Ten recent indie-published historical novels to check out

If you aren't paying attention to indie-published historical fiction, you don't have a full picture of what the genre has to offer to readers today. You're also missing out on some wonderful stories. The best of these novels, as with those from mainstream publishers, have excellent writing and editing as well as professional cover art. And with indies, authors are organizing all this on their own, plus handling their own publicity and marketing.

How did I go about choosing these? Some are by authors who have had previous novels out with big presses, so I've been following their writing paths for years. The historical fiction market is so focused on specific eras and trends that when I hear about a new novel by a writer who turned to self-publishing after a successful career with bigger presses, my ears perk up. (While not the focus for this post, this holds true for small presses too.)  These books frequently incorporate less familiar topics, settings, and approaches, and as a reader, I appreciate greater variety.  Others listed below came to my attention through reviews and recommendations from trusted sources, or because I've read and enjoyed previous books by their writers. This is the first of two (at least) posts.

Susan Wittig Albert has published a great many novels (mysteries) with NY presses, both on her own and co-written with her husband. Most of the books in her Hidden Women series of biographical novels, though, have been indie-published, including Loving Eleanor. Her latest, Someone Always Nearby, centers on Maria Chabot, a prominent promoter of Native American art, and a good friend to Georgia O'Keeffe. (November 2023)

The first novel in Elizabeth R. Andersen's Alewives of Colmar series was great fun. In Sleight of Hand, the followup to The Alewives, the three women brewers from 14th-century Alsace have another mystery on their hands when an unfortunate item shows up in one of their cooking pots.  (April 2024)

Pamela Belle's 17th-century Herons of Goldhayes saga, written in the '80s, still holds a treasured place on my bookshelf. The books in her Wintercombe series, following a Puritan woman and her family during the English Civil War, are also longtime favorites. A Parcel of Rogues, her first new novel in over 25 years, incorporates a different style and setting: the decadent, dangerous world of London and other English cities in the early 18th century. (June 2024)

Kinley Bryan's debut Sisters of the Sweetwater Fury opened my eyes to little-known Great Lakes history and the roles of women at the time. For her second novel, she moves back in time to the Civil War, following two millworker sisters forced to begin new lives far away from their Southern home. (May 2024)

The Lioness is biographical fiction about Jeanne de Clisson, known as the Lion of Brittany, a 14th-century privateer seeking justice for her late husband. The author has also written The Empress, a tie-in to the Netflix series of the same name about Empress Elisabeth of Austria, plus novels for younger readers. (November 2024)

Anne M. Kennedy's debut is historical adventure/suspense. Based on its first three chapters, it took home the silver medal in the Adventure category of the Historical Novel Society's First Chapters competition earlier this year. Opening in 1890 in the oil-rich capital of Azerbaijan, it follows a man's quest to solve a mystery involving his family, a jeweled artifact, and an encoded message. (September 2024)

Third and latest in her Cape May Historical Mystery series of standalone novels, The Night the Light Went Out is a locked room mystery of sorts set within a lighthouse during a violent storm along the New Jersey coast in the 1820s. The author also writes cozy mysteries and gothic suspense as Amy M. Reade. (August 2024)

After author Michelle Moran recommended this novel on social media, I had to go look it up. Tana Rebellis' novel is first in a duology about Julia the Younger, a Roman noblewoman and Emperor Augustus' granddaughter, who finds herself sent into exile after becoming pregnant with an illegitimate child.  (June 2024)

Tracey Warr specializes in historical fiction set in medieval times; previously published by Impress Books (UK), she has reissued her earlier novels under her own imprint along with new material, including this new book. Love's Knife, first in a series, introduces a female troubadour (trobairitz) who investigates a murder at the court of 11th-century Toulouse. (September 2024)

The Anny of the title is Anne Thackeray, oldest daughter of Vanity Fair's author, as she begins finding her own place in the world, amid family obligations and her own love affairs, after her father's death. Barbara Wright won the Spur award from Western Writers of America for her 2003 novel Plain Language. (June 2024)