14 Great Books About Castles

Travel around the world with these fiction and nonfiction books about castles for all ages.

Some of the best fantasy stories about castles transport us across the globe, especially to places like England and Scotland.

And, of course, quite a few historical fiction romance castle books allow us to time travel throughout history, enticing us with forbidden love, cozy fireplaces, and brooding owners.

But, if you are a horror or suspense reader, you also know that castles can be quite the chilling and creepy backdrop.

Castles offer up the perfect setting for ghosts, murderous acts, and fantastical creatures like vampires and witches.

Then, there are nonfiction books on castles, castle life, and nobility that teach us more about history, culture, war, and conflict.

Below, we’ve rounded up a mix of books set at castles – historical fiction, romance, graphic novels, nonfiction, and more – for all ages.

Be sure to let us know your favorites in the comments; let’s get started!

If you love all things castle, try these great books with dragons.

Grab the best castle books and movies here:

• Audible Plus: From Amazon, listen to Amazon Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks. They add new titles every week.
  
• Book of the Month: Get the month’s hottest new and upcoming titles from Book of the Month. You might snag an early release or debut author. Along with selecting a book a month, find terrific add-ons, both trendy and lesser-known titles.
  
• Amazon Prime Video – Stream thousands of ad-free movies and TV series on demand with Prime Video.
  
• Express VPN – Using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) allows you to view movies worldwide – and they help keep your information safe. Our writers couldn’t have such diverse film reviews without using a VPN.

1. Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

Titus Groan is one of the foundational fantasy books about castles, the first in Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast series published in 1946.

It’s a long and meandering story, which turns off many contemporary readers. However, high fantasy fans will love the rich storytelling and complex lore.

The series is named for the castle in which the story takes place, the residence of the Groan family and their legion of servants.

This book covers the early childhood of Titus, heir to the Gormenghast castle, whose arrival disrupts the carefully orchestrated traditions and rituals that dominate daily life on the grounds.

Read Titus Groan: Amazon | Goodreads

2. I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith

A 17-year-old girl lives in the ruins of a Suffolk castle, with her eccentric family.

Sounds like a contemporary young adult novel, doesn’t it? Especially when you factor in the love triangle involving the wealthy landlord’s son…

But I Capture The Castle is actually a classic, first published in 1934, and one of the best young adult books with castles to this day.

The narrator, Cassandra Mortmain, keeps a detailed diary about her family’s life of genteel poverty and her journey into womanhood.

This is a sharp and funny novel, and the crumbling castle setting is the perfect backdrop for Cassandra’s story.

Read I Capture The Castle: Amazon | Goodreads

3. The Castle by Franz Kafka

Translated by J. Underwood

Franz Kafka is iconic for his integration of setting into his interrogation of human pathos (or so your English Lit teacher would say), so it’s hardly surprising that he’s written one of the best stories about castles.

The Castle (or Das Schloß, in the original German) follows a character known only as “K.”

He arrives in a small town that is ruled by a strange and intricate bureaucracy centralized in a nearby castle.

The townsfolk seem to hold the bureaucracy and its officers in high regard, but you’ll be as baffled as “K” is as to why.

This is Kafka’s last novel, one of his most complex and masterful works.

Read The Castle: Amazon | Goodreads

4. Stephen Biesty’s Cross-Sections Castle by Richard Platt

Illustrated by Stephen Biesty

If you’re looking for informative children’s books on castles that adults can get a kick out of too, check out this classic: Stephen Biesty’s Cross-Sections Castle.

Make your way step-by-step through a 14th-century medieval castle, and see how the lives of residents unfolded inside.

There are knights in armor, ladies-in-waiting, servants in the scullery, and more.

Plus, a story runs through the gorgeously detailed illustrations – a villainous spy is hiding, and there are all kinds of Where’s Waldo-esque fun to be had in finding him.

This book was out of print for years, but public demand has brought it back to the shelves.

Read Stephen Biesty’s Cross-Sections Castle: Amazon | Goodreads

5. Romancing The Duke by Tessa Dare

Regency romances need stunning backdrops, so it’s no surprise they have a lot of crossovers with castle books.

Romancing The Duke is a fun twist on the standard Regency romance tropes, written by bestselling and RITA award-winning author Tessa Dare.

Isolde Ophelia Goodnight grew up on stories of brave knights winning the hearts of fair maidens in beautiful castles, so is it any wonder she dreams of a real-life, swoon-worthy romance of her own?

She’s just about to give up on being swept off her feet when a mysterious fortress offers a new possibility…

This is the first in Dare’s Castles Ever After series, so there’s more to read if you love it!

Read Romancing The Duke: Amazon | Goodreads

6. Castle Waiting by Linda Medley

If you’d like your classic books about castles with ironic modern twists, and gorgeous illustrations to boot, you need to check out Castle Waiting.

Linda Medley took the iconic fairytales of your childhood – Sleeping Beauty, Jack And The Beanstalk, and so on – and adapted them to comics with a contemporary sensibility.

The early chapters were mostly self-published throughout the ‘90s, but major publishers picked up on their popularity, and now you can buy graphic novel compilation editions and enjoy them all at once.

Read Castle Waiting: Amazon | Goodreads

7. Life In A Medieval Castle by Joseph Gies & Frances Gies

Do you ever wonder how accurate fantasy novels about castle life really are?

Then you should read Life In A Castle, the reference text that George R.R. Martin used to inform his Song Of Ice And Fire series.

Two renowned historians, Joseph and Frances Gies, describe in great detail every aspect of daily life in a medieval English castle, over the course of a year and through all seasons of the harvest.

This is one of the books on castles that would make the perfect gift for a history buff or a fantasy fan keen on branching out into reading nonfiction.

Read Life In A Medieval Castle: Amazon | Goodreads

8. When I Arrived At The Castle by Emily Carroll

A Gothic horror graphic novel, written and illustrated by a woman, charged with eroticism and scary as heck? Yes, please!

When I Arrived At The Castle might be one of the more niche books with castles, but readers who love it really love it.

A nameless woman arrives at a countess’s castle, as countless others have done before.

She has no idea the terrors that await her in the turrets.

It’s a must-read for fans of Shirley Jackson and Angela Carter, with every detail carefully crafted to raise the hairs on your neck and set your teeth on edge.

Discover even more seriously spooky books.

Read When I Arrived At The Castle: Amazon | Goodreads

9. The Castle In The Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop

‘80s kids probably remember quite a few books about castles from their childhoods, but one of the most popular was The Castle In The Attic.

The good news is, it still totally holds up!

It’s a children’s fantasy grounded in reality, where a young boy is given a model of a castle by his family’s housekeeper.

The model is magical, of course, complete with a miniature knight who comes to life and tells his new master stories.

The trouble starts when the boy decides to shrink his housekeeper in the hopes of stopping her from leaving his family.

He and the knight must work together to bring the housekeeper back to her usual size and undo the great mistake.

Read The Castle In The Attic: Amazon | Goodreads

10. The Castle Of Tangled Magic by Sophie Anderson

Middle-grade readers will adore The Castle Of Tangled Magic, a beautifully illustrated story about a girl who loves secrets.

Twelve-year-old Olia lives in Castle Mila, a palace of endless rooms – some of which seem to appear and disappear by magic.

Olia is the only one the castle trusts with its secrets.

When a terrible storm lashes the grounds, she shelters in a secret room that leads to a secret passageway, that leads to the most terrible secret of all.

This is one of the most magical castle books for readers of all ages with whimsical tastes.

Read The Castle Of Tangled Magic: Amazon | Goodreads

11. The Keep by Jennifer Egan

Not many Pulitzer Prize winners have written books on castles, but Jennifer Egan has always stood out from the pack.

The Keep is her 2006 novel about two cousins who undertake a business venture together, renovating an old Eastern European castle as an alternative resort for wealthy hipsters.

The thing is, there’s history between the two cousins, and the shadow of childhood cruelties comes back to haunt them.

The castle is a stunning backdrop for this high-stakes high-tension family story with its own dark history and hidden secrets woven into the plot beautifully.

This is one of the best books with castles for readers who don’t go for fantasy or magic.

Read The Keep: Amazon | Goodreads

12. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

‘90s kids will get an instant hit of nostalgia from Howl’s Moving Castle, the first novel in Diana Wynn Jones’s young adult fantasy series.

Inspired by a brief conversation with a schoolboy during an author visit, the story follows an eldest sister who, tradition dictates, must live a dull and dreary life.

She breaks the mold by going to work as a castle cleaner for the notorious wizard Howl and hatches a plan to break the contract between her new boss and a fire demon. 

Check out the other books in the series – Castle In The Air is next, then House Of Many Ways – if this one doesn’t satisfy your craving for books about castles from your childhood.

Discover more books published in the ’80s.

Or, watch the film adaptation of Howl’s Moving Castle on our Japanese movies list.

Read Howl’s Moving Castle: Amazon | Goodreads

More Books Set at Castles from Christine

13. Beauty Among Ruins by J’nell Ciesielski

Readers craving strong women in historical fiction and stories about castles and their grumpy inhabitants will enjoy Beauty Among Ruins, a Beauty and the Beast retelling.

Head to Europe to a crumbling Scottish castle during WW1.

Brooding Alec MacGregor could not fight in the war due to an old injury. To contribute to the war effort, he opens his home to help injured soldiers.

A vibrant and gentle socialite, Lily arrives to help nurse the men back to health, hoping to prove that she is worth more than her family’s wealth and pretty dresses.

Capturing Alec’s heart, can Lily break down Alec’s walls and stand up to her parents?

Ciesielski is one of our favorite historical romance authors. She also penned The Socialite, which appears on our WW2 reading list.

Discover more books about Scotland.

Read Beauty Among Ruins: Amazon | Goodreads | More Information

14. The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan

OK; OK; don’t come for us as we 100% subscribe to the fact that Biltmore Estate is America’s largest home. It is not – literally – a castle.

However, many people refer to Biltmore as such, and Kiernan – a local Asheville author – has named her book with a bit of a castle-y flair…

For nonfiction books about castles and very large estates, this is one of the best-researched and most interesting. Kiernan knows how to paint a picture.

Learn more about the construction of Asheville’s Biltmore Estate, a property owned by George and Edith Vanderbilt.

Not only does Kiernan talk about the incredible feat of creating the home, but she discusses the lives of George and Edith, both of whom contributed to politics, education, and forestry.

They helped put Asheville on the map, and today, Biltmore is one of Asheville’s most iconic attractions for history, hiking, and its winery. George’s library is a must for bibliophiles.

We gained a better appreciation for Biltmore Estate – and that ticket price we pay as annual passholders – after reading The Last Castle.

Travel to Asheville with even more books on our sister site, Uncorked Asheville. Or, find more books set in North Carolina on TUL.

Read The Last Castle: Amazon | Goodreads | Read More

Save The Best Books On Castles For Later:

Grab your favorite movies and books set at castles here:

• Audible Plus: From Amazon, listen to Amazon Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks. They add new titles every week.
  
• Book of the Month: Get the month’s hottest new and upcoming titles from Book of the Month. You might snag an early release or debut author. Along with selecting a book a month, find terrific add-ons, both trendy and lesser-known titles.
  
• Amazon Prime Video – Stream thousands of ad-free movies and TV series on demand with Prime Video.
  
• Express VPN – Using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) allows you to view movies worldwide – and they help keep your information safe. Our writers couldn’t have such diverse film reviews without using a VPN.

What are your favorite books with castles?

Do you have favorite stories about castles? Do you enjoy fantastical, romance, or horror castle books more? Let us know in the comments.

This reading list pairs well with Fall 2023 Uncorked Bingo.

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