If you want to learn more about the U.S. you can travel around it at home by reading United States historical fiction.
Reading historical fiction is an excellent way to learn more about the history of the United States. You might not be able to travel around the U.S. but you can travel to places and times you will never go by reading books.
You can travel to the pre Civil War south and to post Civil War Texas. You can learn about Thomas Jeffersons daughter and the women who helped develop the polio vaccine.
You can learn about the Crow Indians in 1872 and The Dust Bowl in the 1930s. You learn about National Parks and the animals in the Pacific Northwest.
One of the reasons that I love historical fiction is that it teaches me something. There is nothing wrong with read quick and easy reads like clean romance books, but when you want to go a little deeper pick up a historical fiction book to read.
There are many historical fiction books that we could have put on this list, but today’s list is a list of only books that we have read that are set in the U.S.
That means they aren’t just any books. They are all books that we can recomend because we have read and enjoyed them.
Historical Fiction Set In the U.S.
If you love historical fiction, but are looking for something a little different, I think you will find a book or two to add to your to be read list.
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom is about life on a Southern plantation. It is set years before the Civil War and deals with the difficult issues of the day.
I read this book several years ago, and I still think about it. This is a novel, but I felt like I was reading a real story.
Crow Mary by Kathleen Grissom is based on the true story of Goes First, a Crow Indian who marries a White trader in 1872.
The details of the Crow culture, the Montana setting, White traders and more make you feel like a real story, not a historical fiction book.
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah is set during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. This book is the story of so many from Texas and Oklahoma who left their homes to in the hope of finding a job and better life in California.
This book is not a light and easy read. It deals with tough topics and a rough time in American history, but I enjoyed it because it read like real life.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is another book that takes you on a wild ride. This book is set in the Alaskan wilderness, where a Vietnam veteran and POW moves his wife and daughter to Alaska, hoping to escape the pain and scars of the war.
Many people think this book has too many ups and downs, which can be emotionally intense. I didn’t feel that way. Horrible things happen all around us. This book doesn’t glorify those things, but it does show the reality of it.
This book is not one that you read to escape life, it is a book to help you understand life and what people go through.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate is based on the real-life story of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage. It is such a heartbreaking yet important story.
Lisa Wingate brought to life the horrors of what happened to these children and their families. This is another book I read years ago and still think about. I have recommended this one to so many people.
Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate is a dual-time period book set in Southeastern Oklahoma, during 1909 and 1990.
It follows the history of the Choctaws and the difficulties they faced in the early 1900s when men took advantage of young children to gain control of their Choctaw land and money. It is based on real events that happened to Choctaw women and children.
Fire In Beluh by Rilla Askew is another book set in Oklahoma. It is set in 1921 during the Tulsa Race Massacre also known as the Tulsa Race Riots. This book was published in 2001, long before many people were talking or writing about the Tulsa Race Massacre.
Rilla Askew does a fantastic job of sharing the story of the Tulsa Race Riots, as well as what Oklahoma looked like in 1921. She weaves together the story of one white family and one black family, who were very different yet connected in many ways.
Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson is about Pheby Delores Brown, who was born on a plantation in Virginia. She lived in two worlds, neither of which she fit into. She was a slave, but an educated one. She was educated, but she was still a slave.
This book is one that I was thinking about long after I finished it. I think it would make a great book club book. It is so well-researched and well written.
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles is set in 1938 New York. It takes place over the course of one year. This book was nothing like I expected, but I really enjoyed it.
This book is about human behavior, so it reads like it could have happened in real life. Be sure to read my full review on this one though because it won’t be a book for everyone.
Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman is set in Hawaii, both during and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It shares the story of Japanese people sent to internment camps, and also those who came from Germany who were sent to internment camps.
When we think of Pearl Harbor, we think of the actual attack. I really enjoyed that this book gave you a look at what it was like for the people of Hawaii during and after Pearl Harbor.
The Girls of Pearl Harbor by Soraya M. Lane is another book about Pearl Harbor. It follows four nurses who were stationed in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked. They thought life in Hawaii was going to be like a vacation, but it ended up being very different than that.
When Stone Wings Fly by Karen Barnett is a book about the Smoky Mountain National Park. It is a clean romance book, but it covers a lot of how the park was founded and how the government forced people off their land.
Karen Barnett used to be a Park Ranger. She has written five books set in different National Parks, and I have enjoyed them all.
West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge is a book about a pair of Giraffes during the Great Depression. Yes, Giraffes and the Great Depression. This book is based on a real story, and it is so good.
I loved this book because it was so different than any other book about the Great Depression that I have read.
When the Men Were Gone by Marjorie Herrera Lewis is a book about small towns, Texas, football, and World War II. I liked this because it was about WWII, but it was about what life in America was like during the war.
It’s also about Texas and football, so this book would be great for a variety of readers.
The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton is book three in Chanel Cleeton’s series about the Perez family. However, you don’t have to read the first two books to enjoy this one. Each book follows different Perez family members.
This book is set in Florida during a hurricane in 1935. I loved it. Chanel Cleeton does such a great job describing the people, places, weather, and culture in Florida in 1935.
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon is about a midwife in 1789 Maine. It is based on the real life story of Martha Ballard. I loved this book. It was one of my top reads for 2023.
The Women With a Cure by Lynn Cullen is about Dr. Dorothy Horstmann and the development of the polio vaccine. I knew very little about how the polio vaccine was developed, so I enjoyed this one.
Crow Talk by Eileen Garvin is set in northern Oregon and southern Washington, along the Columbia River. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and Eileen Garvin did a great job describing the people, places, and weather of Oregon and Washington.
Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan is the book that made me fall in love with Patti Callahan Henry’s writing.
Surviving Savannah is about the Pulaski, which has been called the Titanic of the South. It was a steamship, full of wealthy southerners headed north for the summer, that sank in 1838.
This was an interesting story full of the history of Savannah, Georgia, and the Pulaski.
Under the Painted Sky by Stacey Lee is a YA book about the Oregon Trail. This is a YA book, but it is one that adults will enjoy too.
I grew up not far from the end of the Oregon Trail, so I’ve read a lot of books about it. I enjoyed that this one was so different than other ones that I have read.
The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee is another YA book that adults will also love. It is set in Atlanta during the late 1800s.
It follows Jo, a Chinese American, who works as a lady’s maid. This book gives you a look at what life was like for Chinese Americans in the South in the 1800s.
The Tiffany Girls by Shelley Noble is set in 1899 New York. The book follows the work of the Tiffany Girls, who were the girls who worked for Louis Comfort Tiffany, creating his Tiffany Glass windows, lamps, and other items.
What The Mountains Remember by Joy Callaway is set in 1913, North Carolina. It is about Belle, who lost her father in a mining accident, and Worth, the man her stepfather arranged for her to marry. I loved the mountain setting and the descriptions of The Grove Inn.
Joy Callaway did a great job of describing the setting, weather, and people in this book. It would make a great summer read.
All The Pretty Places by Joy Callaway is set in Rye, New York, during the Gilded Age. This book is about Sadie and her family’s large nursery.
This is another book by Joy Callaway that has excellent descriptions of the setting and time. Since it is about flowers and gardening, it would also make a great summer read.
Joy Callaway has a new book coming out this summer called The Star of Camp Greene and I can’t wait to read it.
As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner is about WWII and the Spanish Flu in Philadelphia. This is the book that made me a Susan Meissner fan. This is the first book by her that I read, and I loved it. She did such a great job writing this that it read like real life story.
Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict is set during the Gilded Age. It is about Andrew Carnegie and one of his employees. Marie Benedict is a well known historical fiction writer. I enjoyed this book and read it fairly quickly, but the author did add a lot of fiction into the facts.
America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie is a well-written story about Thomas Jefferson’s daughter. You probably know a lot about Thomas Jefferson, but do you know anything about his daughter? This is a well-researched book. I often wondered what was fact and what was fiction, but I liked this one overall.
News of the World by Paulette Jiles is set in post-Civil War Texas. This is a fairly well-known book that was published in 2016, but I did not read it until a few years ago.
If you love westerns or are looking for a historical fiction book that’s a little different, I think you’ll enjoy this one.
The Children’s Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin is about the Children’s Blizzard, also known as the School Children’s Blizzard, of 1888. That blizzard and winter storm killed 235 people, mainly children, in Nebraska and the Dakotas.
This is a bit of a tough read because many children died in this storm, but it was still a good read because I learned a lot.
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls is a book that many people read as kid when they were in school. This book is set in Oklahoma. It is about a boy and his dogs. It is a heartwarming, yet very sad story.
I did not read this book until I was an adult, and although I loved the book, it had me in tears. If you have never read this classic, it might be time to pick it up.
What is your favorite historical fiction book set in the U.S. I would love to hear about it in the comments.