The best historical fiction from the past year

[MsAmerica]

The Best Historical Fiction of 2023
It’s been a roller coaster of a year. Thankfully, we’ve had novels to whisk us to days gone by, even if those eras had their own highs and lows.
This year, there have been dozens of first-rate historical novels — so many that choosing even the 25 best would have been a chore. Which makes it that much harder to whittle the list down to 10. After much regretful tossing, here’s my roster, arranged alphabetically.

ABSOLUTION, by Alice McDermott
THE FRAUD, by Zadie Smith
THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE, by James McBride
THE HOUSE OF DOORS, by Tan Twan Eng
KANTIKA, by Elizabeth Graver
NORTH WOODS, by Daniel Mason
RIVER SPIRIT, by Leila Aboulela
SOUTH, by Mario Fortunato
THIS OTHER EDEN, by Paul Harding
THE WITCHING TIDE, by Margaret Meyer

The link incudes summaries of each.
Best Historical Fiction Books of 2023 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Ah! This is the list I need. I can't read anything but historical fiction at the minute and I've gone through everything produced by all of my usual favourite authors.
I will check these out. Thanks OP!

I love Zadie Snith but I heard bad reviews of the Fraud. Is it any good?

It’s not this year but I just read Rose Nicholson by Andrew Greig. Would highly recommend

Thanks for this list will check these out! @ZenNudist I found the Fraud quite unwieldy and unconvincing tbh, I didn't think the pacing worked as the plot was set over a long time period. But others loved it. It was interesting to hear Zadie Smith talk about the novel. And I certainly learned quite a bit too.

I loved The Heaven and Air Grocery Store and also enjoyed The Household by Stacey Halls.

How nice! Thank you.

As I said on another thread I-really recommend Precipice by Robert Harris. Unbelievable goings on based on existing evidence.

I got The Fraud on a 99p Amazon deal. Am slightly intimidated by Zadie Smith so haven't been able to face reading it yet...
This is a great list to add to my already massively long to-read list-.

@HappydaysArehere I'm curious about that one but I tried reading The Ghost and I didn't like it, maybe I'll see if the library have this one. I did hear some Harris fans saying The Ghost wasn't his usual standard though.

will look up all the other suggestions at some point.

The thing about Robert Harris is that his books are so varied and about all kinds of subjects. I’ve read the ghost and didn’t mind it, An Officer and a Spy is about the Dreyfus case and I really liked it. I loved the Cicero books - brilliant. The Precipice is unbelievable but true.