Allison Pataki Books in Order

Where to Start Reading Allison Pataki's Books

Allison Pataki has established herself as a force in modern biographical historical fiction. Because the majority of her novels are standalone works focusing on different historical figures and eras, you have a lot of flexibility in how you approach her catalog. However, depending on what type of reader you are, there are three primary starting paths we recommend:

• For Royal Sagas and Romance: Start with The Accidental Empress (2015). This is the first book in her Sisi duology, following the dramatic life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It is arguably her most famous work and showcases her ability to balance lush courtly details with raw emotional conflict.
• For Early American History: Start with her debut novel, The Traitor's Wife (2014). It focuses on Peggy Shippen Arnold, the wife of Benedict Arnold, offering a fresh, dramatic perspective on the American Revolution.
• For 20th-Century Glamour and Ambition: Start with The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post (2022). This book traces the incredible life of the cereal heiress who built Mar-a-Lago, navigated high society, and became a massive philanthropic force.

The Sisi Duology

This is Pataki's only multi-book sequence with a continuous narrative. It follows the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, who captured the hearts of Europe but struggled under the heavy constraints of the Habsburg court. You must read these in order, as the second book directly continues Elisabeth's story as she steps into her power and navigates personal tragedy.

1. The Accidental Empress (2015)
2. Sisi: Empress on Her Own (2016)

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

If you prefer to see Allison Pataki's progression as a writer, reading her standalones in publication order is a great choice. This order also showcases how she moves across different eras—from the American Revolution to the French Revolution, the Napoleonic era, 19th-century Transcendentalism, and Gilded Age America.

• The Traitor's Wife: The Woman Behind Benedict Arnold and the Plan to Betray America (2014) – Pataki's debut, centered on the American Revolution.
• Where the Light Falls (2017) – A novel set during the French Revolution, co-authored with her brother, Owen Pataki.
• The Queen's Fortune (2020) – Follows Desiree Clary, the first love of Napoleon Bonaparte, who unexpectedly rises to become Queen of Sweden and Norway.
• The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post (2022) – A sweeping biographical novel covering the Gilded Age, the Roaring Twenties, and the mid-20th century.
• Finding Margaret Fuller (2024) – Set in 1830s-1850s New England and Italy, focusing on the pioneering feminist intellectual, editor, and war correspondent Margaret Fuller.
• It Girl (2026) – A biographical novel reimagining the life of Evelyn Nesbit, the Gilded Age model and actress at the center of the early 20th-century "Crime of the Century."

Chronological Historical Order

For readers who love traveling through history in a linear fashion, reading Pataki's books chronologically by their historical settings is a highly rewarding experience. Here is how her novels fit into a historical timeline:

1. The Traitor's Wife (Set during the American Revolutionary War, primarily the late 1770s to 1780s).
2. Where the Light Falls (Set during the French Revolution, starting in the late 1780s through the 1790s).
3. The Queen's Fortune (Set from the late French Revolution through the Napoleonic Wars and the mid-19th century, roughly 1790s to 1840s).
4. Finding Margaret Fuller (Set during the mid-19th century Transcendentalist movement and the Italian revolution, roughly 1836 to 1850).
5. The Accidental Empress (Set in the mid-to-late 19th century, starting with Elisabeth's marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph in 1854).
6. Sisi: Empress on Her Own (Set in the late 19th century, tracking the remainder of Empress Elisabeth's life up to her death in 1898).
7. It Girl (Set during the Gilded Age and Edwardian era, following Evelyn Nesbit's rise and the sensational 1906 murder trial of Stanford White).
8. The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post (Spans the late 19th century Gilded Age through the late 20th century, covering Marjorie Post's life from 1887 to 1973).

Co-Authored Books and Children's Series

Allison Pataki has engaged in several notable collaborative writing projects. She co-authored her 2017 historical fiction novel Where the Light Falls with her brother, Owen Pataki, drawing on their shared interest in history and storytelling. Additionally, she partnered with Marya Myers to write the Big City Adventures children's picture book series, illustrated by Kristi Valiant. These picture books follow curious young girls exploring major global cities:

• Nelly Takes New York: A Little Girl's Adventures in the Big Apple (2019)
• Poppy Takes Paris (2020)

Non-Fiction Memoir

For readers interested in Pataki's personal life, she published a deeply moving memoir in 2018 titled Beauty in the Broken Places: A Memoir of Love, Faith, and Resilience and the Fragile Triumph of a Silent Heart. The book chronicles the devastating experience of her husband suffering a sudden, debilitating stroke at age 30 while she was five months pregnant, and the long, emotional road to recovery that followed.

What to Know Before You Start

Allison Pataki's signature style is characterized by extensive, detailed research blended with an accessible, highly readable narrative tone. She focuses heavily on women who played crucial roles in major historical events but are often sidelined in traditional history books. While she maintains close alignment with the real historical timelines, these are dramatized novels; she takes creative liberties with dialogue, internal thoughts, and pacing to craft engaging plots. If you enjoy authors like Philippa Gregory, Daisy Goodwin, or Marie Benedict, you will feel right at home with Pataki's rich portraits of historical womanhood.