Start 2026 Off Right With These January Historical Fiction New Releases

Release date: January 13, 2026

Set during a time when Tibet was closed off to Europeans, The Last of Earth follows an Indian school teacher working as a British spy in Tibet and an English woman in disguise trying to become the first European woman to reach Lhasa after being rejected from the Royal Geographical Society in London. Their paths will cross as they cross treacherous terrain and battle the elements, others, and even themselves to try to make their mark on this land and in the world.

Release date: January 13, 2026

From the author of Queen of Exiles and Sister Mother Warrior comes a new historical epic about a legendary seventeenth-century pirate, Jacquotte Delahaye, who made a name for herself before deciding to turn her back on the business when her fellow pirates began participating in the slave trade.

Release date: January 27, 2026

When her father returns eleven years after he walked out on her family, Qianze is dubious. But she’s always wanted to know more about her family’s history, so she decides to hear him out. But the dark story he weaves about his involvement as a Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution and her grandmother’s life in Japan-occupied China is more horrifying than she ever could’ve imagined. Along with the history, he’s come to deliver a half-remembered prophecy, one that leaves Qianze stalked by strange visions night and day.

Release date: January 27, 2026

Inspired by the long-buried stories of the enslaved people who fought back against their enslavement, Burn Down Master’s House follows a cast of characters, both enslaved and enslaver, in bondage and free, as they fight against a corrupt system that must be taken down by any means necessary. It’s a story of courage, resistance, and some of the darkest misdeeds of humanity.

Release date: January 27, 2026

Women of a Promiscuous Nature explores the buried history of the “American Plan,” a real government program that regulated women’s bodies and sexuality during the first half of the twentieth century. Women like Ruth, who have never more than kissed a man, are threatened into undergoing testing in the name of “decency.” Sent away to the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women, Ruth meets other women and even girls as young as 15 whose only crimes are that they were deemed “promiscuous” by men. If you think you can stomach it, this sounds like a really important read that is all too timely, as women’s bodies are being increasingly regulated in the twenty-first century once again.