Looking to step back in time while indulging in rich storytelling, gripping plots, and unforgettable characters? Our list of the Best Historical Fiction Books to Read in July 2025, curated by Storizen, offers a carefully selected lineup of powerful reads that transport you across generations, continents, and cultures. Whether you’re drawn to political scandals in the White House, sun-drenched Italian escapes, the rebellious heart of teen mothers, or the haunting echoes of a shipwreck, these nine titles promise immersive journeys through time with stories that linger long after the final page. Packed with emotional depth, hidden secrets, and sweeping historical backdrops, this month’s historical fiction roundup is your perfect reading companion for the summer.
1. The First Gentleman by James Patterson and Bill Clinton
Clinton and Patterson deliver their most explosive thriller yet, as the President of the United States campaigns for re-election while her husband—the First Gentleman—stands trial for murder. As headlines swirl and the country teeters on the edge of scandal, two fearless investigative journalists race against time to uncover the truth behind the charges. Is the First Gentleman truly guilty, or is this a political takedown of the highest order? What they discover could shatter the White House and shake the nation to its core.
2. Park Avenue Hardcover by Rene Ahdieh
In her highly anticipated adult debut, #1 New York Times bestselling author Renée Ahdieh delivers a glamorous, addictive tale of ambition, secrets, and self-discovery. Jia Song, a driven young lawyer on the cusp of having everything she ever dreamed of—power, prestige, and a coveted gold Birkin—gets pulled into the unraveling drama of one of Korea’s wealthiest families. Tasked with managing the messy divorce of the Park family’s billion-dollar beauty empire, Jia finds herself caught in a whirlwind of privilege, dysfunction, and buried scandals that take her from Manhattan boardrooms to private jets around the globe. As she digs deeper into the Parks’ tangled loyalties and dark secrets, Jia must confront a life-altering truth of her own: sometimes the success you’ve worked so hard to claim isn’t the future you really want. Part Crazy Rich Asians, part legal thriller, Ahdieh’s debut for adults is as sharp, heart-filled, and addictive as it is impossibly stylish.
3. The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley
From the acclaimed author of Nightcrawling comes The Girls Who Grew Big, a raw, radiant novel that captures the untamed spirit of girlhood and young motherhood with unflinching honesty and heart. When Adela Woods is sent away to quietly have her baby in a sleepy Florida beach town, she’s expected to return home and pretend nothing ever happened. But fate has other plans. There, she meets Emory, a fearless teen mom who wears defiance like armor, and Simone, the magnetic leader of a tribe of young mothers who’ve created their own rebellious sanctuary—raising babies, blasting music, and refusing to disappear. As the girls navigate joy, heartbreak, and the tangled bonds of sisterhood, their paths intertwine in unexpected and sometimes painful ways. Set against the salt-washed backdrop of Padua Beach, this is a fierce, luminous story about forging identity, finding community, and claiming your right to be seen—no matter what the world expects.
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4. Our Last Vineyard Summer by Brooke Lea Foster
In Our Last Vineyard Summer, Brooke Lea Foster delivers a deeply nostalgic and emotionally layered story of sisterhood, secrets, and self-discovery set between the sun-drenched shores of Martha’s Vineyard in 1965 and 1978. When graduate student Betsy Whiting returns to her family’s beloved summer home after her senator father’s death, she expects a restful escape—and maybe even a proposal. Instead, she’s met with the jarring news that the house must be sold to settle debts. As she reunites with her headstrong sisters under their feminist mother’s watch, Betsy is forced to confront old tensions, a forbidden love that never fully faded, and the complex legacy left behind by her parents’ public and private lives. Moving between two pivotal eras for women in America, Foster’s novel tenderly explores the bonds of family, the weight of expectations, and what it means to fight for a future while honoring the past.
5. The View From Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani
In Adriana Trigiani’s heartwarming new novel, set against the sparkling backdrop of Lake Como, recently divorced Jess Capodimonte Baratta finds herself at a crossroads—stuck in her New Jersey hometown, working in her uncle’s marble business, and reeling from a family loss that uncovers long-buried secrets. Yearning for clarity and connection, she escapes to Italy, where her roots run deep and the landscape is as breathtaking as the revelations waiting for her. Amidst the sun-drenched streets of Milan, the rugged Tuscan hills, and the serene beauty of Lake Como, Jess discovers a newfound sense of home—and love—in the arms of Angelo Strazza, a soulful artist. But just as her world begins to bloom, more family truths threaten to pull her back into old patterns. Blending romance, heritage, and self-discovery, The Good Left Undone reminds us that sometimes we must journey far to finally come home to ourselves.
6. Wayward Girls by Susan Wiggs
Based on a harrowing true story, Wayward Girls by Susan Wiggs is a deeply moving, life-affirming novel that shines a light on the hidden injustices faced by young women during the Vietnam era. Set in 1968 Buffalo, New York, it follows six teenage girls—each condemned not for crimes, but for being different: gay, pregnant, or simply rebellious—who are locked away in a Catholic reform school run by the unyielding Sisters of Charity. Behind the closed doors of the Good Shepherd institution, they are forced into brutal labor in the laundry, stripped of freedom but never of spirit. From Mairin, a free-spirited Irish immigrant’s daughter seeking safety from her abusive stepfather, to Angela, punished for loving girls and preyed upon by a predator, each girl’s story reveals the resilience born in darkness. Through injustice, cruelty, and silence, they forge bonds of fierce friendship and fight for their right to be seen and heard. Wayward Girls is a powerful testament to survival, sisterhood, and the quiet rebellion that can change the course of lives.
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7. The Sandy Page Bookshop Hannah McKinnon
When Leah Powell’s life in Boston falls apart—her publishing job gone, her engagement over—she retreats to the last place she thought she’d end up: her sleepy hometown on Cape Cod. Feeling directionless, she stumbles upon a crumbling historic sea captain’s house and, in a spark of inspiration, decides to transform it into a cozy bookstore and café called The Sandy Page. As the salty air and small-town rhythms start to work their quiet magic, Leah reconnects with Luke Nicholson, a local contractor who remembers her far more than she remembers him. As they renovate the weathered house and each find healing in the project, the shop becomes more than just a business—it turns into a vibrant hub for the community, a haven for lost souls, and perhaps a place where Leah and Luke can both start again. The Sandy Page is a heartwarming tale of second chances, quiet courage, and the unexpected ways a home—and a heart—can be rebuilt.
8. Under the Stars by Beatriz Williams
When celebrity actress Meredith Fisher and her daughter Audrey return to the secluded shores of Winthrop Island, they intend to quietly confront the ghosts of their past—but a hidden chest tucked away in an old cellar changes everything. Audrey, a world-class chef trying to escape her mother’s long shadow, uncovers a trove of astonishing paintings that link them to a mysterious woman who vanished during a 19th-century steamship disaster. As the two women unravel the truth behind the art and the enigmatic figure on each canvas, their lives begin to intertwine with that of Providence Dare—a woman fleeing a dangerous past on the doomed Atlantic in 1846. What begins as a summer of healing soon becomes a thrilling journey through secrets, scandals, and the powerful legacy of women who dared to survive. In Under the Stars, Beatriz Williams delivers a sweeping, multi-generational tale of art, love, and the haunting echoes of family history across time.
9. The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
In this chilling, multigenerational tale from Mexican Gothic author Silvia Moreno-Garcia, three women across different eras are drawn into the dark undercurrents of witchcraft, obsession, and eerie disappearances. Minerva, a modern-day graduate student researching horror literature, is haunted by her great-grandmother Nana Alba’s tales of real witches—stories she once dismissed as folklore. But while investigating the life of forgotten horror writer Beatrice Tremblay for her thesis, Minerva stumbles upon a disturbing truth: Tremblay’s famed novel The Vanishing may not have been fiction at all. Set during the Great Depression, Beatrice’s university years—and her mysterious, beautiful roommate who vanished without a trace—hold secrets far more sinister than Minerva ever expected. As past and present begin to blur, Minerva must confront the possibility that the horrors she studies are not confined to the page.
From multigenerational sagas and epic romances to chilling reform school horrors and art-filled mysteries, the Best Historical Fiction Books to Read in July 2025 deliver everything a lover of the genre could hope for. Each novel on this Storizen-curated list not only brings the past to life but also reflects timeless themes of resilience, identity, and reinvention. So whether you’re lounging by the beach or curled up with a warm drink, let these stories of courage, love, and legacy transport you to another era—and remind you that sometimes, the most compelling truths lie just beneath history’s surface.
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