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historical fiction recommendations

I love historical fiction! Some of these books have already been mentioned, but they are so good I have to say them again!

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Other Bolyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
Cane River by by Lalita Tademy
Forever by Pete Hamill
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

The last two are a blend of fact and fantasy.
 
little_t said:
...Music and Silence. Blew me away! Set in 17th Century Denmark, it's about an English lutenist hired to the court of the Danish King and his vile and adulterous queen. There are several intertwined stories and her writing's just fantastic. Haven't read anything else by her yet, but intend to. A true talent.
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I haven't read Music and Silence yet, but did read another of Rose Tremain's books entitled The Colour and thoroughly enjoyed it.

swanson03 said:
The Kite Runner....Afghanistan history
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The Kite Runner is one of my favorites. What a read.

Nancy
 
I highly reccomend Cane River by Lalita Tademy...it is heart-wrenching and uplifting at the same time...simply amazing!

Oh! and of course Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
 
water faerie said:
What about Phillippa Gregory's books? I loved The Queen's Fool (from the reign of Edward VI to the beginning to Elizabeth I's reign.) and The Other Boleyn Girl (through Mary Boleyn's life- in the 1500's.). I think they weren't really historically accurate, but they were good stories. And if you don't mind reading some young adult stuff, Carolyn Meyer is pretty good. Her books seem to be largely concered with the Tudor period as well.
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I also suggest Philippa Gregory she is my favorite author and she writes good stories...also jean plaidy. I don't know if anyone mentioned her yet but she's another author who writes about the Tudor period...she also has quite a few books on other periods of history.
 
Nancy said:
The Kite Runner is one of my favorites. What a read.
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Although it has a few flashbacks to earlier Afghanistan I'm not sure I would class The Kite Runner as historical fiction since its setting is clearly contemporary. I'm curious, however, as to why you would class it as a favourite read because I found it to be a terribly cliched work that clunked its way to the end. There's a thread on the book here where you can read a number of opinions on it.
 
Stewart said:
Although it has a few flashbacks to earlier Afghanistan I'm not sure I would class The Kite Runner as historical fiction since its setting is clearly contemporary. QUOTE]

How right you are. - Nancy
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ksheppard said:
I just finished reading two books by David Liss - A Conspiracy of Paper and A Spectacle of Corruption. The main character in both is a retired Jewish boxer who works as a "thieftaker" and of cource, attracts his own amount of trouble along the way. They are set in the early 1700's in London. In some ways, a similar style to Caleb Carr.
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I'm in the first part of Conspracy of Paper. I read another of Liss' books awhile back, The Coffee Trader.
I enjoy his writing trememdously. His writing style is in the manner of the period that he is writing about (in the case of Conspiracy, early 18th century London). If done clumsily, that could easily be a book's downfall. Kind of like a fake and annoying accent can spoil an actor's performance. But Liss is so expert, his style is so engaging and witty, that his books are a joy.
 
I only read the first and last page, so forgive me if these have already been mentioned:

Earth Children Series
Clan of the Cavebear
Valley of the Horses
The Mammoth Hunters
The Plains of Passage
Shelters of Stone

I have also read two books (and started the third) that I guess could be called part of the "Earth People" series though that is not the official name. They were People of the Wolf and People of the Fire. I am reading People of the Earth right now and I love it.

those are really the only historical ficiton books I have read, but I loved all of them!
 
I recommend Mary Renault's novels set in ancient Greece:

The King Must Die
The Bull from the Sea
The Last of the Wine

She really makes the times live.
 
Best historical fiction I have read is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I would also like to try Philippa Gregory and Jean Plaidy's book as well. :)
 
I've recently finished Ex Libris by Ross King. Set in the 1660s, the main character is a middle-aged, over-weight, asthmatic, club-footed, short-sighted bookseller, one of the least likely heroes I've ever come across.
The story itself is a mystery, but not quite a thriller.
 
If they are translated, I would recommend Jan Guillou's trilogy of Arn de Gothia. Very good books if you like factors of heroisms and are willing to accept that it might not be the greatest piece of literature ever written, but a few hours of entertainment.
 
Nancy said:
Just finished Children of the Arbat by Anatoli Rybakov and enjoyed it very much - am now into the second of his trilogy, Fear, and have the third one, Dust and Ashes, beside my chair. Also in my "to read" stack is Russka: The Novel of Russia by Edward Rutherford. Can't comment on that one yet. Has anyone read it?
Nancy
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I really enjoyed it and learned a good bit about the Russian "mentality" in the sense of how they as a cultural body think, perceive their world and react accordingly. I assume he accurately portrayed the Russian people in this way, but really don't know. Anyway, it is my favorite Rutherfurd so far!
 
I thought Children of the Arbat was outstanding as a picture of a time and place. I was particularly impressed by the writer's use of Stalin as a character in the story. Usually I think real historical figures seem very artificial in a novel, but it worked in this one. For example, the interaction between Stalin and the dentist and how Stalin doesn't like anyone to stand behind him.
 
Shogun by James Clavell
Japan circa 1598

Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield
Sparta during the Persian Wars and Thermopylae

Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
U.S. Civil War - Gettysburgh

Eagle In the Snow by Wallace Breem
Roman Empire during its gradual fall
 
krmchl said:
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
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This is one of my favorite books, and the one that made me interested in historical fiction.

To me a good historical fiction book is one where the fictional story that is being told takes place in a real historical scenario, and the real historical events are so well blended with the story that you learn history without really realizing it... I was never a big fan of history classes:p

Recently I've read "Miss Potter", by Richard Maltby Jr. and loved it.
 
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