If you ever wish you had a time machine to travel back in time or witness momentous events in history, check out these novels to be transported to another time and place. These international historicals will place you in counties around the world in time periods both familiar and unique. From a book set in Canada during an uprising, to novels set in ancient civilizations, to stories about the bravery of Europeans in wartime, these historical novels will keep you up late into the night and spark interest into the real-life stories that inspired them.
The Lawyer and the Laundress
By Christine Hill Suntz
Toronto, Canada
This debut novel from author Christine Hill Suntz is set in 1837 Canada, when a dangerous uprising occurred. With trouble looming in the background, Christine’s novel introduces widower lawyer James and highly educated laundress Sara, who enter into a marriage of convenience to help raise James’s daughter. But when the forces of rebellion threaten to unravel their tidy arrangement, they’ll both need courage to survive.
As Sure as the Sea
By Jamie Ogle
Eastern Roman Empire
Set on the Mediterranean Sea during the turbulent Roman Empire, Demi harvests coral and pearls by day and risks her life to provide for other Christians at night. But her routine is disturbed when Nikolas, a new pastor in the area, asks for her help diving to retrieve a fortune that could help those in dire need. As the violence against Christians increases, Demi and Nikolas must cling to their faith and brave what comes next.
The Pharisee’s Wife
By Janette Oke
Israel
Beloved author Janette Oke turns from the traditional setting of her books, the Canadian West, to set The Pharisee’s Wife in first-century Israel. In the novel, Mary’s fate is quickly sealed when a visiting Pharisee sees her beauty and desires her for his wife. As she’s drawn into a new and treacherous life, she also becomes witness to the world’s most life-changing story.
The Bachelor’s Bargain
By Catherine Palmer
England
This marriage-of-convenience romance is set in Regency England, where a marquess jokingly asks a housemaid to marry him, trying to prove his point to his family that he’s too roguish to marry. But when circumstances change and the housemaid takes him up on his offer, the two must work together to keep up appearances so as not to appear in a society column and invite more scandal.
Ladies of the Lake
By Cathy Gohlke
Prince Edward Island, Canada
In this novel set in the early twentieth century, four young women form a life-changing friendship at a boarding school on Prince Edward Island. They call themselves the Ladies of the Lake and vow to always be there for each other, no matter where life takes them. But years later, after the friendship has been irrevocably torn apart, one of the Ladies of the Lake gets a surprising call inviting her back to where it all began.
The Winter Rose
By Melanie Dobson
Vichy France
This WWII time-slip novel focuses on an American Quaker who works to rescue Jewish children from Germany, through Vichy France. Crossing the Pyrenees with children is treacherous, but the trauma of war will tear the adoptive family apart. Years later, a woman searches for the truth behind what happened in the aftermath.
Chasing Shadows
By Lynn Austin
The Netherlands
In this novel, three women’s lives are irrevocably changed, and forever intertwined, by the invasion of the Netherlands during WWII. Lena is a farmer’s wife who starts to question what she’s always believed. Ans is drawn to Resistance work, despite having romantic notions of life in a bustling city. And Miriam is an immigrant, craving the safety she thought she’d found.
A Voice in the Wind
By Francine Rivers
Rome
The first in the beloved Mark of the Lion series from Francine Rivers, A Voice in the Wind introduces Hadassah, a Jewish slave girl during the time of Roman gladiators. As she holds firm to her faith in God, she becomes a shining beacon of light in the darkness around her.
Jewel of the Nile
By Tessa Afshar
Egypt and Rome
Tessa Afshar brings the ancient world to life in this biblical novel set in the Kingdom of Cush and the Roman Empire. Growing up, Chariline knew nothing of her father, except his country of origin. When she overhears her father is still alive, she sneaks onto a ship headed to Rome to find out the truth of her family.
The Seamstress
By Allison Pittman
France
Based on a character from A Tale of Two Cities, The Seamstress is set in 1788 France, in the days before the French Revolution. Two women from the French countryside are thrust into the heart of unrest: one into Queen Marie Antoinette’s royal court and the other into the arms of a dangerous rebel.
