Historical Fiction Classics

In the wake of the Crusades, Wilfred of Ivanhoe vows to return Richard the Lion Heart to the throne. But the Saxon son’s allegiance to the Norman king, and his forbidden love for Lady Rowena, leave Ivanhoe disinherited from his father. To set his mission on course, he returns to England in disguise and quickly finds himself entrenched in an epic battle for power. As destinies entwine, Ivanhoe fights to restore the crown and marry his queen with help from the healer Rebecca; Robin Hood and his Merry Men; and the Black Knight, the Saxon’s mysterious ally.

From the magical mysteries of India to the gaslit streets of Victorian London, Mercedes Lackey's unique departure from her Valdemar series follows a young woman doctor as she searches for the secret behind the sorcery in her blood.

Diamond Head, Hawaii, 1941. Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt is a champion welterweight and a fine bugler. But when he refuses to join the company's boxing team, he gets "the treatment" that may break him or kill him. First Sgt. Milton Anthony Warden knows how to soldier better than almost anyone, yet he's risking his career to have an affair with the commanding officer's wife. Both Warden and Prewitt are bound by a common bond: the Army is their heart and blood...and, possibly, their death.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." So begins this classic, one of the most beloved novels of all time. Charles Dickens brings the French Revolution to life through such vivid characters as Charles Darnay, the Old Doctor, Sydney Carton and Lucy Manette. The action peaks with the storming of the Bastille, the dreaded symbol of government authority. And the blade of La Guillotine falls again...

When Adela, a British school teacher, and her companion travel to India, they set out on an adventure of a lifetime. While in the company of the charming Dr. Aziz, Adela decides to explore the mysterious Marabar Caves. What begins as a stunning journey into the real India, a misunderstanding ruins the entire trip and threatens to destroy the honorable reputation of Dr. Aziz. A Passage to India is a tale as timeless as love itself and just as exciting.

It’s 1936, in Flint Michigan. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud’s got a few things going for him. 1. He has his own suitcase full of special things. 2. He’s the author of Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself. 3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers advertising Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! Bud’s got an idea that those flyers will lead him to his father.

The exhilerating tale of Takeo continues in book II of the internationally best-selling Tales of the Otori trilogy, a sweeping saga set in a mythical, medieval Japan.

After thirty-five years, the Three Musketeers - Athos, Aramis, and Porthos - join forces again. This time, it’s to rid France of corrupt King Louis XIV. True to their ingenuity, they plan to replace him with the mysterious prisoner in the barbaric iron mask now languishing in the Bastille. But their old comrade D’Artagnan, still in loyal service to the court, stands in their way. As the daring coup unfolds, literature’s legendary brotherhood is put to the test.

In this searing novel, Kathrine Kressmann Taylor brings vividly to life the insidious spread of Nazism through a series of letters between Max, a Jewish art dealer in San Francisco, and Martin, his friend and former business partner who has returned to Germany in 1932, just as Hitler is coming to power. A powerful and eloquent tale about the consequences of a friendship - and society - poisoned by extremism, Address Unknown remains hauntingly and painfully relevant today.

Sons and Lovers, D. H. Lawrence's first major novel, was also the first in the English language to explore ordinary working-class life from the inside. No writer before or since has written so well about the intimacies enforced by a tightly knit mining community and by a family where feelings are never hidden for long. When the marriage between Walter Morel and his sensitive, high-minded wife begins to break down, the bitterness of their frustration seeps into their children's lives.

They're an iconic part of history's most celebrated birth. But what do we really know about the Three Kings of the Nativity, besides the fact that they followed a star to Bethlehem bearing strange gifts? The Bible has little to say about this enigmatic trio. But leave it to Seth Grahame-Smith, the brilliant and twisted mind behind Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to take a little mystery, bend a little history, and weave an epic tale.

Set in the 19th century, Isabel Miller's classic lesbian novel traces the relationship between Patience White and Sarah Dowling, whose romantic bond does not sit well with their puritanical New England community. In addition to being an inspiring love story, the audiobook for Patience and Sarah is an ideal listen for young-adult audiences. It is a story that shows how irrelevant race, religion, and gender are to love and that loving and being loved are what keep us human and sane.

Rex Fortescue, king of a financial empire, was sipping tea in his "counting house" when he suffered an agonizing and sudden death. On later inspection, the pockets of the deceased were found to contain traces of cereals. Yet, it was the incident in the parlor that confirmed Miss Marple's suspicion that here she was looking at a case of crime by rhyme....

Proud… Not proud… Proud… Elizabeth Bennet is visiting her friend Charlotte—now Mrs. Collins—at Hunsford when they are invited to Rosings Park, the luxurious estate of Mr. Collins’ matron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. To her surprise, she meets a former acquaintance there, one she never would have expected to see again—Mr. Darcy! It turns out that Mr. Darcy is the nephew of Lady Catherine, and is now visiting his aunt with his younger sister, Georgiana. Elizabeth becomes quick friends with the spirited young girl, who is not at all as proud as a certain Mr. Wickham once described....

Young Peony is sold into a rich Chinese household as a bondmaid - an awkward role in which she is more a servant, but less a daughter. As she grows into a lovely, provocative young woman, Peony falls in love with the family's only son. However, tradition forbids them to wed. How she resolves her love for him and her devotion to her adoptive family unfolds in this profound tale, based on true events in China over a century ago.

A mad priest, a vagabond playwright, a social-climbing soldier, and a deformed bell-ringer—all are captivated by a gypsy girl's beauty and charm. Two of them will betray her, but the others will remain loyal, even in the shadow of the gallows. These outlaws find sanctuary within the walls of medieval Paris' greatest monument, the grand Cathedral of Notre Dame.

A classic work of historical fiction from the author of Rebecca and The Birds. Honor Harris is only 18 when she first meets Richard Grenvile, proud, reckless - and utterly captivating. But following a riding accident, Honor must reconcile herself to a life alone. As the English Civil War is waged across the country, Richard rises through the ranks of the army, marries and makes enemies, and Honor remains true to him. Decades later, an undaunted Sir Richard, now a general serving King Charles I, finds her.

Justine is the first volume in the Alexandria Quartet, four interlinked novels set in the sensuous, hot environment of Alexandria just before the Second World War. Within this polyglot setting of richly idiosyncratic characters is Justine, wild and intense, wife to the wealthy businessman Nessim, a Mari complaisant. Her emotional and sexual wildness fuels a highly charged atmosphere.

When Georgiana Darcy comes to Netherfield to visit her brother, she becomes friends with a neighbor, Elizabeth Bennet. After Miss Darcy has returned to London, she invites her new friend to stay with her at the Darcy home in town, unbeknownst to Mr. Darcy.

The Last of the Mohicans is a historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper, first published in January 1826. James Fenimore Cooper (1789 - 1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century.