10 Must-Read Historical Fiction Titles Not Set in Europe
So much historical fiction is set in Europe. If you’re looking for something a bit different, here are 10 great novels set around the world. (Full disclosure, I get a small commission for purchases made through links on this post.)
- Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (Ghana)
Two sisters are separated in Ghana, one marrying an Englishman, one sold into slavery. The story follows their descendants for 300 years in Ghana and America.
2. Pachinko, Min Jin Lee (Korea)
The daughter of a fisherman becomes pregnant by a wealthy man only to find he has a wife and marries a minister on his way to Japan. The story follows her descendants as they find their lives in Japan.
3. Segu, Maryse Conde (Mali)
Follows the life of the king’s adviser and his four sons as traditional ways and Islam comes head to head. The book traces as the families travel through several generations and countries.
4. Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
Chronicles the Igbo people and arrival of Europeans in the late nineteenth century. The novel's protagonist Okonkwo and his family clash with the missionaries and the changes they try to impose.
5. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See (China)
The story of two women in Hunan province through their childhood to old age. The women are laotong, a pair closer than husband and wife, and communicate in a language secret from men.
6. Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel (Mexico)
The story of Tita, the youngest daughter of a Mexican family at the turn of the twentieth century who is forbidden to marry per family tradition. Tita is in love with Pedro, who marries her sister to stay close to her.
7. The Kitchen God’s Wife, Amy Tan (China)
Focuses on the relationship between a mother and daughter, and how our mother’s past can reverberate in our relationships today. The story of the mother, beginning near Shanghai in the 1920s, is expertly wrought.
8. The Red Tent, Anita Diamant (Israel, Syria)
Women centered story focusing on the biblical figure of Dinah. The book follows Dinah’s life and offers a glimpse of women’s lives in biblical times.
9. Equal of the Sun, Anita Amirrezvani (Iran)
Brings to light the tale of Princess Pari Khan Khanoom as she tries to bring order to Iran after the death of her father, the Shah. Palace intrigue strongly influences the story.
10. An Atlas of Impossible Longing, Anuradha Roy (India)
Set in Bengal, India from 1907 to the Partition. Tells the story of three generations of an Indian family through madness, forbidden love, wealth and poverty.
