Dual-time period novels follow characters in at least two different time periods, such as the 1800s and the 1900s, that are somehow linked. Often the character in the later time is researching something about the earlier time period – or a particular person in that earlier time period. Authors who often write dual-time period novels include Fiona Davis, Kate Morton and Susanna Kearsley. The genre identifier NoveList uses is “parallel narratives.”
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn – Two women living through two world wars, separated by time and space, find their lives colliding in this thrilling historical novel based on a real female spy ring in wartime France.
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton – An electrifying novel about the meteoric rise of an iconic interracial rock duo in the 1970s, their sensational breakup, and the dark secrets unearthed when they try to reunite decades later for one last tour.
The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Kelli Estes – Vibrant and tragic, The Girl Who Wrote in Silk explores a horrific, little-known era in our nation’s history. Estes sensitively alternates between Mei Lien, a young Chinese-American girl who lived in the late 1800s, and Inara, a modern recent college grad who sets Mei Lien’s story free.
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai – A novel set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris follows the director of a Chicago art gallery and a woman looking for her estranged daughter in Paris who both struggle to come to terms with the ways AIDS has affected their lives.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi – A historical novel that traces the descendants of two half-sisters Effia and Esi, born into different villages in Ghana. The sisters’ lives follow different paths: Effia marries a wealthy Englishman and lives in Cape Coast Castle, while Esi is captured during a raid and sold into slavery. Homegoing follows the parallel narrative lines of their descendants through eight generations, intimately portraying the African and African American experience in the aftermath of enslavement.
Horse by Geraldine Brooks – A scientist from Australia and a Nigerian-American art historian become connected by their shared interest in a 19th century race horse, one studying its remains, the other uncovering the history of the Black horsemen who were critical to its success.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford – When artifacts from Japanese families sent to internment camps during World War II are uncovered during renovations at Seattle’s Panama Hotel, Henry Lee embarks on a personal quest that leads to memories of growing up Chinese in a city rife with anti-Japanese sentiment and of Keiko, a Japanese girl whose love transcended cultures and generations.
I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson – A story of first love and family loss follows the estrangement between daredevil Jude and her loner twin brother, Noah, as a result of a mysterious event that is brought to light by a beautiful, broken boy and a new mentor.
In Every Mirror She’s Black by Lola Akinmade Akerstrom – Three Black women—a CEO of a large marketing firm, a former model and a maid discover they are all unexpectedly linked to an influential, white Swedish man in the new novel by an award-winning author, speaker and photographer.
Kindred by Octavia Butler – The visionary author’s masterpiece pulls us-along with her Black female hero-through time to face the horrors of slavery and explore the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner – Secretly dispensing poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them, a London apothecary triggers unintended consequences that shape three lives across multiple centuries.
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton – A freelance writer returns to her grandmother’s homeland to fulfill her last wish to have her ashes scattered in Havana and discovers her family history amidst Cuba’s tropical beauty and dangerous political environment.
Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty – In twelve striking, luminescent stories, author Morgan Talty—with searing humor, abiding compassion, and deep insight—breathes life into tales of family and a community as they struggle with a painful past and an uncertain future. A boy unearths a jar that holds an old curse, which sets into motion his family’s unraveling; a man, while trying to swindle some pot from a dealer, discovers a friend passed out in the woods, his hair frozen into the snow; a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s projects the past onto her grandson; and two friends, inspired by Antiques Roadshow, attempt to rob the tribal museum for valuable root clubs
Orphan #8 by Kim van Alkemade – This stunning historical novel inspired by true events tells the fascinating story of a woman who must choose between revenge and mercy when she encounters the doctor who subjected her to dangerous medical experiments in a New York City Jewish orphanage years before.
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth – A story within a story within a story, Plain Bad Heroines is a devilishly haunting, modern masterwork of metafiction that manages to combine the ghostly sensibility of Sarah Waters with the dark imagination of Marisha Pessl and the sharp humor and incisive social commentary of Curtis Sittenfeld into one laugh-out-loud funny, spellbinding, and wonderfully luxuriant read.
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas – In this ferociously imaginative novel, abortion is once again illegal in America, in-vitro fertilization is banned, and the Personhood Amendment grants rights of life, liberty, and property to every embryo.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel – In order to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, a detective travels hundreds of years in the past and meets a young Englishman exiled to Canada in 1912 and a famous writer who lives on a moon colony but is on a book tour on Earth in 2203.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid – Glamorous enough to enchant any reader, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a glimpse into the life of a Hollywood starlet better known for her romantic endeavors off the screen. At the heart of this scandalous novel is the bond between two lovers fated to keep their romance behind the scenes and the forces keeping them apart.
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki – A novelist on a remote island in the Pacific is linked to a bullied and depressed Tokyo teenager after discovering a Hello Kitty lunchbox that washed ashore in this new novel from the award-wining, best-selling author of My Year of Meats.
Today We Go Home by Kelli Estes – Larkin Bennett has always known her place, whether it’s surrounded by her loving family in the lush greenery of the Pacific Northwest or conducting a dusty patrol in Afghanistan. But all of that changed the day tragedy struck her unit and took away everything she held dear. Soon after, Larkin discovers an unexpected treasure–the diary of Emily Wilson, a young woman who disguised herself as a man to fight for the Union in the Civil War. As Larkin struggles to heal, she finds herself drawn deeply into Emily’s life and the secrets she kept.
The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen – Thirty years after her British bomber pilot father parachuted from his stricken plane into German-occupied Tuscany, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to learn about her father’s hidden wartime past.