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Kate Quinn

Master of WWII historical fiction — bringing real women spies, codebreakers, and snipers to vivid, page-turning life.

Historical Fiction WWII Women's History

About Kate Quinn

Kate Quinn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author known for meticulously researched historical fiction centered on real or composite women who played hidden roles in history. Her WWII novels — beginning with The Alice Network in 2017 — have made her one of the most popular authors in the genre.

Quinn spent years writing Roman and Renaissance historical fiction before pivoting to WWII, which brought her mainstream breakthrough. Her hallmarks: dual timelines (usually WWII-era and post-war), real historical women at the center, and exhaustive author's notes explaining what's true.

WWII Fiction Women Spies Dual Timeline Based on True Stories

Standalone WWII Novels

The Alice Network cover
Standalone — Best to Start Here
The Alice Network
2017
Two timelines: 1947, an American college girl searching for her missing cousin in war-ravaged France; 1915, a young English woman recruited into a German spy network. Based on the real Alice Network of female spies in WWI. Quinn's breakthrough novel and still her best.
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The Huntress cover
Standalone
The Huntress
2019
A war crimes investigator and an English journalist hunt a Nazi war criminal who has vanished into postwar America. One of the characters is a female Soviet bomber pilot from the Night Witches regiment. Three interweaving storylines, masterfully handled.
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The Rose Code cover
Standalone
The Rose Code
2021
Three women codebreakers at Bletchley Park during WWII. One is confined to an asylum postwar, and her former friends must decide whether to believe her about a traitor in their midst. Quinn's most emotionally complex novel.
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The Diamond Eye cover
Standalone
The Diamond Eye
2022
Based on the real Mila Pavlichenko — the most lethal female sniper in history, with 309 confirmed kills. A Soviet librarian turned soldier, then diplomat sent to America in 1942. A new kind of heroine in Quinn's repertoire.
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The Briar Club cover
Standalone
The Briar Club
2024
Washington D.C., 1950. Seven women boarders share a house — and secrets. One of them is going to end up dead. A departure from Quinn's WWII formula into Cold War-era domestic suspense, with her trademark ensemble cast of fully realized women.
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Earlier Historical Fiction

Mistress of Rome cover
Empress of Rome Series — Book 1
Mistress of Rome
2010
Quinn's debut novel set in ancient Rome under Emperor Domitian. A gladiator and a slave girl find their fates entwined. Different in tone from her WWII work but shows her talent for building vivid historical worlds.
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Where to Start

New to Kate Quinn?

Start with The Alice Network — it's her breakthrough for good reason. If you love it, you'll read everything else she's written.

Her WWII standalones can be read in any order, but publication order works well as her craft visibly develops. All are set in the same era but with entirely different casts.

Skip the Roman series unless you particularly like ancient Rome — the WWII novels are where Quinn truly found her voice.