Books Set in the 1930s
If you’re looking for the best books set in the 1930s, this list is a great place to start. The decade offers so much more than just Great Depression stories, and these novels prove it with everything from family sagas, murder mysteries, high society drama, political tension, and women breaking the rules. Some of these historical fiction books set in the 1930s stay firmly within the decade, while others span several years or use dual timelines that bring the past alive. Published across many different decades, these books offer a wide range of perspectives on the 1930s, making this a reading list with a little something for everyone, especially historical fiction lovers.
This blog is reader-supported. At no cost to you, I earn a small commission from affiliate links used in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, visit my legal page.
High Society & Secrets
Rules of Civility
Amor Towles
A young woman finds herself swept into the glamorous world of 1930s New York society, where one chance encounter changes the course of her life.
Brideshead Revisited
Evelyn Waugh
A young man becomes entangled with a wealthy English family whose glamorous world hides plenty of complicated relationships and family drama.
Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier
A young bride arrives at her husband’s grand English estate only to discover that the shadow of his first wife, Rebecca, is still very much alive.
Trust
Hernan Diaz
Set against the wealth and excess of 1930s New York, where truth, and money dictate who gets to control the story.
Crime & Mystery
The Big Sleep
Raymond Chandler
Private detective Philip Marlowe gets pulled into a wealthy family’s secrets in a classic Los Angeles noir full of blackmail and people behaving badly.
Murder on the Orient Express
Agatha Christie
When a passenger is murdered aboard a snowbound luxury train, Hercule Poirot must figure out which of his fellow travelers is the killer.
Race & Community
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
Told through the eyes of young Scout Finch, this classic explores racism and justice in a small Alabama town during the 1930s.
The Color Purple
Alice Walker
Told through a series of letters, this is the powerful story of Celie, who faces abuse and oppression but ultimately finds her own voice.
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
James McBride
In a working-class Pennsylvania neighborhood, Black and Jewish residents become connected by the disappearance of a young boy.
Long Gone, Come Home
Monica Chenault-Kilgore
When her husband disappears, a young Black woman sets out to find him, taking her far beyond home.
Humanity & Redemption
The Green Mile
Stephen King
A prison guard on death row encounters a condemned man with an extraordinary gift in this dark, emotional story set during the Depression.
The English Patient
Michael Ondaatje
At the end of WWII, four damaged people come together in an Italian villa as one man’s mysterious past unfolds through flashbacks to the 1930s.
Great Depression Novels
The Four Winds
Kristin Hannah
A mother leaves the drought-stricken Great Plains for California only to discover that the promise of a better life comes with hardships of its own.
October in the Earth
Olivia Hawker
A preacher’s wife walks away from her old life and takes to the rails, where friendship and freedom begin to change everything.
Before Dorothy
Hazel Gaynor
This tender Wizard of Oz origin story imagines Auntie Em’s life on the Kansas prairie during the difficult years of the Great Depression.
Water for Elephants
Sara Gruen
A young man unexpectedly joins a traveling circus and finds himself caught between a complicated romance and the harsh reality behind the big top.
The Calamity Club
Kathryn Stockett
Set in 1933 Mississippi, an outspoken young woman and a mother desperate to get her daughter back join forces on a very unconventional plan to take control of their lives.
West With Giraffes
Lynda Rutledge
Inspired by a true story, a young man helps transport two giraffes across Depression-era America on a road trip that becomes much more than he expected.
On the Brink of War
Atonement
Ian McEwan
One devastating accusation changes the lives of two lovers forever as their story moves from an English country estate into the chaos of World War II.
Flight of Dreams
Ariel Lawhon
This atmospheric novel reimagines the final voyage of the Hindenburg through the lives and secrets of the passengers and crew aboard the doomed airship.
The Lilac People
Milo Todd
In 1930s Germany, a trans man and his community face the growing threat of Nazi persecution while fighting to protect one another and survive.
The Riviera House
Natasha Lester
This dual-timeline story moves between the 1930s French Riviera and the present as a woman uncovers secrets tied to art and war-time resistance.
Women Breaking the Rules
Becoming Madame Secretary
Stephanie Dray
This historical novel follows Frances Perkins as she builds a groundbreaking career and becomes the first woman to serve in a U.S. presidential cabinet.
The Giver of Stars
Jojo Moyes
A group of women on horseback deliver library books through rural Kentucky as part of the Depression-era Pack Horse Library Project.
That Summer in Berlin
Lecia Cornwall
Against the glittering backdrop of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, a young woman finds herself drawn into espionage as Nazi Germany tightens its grip.
The Queens of Crime
Marie Benedict
Some of the biggest names in Golden Age mystery fiction join forces to investigate a real-life disappearance in this clever historical mystery.
Epic Stories
East of Eden
John Steinbeck
Two generations of a California family wrestle with jealousy and betrayal, exploring the question of whether we are destined to repeat the mistakes of those who came before us.
This Tender Land
William Kent Krueger
Four orphaned children escape a brutal Minnesota boarding school and travel downriver in search of home during the summer of 1932.
Coming of Age
Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
A young girl is sold into a geisha house and comes of age in 1930s Kyoto, learning to navigate a beautiful but often brutal world.
The Last Carolina Girl
Meagan Church
After losing her father, a young girl is sent to live with a wealthy family and discovers just how dangerous the era’s obsession with eugenics could be.
Before You Go
Be sure to sign up for my email newsletter, where I share updates about the latest reading wrap-ups and blog posts, must-see book deals, and behind-the-scenes updates! And for even more fun, head to BookTube, Bookstagram, or Bindery for all things bookish!
