5 Fiction Novels Inspired by Real 18th-Century Women

Real-life historical women have inspired countless novels. The following 5 novels were inspired by the real lives and 5 different women who lived and loved in the 18th-century.

The Fountain of St. James Court; or, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Woman: A Novel by Sena Jeter Naslund

The Fountain of St. James Court; or, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Woman is a novel-within-a-novel about Elisabeth-Vigee Lebrun, told through the story Kathryn Callaghan, a novel writer who has just finished her novel about famed 18th-century painter.

The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland

The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. tells the story of the youth and early adulthood of Josephine Bonaparte, including her fist marriage, her struggles in the French Revolution and ultimately her early relationship with Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Sisters of Versailles: A Novel by Sally Christie

The Sisters of Versailles: A Novel tells the story of the three Nesle sisters--Pauline, Diane and Marie-Anne-- who would, through betrayals, sacrifices and triumphs, become the mistresses of Louis XV.

Confessions of a Courtesan by Deborah Hale

Confessions of a Courtesan a fictionalized memoir from the point-of-view of Elizabeth Armistead, the English courtesan who became a mistress and eventually wife of English politician Charles Fox.

I, Eliza Hamilton by Susan Holloway Scott

I, Eliza Hamilton is a fictional memoir of Elizabeth--better known in popular culture as Eliza--Hamilton, the wife of famed American founding father, Alexander Hamilton.