9 Historical Fiction Reads for November
November always feels like an in-between—nestled between the golden glow of autumn and the quiet reflection of winter. It’s the perfect month to reach for a book that lingers long after you’ve closed the cover.
This month’s historical fiction releases are rich with resilience, redemption, and the timeless courage of those who dared to defy the world around them. From the haunting hills of Oregon to the bustling streets of London, these stories invite us to step back in time and discover what it truly means to be brave.
1. Byline Budapest by Diane Wagner
Release Date: November 3, 2025
Behind the Iron Curtain, the Truth Can Kill You.
Europe, 1956. The Iron Curtain divides the Free West from the Soviet Bloc, and the battle for hearts and minds is waged with words, not bullets. Charlie Atkins, a 23-year-old California farm girl, works at Radio Free Europe in Munich, relaying Western news to millions trapped behind Soviet borders. She longs to report real stories—like her own, marked by the mysterious disappearance of her father, Captain A.J. Atkins, in the last days of World War II.
Her boss dismisses her: too young, too green, too female. But when the Hungarian people rise against Soviet rule, Charlie sees her chance. Defying orders, she heads straight into the heart of Budapest—unaware that Soviet tanks and troops are already massing to crush the revolution.
As the city erupts in chaos and the streets run red, Charlie must outwit soldiers, dodge bombs, and chase the truth before she’s silenced forever. Along the way, she uncovers secrets that could change her life—and reveal her father’s fate.
Gripping, atmospheric, and inspired by true events, Byline Budapest is a riveting Cold War thriller of courage, ambition, and the price of chasing the story of a lifetime.
2. The Good Daughters by Brigitte Dale
Release Date: November 4, 2025
In 1912, three young women from wildly different backgrounds are bound together by their desire to have a say in their future.
Charlotte, disappointed to discover that college isn’t the key to the freedom she longed for, shocks her family when she moves to London and joins a group of suffragettes willing to upend social norms for the vote. Aristocratic Beatrice, with a law degree she legally can’t put into practice and a fiancé she’s not particularly excited to marry, escapes to London to spend her last months of unmarried life with the suffragettes, and falls deeply—and dangerously—into forbidden love. Emily, the daughter of the warden of the infamous Holloway Jail, grieves her mother and saves her wages for a better life outside the prison’s walls. Her best chance at escaping the drudgery of her life is to stay out of trouble, but when the suffragettes land in her father’s cells, she must consider risking not only her family’s livelihood, but her own future.
With the dangerous stakes of the suffrage campaign becoming a fight for the women’s bodies and lives, they enter a treacherous world where the laws and justice system are stacked against them. They face violent protests, hunger strikes, and brutal forced feedings, and the women must decide how much they are willing to risk for their freedom and for each other.
3. Last Call at the Savoy by Brisa Carleton
Release Date: November 4, 2025
Six years ago, Cinnamon Scott was a young writer on the rise in New York City. But since the sudden loss of her parents, she's been stuck in place, retreating to a life of endless partying—made possible by the massive fortune she's inherited. Despite their tragic loss, she and her older sister Rosemary have always had each other to lean on. But now, with Rosie living in London and about to give birth to twins, Cinnamon feels more lost than ever.
When Rosie is put on bedrest, Cinnamon flies to her sister's side, where she's temporarily living at The Savoy. Immediately swept away by the beauty and history of the legendary hotel and its famed American Bar, Cinnamon finds ample opportunity to distract herself. When the late shift bartender tells her the story of Ada Coleman, the woman who crafted the cocktail recipes The Savoy popularized in its famous handbook a century ago, Cinnamon is inspired by the bartender's vivid stories of Ada's fearlessness and can't understand why Ada's name is nowhere to be found.
After meeting a handsome historian researching the hotel and realizing that Ada is likely to be once again overlooked, Cinnamon must decide if she can overcome her demons and stand up for Ada's story. And, along the way, she might just save her own story too
4. Queen Esther by John Irving
Release Date: November 4, 2025
After forty years, John Irving returns to the world of his bestselling classic novel and Academy Award–winning film, The Cider House Rules, revisiting the orphanage in St. Cloud’s, Maine, where Dr. Wilbur Larch takes in Esther—a Viennese-born Jew whose life is shaped by anti-Semitism.
Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board the ship to Portland, Maine; her mother is murdered by anti-Semites in Portland. Dr. Larch knows it won’t be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; in fact, he won’t find any family who’ll adopt her.
When Esther is fourteen, soon to be a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren’t Jewish, but they despise anti-Semitism. Esther’s gratitude for the Winslows is unending; even as she retraces her roots back to Vienna, she never stops loving and protecting the Winslows. In the final chapter, set in Jerusalem in 1981, Esther Nacht is seventy-six.
John Irving’s sixteenth novel is a testament to his enduring ability to weave complex characters and intricate narratives that challenge and captivate. Queen Esther is not just a story of survival but a profound exploration of identity, belonging, and the enduring impact of history on our personal lives showcasing why Irving remains one of the world’s most beloved, provocative, and entertaining authors—a storyteller of our time and for all time.
5. The Death of Primrose Whittaker by Kerry Chaput
Release Date: November 6, 2025
1924, Oregon: Put to work as a fortune teller by her cruel mother, reluctant psychic Primrose communes with the souls of the lost and lonely. She believes she's destined to die on the eve of her twenty-second birthday, but that evening passes, and she finds herself alive but unable to tolerate one more day of the fortune teller life.
Desperate to do good with her painful visions, she discovers a sanitorium where psychics gather, and she journeys across Oregon to find more of her kind. She meets a host of new friends who teach her to accept her gifts. However, Primrose quickly learns the hospital and its heralded doctor aren't what they seem. He treats residents with a special opium that eradicates their psychic visions—with disastrous side effects. It becomes a race against the clock to save herself and her found family from the evil doctor who's convinced that Primrose is the answer to his quest for domination.
Rooted in historical realities, this Wizard of Oz reimagining takes readers on a fantastical adventure with unique twists and a thrilling dip into the spirit realm. Pick up your copy of this spellbinding tale where good and evil battle for ultimate power.
6. The Last Safe Place by Marion Kummerow
Release Date: November 10, 2025
Inspired by the incredible true events of Operation Seven, where a handful of Jewish citizens escaped Berlin in 1942 by posing as German intelligence agents. A beautifully emotional and action-packed historical novel about a forbidden love affair, unfathomable courage and the power of never losing hope.
Leonore: An aspiring journalist, Leonore cannot believe she’s now undergoing covert training to be a German agent. Her instructors have no idea she is Jewish. With her family gone, she refuses to wear the yellow star. And this secret mission to escape Berlin is her last chance to be free…
Knut: Lieutenants Knut and Bernd have fallen in love in stolen moments. Bernd, with his warm brown eyes, is Knut’s last safe place in a regime built to hate who he is. They pretend to be loyal to their Nazi superiors. But their real mission—recruiting Jewish agents to smuggle them out of the country—has only just begun.
Michaela: As a Jewish doctor banned from practicing, the threat of deportation looms. But what about her two precious little girls, living in secret with their Aryan aunt outside Berlin? She must put all her faith in Knut and Bernd if she’s ever to see them again… with no idea if she can really trust the two softly spoken men in Nazi uniforms, posing as a German spy is her only option.
Hope forges unlikely friendships between the people of Operation Seven. But when the cover of the entire group is threatened, will they make it across the border to Switzerland in time?
7. The Daring Times of Fern Adair by Cara Devlin
Release Date: November 15, 2025
Scarred long ago in a deadly house fire, a sheltered young woman becomes entangled with a dangerous mobster in the electrifying time of 1925 Chicago.
Fern Adair has spent most of her life tucked away in her family’s Chicago home. There, she’s protected from startled stares and uncomfortable questions about the scarred half of her face. But when her parents begin to host elaborate weekly dinners to socialize Fern—and to find her a husband—the refuge of her sheltered life fractures.
Despite her wealth, and her father’s power as a district court judge, no potential suitor looks her way twice. Until one evening, a mysterious stranger takes a seat at the Adair's dinner table.
Calvin Rosetti, older brother and enforcer to one of the city's most dangerous criminal kingpins, doesn't have honorable intentions when it comes to the judge’s scarred daughter. He wants revenge against Fern’s brother, who recently wronged the Rosetti family in an unforgivable way, and Cal plans to use Fern to even the score.
Drawn out of her reclusive life and into Cal's illicit underworld, Fern discovers a side of herself she's never known, proving she is much more than just a pawn to be played. Slowly, she and Cal realize what it is to love someone they shouldn't— and it comes with violent consequences. With Cal's scheme falling apart, and a crucial choice set before them, Fern will come to know what she's capable of, scars and all.
8. From Cradle to Grave by Rhys Bowen
Release Date: November 18, 2025
Lady Georgiana “Georgie” Rannoch is just like any other new mother, balancing responsibilities of being 34th in line for the British throne and solving the shocking deaths of several young men, in this new Royal Spyness novel from the queen of historical mystery, Rhys Bowen.
Georgie may be figuring out what it means to be a new mother but she does know one thing for sure: she absolutely despises the strict nanny who was foisted upon her by her meddlesome sister-in-law. In search of a new nanny, Georgie travels to London to see her old friend ZouZou only to find her about to depart for a funeral, after the unexpected death of a young man in her social circle. It quickly becomes clear there’s more than one mysterious death around town, when another friend reveals he’s also just returned from the funeral of a school friend, who seemingly died in a boating accident. But when word arrives that the son of family friend has also died tragically and unexpectedly, Georgie is certain it can’t be a coincidence. Yet the victims don’t seem to have any connection to one another.
ZouZou shares Georgie’s suspicions that the deaths were not an accident and begs Georgie to solve the case. As Georgie delves deeper, she can’t help worrying that her own husband, Darcy, may be next. It seems likely there is a serial killer at work and Darcy fits the bill to be their next victim. Will Georgie solve the murders before it’s too late for Darcy, and manage to find the perfect nanny all at the same time?
8. The Orphan's Last Goodbye by Glynis Peters
Release Date: November 20, 2025
The final installment in The Red Cross Orphans series from the Globe & Mail bestselling author!
When the war is over, what will remain?
With six hard years of war behind her, former nurse Kitty McCarthy should be facing a bright future. But her husband Michael shatters her peace in an instant when he tells her he feels hemmed in by Britain, and wants to return to the wide-open plains of the Canadian west. Before she can process this life-changing news, Michael is gone.
It’s not long before Kitty finds herself in the air and on her way to an unknown land. But what begins as a journey to reclaim her husband and restore her marriage, soon becomes a journey to find herself, and this new, liberated and adventurous version of Kitty is like nothing she could have imagined…
November’s historical fiction lineup is a celebration of courage—of women and men who defied the odds, sought truth, and forged their own paths. Whether you’re drawn to stories of love, survival, or rediscovery, these novels promise to inspire and transport you through time.
So brew a cup of tea, pull up a blanket, and prepare to lose yourself in these unforgettable worlds.
Xo,
Tanya
Avid Reader I Tea Drinker I Daydreamer
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Frequently Asked Questions
Curious about how to pick the right historical fiction reads for November, or what “novel releases for November” really means for you? Here are some quick answers.
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Why focus on historical fiction reads specifically for November?
November bridges autumn’s richness and the coming stillness of winter, making it the perfect time for immersive historical fiction that lingers and invites reflection. -
Are these titles all brand-new releases?
Yes — this list highlights new or upcoming historical fiction releases in November, so you’re getting fresh stories rather than re-reads. -
If I miss one of the release dates, is it still worth reading later?
Absolutely — although release timing matters for “new release buzz,” the story’s value stands on its own and will still resonate at any time. -
How do I decide which of the nine to pick first?
Choose based on your strongest draw — whether it’s the era, the theme (war, resilience, love), or author — and trust your reading instinct rather than trying to read them all at once. -
Will these novels speak to readers who like emotional women's historical fiction?
Yes — the list is designed for readers who enjoy strong women, layered family dynamics, and historical settings that feel immersive, so it aligns with your preferred reading style.