Sometimes we just need a vacation from the here and now. What better way to escape than into a novel that fully immerses you into the past? Here are ten picks that will catapult you back in time.
Biggs, Sharon. A Mad, Wicked Folly. 2014.
In 1909 London, as the world of debutante balls and high society obligations closes in around her, seventeen-year-old Victoria must figure out just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dream of becoming an artist.
Blankman, Anne. Prisoner of Night and Fog. 2014.
In 1930s Munich, the favorite niece of rising political leader Adolph Hitler is torn between duty and love after meeting a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter.
Bradbury, Jennifer. A Moment Comes. 2013.
As the partition of India nears in 1947 bringing violence even to Jalandhar, Tariq, a Muslim, finds himself caught between his forbidden interest in Anupreet, a Sikh girl, and Margaret, a British girl whose affection for him might help with his dream of studying in Oxford.
Castor, H.M. VIII. 2013.
Hal, a young man of extraordinary talents, skill on the battlefield, sharp intelligence, and virtue, believes he is destined for greatness but, haunted by his family’s violent past, he embarks on a journey that leads to absolute power and brings him face to face with his demons as he grows to become Henry VIII.
Christopher, Nicholas. The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen: a novel. 2014.
Orphan Nicolo Zen is all alone in 1700s Venice, save for his clarinet, enchanted by a mysterious magician to allow its first player to perform expertly.
Honeyman, Kay. The Fire Horse Girl. 2013.
When Jade Moon, born in the unlucky year of the Fire Horse, and her father immigrate to America in 1923 and are detained at Angel Island Immigration Station, Jade Moon is determined to find a way through and prove that she is not cursed.
Kiem, Elizabeth. Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy. 2013.
After a harrowing defection to the United States in 1982, Russian teenager Marya and her father settle in Brooklyn, where Marya is drawn into a web of intrigue involving her gift of foresight, her mother’s disappearance, and the boy she cannot bring herself to trust.
Patrick, J. Nelle. Tsarina. 2014.
When a mystical Fabergé egg that protects the tsar disappears, his fiancée, Natalya, embarks on a daring quest to find the egg – only to be challenged by a handsome, dark-haired man who has plans of his own for both the egg and Natalya.
Sayres, Meghan Nuttall. Anahita’s Woven Riddle. 2006.
In Iran, more than 100 years ago, a young girl with three suitors gets permission from her father and a holy man to weave into her wedding rug a riddle to be solved by her future husband, which will ensure that he has wit to match hers.
Smith, Lindsay. Sekret: an empty mind is a safe mind. 2014.
Yulia’s father always taught her to hide her thoughts and control her emotions to survive the harsh realities of Soviet Russia. But when she’s captured by the KGB and forced to work as a psychic spy with a mission to undermine the U.S. space program, she’s thrust into a world of suspicion, deceit, and horrifying power. Yulia quickly realizes that she can trust no one – not her KGB superiors or the other operatives vying for her attention – and must rely on her own wits and skills to survive.