Cozy Historical Fiction Perfect for Winter Nights

Beautiful, heartwarming and haunting, this is one of my favourite winter stories of all time. Set in 1920, Alaska’s brutal landscape makes the perfect backdrop for this mesmerising tale.

Jack and Mabel decide to build the child they long for out of snow one day. It is gone the next morning, but then they meet Faina, a young girl who seems to have survived alone in the wilderness and hunts with a red fox at her side. Mysterious and ethereal, we are never sure if Faina is real or a figment of Jack and Mabel’s imagination.

Timeless and enchanting, this story feels like an old fairytale. Be prepared to fall in love when you read it.

This is a story that is short but mighty, packing a powerful punch. Set in a small Irish town as Christmas approaches in 1985, the story follows coal miner and timber merchant Bill Furlong during his busiest season. One morning, during a routine delivery, Bill discovers a young girl locked in a coal shed and is forced to face the stark truth of the church’s control of the town and the horrors they inflict behind closed doors.

I had heard about Ireland’s infamous Magdalene laundries but not read much about them. With the last of the laundries closing as recently as 1996, this story offers a glimpse into how the church was able to continue their atrocities for so long. Claire Keegan doesn’t waste a word as she explores the very best and worst of humanity in this profound tale.  A short but haunting story that will stay with me forever.

Atmospheric, action-packed, immersive and totally riveting, The Diamond Eye is the remarkable story of Lyudmila ‘Mila’ Pavlichenko, a Russian sniper during the Second World War. Her story is truly extraordinary; an ordinary Russian citizen and single mother who went on to become the deadliest female sniper in history. Known as ‘Lady Death’ to her enemies, she also made history as the first Soviet citizen welcomed in the US when she travelled there on a goodwill tour.

The Diamond Eye follows Mila’s story from 1937, when she was just 21 years old, to 1942, when she was on her promotional tour to the USA. This powerful story of heroism, heartache, love and loss is one you won’t forget.

Whenever anyone asks me to recommend a festive read, The Toymakers is one of the first on that list. It tells the story of 15-year-old Cathy, who has run away from home and arrives in London, hoping to work at Papa Jack’s Emporium. This is a toyshop like none she has laid eyes on before. Opening every year at first frost, it is a strange and magical place where some of the toys seem to be alive and others can do impossible things.

A joy to read from start to finish, I loved watching this story unfold. The magic leapt from the pages, taking me back to the halcyon days of my childhood when Christmas was full of excitement, awe and belief. A must-read for anyone who is still a child at heart. 

Nottingham, 1906. Marietta longs to be a ballerina but is torn between the life she wants, and the one her high society family expects her to have. On Christmas Eve, while preparing for her final performance, Marietta discovers Everwood, a magical world, hidden in the scenery built by a mysterious new neighbour. She is enchanted by this wondrous dreamworld but soon discovers that a dark magic exists beneath its glittering facade.

Luminous, magical and enchanting, Midnight in Everwood is a mesmerising dark fairytale that feels like a future Christmas classic. I read this over Christmas a few years ago and was totally spellbound. If you’re looking for a book to get lost in on a cold, winter’s day while snuggled under the blanket with a hot chocolate, then this is for you. 

Iceland, 1686. To save herself and her mother from starvation, Rósa trades her freedom and marries Jón Eiríksson, the recently widowed chieftain of Stykkishólmur. But the rumours surrounding the death of Jón’s first wife haunt her, as do the strange whispers and eerie breaths she senses when she is alone. And what is behind the locked door of the loft that Jón is determined to keep secret?

Eerie, claustrophobic, enchanting and totally mesmerising, this is a story steeped in history, suspicion and tradition set against a brutal and unforgiving backdrop and a country torn between Christianity and the old ways. An unpredictable gothic story that will keep you on your toes, this is the perfect read for those dark winter nights.