I love reading books set in different times and places! Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and I’ve had France on my mind lately, because we are going there at the end of the month. One of my favorite ways to prepare for a trip is to read some books that are set in my destination!

So I’ve put together a list of some great historical fiction books that are set in France! They are set in several different time periods, as well as in different parts of France. There are so many great historical fiction books set in France, but I’ve narrowed my list down to these 7 that I have read and would recommend!

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Whether you are looking for your next book club bingo pick, preparing for an upcoming trip or just looking for a great historical fiction book to read next, try one of these books set in France!

#1 – Where the Light Falls by Allison Pataki and Owen Pataki

Having enjoyed a few other books by Allison Pataki, I was excited to read this one by her and her brother, set in Paris during the French Revolution. The story follows 3 characters from different walks of life three years after the storming of the Bastille: Jean-Luc, a young lawyer; André, a soldier in the French army; and Sophie, a young aristocratic widow. The writing immerses you into revolutionary Paris as you follow along these main characters navigating life in their young new nation.

#2 – Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran

Before I came across this book I knew the name Madame Tussaud from the famous wax museums with incredibly life-like wax sculptures of celebrities and historical figures. But I didn’t know anything about Madame Tussaud or that the first museum began in the late 1700s. This book is about that beginning and follows Marie Tussaud as she learns wax sculpting from her uncle in their family’s museum and her incredible wax models lead her to meeting the royal family, all as the French Revolution is about to begin.

#3 – Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon

Our family book club chose this book for one of our Book Club Bingo categories, a book with a kickass female heroine, and the main character lived up to it! Based on a real-life heroine, Code Name Hélène tells the story of Nancy Wake, a truly kickass spy during World War II. The story is told in multiple timelines, alternating between all of the different names she went by throughout the war as she supported the French resistance against the Nazis.

#4 – The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

Another fantastic historical fiction book set in France during World War II! The main character Eva is a French Jewish woman who took refuge in a small town in the free zone of France when the Germans invaded Paris. She supports the resistance in helping to forge documents for Jewish children who are fleeing to Switzerland and works with her fellow resistance members to come up with a way to keep track of the children’s true identities.

#5 – The Last Collection by Jeanne Mackin

This historical fiction novel centers around the rivalry between two iconic fashion designers, Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, in Paris in the late 1930s. The main character, Lily, an American visiting her brother in Paris, finds herself caught in the middle of the war between the two designers, at a time when the city itself faces the looming threat of the Nazis and World War II.

#6 – The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Kate Quinn has become one of my favorite historical fiction authors and this is the first novel of hers that I read! The Alice Network is a dual timeline story alternating between Charlie, a young woman trying to find her cousin in the aftermath of WWII France in 1947 and Eve, a woman who was part of a female spy network in occupied France during WWI in 1915.

#7 – The Paris Wife by Paula McClain

Unlike the others on this list, this one is not set during a war (or the anticipation of war), but is set during the 1920s, the Jazz Age of Paris! Based on the first wife of Ernest Hemingway, Hadley Richardson, this novel tells of the time soon after they got married when they moved to Paris, where their circle of friends includes many famous writers of the time and Hemingway wrote the book that would become The Sun Also Rises.

And those are my 7 recommendations for historical fiction books set in France! What others would you add to my list?

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