Readers who read historical novels before Bridgerton even released must be smiling so wide right now. We are one of those readers who learned about this genre when the show was released. So before you cringe, yes we do exist. If you are one of us, then here is a short summary of what this genre is about. Historical fiction basically is a literary genre where the story takes place in the past.
It could include historical romance, historical adventures or mysteries, and even epics and sagas. These books are written at least over three decades later the event took place. Historical fictions take the reader back into a time when we weren’t alive to experience it or in some cases, it helps other reminisce.
Bridgerton has become one of the famous shows since its release in 2020. After the show aired, several readers were enticed to learn about the original Bridgertons stories. If you have read the series by Julia Quinn or are planning on reading it, then here are a few books that you should look into as well.
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The Viscount Who Loved Me
1814 is yet another year that promises to be another eventful season. Anthony Bridgerton is London’s most elusive bachelor but he has shown no indications of getting married. But, despite his signs or the lack thereof, Anthony intends on getting married soon and he’s even chosen a wife. The only problem he needs to solve is Kate Sheffield, the older sister of the girl he plans to marry. She is determined on stopping this betrothal and she gets on his nerves, yet when he closes his eyes at night, it’s her he sees. Who shall the Viscount choose?
Bridgertons by Julia Quinn includes eight primary books but there are second epilogues for these books as well. These books follow all the Bridgerton kids as they find love, and purpose and learn to live their life. The books in order are The Duke And I [Daphne], The Viscount Who Loved Me [Anthony], An Offer From A Gentleman [Benedict], Romancing Mister Bridgerton [Colin], To Sir Philip With Love [Eloise], When He Was Wicked [Francesca], It’s in His Kiss [Hyacinth], and On The Way To the Wedding [Gregory].
A Gentleman In Moscow
The year is 1922 when Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal. He is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a hotel across the street from the Kremlin. If he leaves the hotel, he will be shot immediately. Rostov, a man who has never worked a day in his life must live in an attic room as the world moves on without him. While he is locked up in this room, some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history will unfold outside his closed doors. However, his time alone will provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery.
A Rising Man
Captain Sam Wyndham is a former Scotland Yard detective who has just arrived in Calcutta seeking a fresh start. After his experiences during the Great War, eager to start anew, he has been recruited to head up a new post in the police force. Before he even gets the opportunity to unwind, he is swept up in a murder investigation leading him into the dark underbelly of the British Raj.
Alias Grace
In 1843, Grace Marks was convicted for her involvement in her employer, his housekeeper, and mistress’ murder. However, the case isn’t as simple as black and white. Some believe she is innocent while others argue her to be evil and insane. But, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. She is serving a life sentence by claiming to have no memory of the murders but is her “mental illness” just a ploy to escape?
All The Light We Cannot See
Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the museum where her father works. When the Nazis occupy their city, she along with her father is forced to flee to Saint-Malo. They carry the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel with them when they leave. In Germany, in a mining town, Werner is an orphan who grows up with his younger sister. He is enchanted by a radio that brings them news and stories from around the world. Their paths collide and they both must do whatever it takes to survive.
As Meat Loves Salt
It’s a time of war and change. The English Revolution is underway in the seventeenth century. The nation is seething with religious as well as political discontent leading to violence and terror all around. Meanwhile, Jacob Cullen and his fellow soldier’s dream of starting a fresh chapter, rebuilding their lives when this fight is over. But, they are unaware that these events of war will overtake even them as well.
Beloved
Sethe was born a slave but she managed to escape to Ohio. However, eighteen years have passed and she is still not free. After surviving the unthinkable and not going mad, she is now held captive by the memories of Sweet Home. Not only that, her house is troubled by the ghost of her baby. Her baby died namelessly, and her tombstone is engraved with “Beloved”. Sethe runs from her past but when a stranger arrives calling herself “Beloved”, her secret will be revealed, affecting her present as well.
The Book Of Night Women
A girl named Lilith was born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation. The Night Women have been plotting a slave revolt for a long time. When Lilith comes of age, she reveals the real extent of her power, the dark power that had been recognized at the time of birth only. She finds herself at the heart of this uprising but as she begins to understand herself, she risks becoming the conspiracy’s weak link.
The Book Thief
Nazi Germany was holding its breath in 1939, with death being busier than ever. Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a book by her brother’s graveside. The book is called The Gravedigger’s Handbook. This is her first act of book thievery that begins her love affair with books and words, leading her to steal books from everywhere. With the help of her foster father, the girl learns to read. However, her world will be turned upside down because her father is hiding a Jew in their basement.
The Bourbon Thief
Cooper McQueen wakes up to find that he has been robbed. The only thing the robber took was a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. Paris, a mysterious woman and also the thief, claims the bottle to be rightfully hers. The mystery about why she wants that particular bottle of bourbon ends when she reveals the tale of Tamara Maddox and her identity while also completing the vengeance Tamara vowed against this family.
The Buddha In The Attic
A group of young women from Japan has been brought to San Francisco as “picture brides”. The lives of these picture brides are followed in this book. They begin their journey on a boat, exchanging pictures of their husbands and imagining their uncertain futures in a foreign land. Then they arrive in San Francisco and spend their first nights as new wives.
Later, they get a job picking fruit in the fields and scrubbing off the floors of white women. Meanwhile, they struggle to learn a new language and a new culture. They endure childbirth and dedicate their whole lives to becoming mothers to their kids. Ultimately the book focuses on the arrival of war.
The Storyteller
Sage Singer, a baker, is trying to escape reality by working through the night. Josef Weber is an elderly man in her grief support group. He begins stopping by her bakery, which leads to the birth of an unlikely friendship between them. They are completely different, yet they see each other’s scars and stories that others don’t. One day, Josef reveals a long-hidden secret, asking her for a favor. But there’s no safe choice for her, so what shall she do now for her friend?
Between Shades Of Grey
Lina, a 15-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941, is like every other normal girl. Until one day, Soviet officers barge into her home, changing her life as a normal kid. Her family is torn from their comfortable life and sent to a work camp in Siberia. Under Stalin’s order, they dig for beets and fight for their lives. But Lina still manages to find solace in her art. She draws hoping that these messages will reach her father’s prison camp and let him know they are alive, but it’s a long journey, and she’s just a kid.
It Happened One Autumn
Lillian Bowman quickly learns that her independent American ways weren’t “the thing”. Marcus, the insufferable man and London’s most eligible aristocrat disapprove of her ways more than anyone. But, then he sweeps her into his arms in the garden. Time stood still as she was overcome with a consuming passion for him. For him, everything is more with Lillian, but how can he choose a woman so blatantly unsuitable as his bride?
Devil In Winter
Evangeline Jenner thinks a marriage of convenience is the only solution for her to escape her scheming relatives. So, she seeks help from the most infamous scoundrel in London. The viscount and shy wallflower is a match no one could have ever imagined. But, the match has been made, and it soon becomes clear that Evie is a woman of hidden strengths, and Seb desires her more than any woman he’s ever known. They strike deal after deal, and somewhere in the middle, they fall for each other.
Outlander
It’s 1945, and Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from war. Reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon, she walks through a standing stone that transports her back in time. Suddenly, it’s 1743, and she is a Sassenach, an outlander in Scotland. Claire finds herself torn between two worlds, two irreconcilable lives, and two different men.
The Pillars Of The Earth
Tom is the master builder, and Aleina is the beautiful noblewoman. Philip is the prior of Kingsbridge, Ellen is the woman of the forest who casts a dark curse, and Jack is the artist in stone. A 12th-century monk is driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known or seen but this construction begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with a king’s humiliation.
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