2 Character Driven Historical Fiction Novels You Don't Want to Miss

by Donna Huber

I love historical fiction. It is fun and all learning about a different time period, but I love it when it focuses on the people. I recently finished two great books with terrific characters. I'm not usually a fan of westerns, but I LOVED the first book. If you are a Wizard of Oz fan, then you will definitely want to pick up the second book. 

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. Free books were provided for an honest review.

Tough Luck by Sandra Dallas

April 2025; St. Martin's Press; 978-1250352309
audio, ebook, print (288 pages); historical fiction

I'm not a big fan of westerns, but I knew that if I was ever going to like the genre, a book by Sandra Dallas would be the one that made me like it. I didn't really care for books set during the Progressive Era until I read Little Souls.  

I was not disappointed at all, and I'm so glad I read it before I do my best reads lists next month because Tough Luck will definitely be on my list this year. 

I absolutely loved the characters. Crossing the prairie in the 1860s often meant running across colorful characters, and there are plenty of colorful characters in the book. They had some really witty dialogue, and I found myself laughing out loud several times. The scenes were so vividly written that I could see them in my head like a movie.

I know a lot of people would be turned off by a book with a 14-year-old protagonist. One might think it was meant for young adults. I can assure you that this is not a young adult novel (though there isn't anything overtly adult about the novel, so a young adult could read it as well). 

I can't compare it to other westerns as I've not read enough westerns to compare it to other novels, but I think if you enjoyed the television show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, or Little House on the Prairie, then you should give this book a chance. Even if you are like me and can't see yourself liking a western, you really should give this book a chance for the characters alone. 

Dallas has another western-set historical fiction book coming out in March 2026. I was hoping that it would be a sequel because I really want more of these characters. Though The Hired Man takes place in Denver, it is the 1930s. 

If you get the chance to listen to the audiobook, you should. Mia Hutchinson-Shaw really brought the book to life. The voices she chose for the characters were so spot-on.

Buy Tough Luck at Amazon

Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor

June 2025; Berkley; 978-0593440339
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); historical fiction

I grew up watching the annual broadcast of The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland. However, I never read the book as a child. I'm not sure I was even aware that it was based on a book series. During the first year of the pandemic, when I was working from home, I listened to a bunch of children's classics (because they were easy to come by and it was better than silence or the news). One of the books I listened to was The Wizard of Oz, and I was surprised (I'm not sure why though) by all the differences.

I can't say I'm a big fan. I don't have any interest in seeing the new Wicked movies. So I'm not really sure why I was drawn to this book. I do like it when a secondary character's story is told so I think that is why I wanted to read this book.

We get so many answers in this book to questions that I (and probably others) hadn't even thought to ask all these years. Such as how come Dorothy was living with her aunt and uncle. Being the Dustbowl/post-crash era, it wasn't unusual for children to be living with other family members, particularly in a farm community. Or for farm families to take in orphans who might call the adults aunt and uncle. 

Before Dorothy tells the story of Emily (aka Auntie Em) and goes back to when Emily and her sister Annie were teenagers. It follows them through their courtships with cousins, marriage, the birth of Dorothy, and then Emily leaving Chicago to join Henry on their homestead in Kansas. We see Emily and Henry make a life for themselves on the farm - the struggles with the growing environmental degradation of the land, tornadoes, the stock market crash, and Dorothy coming to live with them.  

It was an interesting read. I thought Gaynor was true to the world that Frank Baum created. At times, I thought that the parallels between real life and the "dream" world of Oz. But sometimes they were touching, like the tin man that Emily and Annie's father made them. He was a steelworker and made woodcutters from scrap metal for each of his children. 

Even if you are not a Wizard of Oz fan, but enjoy historical fiction about homesteading, the Dust Bowl, or the Great Depression, then this is a great read. I enjoyed it more for those aspects than for it being part of the Oz universe. 

Emily is a great character. In the movie, she seemed like a crabby, old woman. Before Dorothy gives the reason for how she became the woman we see. We learn about the hardships she endured and the obstacles she had to overcome.

The book does include the tornado that took Dorothy to Oz, but it is brief. The book also goes beyond that event. 

If you love character-focused stories, then this would be a great book to read. I read it in big chunks because it was easy to read and sucked me into life on the prairie in the early 20th century. 

Buy Before Dorothy at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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