Kristin Hannah is a well-known contemporary author of historical and women’s fiction. Known for such works as The Nightingale, The Four Winds, and The Women, Hannah skillfully depicts deeply personal stories. Her unforgettable protagonists often find themselves in meticulously researched historical settings. If profound and touching books for women are your cup of tea, here are five more authors like Kristin Hannah we recommend reading:
1. Jojo Moyes (Me Before You, The Giver of Stars)
Jojo Moyes (Pauline Sara Jo Moyes) is one of the world’s most popular contemporary fiction writers. Her novels are celebrated for their emotional resonance and the blend of relationships and personal growth.
Her international breakthrough, Me Before You (2012), became a global bestseller adapted into a successful film. The novel follows an unlikely friendship between a man paralyzed in an accident and a young woman who becomes his caregiver. Moyes is also known for The Giver of Stars (2019), a historical novel about a group of women who deliver books on horseback through Depression-era Kentucky as part of the real-life Pack Horse Library initiative.
The Giver of Stars
2. Lisa Wingate (Before We Were Yours, The Book of Lost Friends)
Lisa Wingate’s novels often uncover lesser-known chapters of American history, giving voice to characters whose stories might otherwise be forgotten. Her most famous book, Before We Were Yours (2017), has sold more than three million copies and been translated into over forty languages. It is a story of the real-life Georgia Tann scandal, in which children were stolen from poor families and sold through the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in the 1930s and 40s.
We also highly recommend her novel The Book of Lost Friends (2020) about the real historical phenomenon of “Lost Friends” newspaper ads. Additionally, you should check out her latest novel called Shelterwood (2024), inspired by Oklahoma’s “elf children.”
Before We Were Yours
3. Jodi Picoult (Small Great Things, My Sister’s Keeper)
Jodi Picoult is a bestselling author who has received accolades such as the England Bookseller Award for Fiction and the Sarah Josepha Hale Award. Similar to Hannah’s exploration of human relationships and emotional challenges, Jodi Picoult’s books often look into complex feelings, but her stories focus on contemporary issues rather than historical events.
Her breakout hit My Sister’s Keeper (2004) remains one of her most iconic novels, following a girl conceived to be a genetic donor for her terminally ill sister. Small Great Things (2016) is another acclaimed novel that tells the story of a Black nurse barred from caring for a white supremacist couple’s newborn. As you see from both examples, Picoult’s characters often deal with complex moral dilemmas. In our article, you can find more authors similar to Jodi Picoult.
Small Great Things
4. Martha Hall Kelly (Lilac Girls, The Golden Doves)
You should read Martha Hall Kelly if you appreciate historical fiction with a carefully researched background. Those who loved The Nightingale would surely appreciate Kelly’s debut novel Lilac Girls (2016), which later expanded into the Woolsey-Ferriday Series. In Lilac Girls, the fates of three courageous women converge amid the horrors of World War II. This book shines a light on the little-known “Ravensbrück Rabbits,” women subjected to medical experimentation at the concentration camp.
Her most recent novel, The Golden Doves (2023), about two former female spies, combines espionage and Nazi hunting into another compelling historical narrative. Like Kristin Hannah, Kelly excels at placing strong female characters at the center of major historical events.
Lilac Girls
5. Taylor Jenkins Reid (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six)
Taylor Jenkins Reid’s stories and unforgettable characters have caused so much buzz on BookTok. She rose to international fame with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (2017), the story of a reclusive Hollywood icon reflecting on her glamorous yet complicated life.
Her other novel, Daisy Jones & The Six (2019), is especially intriguing because it’s written in an oral-history format. It chronicles the rise and fall of a fictional 1970s rock band, loosely inspired by Fleetwood Mac. This novel also became a BookTok sensation and was adapted into a limited series. While Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books have a more contemporary and glamorous aesthetic, her focus on emotional depth makes her a natural next read for Hannah fans.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Each of these authors brings something a little different to the table: Jojo Moyes and Taylor Jenkins Reid lean into contemporary heartbreak. At the same time, Jodi Picoult digs into the moral gray areas that make up ordinary families. Lisa Wingate and Martha Hall Kelly, meanwhile, offer the closest match to Hannah’s signature style of richly researched historical fiction. And if you finish all five and still want more, it might be worth revisiting Kristin Hannah’s own earlier, lesser-known titles like Firefly Lane or Winter Garden .
