The best historical fiction books with a new take on a famous event

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m fascinated by stories from the past. I worked for many years in museums and heritage, telling Scotland’s stories through exhibitions and nonfiction publications, but I was always drawn to the question best answered through historical fiction – what did that feel like? Well-researched historical fiction can take us right into the lives of people who lived through the dramatic events we read about in academic books. I found that each of the novels on my list transported me to a different time and place, and I hope you enjoy them, too.


I wrote...

The Paris Peacemakers

By Flora Johnston,

Book cover of The Paris Peacemakers

What is my book about?

It takes place in France and Scotland in 1919. Stella is a typist at the Paris Peace Conference, taking minutes as politicians carve up the world. Haunted by grief, she tries to find solace amid the glamour of the City of Light. Her sister Corran is also in France as a lecturer to the troops. What will happen to her career when her fiancée Rob returns? Before the war, Rob played rugby for Scotland. He can barely comprehend that so many of his teammates are now dead and is confronted by questions of what it was all for.

As politicians attempt to rebuild the world they have shattered, can Stella, Corran, and Rob pick up the pieces of their own lives?

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Pompeii

Flora Johnston Why did I love this book?

I picked up this book from the shelf of a holiday cottage and was hooked immediately. I love books which interweave personal human stories with big events.

The ordinary loves and lives of the people of Pompeii are unfolding as the mountain above them begins to behave strangely. Of course, we, the readers, know the disaster that is about to occur, which only adds to the suspense. Unputdownable.

By Robert Harris,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Pompeii as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'A pulse-rate-speeding masterpiece' Sunday Times

'A stunning novel . . . the subtlety and power of its construction holds our attention to the end' The Times

During a sweltering week in late August, as Rome's richest citizens relax in their villas around Pompeii and Herculaneum, there are ominous warnings that something is going wrong. Wells and springs are failing, a man has disappeared, and now the greatest aqueduct in the world - the mighty Aqua Augusta - has suddenly ceased to flow . . .

Through the eyes of four characters - a young engineer, an adolescent girl, a corrupt…


Book cover of Rizzio: A Novella

Flora Johnston Why did I love this book?

Growing up in Scotland, the brutal murder of Mary Queen of Scots’ Italian favourite (some say lover) Rizzio by her husband Lord Darnley is one of those stories I’ve known since childhood. Love, jealousy, revenge, royalty: it has it all!

In this slim novella, Denise Mina retells this famous story for the 21st century, bringing the characters to life and packing the pages with drama, emotion, and suspense.

By Denise Mina,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Rizzio as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'a tour de force work of art' - The Wall Street Journal, Best Books of the Year

Longlisted for the 2022 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award

It's Saturday evening, 9 March 1566, and Mary, Queen of Scots, is six months pregnant. She's hosting a supper party, secure in her private chambers. She doesn't know that her Palace is surrounded - that, right now, an army of men is creeping upstairs to her chamber. They're coming to murder David Rizzio, her friend and secretary, the handsome Italian man who is smiling across the table at her. Mary's husband, Lord Darnley,…


Book cover of Hamnet

Flora Johnston Why did I love this book?

Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, right? Yes, but why? This wonderful book manages to tell the story of the writing of perhaps the world’s most famous play without mentioning the playwright by name once.

I loved the way the writer focused on his wife and children, and through their stories shows us not only the world that Shakespeare came from but how he became the writer he was. Oh, and if you like a book that will make you cry this really is the one. I’ve rarely read such a powerful description of grief.

By Maggie O'Farrell,

Why should I read it?

35 authors picked Hamnet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE 2020 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION - THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER 2021
'Richly sensuous... something special' The Sunday Times
'A thing of shimmering wonder' David Mitchell

TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.

On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London.

Neither…


Book cover of The Ashes of London

Flora Johnston Why did I love this book?

I love a bit of historical crime, and this novel, the first in a series about Cat Lovett and James Marwood, has everything. It’s a brilliantly plotted mystery but it is also so much more. Set in 1666, it opens with the Great Fire of London, as the chaos of fire sweeping through the city is used to cover up murder.

I found the story and the characters compelling, so much so that I’ve gone on to read the rest of the series, each of which intertwines the personal lives of Cat and James with the political events of the day.

By Andrew Taylor,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Ashes of London as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first book in the No. 1 Times bestselling series

'This is terrific stuff' Daily Telegraph

'A breathtakingly ambitious picture of an era' Financial Times

'A masterclass in how to weave a well-researched history into a complex plot' The Times

A CITY IN FLAMES
London, 1666. As the Great Fire consumes everything in its path, the body of a man is found in the ruins of St Paul's Cathedral - stabbed in the neck, thumbs tied behind his back.

A WOMAN ON THE RUN
The son of a traitor, James Marwood is forced to hunt the killer through the city's…


Book cover of Music in the Dark

Flora Johnston Why did I love this book?

I read this book when it came out last year and also heard the author speak about it at the Edinburgh Book Festival. It’s a story set long after the Highland Clearances, a time when people were driven out of the glens of the Scottish highlands to be replaced by sheep. It drew me right into the human consequences which continue to unfold long after the dramatic events are over.

I particularly enjoyed the compelling main character, Jamesina Ross, who is long since damaged and disappointed yet still has the instantly recognisable dry humour and strength of an older woman who has lived and loved.

By Sally Magnusson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Music in the Dark as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'A wonderful and moving story, beautifully told . . . an episode of history brought vividly to life' Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures

Jamesina Ross is long finished with men. But one night a stranger seeking lodgings knocks on the door of her tenement flat. He doesn't recognise her, but she remembers him at once. Not that she plans to mention it. She has no intention of trusting anyone enough to let herself be vulnerable again.

A lifetime ago Jamesina Ross was bent on becoming a writer. She had a facility with words. She made up songs about the…


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Snow on Magnolias

By Betty Bolte,

Book cover of Snow on Magnolias

Betty Bolte Author Of Notes of Love and War

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Author Editor Traveler Crocheter Reader

Betty's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Magnolia Merryweather, a horse breeder, is eager to celebrate Christmas for the first time after the Civil War ended even as she grows her business. She envisions a calm, prosperous life ahead after the terror of the past four years. Only, all of her plans are thrown into disarray when her secret lover returns and starts asking questions she can’t answer without disaster following.

Bryce Day comes home to Alabama after he’s discharged from the First Alabama Cavalry USA with guilt weighing on his heart. His neighbors won’t cotton to his Unionist bent, and the woman of his heart likely won’t give him a second chance after his silence during the war. Only, she’s hiding something from him.

How can they have any hope of a loving life together with lies and secrets between them?

Snow on Magnolias

By Betty Bolte,

What is this book about?

One terrible lie, a desperate measure to save her past, just might destroy her future…

Award-winning author of historical fiction presents a new novel of love and lies, secrets and sensuality, and the hands of fate weaving it all together.

The American Civil War is finally over and Christmas beckons. Magnolia Merryweather, backyard horse breeder, is eager to celebrate for the first time since the war began even as she continues to grow her business. She envisions a calm, prosperous life ahead after all the terror of the past four years. She’s preparing to follow in her mother’s matriarchal footsteps,…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Edinburgh Scotland, plagues, and Pompeii?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Edinburgh Scotland, plagues, and Pompeii.

Edinburgh Scotland Explore 53 books about Edinburgh Scotland
Plagues Explore 49 books about plagues
Pompeii Explore 20 books about Pompeii