Books like “Outlander”

What to read after “Outlander” by Diana Gabaldon: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
The Bronze Horseman
Paullina Simons · 2000
Same genre: “Historical romance”
In Leningrad in 1941, as the German army tightens its siege, Tatiana meets Alexander, a young officer with a secret. Their love is forbidden by her family and by the war, but through hunger, loss and the frozen winter they hold on to each other and to the hope of survival.
2
Gone with the Wind
Margaret Mitchell · 1936
Similar setting: “War Fiction”
Spoiled Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara sees her world torn apart by the American Civil War. Determined to rebuild her family's plantation and her fortune, she schemes and marries her way through the ruins of the Old South, chasing a man she cannot have.
3
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Similar plot moves: “Marriage of Convenience” and “Star-Crossed Lovers”
A young magazine reporter is chosen to write the life story of a fading film star, Evelyn Hugo. Over days of interviews Evelyn reveals seven marriages, a long-hidden love and the cost of the fame she built.
4
Divine Rivals
Rebecca Ross · 2023
Similar setting: “War Fiction”
With the gods at war, two young journalists compete for the same columnist post at a dying newspaper. Iris hides her family's troubles, and Roman, her rival, seems to have everything. When anonymous letters begin to pass between them, neither suspects who is writing on the other side.
5
The Song of Achilles
Madeline Miller · 2011
Similar setting: “War Fiction”
Patroclus, a prince in disgrace, is sent to train under Achilles, the golden boy destined for glory. Their friendship deepens into love as the Trojan War calls them both toward a fate only one of them will regret.
6
Radiance
Grace Draven · 2015
Similar plot moves: “Marriage of Convenience” and “Slow Burn”
- Marriage of Convenience
- Slow Burn
Idris and Brishen agree to a political marriage neither wants. To her people he is a monstrous creature; to his, she is ugly and fragile. They resolve to be friends and nothing more. Living together in a foreign court, their respect and affection grow into a love that surprises them both.
7
The Bride
Julie Garwood · 1989
Same genre: “Historical romance”
- Marriage of Convenience
- Slow Burn
The Scottish king orders laird Alec Kincaid to take an English bride, and spirited Jamie is sent north to marry a warrior she has never met. Wedded for peace between two suspicious peoples, the stubborn pair battle for control of their marriage until respect and tenderness take root.
8
The Forever War
Joe Haldeman · 1974
Similar setting: “War Fiction”
A conscripted soldier fights an interstellar war against the Taurans, an alien enemy he barely understands. Relativity means each tour sends him centuries into the future, where the society he left behind has changed beyond recognition and the war has no clear end.
9
The Thorn Birds
Colleen McCullough · 1977
Same genre: “Historical romance”
On a sheep station in the Australian outback, Meggie Cleary grows up in the shadow of a family curse. She falls in love with Ralph de Bricassart, a priest whose ambition pulls him towards Rome, and the two stay bound to each other for decades by a love they can never openly have.
10
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Similar setting: “War Fiction”
- War Fiction
In occupied France, two sisters take very different roads through the war. One keeps her daughters safe in the countryside while sheltering fugitives; the other joins the resistance, guiding downed airmen over the Pyrenees. Their choices strain their bond and put both of them in constant danger.
11
The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern · 2011
Similar plot moves: “Love Triangle” and “Star-Crossed Lovers”
A black-and-white circus arrives without warning and opens only at night. Behind its rivalry of illusions stand two young magicians, Celia and Marco, bound by a contest neither chose. As they fall in love, the circus and everyone in it becomes the stakes.
12
When a Scot Ties the Knot
Tessa Dare · 2015
Same genre: “Historical romance”
- Marriage of Convenience
- Slow Burn
Shy Maddie Gracechurch invents a soldier suitor to escape the London season and writes to him for years. Then the real Captain Logan MacKenzie appears, demanding the bride he never knew he had. To keep her home, they marry as strangers, and the arrangement slowly becomes something more.