As the leaves start to turn brown and the days get shorter, it’s time to curl up with a good book.  Here are some of the best historical fiction books of 2022 that are being published in the fall of 2022.  Whether you’re looking for an escape into another time or want to learn more about history, these books have something for everyone.  So grab a mug of hot apple cider and get started!

The Attic Child by Lola Jaye

A hauntingly powerful and emotionally charged novel about family secrets, love and loss, identity and belonging.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

The author of Hamnet—New York Times best seller and National Book Critics Circle Award winner—brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de’ Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court.

The Village Idiot by Steve Stern

A wild, effervescent, absinthe-soaked novel that tells of the life of the extraordinary artist Chaim Soutine.

Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris

From the bestselling author of Fatherland, The Ghostwriter, Munich, and Conclave comes this spellbinding historical novel that brilliant imagines one of the greatest manhunts in history: the search for two Englishmen involved in the killing of King Charles I and the implacable foe on their trail—an epic journey into the wilds of seventeeth-century New England, and a chase like no other.

The Winter Orphans by Kristin Beck

A poignant and ultimately triumphant novel based on the incredible true story of children who braved the formidable danger of guarded, wintry mountain passes in France to escape the Nazis.

The Last Dreamwalker by Rita Woods

From Hurston/Wright Legacy Award-winning author Rita Woods, The Last Dreamwalker tells the story of two women, separated by nearly two centuries yet inextricably linked by the Gullah Geechee Islands off the coast of South Carolina — and their connection to a mysterious and extraordinary gift passed from generation to generation.

Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah

From the bestselling author of The Lost Vintage, a rare and dazzling portrait of Jacqueline Bouvier’s college year abroad in postwar Paris, an intimate and electrifying story of love and betrayal, and the coming-of-age of an American icon—before the world knew her as Jackie. 

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

The #1 national bestselling, award-winning author of Life after Life transports us to a restless London in the wake of the Great War–a city fizzing with money, glamour, and corruption–in this spellbinding tale of seduction and betrayal.

One Woman’s War by Christine Wells

From the author of Sisters of the Resistance comes the story of WWII British Naval Intelligence officer Victoire Bennett, the real-life inspiration for the James Bond character Miss Moneypenny, whose international covert operation is put in jeopardy when a volatile socialite and Austrian double agent threatens to expose the mission to German High Command.

Miss del Río by Bárbara Mujica

In the tradition of Marie Benedict’s The Only Woman in the Room and Adriana Trigiani’s All The Stars in the Heavens, a stunning biographical historical novel set over five decades about Mexican actress Dolores del Río—the first major Latina star in Hollywood, member of Tinseltown’s glamorous inner circle with notables such as Orson Welles and Marlene Dietrich, and proud Mexican woman who helped pioneer Mexican cinema’s Golden Age. 

When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris and Susan Meissner

From three bestselling authors comes an interwoven tale about a trio of World War II nurses stationed in the South Pacific who wage their own battle for freedom and survival.

Gilded Mountain by Kate Manning

Sylvie Pelletier is the irrepressible young heroine of this sweeping historical novel, set in Moonstone, Colorado, 1907. Hers is the tale of a hardscrabble education, about right and wrong, and the consequences of speaking out against injustice.

What do you think about the historical fiction books on this list?

Have you read any books from this list?  Are any of them on your TBR?  Have any caught your attention?  Let’s talk about it in the comments.