Rachel is a writer from Arkansas, most at home surrounded by forests and animals much like a Disney Princess. She spends most of her time writing stories and playing around in imaginary worlds. You can follow her writing at rachelbrittain.com. Twitter and Instagram: @rachelsbrittain
Every year, Book Riot puts together two big “best of” lists: a best of the year list and a best of the year so far list. It includes pretty much every genre of book you can think of, from romance to mystery. This year’s list includes a bunch of stellar books like The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar, Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, and Suzanne Collin’s Sunrise on the Reaping. There are even picture books and graphic novels, like one of my own picks, Strange Bedfellows.
Despite—or maybe because of—that variety, there’s no lack when it comes to historical fiction. I even had a hard time narrowing the picks down for this list! Which is why, once you’ve finished reading up on my and my fellow Book Rioters’ picks for the best historical fiction of 2025 so far, you should definitely check out the complete list. You wouldn’t want to miss out on reading one of the best books of the year, after all!
Before you move on to that, though, I’ve got five of the best historical fiction books of 2025 so far to get you started, from Regency romance novels and historical horror to a book about a forgotten figure from the Harlem Renaissance. It’s a truly delectable array.
From Book Riot’s Best Books of 2025 So Far
Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson
I love to kick off a year of reading with a book that recharges my reading battery, and Wilkerson’s follow-up to Black Cake was it. Good Dirt lives within that book club/beach read sweet spot. Historical fiction, incendiary gossip, and commentary on race and class are woven into a multilayered story about an affluent Black family grieving and wrestling with the fallout of a highly publicized death in the family. I don’t get to read a lot of books about wealthy Black people, and the way Wilkerson deftly balances levity and depth in this engrossing tale of generational trauma and perseverance makes it an absolute standout. —S. Zainab Williams
Past Tense
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Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray
A little while back, I dubbed this one of the best book club books of the year. Part of the reason is that it tells the story of an almost totally forgotten historical literary figure who helped shape the literal Harlem Renaissance. Jessie Redmon became known as the “Midwife of the Harlem Renaissance” because of her publishing iconic writers like Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and Nella Larsen through the groundbreaking literary magazine The Crisis. But she was as messy as she was influential — her affair with her married mentor and boss, W.E.B. DuBois, threatened to undo everything. The tea!— Erica Ezeifedi
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
This Indigenous horror story literally gave me a nightmare, but it might not be why you think. Yes, it has vampires, but the true monsters in it are those who slaughtered around 200 Blackfeet in the early 1900s. The story of the Blackfeet gets told to a Lutheran pastor in 1912 through a series of confessions by a man named Good Stab, who seems to have had a supernaturally long life. He also has a curious appetite and strange reflexes…and revenge on his mind. —Erica Ezeifedi
A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander
One of my own picks for the best books of 2025 so far, A Gentleman’s Gentleman, is a gorgeous Regency romance about a trans man who falls in love with his new valet. The story is steeped in Regency charm that fans of Jane Austen and Bridgerton will appreciate while also bringing to mind other exceptional trans historical romance novels like A Lady for a Duke. It’s a story written with care and sincerity that would melt the coldest of hearts.
My Additional Nomination for Best Historical Fiction of 2025 So Far
The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod
Somewhere between a modern-day sequel and a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennett provides a story that will overjoy both Austen fans looking for more queer representation and readers who wish Charlotte Lucas and Mary Bennet were allowed to become more fully fleshed out characters. After the death of her husband, a grown-up and much more self-assured Mary Bennet comes to stay with Charlotte during her mourning period. They strike up an unlikely friendship and an even more unlikely romance. It’s absolutely lovely.
English (US) · 