BVBook Verdict

If you liked

Books like The Pillars of the Earth

Loved The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett? Here are 10 books with a similar appeal — drawn mostly from historical fiction, ranked by how confidently we'd recommend them next.

10 books · ranked

  1. 1

    The Book Thief

    Markus Zusak · 2005 · Historical Fiction

    A girl in Nazi Germany who steals books, narrated by Death itself; original, tender and devastating.

  2. 2

    Wolf Hall

    Hilary Mantel · 2009 · Historical Fiction

    Thomas Cromwell's rise in the court of Henry VIII; political intrigue rendered in extraordinary close-up prose.

  3. 3

    All the Light We Cannot See

    Anthony Doerr · 2014 · Historical Fiction

    A blind French girl and a German boy whose paths cross in occupied France; luminous, intricate storytelling.

  4. 4

    Regeneration

    Pat Barker · 1991 · Historical Fiction

    Shell-shocked officers and the psychiatrist treating them; a quiet, powerful look at war's hidden wounds.

  5. 5

    Bring Up the Bodies

    Hilary Mantel · 2012 · Historical Fiction

    Cromwell engineers the fall of Anne Boleyn; tense, brilliant and even sharper than its predecessor.

  6. 6

    Tender is the Night

    F. Scott Fitzgerald · 1933 · Historical Fiction

    A psychiatrist, Dick Diver, treats and eventually marries a wealthy patient, Nicole. Eventually, this marriage destroys him.

  7. 7

    The blue castle

    Lucy Maud Montgomery · 1926 · Historical Fiction

    Valancy Stirling is 29, unmarried, and has never been in love. Living with her overbearing mother and meddlesome aunt, she finds her only consolation in the "forbidden" books of John Foster and her da

  8. 8

    One of Ours

    Willa Cather · 1922 · Historical Fiction

    Claude Wheeler opened his eyes before the sun was up and vigorously shook his younger brother, who lay in the other half of the same bed. "Ralph, Ralph, get awake! Come down and help me wash the car."

  9. 9

    The Call of the Canyon

    Zane Grey · 1921 · Historical Fiction

    From the book:What subtle strange message had come to her out of the West? Carley Burch laid the letter in her lap and gazed dreamily through the window. It was a day typical of early April in New Yor

  10. 10

    Rilla of Ingleside

    Lucy Maud Montgomery · 1920 · Historical Fiction

    Fifteen-year-old Rilla, the daughter of Anne Shirley Blythe, grows from a carefree, irresponsible girl into a strong and capable young woman during the war years, 1914-1918.

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