Welcome to my monthly post on all things historical fiction. For my first Musings post of the year, as is now traditional here, I am looking back at the historical fiction I read in 2025 and have put together my usual selection of charts and lists! I have kept most of the same categories I’ve used for the previous eight years so that it should be easy to make comparisons and to see if there have been any interesting changes in my reading patterns and choices (here are my posts for 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016).
Before I begin, just a reminder that I do actually read other genres but for the purposes of this post I haven’t included those books in these stats!
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Time periods read about in 2025:
The 19th and 20th centuries are almost always the top two periods I read about and last year I read amost an equal number of books set in each of them. A change from the previous year is that I read more books set in the 18th century than in the 17th.
I read four books with Ancient history settings last year: Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault (4th Century BC), The Hymn to Dionysus by Natasha Pulley (Ancient Greece), Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (5th Century BC) and Cleopatra by Natasha Solomons (Ancient Egypt).
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33% of the historical fiction authors I read in 2025 were new to me.
This is almost exactly the same as last year; apart from in 2019, when I read 54% new authors, I do tend to stick mainly to authors I already know and love.
Here are three historical novels I read by new-to-me authors in 2025:
The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap
The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
Clear by Carys Davies
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I read 1 historical novel in translation in 2025
This is a big disappointment. If I included books of all genres, however, I would have more translated novels on my list with languages ranging from Japanese to German and Norwegian.
If you’re wondering, the one historical novel I did read in translation last year was The Lily and the Lion by Maurice Druon.
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Publication dates of historical fiction read in 2025:
As usual, most of the historical fiction books I read were new releases, which I know is due to my use of NetGalley. If you factor in all the other books I read last year, including Golden Age crime, for example, the picture would look very different. I do have lots of older historical novels on my own shelves and am hoping to read more of them in 2026, but I say that every year so we’ll see!
The oldest historical fiction novel I read in 2025 was Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner (an adventure story published in 1898 and set in the 18th century).
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19% of my historical reads in 2025 were historical mysteries.
This is slightly up on the previous year. Here are three I enjoyed reading in 2025:
A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith
The House at Devil’s Neck by Tom Mead
Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd
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I read historical fiction set in 17 different countries in 2025:
Although England still dominates, I did read historical novels set in 17 different countries last year. I think Guatemala and St Lucia are probably completely new settings for me as well! Here are three novels I read set in countries other than my own:
The Sirens by Emilia Hart (Australia)
The Rush by Beth Lewis (Canada)
Venetian Vespers by John Banville (Italy)
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Four historical men I read about in 2025:
Thomas Wolsey (The Cardinal by Alison Weir)
Robert of Artois (The Lily and the Lion by Maurice Druon)
Anthony Pratt – and his wife, Elva (The Christmas Clue by Nicola Upson)
Alexander the Great (Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault)
Four historical women I read about in 2025:
Dorothy Forster (The Secrets of the Rose by Nicola Cornick)
Beatrice Cenci (Sinners by Elizabeth Fremantle)
Olimpia Maidalchini (These Wicked Devices by Matthew Plampin)
Mary Shelley (Love, Sex & Frankenstein by Caroline Lea)
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What about you? Did you read any good historical fiction last year? Have you read any of the books or authors I’ve mentioned here and have you noticed any patterns or trends in your own reading? Are there any other statistics you would like me to start including?
She Reads Novels 
I have The Resurrectionist on my wishlist. Any 2025 historical fiction you read last year you think might be on the Walter Scott Prize longlist?
A few I’ve come up with: The Matchbox Girl by Alice Jolly, Venetian Vespers by John Banville, The Predicament by William Boyd.
There are some more I can think of but can’t mention until the Winston Graham Historical Prize shortlist has been announced given I’m one of the judges.
I had thought of Venetian Vespers and The Predicament as well, but am struggling to think of many others. Maybe The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O’Connor? I’ll look out for the Winston Graham Prize announcement!
What a great post! Well done, Helen, both on the reading itself, and the record keeping. Your charts are really impressive!
Thanks, Sandra! I’ve started to keep a record of the settings, publication dates etc throughout the year so it doesn’t take as long to put these charts together.
Great stats! It’s odd that most of your historical reading is 19th and 20th century. I always feel you read tons about 15th-17th century! It must just be that those reviews stand out more to me because it’s a period I’d like to know better myself…
I do tend to read a lot of books with Victorian or First/Second World War settings, but yes, they probably don’t stand out as much as the ones set in earlier periods.
I read 8 Historical novels last year (less than I thought!) equally split between the 19th & 20th centuries – 4/4. That does reflect my history ‘comfort zone’ so doesn’t surprise me.
The 19th and 20th centuries seem to be my comfort zone too, although I’m happy to read books set in any period.
Nice stats, quite a diversity. I never track translated novels, but I assume I read more of them as English is not my mother language, so sometimes I grab the translated version. And Belgium, we get more translated books in the stores from non Anglosaxon languages as well.
Thanks – I enjoy putting these stats together every year. Yes, I’m sure you must read more translated novels than I do!
These stats were really interesting to see. I love that you’ve tracked the period and location that your historic reads are set within and listed real individuals from history that were featured in some of those reads. It must take a fair bit of time to sort out too.
I feel like my historical reading was down on usual last year but I joined in with a time based reading challenge and was surprised to cross everything off besides 1299-1400 & the future so I must have read more than I thought. My Greek mythology retellings were definitely down though 😔
I put the same stats together ever January so I’ve started keeping a note of all the time periods and countries throughout the year, which makes things a lot easier!
You did very well with the time based reading challenge. I would definitely struggle with the future category!
That definitely sounds wise. I had to try and figure out what period mine fit after the fact – not a mistake I’ll be repeating this year 😅
Thank you. I’m hoping I’ll manage future this year as I’m hoping to try sci fi out a little. Of course I’ve said the same thing for several years now and failed 🙈
Yes! Seascraper, The Land in Winter and The Camomile jump into my mind immediately – loved all three.
I loved Seascraper too and have just finished The Land in Winter (working on my review now). I haven’t read The Camomile yet, but it’s good to know you enjoyed it.
It wasn’t the easiest of reads, although I was recovering from a nasty ear infection when I read it so that may have impacted my ability to focus and concentrate properly.
Hey Helen, what another great year of historical reading and statistics! 🎉 I also enjoyed reading The Cardinal by Alison Weir and The Secrets of the Rose by Nicola Cornick in 2025. Here’s to more wonderful historical-fiction for us to discover in 2026. 🏰Blessings, Jessica 💌
Thanks! I love putting this post together every year and seeing how my statistics have changed since the year before. I’m glad you also enjoyed The Cardinal and The Secrets of the Rose!