According to the Historical Novel Society, a "historic novel" must be set fifty or more years in the past. Moreover, the author must be writing from researched material instead of personal experience.

Reading historical fiction can be a marvelous time travel adventure. The historical books tell the events of the past through creative and inspiring fictional stories.

Here are five historical fiction books that recreate the past through fictional events and characters:

"Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden

From a first person perspective, the book tells the story of a geisha in Kyoto, Japan. Geishas are Japanese female entertainers who are skilled in arts such as classical music and dance. They act as hostesses and serve to entertain male customers.

Published in 1997, the novel explores the world from a geisha's perspective. For females, appearance and skills always come first, purity is granted to the highest bidder, and lives are for the entertainment of others.

"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak

Liesel Meminger is a nine-year-old foster girl living in Germany during World War II. She gets exposed to the Nazi regime and chaotic surroundings. There is only one thing Liesel cannot resist-books.

The novel shows how, in the middle of a destructive environment and constant danger, books can feed the mind, the heart and the soul.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The story depicts the life of young Scarlett O'Hara in the middle of the Civil War and Reconstruction era. She struggles to survive the tragic era and is caught in love affairs with two men.

Margaret Mitchell is famous for capturing the soul with her enthralling story of love and war. She also immortalized two lovers as though they are truly part of the historic era.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Virginia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

In 1899, Calpurnia Virginia Tate is turning twelve but she is not yet ready to learn the adult responsibilities such as cooking, knitting and playing the piano. Her intelligent curiosity about green and yellow grasshoppers led her to learn about science.

Slowly, she witnesses the end of the century and the beginning of a new one.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

During World War II, the fates of a blind girl in Paris and an orphaned boy in Germany intertwine in the costal town of Saint-Malo.

Published in 2014, Anthony Doerr's novel is one of the most recent additions to the historical fiction genre.  It had already spent 58 weeks in the New York Times bestseller list. The book also won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.