Books like The Vatican Princess by C. W. Gortner

A 1930s wartime tale of a blind French girl and a German boy whose lives intersect in occupied France, weaving themes of survival, friendship, and the moral choices people make amid World War II.

Cora, a woman enslaved on a Georgia cotton plantation, partners with a new slave named Caesar to flee the South. Their daring escape follows a literal underground network of tunnels that mirrors the perilous journey of countless fugitive slaves toward freedom.

In 1862, Abraham Lincoln’s son Willie dies and finds himself in a Tibetan bardo, where ghosts, grief and battle over a young boy’s soul blend absurdity with the horror of loss.

In the Elizabethan‑age setting of England’s Wars of the Roses, Philippa Gregory chronicles the rise of Elizabeth Woodville from lady-in-waiting to queen, exposing the political intrigue and personal turmoil that shaped the era.

Mario Puzo traces the rise of the Borgia family, revealing the intertwined forces of ambition, faith, and power that shaped one of Italy’s most notorious dynasties.

Pat Barker reimagines the final days of the Trojan War through the eyes of Briseis, the captured concubine of Achilles, revealing the voices of the women walled in the Greek camp.

Julian Barnes’s concise portrait of the Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich, tracing his early struggles, political pressures, and artistic choices in the 1930s and beyond.

In 16th‑century Scotland, Mary, Queen of Scots, is held as a hostage by the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife Bess of Hardwick, forcing a dangerous game of loyalty, ambition and intrigue against Elizabeth I.

Lady‑in‑waiting Margaret Pole navigates the Tudor court, witnessing Henry VIII’s rise and the rise of Anne Boleyn, while balancing loyalty to his queens and to the old royal line.

Annie McMorrow, a 31‑year‑old assistant, stumbles upon a haunted painting that reveals secrets of past owners and thrusts her into a world of art dealers, auctioneers, and unexpected romance.

Stewart O'Nan’s historical novel portrays F. Scott Fitzgerald’s final years in Hollywood as he struggles, writes screenplays, and navigates romance with columnist Sheilah Graham, amid the glitter of 1930s studio life.

A riveting historical novel about the rise of a young queen in 16th-century Spain, from the acclaimed author of "The Queen's Vow"

"We have just elected a female pope." —Cardinal Alessandro Bichi, 1644 Today's Roman Catholic Church firmly states that women must be excluded from church leadership positions, but they neglect to mention that for over a decade in the seventeenth century a woman unofficially, but openly, ran the Vatican. Now, Eleanor Herman, author of Sex with the Queen, exposes one of the church's deepest secrets, laying bare facts that have been concealed for 350 years. Beginning in 1644 and for eleven years after, Olimpia Maidalchini, sister-in-law and reputed mistress of the indecisive Pope Innocent X, directed Vatican business, appointed cardinals, negotiated with foreign ambassadors, and helped herself to a heaping portion of the Papal State's treasury. Unlike the ninth century's Pope Joan, whose life is shrouded in mystery, Olimpia's story is documented in thousands of letters, news sheets, and diplomatic dispatches. Knowing of Pope Innocent's absolute dependence on his sister-in-law, Cardinal Alessandro Bichi angrily declared on the day of Innocent's election, "We have just elected a female pope." Mischievous Romans hung banners in churches calling her Pope Olimpia I. Cardinal Sforza Pallavicino bewailed the "monstrous power of a woman in the Vatican." One contemporary wrote that women might as well become priests, since one of them was already pope. Born in modest circumstances, Olimpia was almost forced into a convent at the age of fifteen due to the lack of a dowry. She used deceit to escape, and vowed never to be poor and powerless again. Throughout her life, Olimpia exacted excruciating vengeance on anyone who tried to lock her up or curb her power. But her grisly revenge on the pope who loved her would be reserved for after his death....Seventeenth-century Rome boasted the world's most glorious art and glittering pageants but also suffered from famine, floods, swarms of locusts, and bubonic plague. Olimpia's world was kleptocratic; everyone from the lowliest servant up to the pope's august relatives unblushingly stole as much as they possibly could. Nepotism was rampant, and popes gave away huge sums and principalities to their nephews instead of helping the poor. Dead pontiffs were left naked on the Vatican floor because their servants had pilfered the bed and stripped the corpse. Mistress of the Vatican brings to life not only a woman, and a church, but an entire civilization in all its greatness...and all its ignominy.

In Tudor England, two sisters embroiled in political intrigue and love navigate the treacherous court as Mary Tudor’s reign unfolds, risking treason for survival and choice between duty and desire.

In fifteenth‑century Rome, Spanish Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia becomes Pope Alexander VI, wielding papal power to advance his Italian city's fortunes through his ruthless family—sons Cesare and daughter Lucrezia—against a backdrop of corruption and ambition.

A queen's heart torn between love and duty, leading to a dark choice in history's most powerful court.

Lucrezia Borgia: A Daughter's Tale of Power and Passion in Renaissance Italy

Set in the Ottoman Empire from the 16th to 18th centuries, "The Architect's Apprentice" follows a young animal tamer’s rise to apprentice under Mimar Sinan, witnessing the construction of the empire’s greatest mosques and the tensions of court life.

A biographical historical novel that follows the budding friendship between a teenage Louise Brooks and a middle‑aged chaperone as they travel to New York City in 1922, showing how the journey reshapes their lives.