7 Historical Novels Exploring the Complexities of Humanity

Set in the 1700s just before the Revolutionary War in the area that would be known as the Hudson River Valley, SEVEN LOCKS is an intricate story drawn from hardship and American folklore. Facing one of the greatest shames of that time period, our unnamed narrator is a young wife whose husband walks off and never returns, leaving her to raise two small children and take care of their family farm. Most of the village thinks she’s cruel, and her children chafe under her strict rules and the hard work of farm life. Things take yet another turn for the worse when the war comes to the Hudson Valley and her farm is raided of everything she has left. Telling the story from the multifaceted points of view of the mother and her daughter, Judith, Wade takes the reader on an enchanting journey through heartbreak, hardship, and growth as the children find their places in the world. Wade’s characters are so complex that even when you don’t like them, you can still empathize with them, and her writing style is exquisitely lyrical, painting a portrait of the Hudson River Valley of the 1700s right before your eyes.

Adele doesn’t want the life that’s been laid before her. She doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps and marry a quarryman while her brother goes to university and rejoins the society that their mother left behind. So, when her brother dies in a mining accident, Adele sees a way out of her small-town life in Stony Creek. She chops off her hair, binds her chest, and takes her brother’s place as an incoming freshman at Yale. As Charlie, she meets and falls in with a charming group of men, but between her crush on one of the boys and her mother’s interventions, Adele’s secret might come crashing down around her. Set in the 1930s before Yale was a coed university, ON BORROWED WINGS is an engaging coming-of-age story that deals with the complexity of gender roles and class status.

A class affair set in the early 1900s, GILDED MOUNTAIN explores the life of Sylvie Pelletier, a young woman trying to navigate class transition as she struggles to do what’s right for her family while being exposed to the world of wealth and money. Sylvie and her family are new to Moonstone, where her father works in the harsh marble mines. One summer, Sylvie gets the opportunity to work for her father’s employer, the Padgett family, in their luxurious manor house. Meanwhile, the quarry workers are planning to unionize, and another labor leader attempts to turn people against the labor practices that filled the Padgett family pockets in hopes of creating a utopian society for everyone. But with winter comes tragedy, and Sylvie is forced to pick a side and decide whether she’s going to remain silent or seek revenge. Rooted in questions of equality and freedom, GILDED MOUNTAIN is a historical look at corporate greed and the complicated relationship between the wealthy and working classes at the turn of the century.

WORK LIKE ANY OTHER isn’t a wide-reaching, war-torn historical fiction novel; instead, it’s a complex story about one man’s loss of identity and pride, and the power of forgiveness around the prison-reform movement in the 1920s. Reeves’s writing is beautiful and incredibly engaging as she explores Roscoe Martin’s journey through the prison system and the way people reinvent themselves when their former identities are stripped away. Roscoe knows that electricity is the next big thing and wants to help bring it to rural America, but family duty forces him to give up his dreams and his livelihood in order to save the failing farm that his wife inherits. With their marriage and their lives on the rocks, Roscoe comes up with a plan: he uses his knowledge as an electrician to put in his own power lines and steal energy from the state to help save the farm and his marriage—until a man from the power company finds the illegal lines and is electrocuted. Roscoe’s arrest is the final straw in his marriage; his wife abandons him, and the farm is once again in danger. Roscoe must face his twenty-year sentence in Kilby Prison alone, and eventually climbs the ranks as an inmate who helps guards track down escaped prisoners. Reeves asks whether we identify with the work we do, what power work has in determining our identity, and what happens when good intentions lead to horrible outcomes.

Based on the 1692 Massacre of Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands, CORRAG is a haunting and beautifully written tale of courage and unlikely friendship. When we first meet Corrag, she’s chained in a cell, accused of witchcraft and involvement in the Glencoe Massacre, when she’s visited by Reverend Charles Leslie. Corrag tells her story, and Leslie shares his thoughts with his wife through a series of letters as he unravels the truth about Corrag’s history and the murdered MacDonald clan. Fletcher’s prose is poetic and infuses the setting and descriptions of nature with such magic that perhaps she’s the one putting a spell on the reader right alongside Corrag.

Maggie O’Farrell, the author of HAMNET, weaves another incredible narrative grounded in heartbreaking historical truth. Lucrezia di Cosimo de’ Medici enjoys her life as the third daughter of a duke, free to wander the grounds of the family palazzo and marvel at the beauty around her. But then her sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the powerful ruler of the Ferranese dynasty, Alfonso, and Lucrezia’s father is all too quick to offer her hand in marriage to unite the two powerful families. Now Lucrezia must leave her life behind and travel to a strange court with complicated customs while still finding herself as a young woman. And who is Alfonso, really? Is he a passionate and educated man who appreciates art and beauty, or is he the cold and calculated ruler that made Lucrezia’s older sister tremble? Despite all her wealth and power, Lucrezia knows she is now disposable unless she produces strong heirs to carry on the Ferranese line.

Dark, vicious, twisted, and based on true events, ALL THE BLOOD WE SHARE is a terrifying portrait of humanity in a brutal period of history, perfect for true crime fans. The Bloody Benders are a horrific family of serial killers who flee to Kansas in 1871 and open an inn. But whispers of missing travelers and witchcraft follow them everywhere. Their daughter, Kate, lures the townspeople in with her beauty and healing talents, while her family, consumed by greed and murderous desires, marks those who won’t be missed as their next targets. The story is atmospheric and chilling, with unease and tension seeping into every word and providing this list with a different perspective on human nature and what people are truly capable of.