.

The Girl with the Suitcase Lesley Pearse

London, 1941. Mary is a maid in Hampstead, while Elizabeth is an heiress on her way to Ireland to inherit a grand house. But after an air raid, Mary is mistaken for Elizabeth and handed her money and tickets to Ireland. This is Mary’s chance to start afresh, but it’s far from plain sailing. The Girl with the Suitcase is the latest from beloved author Lesley Pearse, who has sold over 10 million copies of her heartwarming, evocative books.

Out 8 July.

The Soldier's Daughter Fiona McIntosh

Violet Nash has grown up in the shadows of her father Charlie’s shattered dreams. It’s been years since he walked away from the battlefields of France, a WWI hero but his heart in tatters, only to see it broken all over again in the worst way possible. In search of a new beginning, they set sail for Tasmania, Australia to fulfill his dream of setting up a whisky distillery. Violet shows a rare talent for the fine art of distilling and blending and plans to follow in his footsteps. But some secrets cannot be forgotten, and as the Second World War rages on, Charlie feels a pull once more to play his part and is lured back into action.

Out 30 September.

The Eights Joanna Miller

It’s 1920, and women have finally been admitted to study at the University of Oxford. Tucked away in St Hugh’s College on Corridor Eight are four young women: Dora, who finds herself unexpectedly studying at university, suffragette daughter Beatrice, socialite Otto and quiet Marianne, who is hiding a life-changing secret. In the wake of the Great War, and with Influenza and misogyny still looming large, their friendship will be essential to making it through this time of change and challenge.

Parts of this article were taken from penguin.co.uk