New historical fiction books to read in 2025

Reading lists

The Tusk That Did the Damage

A novel from the Vintage Earth collection

One of the most unusual and affecting books... a compulsively readable, devastating novel.

One of the most compelling and unusual novels I've read this year.... A fascinating story of hunters and observers, old mythical gods and modern politics.

Impressive...sharp and unnerving sensibility. James offers a captivating rendering of an animal's point of view. Assured and skillful

Spectacular...  Tania James is one of our best writers, and here she is at the height of her powers:  brilliant, hilarious, capable of the most astonishing cross-cultural interspecies ventriloquies and acrobatic leaps of empathy.  You will read this ravishing novel in an afternoon and immediately want to press it on your favorite people.

A novel of great moral intensity, with the pacing of a thriller. Everyone is implicated. Everyone is righteous. Tania James’ gift, her genius, is to turn this scenario into an occasion for grace.

Julie Otsuka, author of When the Emperor was Divine

Tania James's debut novel Atlas of Unknowns was a New York Times Editor's Choice and was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian literature. She has also written the short story collection Aerogrammes, and her stories have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, Freeman's: The Future of New Writing, One Story and A Public Space. The Tusk That Did the Damage was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize. From 2011 to 2012, Tania James was a Fulbright fellow to India living in New Delhi. She now lives in Washington DC.

'There he was, his trunk wrapped in hers. Whatever hurt or sorrow befell him was not really happening to him. He was on the other bank with his mother. He was not here' 
 
When a young elephant is brutally orphaned by poachers, he begins terrorising the countryside, earning his malevolent name, the Gravedigger, from the humans he kills and then tenderly buries with leaves. Manu, the studious son of a rice farmer, loses his cousin to the Gravedigger and is drawn into the alluring world of ivory hunting. 
 
Emma is working on a documentary set in a Kerala wildlife park with her best friend. Her work leads her to witness the porous boundary between conservation and corruption, until eventually she finds herself caught up in her own betrayal. 
 
'One of the most unusual and affecting books... a compulsively readable, devastating novel' Jonathan Safran Foer 
 
*Tania James's spellbinding new novel Loot is available for pre-order now!* 
 
VINTAGE EARTH is a collection of novels to transform our relationship with the natural world. Each one is a work of creative activism, a blast of fresh air, a seed from which change can grow. The books in this series reconnect us to the planet we inhabit - and must protect. Discover great writing on the most urgent story of our times.

Tania James

[An] epic sweep of a novel, which travels from India to Europe in the company of a fascinating range of characters...Niftily constructed, the novel packs in doomed romance, the horrors of colonialism and palace plots

Strongly recommending this exquisitely crafted and rich historical story to everyone I know . . . Tania James has created such a visceral, powerful story that it felt like I was in a time travelling machine

A real-life object of fascination — an 18th-century automaton depicting a tiger biting into an Englishman’s neck — is the basis for this novel...lush with the sights, sounds and smells of India, France and England, and always laced with Dickensian wit

Washington Post, *Ten Best Books of the Year*

Loot held me spellbound from the first page. This is an expertly-plotted, deeply affecting novel about war, displacement, emigration, and an elusive mechanical tiger.

A novel of wonder and terror and beauty - I was completely captivated by it.

Elegantly crafted and beautifully written, James’s exciting adventure story considers the legacy of colonial oppression and the ownership of plundering historical artifacts. Highly recommended

'A novel about the pleasures of artifice...a vivid and witty reimagining of an episode of history that continues to shape the present

Richly researched and full of heart, LOOT is a beautifully crafted novel, artfully realised and deeply compelling. Abbas and Jehanne (and Rum!) are captivating characters who positively leap from the pages, and I felt bereft when their story came to an end. I just loved it.

James's ravishing prose and trademark blend of lyricism and suspense animate this ingenious caper meets politically acute coming-of-age story

I read Loot in a single sitting; it is a wild, dazzling eighteenth-century romp across continents with profound things to say about invention and self-reinvention, class and fate, and the deeply human hunger to create family as both bulwark against loneliness and constant source of light and warmth.

Loot is the most transporting and absorbing novel I've read in ages-a rich tapestry of an epic, thrilling at every turn. This isn't just brilliant writing: It's storytelling of the highest order.

A thrilling, absorbing and immersive tale of artistry, adventure and romance

A luminous novel of history that explores the far reaches of empire and of human desire, of love, greed, betrayal, and possible redemption. In this genuine page-turner, Tania James does the seemingly impossible: not only does she breathe life into charismatic characters, she repeats the feat with automatons, for crying out loud. Tipu's Tiger might be a stolen artifact in a British museum, but you can hear its roar in these pages. Loot is a historical story that bristles with contemporary urgency.

Loot is lovingly drawn and compulsively readable, with all the pleasures and detail of stellar historical fiction

Captivating . . . James is a master miniaturist who can create the illusion of a saga in a chapter. And she's not afraid to radically reset the novel's place and tone. Her pages feel as full as a 19th-century bildungsroman, with collapsing kingdoms, sailing ships and elaborate schemes . . . And her prose is lush with the sights, sounds and smells of India, France and England, and always laced with Dickensian wit

Spanning 50 years and two continents, this rich, compelling novel offers an unflinching look at the violence of imperialism

Steeped in the rich history of three nations and infused with a young man's unshakable desire to do some­thing grand, Loot is transportive storytelling at its best . . . James' plot is brilliant and unique, her creative liberties mixing well with the historical realities of colonialism and migra­tion. Her supporting characters are woven with the same care and detail as her protagonist. All of this combines for a stimulating and informa­tive novel, a must-read for adventurers, dream­ers and lovers of history

A rich, sprawling, picaresque historical novel . . . James weaves a lustrous tale of intrigue and survival, cunning and romance

Loot is a vivid and witty reimagining of an episode of history that continues to shape the present, and the ways we think about art, identity and ownership

Beautifully written… This is a clever and absorbing novel about empire and belonging

A cinematic love story, adventure story and heist story… Through transporting prose, and with wit and charm, Loot asks who gets written out of history and why

Inventive and hugely enjoyable…while reminding us of the savagery of the imperial project

An epic historical novel of plundered treasure and lasting love

'Loot held me spellbound from the first page...an expertly-plotted, deeply affecting novel ' Maggie O’Farrell 
 
Young toy maker and dreamer Abbas is whisked away to Tipu Sultan's glorious palace in Mysore and ordered to create a musical tiger to delight Tipu's sons. 
 
When he is apprenticed to eccentric clockmaker Monsieur Du Leze, Abbas finds an unexpected friend who encourages his skill and hunger for learning. Through Du Leze, he also meets the unforgettable Jehanne, who has questions and ambitions of her own. 
 
But when British soldiers attack and loot Mysore, Abbas's world is turned upside down and his prized tiger is shipped off to a country estate in England. In order to carve out his place in the world, he must follow. 
 
A hero's quest, a love story, an exuberant heist novel that traces the bloody legacy of colonialism across the world, Loot is a dazzling, wildly inventive and irresistible feat of storytelling. 
 
'A thrilling, absorbing and immersive tale of artistry, adventure and romance' Claire Fuller 
 
'A cinematic novel of empire, colonialism and romance...Loot asks who gets written out of history and why' Guardian 
 
'Immersive and beautifully written...a clever and absorbing novel about empire and belonging’ Sunday Times

Tania James

Praise for Loot

[An] epic sweep of a novel, which travels from India to Europe in the company of a fascinating range of characters...Niftily constructed, the novel packs in doomed romance, the horrors of colonialis ...

Strongly recommending this exquisitely crafted and rich historical story to everyone I know . . . Tania James has created such a visceral, powerful story that it felt like I was in a time travelling machine

Addictively absorbing

[An] epic sweep of a novel, which travels from India to Europe in the company of a fascinating range of characters...Niftily constructed, the novel packs in doomed romance, the horrors of colonialis ...

Strongly recommending this exquisitely crafted and rich historical story to everyone I know . . . Tania James has created such a visceral, powerful story that it felt like I was in a time travelling machine

Addictively absorbing

[An] epic sweep of a novel, which travels from India to Europe in the company of a fascinating range of characters...Niftily constructed, the novel packs in doomed romance, the horrors of colonialis ...

Strongly recommending this exquisitely crafted and rich historical story to everyone I know . . . Tania James has created such a visceral, powerful story that it felt like I was in a time travelling machine

Addictively absorbing

Books by Tania James

Articles featuring Tania James

New historical fiction books to read in 2025

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter