If your favorite way to learn about history is to immerse yourself in a novel inspired by actual events, you’ll thoroughly enjoy some of the historical fiction books hitting shelves in winter 2022.  From bestselling authors you’re already acquainted with to debut authors making their mark in the genre, we are sure you’ll find something to pique your interest.  So make space on your bookshelves, stop by your favorite indie bookstore, and make those library requests after you’ve browsed our most anticipated winter 2022 historical fiction book list!

Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim

An epic story of love, war, and redemption set against the backdrop of the Korean independence movement, following the intertwined fates of a young girl sold to a courtesan school and the penniless son of a hunter.

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed

Based on a true event, an intimate and harrowing novel about the last man in Cardiff to be sentenced to death.

The Spanish Daughter by Lorena Hughes 

Set against the lush backdrop of early twentieth-century Ecuador and inspired by the real-life history of the coastal town known as the birthplace of cacao, this captivating #OwnVoices novel from the award-winning author ofThe Sisters of Alameda Street tells the story of a resourceful young chocolatier who must impersonate a man in order to claim her birthright.

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor

USA Today bestselling author Jillian Cantor reimagines and expands on the literary classic The Great Gatsby in this atmospheric historical novel with echoes of Big Little Lies, told in three women’s alternating voices.

The Last Dance of the Debutante by Julia Kelly

The author of the “sweeping, stirring, and heartrending” (Kristin Harmel, author of The Room on Rue Amélie) The Light Over London returns with a masterful, glittering novel that whisks you to midcentury Britain as it follows three of the last debutantes to be presented to Queen Elizabeth II.

Our Kind of People by Carol Wallace

Fans of Bridgerton will love this exuberant novel of manners for our own gilded age (Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra) as we follow the Wilcox family’s journey through riches and ruin.

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

The dramatic story of how a humble bookseller fought against incredible odds to bring one of the most important books of the 20th century to the world in this new novel from the author of The Girl in White Gloves.

Yonder by Jabari Asim

The Water Dancer meets The Prophets in this spare, gripping, and beautifully rendered novel exploring love and friendship among a group of enslaved Black strivers in the mid-19th century.

The Leopard Is Loose by Stephen Harrigan

The fragile, 1952 postwar tranquility of a young boy’s world explodes one summer day when a leopard escapes from the Oklahoma City zoo, throwing all the local residents into dangerous excitement, in this evocative story of a child’s confrontation with his deepest fears.

The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks

A provocative, immersive medieval novel starring one of literature’s most unforgettable characters in her own words–Chaucer’s bold and libidinous Wife of Bath.

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis

Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue, returns with a tantalizing novel about the secrets, betrayal, and murder within one of New York City’s most impressive Gilded Age mansions.

Beyond the Wire by James D. Shipman

The bestselling author of Irena’s War blends fact and fiction in a gripping novel based on one of the most extraordinary true stories of World War II–an uprising behind the walls of Auschwitz concentration camp.

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft

The Nobel Prize-winner’s richest, most sweeping and ambitious novel yet follows the comet-like rise and fall of a mysterious, messianic religious leader as he blazes his way across eighteenth-century Europe.

The Pages by Hugo Hamilton

“A powerful, powerful piece of work” (Colum McCann): an entirely original novel in which a book–Joseph Roth’s masterpiece Rebellion–narrates its own astonishing life story, from 1930s Germany to the present day, at the heart of a gripping mystery.

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

Nina de Gramont’s The Christie Affair is a beguiling novel of star-crossed lovers, heartbreak, revenge, and murder–and a brilliant re-imagination of one of the most talked-about unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.

The School of Mirrors by Eva Stachniak

A lush, engrossing tale of love, deception and scandal in the 18th century French court of King Louis XV.

The Irishman’s Daughter by V.S. Alexander

Set in the wild, romantic, northwest coast of Ireland during the mid-19th century, The Irishman’s Daughterpits Briana, her father, and sister, against a reckless English landlord and a plague that will kill and displace millions of Irish people.

Carolina Built by Kianna Alexander

A vivid and moving novel based on the incredible life of real estate magnate Josephine N. Leary–a previously untold story of passion, perseverance, and building a legacy after emancipation in North Carolina.

The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers

For the audience of Fiona Davis and Lisa Wingate, a vibrant historical debut set in 1946 North Carolina following a young female seamstress who uncovers dangerous truths about Big Tobacco.

Sisters of Night and Fog by Erika Robuck

A heart-stopping new novel based on the extraordinary true stories of an American socialite and a British secret agent whose stunning acts of courage collide in the darkest hours of World War II.

Are you looking forward to any of these books?

What historical fiction books are you looking forward to in 2022?  What books would you add to the list?