If watching The Odyssey left you in the mood for more sweeping adventures, you’re in luck. Jewish history is, in many ways, a story of movement, migration and the search for home, making the concept of a journey a natural theme in Jewish literature. While these recent historical fiction books and beloved Jewish classics don’t feature a cyclops or sirens, (some might have golems!) they are filled with unforgettable stories of Jewish characters seeking identity, a sense of belonging and a place in the world.

New and Recent Historical Fiction

Homebound
By Portia Elan (Scribner Books)

This debut novel about deep interconnectedness follows Becks, a girl who’s ready to leave Cincinnati and 1983 behind. To get past the fact that her uncle is dead, she dives into finishing the video game he left for her. What she doesn’t know is that her work will greatly impact the future and the lives of a scientist, a sentient automaton and a sea captain.

Purchase the book here.

Kantika
By Elizabeth Graver (Henry Holt & Co.)

Translating to song in Ladino, Kantika is a Sephardic multigenerational saga that spans several countries while exploring the idea of family as home. Rebecca Cohen is at the heart of the novel, and readers see her experience both triumph and heartbreak as she navigates identity, place and exile.

Watch our event with Elizabeth here.

Read our review here.

Purchase the book here.

Tarantula
By Eduardo Halfon (Bellevue Literary Press)

After living in exile in the United States for several years, Eduardo and his brother travel back to their homeland of Guatemala to attend a Jewish children’s camp. Promised the adventure of a lifetime, they instead find themselves caught in a sinister game. Years later, as a father living in Berlin, Eduardo reconnects with someone from the camp, setting him on a path to Samuel Blum—the counselor known for unsettling campers with his unorthodox methods.

Purchase the book here.

One Good Thing
By Georgia Hunter (Pamela Dorman Books)

From bestselling author Georgia Hunter, comes a story of friendship, motherhood and survival that follows two women during  World War II in Italy. Best friends Lilli and Esti have been inseparable since college, and their bond only deepens after Esti becomes a mother. When Italy’s racial laws target them as Jews, the two women are forced into a perilous journey to survive while fighting to protect those they love

Purchase the book here.

Jewish Classics

The Weight of Ink
By Rachel Kadish (Mariner Books)

Set in different eras in London, this book follows two intellectual women whose lives connect through a hidden collection of Jewish manuscripts. In the 17th century, Esther Velasquez, a Jewish emigrant from Amsterdam, is given the rare opportunity to serve as a scribe for a blind rabbi.  When Helen, a historian whose health is failing, is asked by a former student to uncover the identity of “Aleph,” the mysterious scribe behind the documents, she embarks on one final scholarly quest.

Purchase the book here.

Only Yesterday
By S.Y. Agnon (Princeton University Press)

Originally published in 1945, Israeli Nobel laureate S. Y. Agnon’s Only Yesterday follows Isaac Kumer, a young Polish Jew who immigrates to Palestine during the Second Aliyah in search of purpose and a better life. As he moves between Jaffa and Jerusalem, Isaac’s dreams collide with the realities of Zionist settlement, faith and identity.

Purchase the book here.

The World That We Knew
By Alice Hoffman (Simon and Schuster)

In this bestselling World War II novel, Alice Hoffman brings together three unforgettable women whose lives intertwine in a story of survival, courage and hope. Desperate to save her young daughter, Lea, from the Nazi regime, Hanni Kohn turns to Ettie, a rabbi’s daughter, who creates a mystical golem named Ava and tasks her with protecting the child. Together, Ava, Lea and Ettie embark on a dangerous journey across war-torn Europe.

Purchase the book here.

The History Of Love
By Nicole Krauss (W. W. Norton & Company)

Alma Singer is only 14, yet she’s determined to find the cure for her mother’s loneliness, which she believes is in an old novel her mother is translating. When she sets out to find the book’s elusive author, her path crosses with Leo Gursky, an aging man in New York who spends his days thinking about the lost love who inspired him to write that very novel. As their lives become unexpectedly intertwined, long-buried stories of love, loss and memory come to light.

Purchase the book here.

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Courtney Shapiro is the Assistant Digital Editor for Hadassah Magazine. She has written for Woman’s World, First for Women and Best Life. Follow her on Instagram for book recommendations, reviews and more.