I blame American Girl. If I hadn't gotten their magazine as a kid and been introduced to their historical fiction series for the 8-12 set, I probably wouldn't be as obsessed with historical fiction as I am today. Here are three historical fiction novels I read and loved that are currently available at the bookstore's website.
I read The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte after one of my Goodreads groups, the Historical Fictionistas, picked it as their book of the month a couple years ago. Betsy Patterson is a socialite in a prominent Baltimore family when she meets Napoleon Bonaparte's brother Jerome and falls in love. Napoleon, however, isn't as enchanted with Betsy as his brother is, and forces Jerome to annul the marriage and marry a woman he picked out. I found Betsy spoiled and a bit hard to like, but I still liked the book a lot. It was neat reading about Baltimore as it would have been about 200 years ago and a prominent local family whose patriarch had a park named after him. I give it five paws up for the writing and the fresh perspective on Napoleon Bonaparte's writing and Baltimore of 1812. New, $17.95
About six years ago, I picked up Lily of the Nile after hearing the owner of the now-defunct Constellation Books rave about the author, Stephanie Dray. Isis worshippers in ancient Egypt considered Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios to be the embodiment of the gods. They were also the children of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. After the twins' parents committed suicide, they, along with their younger brother, were taken captive by Octavian, who would later become Caesar of Rome. Used, $2
I'll admit, I was a little obsessed with Ann Rinaldi's books as a teenager. I used to read her books obsessively. Her book The Secret of Sarah Revere centers on Paul Revere's daughter, 13-year-old Sarah, who is keeping a secret that is tearing her apart. Her father is keeping secrets about the start of the Revolutionary War that he can't tell anyone, not even the daughter he trusts so much. Used, $3