12 must-read historical books like The Book of Thorns by Hester Fox

Cover of The Book of Thorns by Hester Fox

The Book of Thorns

By: Hester Fox

3.64

Format: 320 pages, Paperback

"Betrayal, loss, love, redemption, and justice collide in this masterpiece of a novel. You won’t wa…

If you liked the historical plot in The Book of Thorns by Hester Fox , here is a list of 12 books like this:

Cover of The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

1. The Warm Hands of Ghosts

By: Katherine Arden

4.02

Format: 325 pages, Hardcover

During the Great War, a combat nurse searches for her brother, believed dead in the trenches despit… read more

Similar categories in Katherine Arden's The Warm Hands of Ghosts book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • historical fantasy
  • magical realism
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • fantasy
"Winter said there's ghosts all around you. Faland snorted. When you swim in the ocean there's water all around you, but no one mentions it."

-Katherine Arden, The Warm Hands of Ghosts

Cover of The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

2. The Familiar

By: Leigh Bardugo

3.84

Format: 387 pages, Hardcover

From the New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House, Hell Bent, and creator of the Grishavers… read more

Similar categories in Leigh Bardugo's The Familiar book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • romance
  • historical fantasy
  • magical realism
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • fantasy
  • audiobook
"But let it be my ambition and not my fear that seals my fate."

-Leigh Bardugo, The Familiar

"There was nothing more dangerous than a woman witha pen in her hand."

-Leigh Bardugo, The Familiar

"She was allowed to want more for herself. And even if she wasn't, she would find a way to get it."

-Leigh Bardugo, The Familiar

"And you're not afraid...of the devil? Of his minions? "Fear men, Luzia," he said. "Fear their ambition and the crimes they commit in its service. But don't fear magic or what you may do with it."

-Leigh Bardugo, The Familiar

Cover of My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen

3. My Darling Dreadful Thing

By: Johanna van Veen

3.89

Format: 375 pages, Paperback

In a world where the dead can wake and walk among us, what is truly real? Roos Beckman has a spi… read more

Similar categories in Johanna van Veen's My Darling Dreadful Thing book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • gothic
  • adult
  • fantasy
  • fiction
"The question everyone wants answered is this: Was I or was I not actually possessed? But it is not so simple as that."

-Johanna van Veen, My Darling Dreadful Thing

"There’s a reason the word ‘haunting’ is rarely used in a positive way. To never be free of someone, well, that’s not always a comfort."

-Johanna van Veen, My Darling Dreadful Thing

"It’s a dangerous thing, to try and give someone everything. One day, you might find you’ve given away things you should’ve kept. Some parts of us must remain inviolate if we are to survive as a perso…"

-Johanna van Veen, My Darling Dreadful Thing

"I was never a happy child. I think that, if I had been, things would have gone very differently with me. For one, I don’t think Ruth would have become my constant companion. Spirits like her are not …"

-Johanna van Veen, My Darling Dreadful Thing

Cover of The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace

4. The Framed Women of Ardemore House

By: Brandy Schillace

3.67

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

A sharp, savvy mystery about an autistic editor who inherits a crumbling English estate, only to fi… read more

Similar categories in Brandy Schillace's The Framed Women of Ardemore House book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • adult
  • fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of The Phoenix Bride by Natasha Siegel

5. The Phoenix Bride

By: Natasha Siegel

3.75

Format: 336 pages, Paperback

A passionate tale of plague, fire, and forbidden love in seventeenth-century London from the acclai… read more

Similar categories in Natasha Siegel's The Phoenix Bride book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • romance
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of The Book of Doors by Gareth  Brown

6. The Book of Doors

By: Gareth Brown

4.04

Format: 416 pages, Hardcover

If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go? In New York City, bookseller Cassie An… read more

Similar categories in Gareth Brown's The Book of Doors book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • romance
  • magical realism
  • fiction
  • adult
  • fantasy
  • audiobook
"It's not the number of books that matters, is it? It's what one does with them."

-Gareth Brown, The Book of Doors

"One does not look at a dog and assume it is the only animal to exist. ~ Edmund Fox"

-Gareth Brown, The Book of Doors

Cover of The Tower by Flora Carr

7. The Tower

By: Flora Carr

3.70

Format: 272 pages, Hardcover

A bold, feminist debut novel, reimagining Mary, Queen of Scots’s darkest hour, when she was held ho… read more

Similar categories in Flora Carr's The Tower book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • historical
  • adult
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
Cover of A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland

8. A Sweet Sting of Salt

By: Rose Sutherland

3.88

Format: 352 pages, Paperback

Once a young woman uncovers a dark secret about her neighbor and his mysterious new wife, she’ll ha… read more

Similar categories in Rose Sutherland's A Sweet Sting of Salt book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • romance
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • fantasy
Cover of The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields

9. The Honey Witch

By: Sydney J. Shields

3.66

Format: 368 pages, Paperback

The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love. That is her curse to bear. But when a young … read more

Similar categories in Sydney J. Shields's The Honey Witch book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • romance
  • adult
  • fantasy
  • fiction
"But what happens when the girl keeps living, when she ages proudly and defiantly, without abandoning imagination, or stories, or that secret wish to find magic wherever it hides? Well, then the poets…"

-Sydney J. Shields, The Honey Witch

Cover of The Book of Thorns by Hester Fox

10. The Book of Thorns

By: Hester Fox

3.64

Format: 320 pages, Paperback

"Betrayal, loss, love, redemption, and justice collide in this masterpiece of a novel. You won’t wa… read more

Similar categories in Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • romance
  • gothic
  • historical fantasy
  • magical realism
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • fantasy
  • audiobook
Cover of Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis

11. Spitting Gold

By: Carmella Lowkis

3.52

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

A deliciously haunting debut for fans of Sarah Waters and Sarah Penner set in 19th-century Paris, b… read more

Similar categories in Carmella Lowkis's Spitting Gold book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • gothic
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • fantasy
Cover of A Botanist's Guide to Society and Secrets (Saffron Everleigh Mystery, #3) by Kate Khavari

12. A Botanist's Guide to Society and Secrets (Saffron Everleigh Mystery, #3)

By: Kate Khavari

3.82

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

Brilliant botanist Saffron Everleigh is ready for her next thrilling adventure in the newest instal… read more

Similar categories in Kate Khavari's A Botanist's Guide to Society and Secrets (Saffron Everleigh Mystery, #3) book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • romance
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

13. A Sorceress Comes to Call

By: T. Kingfisher

4.24

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

A dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic… read more

Similar categories in T. Kingfisher's A Sorceress Comes to Call book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • adult
  • fantasy
  • fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier

14. The Glassmaker

By: Tracy Chevalier

4.00

Format: 416 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling historical novelist, a rich, transporting story that follows a family of glass… read more

Similar categories in Tracy Chevalier's The Glassmaker book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • magical realism
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
"...you never recover from losing someone; you just learn to accommodate the hole it makes in you."

-Tracy Chevalier, The Glassmaker

"People who make things also have an ambiguous relationship with time. Painters, writers, wood-carvers, knitters, weavers and, yes, glassmakers: creators often enter an absorbed state that psychologis…"

-Tracy Chevalier, The Glassmaker

Cover of In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf

15. In the Hour of Crows

By: Dana Elmendorf

3.85

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

In a small town in Appalachia, people paint their doorways blue to keep spirits away. Black ferns … read more

Similar categories in Dana Elmendorf's In the Hour of Crows book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • magical realism
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • fantasy
  • audiobook
Cover of An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

16. An Academy for Liars

By: Alexis Henderson

4.01

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

A student will find that the hardest lessons sometimes come outside the classroom in this stunning … read more

Similar categories in Alexis Henderson's An Academy for Liars book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • gothic
  • adult
  • fantasy
  • fiction
Cover of The Last Witch in Edinburgh by Marielle Thompson

17. The Last Witch in Edinburgh

By: Marielle Thompson

3.70

Format: 384 pages, Paperback

This lush, atmospheric novel blends witchcraft, queer love, a vibrant Edinburgh setting, and Scotti… read more

Similar categories in Marielle Thompson's The Last Witch in Edinburgh book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • romance
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • fantasy
Cover of The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish (Hecate Cavendish #1) by Paula Brackston

18. The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish (Hecate Cavendish #1)

By: Paula Brackston

3.76

Format: 356 pages, Hardcover

New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston returns with a new, magic-infused series about He… read more

Similar categories in Paula Brackston's The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish (Hecate Cavendish #1) book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • romance
  • historical fantasy
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • fantasy
  • audiobook
Cover of The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5) by Deborah Harkness

19. The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5)

By: Deborah Harkness

4.18

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

Diana Bishop journeys to the darkest places within herself—and her family history—in the highly ant… read more

Similar categories in Deborah Harkness's The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5) book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • romance
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • fantasy
  • audiobook
"Kümmere dich um deine eignen Wünsche und Bedürfnisse." S. 222"

-Deborah Harkness, The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5)

"Sehnsucht spornt mich an, Furcht bremst mich ... Was für ein Weg, gerade oder krumm, wird mir Frieden geben und mich erlösen?" S 414 f"

-Deborah Harkness, The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5)

"Du musst ihr [der Dunkelheit] die Stirn bieten ... Schau ihr ins Auge, ohne mit der Wimper zu zucken. Die Dunkelheit ist von einer verschlagenen Tücke und du darfst nicht zulassen, dass sie deine Sch…"

-Deborah Harkness, The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5)

Cover of The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

20. The Seventh Veil of Salome

By: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

4.05

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine — but the real drama … read more

Similar categories in Silvia Moreno-Garcia's The Seventh Veil of Salome book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • romance
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of The Lost Tarot by Sarah Henstra

21. The Lost Tarot

By: Sarah Henstra

3.82

Format: 352 pages, Paperback

A lost tarot card is the key to unravelling decades of secrets in this dazzling novel about art and… read more

Similar categories in Sarah Henstra's The Lost Tarot book and Hester Fox's The Book of Thorns

  • adult
  • fiction
  • historical fiction

21 Top fiction books like The Book of Thorns by Hester Fox

Transform Your Habits

The Warm Hands of Ghosts

Katherine Arden

4.02

Transform Your Habits

The Familiar

Leigh Bardugo

3.84

Transform Your Habits

My Darling Dreadful Thing

Johanna van Veen

3.89

Transform Your Habits

The Framed Women of Ardemore House

Brandy Schillace

3.67

View all the books

20 Best fiction books like The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace

Transform Your Habits

Close to Death (Hawthorne & Horowitz, #5)

Anthony Horowitz

4.18

Transform Your Habits

A Grave Robbery (Veronica Speedwell, #9)

Deanna Raybourn

4.19

Transform Your Habits

The Mystery Writer

Sulari Gentill

3.42

Transform Your Habits

How to Solve Your Own Murder (Castle Knoll Files, #1)

Kristen Perrin

3.80

View all the books

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