swap_horiz The Historian Alternatives

1

Memoirs of Hadrian

Memoirs of Hadrian is a classic novel presented as a series of letters written by Roman Emperor Hadrian himself. Notewor...

Classic Historical 1950S Roman

9.1 Excellent

2

Lincoln in the Bardo

Lincoln in the Bardo is a 21st-century novel employing an epistolary format. It presents a unique interpretation of Abra...

American 21ST Century Historical Literary

8.8 Great

3

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood's 2000 novel The Blind Assassin won the Booker Prize, framing its 20th-century family saga through memoi...

Canadian 21ST Century Historical Literary

8.7 Great

4

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Sherman Alexie's 2007 novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian uses journal entries and drawings to depict...

American 21ST Century Native American Diary

8.7 Great

5

A Visit from the Goon Squad

*A Visit from the Goon Squad* is a 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Jennifer Egan, notable for its linked format and...

Music American 21ST Century Literary

8.7 Great

6

March

March presents a poignant account of the American Civil War through a series of letters. The novel details the experienc...

American Historical 2000S Civil War

8.5 Great

7

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

This 2003 British novel by Mark Haddon is written as the first-person diary of a teenage boy with autism investigating t...

Mystery 21ST Century British Diary

8.3 Great

8

An Instance of the Fingerpost

Iain Pears’ An Instance of the Fingerpost is a British historical mystery told through a complex series of letters excha...

Mystery Historical British 1990S

8.1 Great

9

Armadale

Wilkie Collins's 1866 novel Armadale is notable for its complex plot and mixed format, utilizing diary entries and lette...

19TH Century Mystery Victorian English

7.9 Good

10

The Lacuna

Barbara Kingsolver's 2009 historical novel The Lacuna uses diaries, letters, and clippings to trace a writer's life thro...

American 21ST Century Historical Literary

7.4 Good

11

Night Film

*Night Film* is a 2013 mystery thriller by American author Marisha Pessl that follows an investigative journalist, utili...

American Mystery 21ST Century Thriller

7.4 Good

12

The Raw Shark Texts

*The Raw Shark Texts* is a 2007 British novel by Steven Hall that uses letters, unpunctuated streams of consciousness, a...

21ST Century Experimental British Thriller

7.4 Good

13

The Golden Mean

*The Golden Mean* is a 2009 Canadian historical novel by Annabel Lyon, written as the fictional diary of Aristotle detai...

Mystery 21ST Century Correspondence Illustrated

7.4 Good

14

Redgauntlet

*Redgauntlet* is an 1824 historical novel by Scottish author Walter Scott, uniquely structured as an epistolary narrativ...

Classic 19TH Century Historical Scottish

7.4 Good

15

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

*The Elegance of the Hedgehog* is a 2006 French novel by Muriel Barbery structured around the alternating philosophical...

French Philosophical 21ST Century Literary

7.3 Good

16

Griffin & Sabine's Correspondence

*Griffin & Sabine's Correspondence* refers to the 1991 interactive epistolary art book by Nick Bantock, which invites re...

Mystery 21ST Century Correspondence Illustrated

7.3 Good

17

The Fox Woman

The Fox Woman is a 2000 fantasy epistolary novel by American author Kij Johnson, notable for adapting a classic Japanese...

Fantasy Japanese Historical 1990S

7.3 Good

18

Freedom and Necessity

Co-authored by Emma Bull and Steven Brust, Freedom and Necessity is a 1997 historical fantasy novel notable for using le...

Fantasy Historical 1990S Diary

7.3 Good

19

Beautiful World, Where Are You

Sally Rooney's 2021 novel Beautiful World, Where Are You intertwines the romantic lives of two friends through their ema...

21ST Century Literary Friendship Irish

7.2 Good

20

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is an epistolary historical novel that uses diary entries and written records to chronicle the...

Horror Vampire 2020S Diary

7.2 Good