Must-Read Historical Fiction Releases in October 2025
October always feels like the perfect month to curl up with a new book. The air is crisp, the nights are long, and historical fiction lovers are in for an absolute treat this year. From gothic Venetian mysteries to WWII sisterhood sagas and time-bending romances, the upcoming October releases are rich with intrigue, history, and unforgettable characters.
Here’s a roundup of the new historical fiction novels releasing this October:
1. Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon
Release Date: October 7, 2025
Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation business shifting from labor-management relations to the more domestic kind. Hicks McTaggart, a onetime strikebreaker turned private eye, thinks he’s found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who’s taken a mind to go wandering. Before he knows it, he’s been shanghaied onto a transoceanic liner, ending up eventually in Hungary where there’s no shoreline, a language from some other planet, and enough pastry to see any cop well into retirement—and of course no sign of the runaway heiress he’s supposed to be chasing. By the time Hicks catches up with her he will find himself also entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal, outlaw motorcyclists, and the troubles that come with each of them, none of which Hicks is qualified, forget about being paid, to deal with. Surrounded by history he has no grasp on and can’t see his way around in or out of, the only bright side for Hicks is it’s the dawn of the Big Band Era and as it happens he’s a pretty good dancer. Whether this will be enough to allow him somehow to Lindy-hop his way back again to Milwaukee and the normal world, which may no longer exist, is another question.
2. The Hong Kong Widow by Kristen Loesch
Release Date: October 7, 2025
Hong Kong, 1953: In a remote mansion, witnesses insist a massacre took place. The police see nothing but pristine rooms and declare it a collective hallucination. Until decades later, when one witness returns…from the Edgar®-nominated author of The Last Russian Doll.
In 1950s Hong Kong, Mei is a young refugee of the Chinese Communist revolution struggling to put her past in Shanghai behind her. When she receives a shocking invitation—to take part in a competition in one of the city's most notorious haunted houses, pitting six spirit mediums against one another in a series of six séances over six nights, until a single winner emerges—she has every reason to refuse.
Except that the hostess, a former Shanghainese silent film star, is none other than the wife of the man who once destroyed Mei’s entire life.
It is promised the winner will receive a fortune, but there is only one prize Mei wants: revenge.
Decades later, the final night of that competition has become an infamous urban legend: The police were called to the scene of a brutal massacre but found no evidence, dismissing it as a collective hallucination. Mei knows what she saw, but now someone else is convinced they know what she did. She must uncover the truth about the last night she ever spent in that house—even if the ghosts of her past are waiting for her there. . . .
3. In the Light of the Sun by Angela Shupe
Release Date: October 7, 2025
Two sisters, separated by oceans and global conflict, are bonded through music and love in this gripping novel based on true events from World War II.
The year is 1941, and in the Philippines, Caramina Grassi dreams of training in Italy to become an opera singer like her older sister, Rosa. But as war erupts, her world is shattered, forcing her to cling to the music that has always been her refuge. When her family’s lives are threatened and they are forced to flee to the jungle, she comes to understand that music is more than comfort. It becomes a muse that fuels her courage, sacrifice, and unwavering focus on the light.
Meanwhile, in Florence, just as Rosa Grassi’s long-awaited opera debut arrives, Mussolini tightens his grip on Italy. Drawn into la Resistenza, the underground resistance, Rosa feels lost in a fog of deception that clouds everything she thought to be true. In a time when family or friend could be foe, Rosa will learn that performing isn’t just for the stage. Facing a devastating betrayal, she must decide how far she’s willing to go to protect the one she loves.
Inspired by true events, In the Light of the Sun is an unforgettable story of sisterhood, hope, and the enduring power of music to uplift the human spirit—even in the darkest of times.
4. Venetian Vespers by John Banville
Release Date: October 7, 2025
A masterful, enthralling new novel from the Booker Prize winner
Everything was a puzzle, everything a trap set to mystify and hinder me. . . .
1899. As the new century approaches, struggling English writer Evelyn Dolman—a hack, by his own description—marries Laura Rensselaer, daughter of an American oil tycoon. Evelyn anticipates that he and Laura will inherit a substantial fortune and lead a comfortable, settled life. But his hopes are dashed when a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, just before the patriarch’s death, leads to her disinheritance.
The unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice to celebrate the New Year at the Palazzo Dioscuri, ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo. From their first moments in the mist-blanketed floating city, otherworldly occurrences begin to accumulate. Evelyn’s already jangled nerves fray further. Where has Laura disappeared to? How to explain the increasingly sinister circumstances closing around him? Could he be losing his mind?
Venetian Vespers is a haunting, atmospheric novel from one of the most sophisticated stylists of our time.
5. The Missing Pages by Alyson Richman
Release Date: October 14, 2025
A ghost in a library. A story waiting to be told. The Missing Pages is a rich, lyrical novel that reminds us that books are as eternal as the soul.
1912: Harry Widener, a promising and passionate book collector, boards the Titanic holding tight to a priceless volume he’s just purchased in London. After catastrophe strikes the ship, Harry’s last known words are that he must return to his cabin to retrieve his latest treasure. Neither the young man nor the book are ever seen again. Honoring her son’s memory, Harry’s mother builds the Harry Widener Memorial Library at Harvard to house his extensive book collection and ensure his legacy.
Decades later, Violet Hutchins, a Harvard sophomore recovering from her own great loss, is working as a page at the Widener Library. When mysterious things begin happening at the library, Violet wonders if Harry Widener’s ghost is trying to communicate with her, seeking Violet to uncover a long-buried secret that the ardent young Harry took with him to the grave.
For fans of The Midnight Library and The Book Thief, bestselling author Alyson Richman has written a love story, a ghost story, and an elegy to the healing power of books.
6. Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory
Release Date: October 14, 2025
#1 New York Times bestselling author and “queen of royal fiction” (USA Today) Philippa Gregory returns with a dazzling historical novel of ambition, betrayal, and survival in the court of Henry VIII.
Jane Boleyn watches from the shadows of the Tudor court, where secrets are currency, every choice is dangerous, and even the faintest whisper can seal the fate of queens.
For Jane, survival demands playing every role required of her: a loving wife who conceals her doubts, a devoted sister to Anne Boleyn at the height of her power, and an obedient spy who carefully wields her words. But in a court ruled by ambition and a tyrant’s sword, Jane must rely on her sharp wit and skillful maneuvering to outthink those around her, knowing that one wrong move could cost her everything.
Philippa Gregory masterfully shines a spotlight on the untold story of Jane Boleyn, peeling back the myths to reveal a complex portrait of a woman who dared to survive at any cost. Perfect for fans of thrilling historical drama and readers captivated by the intrigue of the Tudor period, Boleyn Traitor is a must-read.
7. Whispers of Her Worth by Tanya E Williams
Release Date: October 21, 2025
In an era determined to silence women, two sisters must decide what it means to be truly seen.
Vancouver, 1928. Change is sweeping across Canada as the courts prepare to decide whether women are to be recognized as “persons” under the law. Inside the gilded walls of The Hotel Hamilton, Clara and Louisa Wilson grapple with questions of love, ambition, and the roles they are expected to play—decisions that could alter the course of their lives as profoundly as the verdict unfolding in court.
For Clara, The Hotel Hamilton has always been both a responsibility and a refuge. But as she steps into the role of temporary hotel matron, she finds herself torn between the value she discovers in her work and the life she might forfeit if she chooses marriage—convinced she cannot have both.
Louisa, never one to remain silent, divides her days between her duties as a maid and a flourishing career on stage. After months of captivating audiences, her sights are set on Hollywood. But when a new director reduces women to mere ornaments in his productions, Louisa must summon the courage to speak out and trust her own talent to carry her forward—or risk losing the future she has fought to claim.
As the Wilson sisters wrestle with loyalty, love, and the pursuit of independence, the ripples of the Person’s Case echo through their lives, compelling them to ask: Who decides a woman’s worth? And how far will they go to seize it?
Sweeping in history and rich with emotion, Whispers of Her Worth is a powerful story of sisterhood, resilience, and quiet defiance. Perfect for readers of Hazel Gaynor, Heather Marshall, and Susan Meissner, this unforgettable chapter of The Hotel Hamilton Series will immerse you in its world and echo in your heart long after the final page.
8. The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell
Release Date: October 28, 2025
Journey to a magical hotel in the Swiss Alps, where two lost souls living in different centuries meet and discover if a second chance awaits them behind its doors.
London, 2015. When reclusive art appraiser Eve Shaw shakes the hand of a silver-haired gentleman in her office, the warmth of his palm sends a spark through her.
His name is Max Everly—curiously, the same name as Eve’s favorite composer, born one hundred sixteen years prior. And she has the sudden feeling that she’s held his hand before . . . but where, and when?
The White Octopus Hotel, 1935. In this belle époque building high in the snowy mountains, Eve and a young Max wander the winding halls, lost in time.
Each of them has been through the trenches—Eve through a family accident and Max on the battlefields of the Great War—but for an impossible moment, love and healing are just a room away . . . if only they have the courage to step through the door.
✨ Final Thoughts
Whether you’re looking for gothic suspense, WWII bravery, Tudor court intrigue, or sweeping stories of resilience, October’s historical fiction lineup offers something for every reader. Have fun adding to your fall TBR?
Cheers,
Tanya
Avid Reader I Tea Drinker I Daydreamer