Not gonna lie I’ve got a confession to make. Before becoming a historical fiction author myself (23 years and counting, God help me), I used to be something of a literary snob. Yep. Me. The woman who now cranks out historical novels for a living once rolled her eyes at best selling historical fiction displays in bookstores.
Then my grandmother passed away and left me her beat-up copy of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” That faded 1974 receipt was still marking her place. During those awful grief-filled nights when sleep wouldn’t come, I read it cover to cover. By page 87, something clicked. I wasn’t just reading anymore – I was living in 1930s Alabama.
That’s when I figured out what separates truly great best selling historical fiction from the forgettable stuff. The good books don’t just tell you about another time period. They grab you by the shirt collar and yank you straight into the past. After nearly three decades of writing this stuff (and teaching it at community colleges – nothing fancy), I’ve got some pretty strong feelings about which books actually matter. So here’s my list of 10 historical fiction best sellers that didn’t just entertain readers – they changed how we see the world.
Why These Best Selling Historical Fiction Classics Still Matter
Before we dive in, let me explain something. People always ask why historical fiction sells so well. Simple answer? Because the past keeps repeating itself, just with different costumes.
Every human struggle you’re dealing with right now – love, loss, injustice, hope – someone else faced the exact same thing 50, 100, or 500 years ago. Historical fiction best sellers work because they show us we’re not alone in this mess called life.
Classic Best Selling Historical Fiction That Started It All
A Tale of Two Cities (aka The Book That Made Me Ugly Cry in Public)
Charles Dickens published this beast in 1859, and it’s been making readers weep ever since. Last summer, I was rereading it at my local coffee shop. When Sydney Carton delivers his final speech about doing “a far, far better thing,” I completely lost it. Full-on sobbing. The poor barista actually came over to check if I needed medical attention.
What makes this particular best selling historical fiction stick around isn’t just the French Revolution backdrop, it’s how Dickens captures the very essence of sacrifice and redemption. My students always come in thinking it’ll be boring, then end up arguing passionately about whether they would make the same choice Sydney did.
The book sold like crazy when it first came out because people recognized their own political upheaval in Dickens’ Paris. Sound familiar? That’s exactly why certain historical fiction best sellers from the 1800s still feel relevant today.
Modern Best Selling Historical Fiction That Redefined the Genre
The Book Thief (or How Death Became My Favorite Narrator Ever)
So my book club picked this in 2007, and I put off reading it till the night before. BIG mistake. Ended up calling in sick to work because I stayed up till 5am finishing it.
Zusak did something I thought impossible, he made Death not just sympathetic but EXHAUSTED by humans. Brilliant move for best selling historical fiction set during the Holocaust. When Death says he’s “haunted by humans”… shivers, every time.
I’ve actually tried writing Death as a character twice since reading this book. Failed miserably both times. Some things just can’t be copied, y’know?
The Women (When Real People Become Better Than Fiction)
Confession time: I went through a massive Frank Lloyd Wright phase in my thirties. Visited Fallingwater three times. So when T.C. Boyle decided to explore the architect through the women who loved him? CATNIP.
What makes this best selling historical fiction so fascinating is how it completely flips our understanding of a “great man” narrative. Wright was brilliant, sure, but also kind of a nightmare human?
I actually use this book in workshops to demonstrate how historical fiction can tell truths that straight biography sometimes misses. Also, Mamah Borthwick deserved so much better than her footnote in architectural history.
The Kite Runner (The Book I’ve Bought Seven Times)
Why seven? Because I keep giving my copy away! “You HAVE to read this,” I tell friends, then shove my copy into their hands before they can protest.
Hosseini’s debut showed me how best selling historical fiction can educate without ever feeling like a history lesson. Before this book, what did most Americans know about Afghanistan beyond vague news headlines? Not much.
When my nephew was deployed there in 2010, I sent him a care package with this book inside. His email response weeks later was just: “Now I understand where I am.”
The Nightingale (aka The Book That Made Me Rethink Resistance)
Growing up, most WWII stories I read focused on men fighting on frontlines. Then along comes this novel about two sisters fighting the Nazi occupation in completely different ways.
During a writing retreat in Maine, I got into this heated debate with another author about this book. He called it “women’s fiction disguised as historical.” I nearly dumped my wine on his head. The best selling historical fiction category has LONG marginalized stories of women’s courage, labeling them “domestic” or “romantic” when they’re actually about survival and resistance.
My grandmother was a telephone operator in Paris during the occupation. Never talked about it. Makes me wonder what stories she never told.
All the Light We Cannot See (or How Short Chapters Saved My Reading Life)
Doerr’s masterpiece came out during a period when I was struggling with concentration. My father was ill, work was crazy, and I couldn’t focus on anything longer than a magazine article.
Then this best selling historical fiction gem appeared with its short, perfectly crafted chapters. I could read just one before bed. Then another. Then suddenly it’s 3am and I’m halfway through.
The radio as both a tool and metaphor throughout the book? GENIUS. And the way he writes about blindness, making Marie-Laure’s world MORE vivid, not less, changed how I describe sensory experiences in my own writing.
A Thousand Splendid Suns (The Book That Left Me Speechless)
After reading this, I didn’t write for a month. Not because it discouraged me, but because it humbled me so completely I needed time to process.
The friendship between Mariam and Laila demonstrates something best selling historical fiction does better than any other genre: showing how ordinary people endure extraordinary circumstances.
I once taught this alongside “The Handmaid’s Tale” in a community college course. The discussions got so intense we had to extend class by an hour. Several students said this book helped them understand their immigrant parents’ silence about the past.
Persuasion (Jane’s Quiet Masterpiece)
Hot take: this is Austen’s best novel. Fight me.
Unlike her more famous works, “Persuasion” gives us a heroine who’s already experienced heartbreak when we meet her. Anne Elliot has LIVED, y’know?
Though not written as “historical fiction,” it’s now best selling historical fiction that reveals more about Regency society than a dozen history textbooks. The naval references alone provide this incredible window into post-Napoleonic War England.
My book club, normally VERY chatty but fell completely silent after discussing the letter Captain Wentworth writes. “You pierce my soul.” GOOD LORD. Romance writers have been trying to top that line for 200 years.
The War That Saved My Life (Proof That Kids Deserve Great Historical Fiction Too)
Found this in the middle school section while looking for a gift for my niece. Ended up buying two copies one for her, one for me.
This best selling historical fiction title handles disability, child abuse, and WWII trauma with incredible grace without ever talking down to young readers. Ada’s physical and emotional journey from London to the countryside parallels England’s wartime transformation.
Brought this to my sister’s book club (we alternate hosting) and the discussion lasted THREE HOURS. Half the group admitted they cried. The other half were lying.
To Kill a Mockingbird (The Book That Started It All)
Some books you read differently at different ages. I’ve read this one maybe 15 times since I was twelve. Each reading reveals something new.
As a kid, I thought it was Jem’s story. As a teenager, Scout’s. Now, I see it as Atticus’s tragedy, a man whose moral compass points true north in a town determined to head south.
This best selling historical fiction classic stays relevant because it acknowledges an uncomfortable truth: justice and law aren’t always the same thing. And doing right doesn’t guarantee winning.
Last year, my neighbor’s kid had to read it for school. “It’s kinda slow,” he complained. Two weeks later, he asked if I had any other books “like that one.” VICTORY.
What Makes Historical Fiction Become a Bestseller?
After studying this genre for decades, I’ve noticed patterns in what makes certain historical fiction best sellers endure while others disappear:
Universal Themes: The best books tackle timeless human experiences – love, betrayal, courage, survival. These themes resonate regardless of historical setting.
Authentic Details: Readers can smell fake research from miles away. The bestsellers get the small stuff right – what people ate, how they dressed, what they worried about.
Emotional Connection: Facts tell, but stories sell. The books that become bestsellers make readers care deeply about characters, not just historical events.
Fresh Perspectives: Many bestsellers tell familiar stories from overlooked viewpoints – women in war, children during upheaval, minorities throughout history.
Why We Keep Coming Back to the Past
Look, I get it. Some people think historical fiction is escapism. Maybe sometimes it is. But the best selling historical fiction that truly endures does something more profound: it helps us make sense of NOW by showing us THEN.
In my writing classes, I always tell students: “History isn’t a straight line; it’s a spiral. We keep encountering the same human problems in new contexts.”
These ten books aren’t just good stories, they’re conversations across time. They remind us that people have always been brave and cowardly, kind and cruel, visionary and shortsighted. And somehow, knowing that makes our own complicated present easier to navigate.
Next time you pick up a best selling historical fiction novel, remember you’re not just reading about the past. You’re connecting with everyone who ever struggled, loved, and persevered which is to say, everyone who ever lived. Including yourself.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a deadline for my own historical novel, and my editor stopped believing my excuses somewhere around 2017.
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