SFF Books Perfect for Fans of Historical Fiction
STANDALONES
"A warm-hearted yet fierce fairy tale."―H. G. Parry
In the early 1900s, two sisters must navigate the magic and the dangers of the Fae in this enchanting and cozy historical fantasy about sisterhood and self-discovery.
There is no magic on Prospect Hill—or anywhere else, for that matter. But just on the other side of the veil is the world of the Fae. Generations ago, the first farmers on Prospect Hill learned to bargain small trades to make their lives a little easier—a bit of glass to find something lost, a cup of milk for better layers in the chicken coop.
Much of that old wisdom was lost as the riverboats gave way to the rail lines and the farmers took work at mills and factories. Alaine Fairborn’s family, however, was always superstitious, and she still hums the rhymes to find a lost shoe and to ensure dry weather on her sister’s wedding day.
When Delphine confides her new husband is not the man she thought he was, Alaine will stop at nothing to help her sister escape him. Small bargains buy them time, but a major one is needed. Yet, the price for true freedom may be more than they’re willing to pay.
Praise for The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill:
"Brimming with folk magic and delightfully sinister hidden worlds. Truly enchanting.”―Leslye Penelope
"A beautifully written tale of feminine power, sisterly devotion, and magic as old as the hills themselves.”―Louisa Morgan
For more from Rowenna Miller, check out:
The Unraveled Kingdom
Torn
Fray
Rule
"That most rare and precious thing: a brand-new classic, both wholly original and wonderfully nostalgic." —Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author
In the early 1900s, a young woman is caught between two worlds in H. G. Parry’s cozy tale of magic, miracles, and an adventure of a lifetime.
One night, Rowan fails to return from his mysterious travels. To find him, Biddy must venture into the outside world for the first time. But Rowan has powerful enemies—forces who have hoarded the world’s magic and have set their sights on the magician’s many secrets.
Biddy may be the key to stopping them. Yet the closer she gets to answers, the more she questions everything she’s ever believed about Rowan, her past, and the nature of magic itself.
Praise for The Magician's Daughter
"Brilliantly imagined. Parry blends mythic elements with wit and heart." —Lucy Holland
“A charming romp of an old-school coming of age fantasy about family and magic that will take your heart for a wild ride." ―NPR
For more from H. G. Parry, check out:
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep
The Shadow Histories
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians
A Radical Act of Free Magic
In an ancient land steeped in wild magic, three royal siblings fight to keep their kingdom safe from the warriors who threaten its borders—and their bond—in this lyrical debut of spells and song, sisterhood and betrayal.
"ABSOLUTELY STUNNING." —Hannah Whitten, author of For the Wolf
In the kingdom of Dumnonia, there is old magic to be found in the whisper of the wind, the roots of the trees, and the curl of the grass.
King Cador knew this once, but now the land has turned from him, calling instead to his three children. Riva can cure others, but can't seem to heal her own deep scars. Keyne battles to be accepted for who he truly is—the king's son. And Sinne dreams of seeing the world, of finding adventure.
All three fear a life of confinement within the walls of the hold, their people's last bastion of strength against the invading Saxons. However, change comes on the day ash falls from the sky. It brings with it Myrdhin, meddler and magician. And Tristan, a warrior who is not what he seems.
Riva, Keyne and Sinne—three siblings entangled in a web of betrayal, who must fight to forge their own paths. Their story will shape the destiny of Britain.
PRAISE FOR SISTERSONG
"Weaves a captivating spell of myth and magic around the reader." —Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne
"Fans of folkloric fantasy will be spellbound." —Publishers Weekly
"Magical, beautiful and heartbreaking." —Greer Macallister, author of Scorpica and The Magician's Lie
"A marvelous tale, gracefully told in language as beautiful as the song that inspired it." —Louisa Morgan, author of A Secret History of Witches
"I was utterly captivated." —Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch's Heart
"Haunting, immersive, and seething with dark magic."―Alexis Henderson
Oprah Daily Top 25 Fantasy Book of 2022!
In the 1920s, a lush, decadent gothic tale unfolds as a young woman slips into a glamorous world filled with illicit magic, tantalizing romance, and murder.
But magic doesn’t interest Annie Mason. Not after it stole her future. She’s on the island only to settle her late father’s estate and, hopefully, reconnect with her long-absent best friend, Beatrice, who fled their dreary lives for a more glamorous one.
Yet Crow Island is brimming with temptation, and the most mesmerizing may be her enigmatic new neighbor.
Mysterious and alluring, Emmeline Delacroix is a figure shadowed by rumors of witchcraft. Soon, Annie is drawn into a glittering, haunted world. A world where the boundaries of wickedness are tested, and the cost of illicit magic might be death.
To those who are bright and young; to those who are wild and wicked; welcome to Crow Island.
Praise for Wild and Wicked Things:
“A deep, sensuous exploration of the bonds between three very different, complex women that readers won't soon forget." —Gwenda Bond, New York Times bestselling author
"Brimming with romance and gilded with danger, Wild and Wicked Things is a heady, lyrical gem of a book."—Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author
Set in the late 1700s, a tale of magic and fate, triumph and heartbreak, and the powerful bonds between mothers and daughters unfolds in this spellbinding novel from a master storyteller.
Brittany, 1762There hasn’t been a witch born in the Orchière clan for generations. According to the elders, that line is dead, leaving the clan vulnerable to the whims of superstitious villagers and the prejudices of fearmongering bishops.
Ursule Orchière has been raised on stories of the great witches of the past. But the only magic she knows is the false spells her mother weaves over the gullible women who visit their fortune-telling caravan. Everything changes when Ursule comes of age and a spark of power flares to life. Thrilled to be chosen, she has no idea how magic will twist and shape her future.
Guided by an ancient grimoire and the whispers of her ancestors, Ursule is destined to walk the same path as the great witches of old. But first, the Orchière magical lineage must survive. And danger hovers over her, whether it’s the bloodlust of the mob or the flames of the pyre.
Return to the world of A Secret History of Witches with the bewitching tale of Ursule Orchière and her discovery of magical abilities that will not only change the course of her life but every generation that comes after her.
For more from Louisa Morgan, check out:
A Secret History of Witches
The Witch's Kind
The Age of Witches
Deep in the Hungarian woods, the sacred magic of King Solomon lives on in his descendants. Gathering under the midnight stars, they perform small miracles and none are more gifted than the great Rabbi Isaac and his three daughters.
Hannah, bookish and calm, can coax plants to grow even when the weather is bitterly cold. Sarah, defiant and strong, can control the impulsive nature of fire. And Levana, the fey one, can read the path of the stars to decipher their secrets.
But darkness is creeping across Europe, threatening the lives of every Jewish person in every village. Each sister will have to make an impossible choice in an effort to survive—and change the fate of their family forever.
Praise for The Light of the Midnight Stars:
"Storytelling as spellcasting. Rossner has conjured something vivid and wild and true."—Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies
"Rossner creates a lush, immersive world through which the sprawling plot meanders, punctuated by moments of intense grief. The result is as lovely as it is heartbreaking." —Publishers Weekly
"Rossner's tale is as lyrical as the slow growth of roots, the quick dance of fire, and the stately procession of the stars. Blending folktale with history, hope with tragedy, its touch will linger on your heart long after you put it down."—Marie Brennan
For more from Rena Rossner, check out The Sisters of the Winter Wood.
Paris, 1925: To enter the Secret Circus is to enter a world of wonder—a world where women weave illusions of magnificent beasts, carousels take you back in time, and trapeze artists float across the sky. Bound to her family's circus, it's the only world Cecile Cabot knows until she meets a charismatic young painter and embarks on a passionate affair that could cost her everything.
Virginia, 2004: Lara Barnes is on top of the world until her fiancé disappears on their wedding day. When her desperate search for answers unexpectedly leads to her great-grandmother’s journals, Lara is swept into a story of a dark circus and ill-fated love.
Soon secrets about Lara’s family history begin to come to light, revealing a curse that has been claiming payment from the women in her family for generations. A curse that might be tied to her fiancé’s mysterious disappearance
Praise for The Ladies of the Secret Circus:
"At times decadent and macabre, The Ladies of the Secret Circus is a mesmerizing tale of love, treachery, and depraved magic percolating through four generations of Cabot women." —Luanne G. Smith, author of The Vine Witch
"Fans of Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus will love this page-turning story of dark magic, star-crossed love, and familial sacrifice." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Ambitious and teeming with magic, Sayers creates a fascinating mix of art, The Belle Époque, and more than a little murder.” —Erika Swyler, author of The Book of Speculation
For more from Constance Sayers, check out A Witch in Time.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by NPR Books • Barnes and Noble • BookPage
In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history in this powerful novel of magic, family, and the suffragette movement.
In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.
But when the Eastwood sisters―James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna―join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women's movement into the witch's movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote―and perhaps not even to live―the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.
There's no such thing as witches. But there will be.
An homage to the indomitable power and persistence of women, The Once and Future Witches reimagines stories of revolution, motherhood, and women's suffrage—the lost ways are calling.
Praise for The Once and Future Witches:
"A glorious escape into a world where witchcraft has dwindled to a memory of women's magic, and three wild, sundered sisters hold the key to bring it back…A tale that will sweep you away."―Yangsze Choo, New York Times bestselling author
"This book is an amazing bit of spellcraft and resistance so needed in our times, and a reminder that secret words and ways can never be truly and properly lost, as long as there are tongues to speak them and ears to listen."―P. Djèlí Clark, author The Black God's Drum
For more from Alix E. Harrow, check out The Ten Thousand Doors of January.
A sweeping tale of forbidden love and warring gods, where a young Inuit shaman and a Viking warrior become unwilling allies in a war that will determine the fate of the new world.
There is a very old story, rarely told, of a wolf that runs into the ocean and becomes a whale. . .
Born with the soul of a hunter and the spirit of the Wolf, Omat is destined to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps-invoking the spirits of the land, sea, and sky to protect her people.
But the gods have stopped listening and Omat’s family is starving. Desperate to save them, Omat journeys across the icy wastes, fighting for survival with every step. When she encounters Brandr, a wounded Viking warrior, they set in motion a conflict that could shatter her world. . .or save it.
