10 Escapist Fiction Books to Read When You Need a Break From Reality

In THE SEVEN SISTERS, bestselling author Lucinda Riley offers up a passionate, spellbinding epic about a young woman discovering her family’s past. After her adoptive father’s death, Maia receives a clue about her true parentage. Maia ends up in Brazil where she learns uncovers the story of her mother, Izabela, who traveled to Paris in the 1920s. There, her life was changed forever when she met an ambitious sculptor and became engulfed in the romantic art scene. Love this book? It’s the first in a dazzling new series of historical romance!  

Miranda believes that moving to a lovely country house with a beautiful garden, will guarantee an ideal, pastoral existence for her and her family. Unfortunately, the country is not what she thought, and soon the family has isolated themselves from one another in their unhappiness. When a mysterious French gardener shows up and seems to have an answer for everything, Miranda and her family will discover not only the secret of his past, but the secret to lasting love. THE FRENCH GARDENER is a gentle, moving piece of women’s fiction with an old-fashioned appeal. 

In OUTLANDER, the beloved book that kicked off a New York Times bestselling series, the year is 1945, and Claire, a British combat nurse, has just returned to Scotland from the war to be with her husband. Soon, however, she’s ripped back in time to 1743 when Scotland is being torn asunder by war. In this world of violence, passion, and uncertainty, Claire falls in love with Scots warrior Jamie. Torn between two men and two worlds, Claire must fight for the fate of her life, country, and heart. 

Mary Jekyll is on a mission to hunt down her father’s partner, famed murderer Edward Hyde, in order to collect the reward money. Together with Hyde’s daughter, Diana, and a ragtag group of other female experimentations, Mary learns that her father and Hyde were part of a group of mad scientists who must be stopped. In this mesmerizing page turner, literature’s most famous science fiction monsters will finally meet, and punish, their makers, in order to put a stop to the madness once and for all. 

From the author of THE THIRTEENTH TALE (2006), comes another beguiling tale that celebrates the magic of storytelling. In ONCE UPON A RIVER, a small community along the Thames is shaken when a mysterious girl, pronounced dead, comes back to life one night at the local inn. Three families all claim she belongs to them: a wealthy mother with a kidnapped daughter, a farming family whose son’s forbidden liaison begot a child, and a housekeeper who’s been separated from her younger sister. Before the mystery can be solved, all their secrets must come out. 

Casiopea is miles away from the Jazz Age, city-life she desires, cleaning her wealthy grandfather’s floor. That is, until she accidentally unleashes the Mayan god of death, who forces her to help him reclaim his throne. But helping him will not be easy; it will take her from her small town in southern Mexico, through the Yucatan jungles, to Mexico City, and ultimately to the Mayan underworld. Dazzling and harrowing, THE GODS OF JADE AND SHADOW is a unique fairy tale adventure grounded a complex, slow-burn romance. 

In this stunning historical romance, the headstrong, aristocratic Catherine Harcourt is thrust out of her life of gentility and into a dangerous but passionate adventure. At the end of the eighteenth century, while visiting her bedridden uncle in Charleston, Cay agrees to deliver a package to his old friend, Alex, an escaped convict charged with murdering his own wife. When the handoff goes awry, Cay and Alex are forced to go on the run together, where Cay can’t stop herself from getting closer to the man who may be her biggest threat. 

It’s 1948, and Eve is desperate for a change from her drab, London life and loveless marriage. When she learns that she has inherited a beautiful villa overlooking the French Riviera, she can’t pack her bags fast enough. But upon arriving in her new home and entering into her new, glamorous lifestyle, Eve learns that there are many people eager to claim the inherited fortune for themselves. In this engrossing, historical thriller, Eve must solve the mystery of her own inheritance before her good fortune proves deadly. 

In Cold War Italy, American newlyweds Scottie and Michael have set up their dream life in Tuscany. Despite the sunlit days and prosecco-filled nights, it doesn’t take long for Scottie and Michael to see beneath the rosy surface to the shadowy world beneath. When her Italian tutor disappears, Scottie becomes obsessed with discovering what happened to him, the wedge it drives between her and Michael. Meanwhile, Michael’s dedication to fighting communism flags as he uncovers dark secrets about his country. THE ITALIAN PARTY is a fun, witty, slow-burn thriller with postwar intrigue.

1882 London: grimy streets, smoke-filled skies, and flickering lamp light. After her father dies, March Middleton is left in the care of Sidney Grice, the famed detective. A mother comes to hire Sidney to solve her daughter’s murder; her son-in-law is the prime suspect, but she’s convinced of his innocent. As Sidney and March investigated the twisted tale in the East End, Sidney can only see the man’s guilt, while March maintains his innocence. Charming, clever, and atmospherically Victorian, THE MANGLE STREET MURDERS is the first in the Gower Street Detective series.