Historical Fiction

[Teresa Edgerton]

Leon Garfield -- a mostly YA author who wrote books in historical settings rather than about historical events, but with so much period flavor you'd swear the man was writing in the nineteenth rather than the twentieth century if you didn't know better. Rather dark and Dickensian, but humorous, too. One of my favorite non genre authors.

 

[Stalker]

Umberto Eco is not purely an author that writes historical fiction, but his Name of the Rose is one of excellent examples of the above genre. I am always amazed the way he genially depicts the historical background down to the least detail. That is a real master!!!

 

[Alexa]

I forgot about that one. Thanks Stalker.

 

[Rosemary]

My favorite historical fiction would have to be The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet with The Count of Monte Cristo coming in a close second.

Pillars of the Earth - I agree hodor, this is definately a brilliant story.
However I would put Edward Rutherfurd at the top of my list. He has written some marvellous pieces of work, starting with 'Old Sarum' (which begins in the Ice Age).
Has anyone read Caiseal Mor's work? I have the trilogy The Song of the Earth. Basically a Celtic saga set in Ireland, full of mythology, druids and the arrival of the Roman Catholics.
One very important thing that a few authors of historical fiction don't do is RESEARCH, research and more research. If you happen to be interested and knowledgable about history, then the slightest mistake in the book will be so glaringly obvious. It's enough to put you off reading the story.

Can anyone recall who wrote the series about the Welsh Kings?

 

[Culhwch]

I've just started reading Pillars of the Earth. I must say I'm not particularly enamoured with Follett's style and prose, but it is quite interesting and it's kept me reading. I've read about a hundred pages in the last two days, which is good for me lately. So we'll see how it goes.

 

[Rosemary]

I've just started reading Pillars of the Earth. I must say I'm not particularly enamoured with Follett's style and prose, but it is quite interesting and it's kept me reading. I've read about a hundred pages in the last two days, which is good for me lately. So we'll see how it goes.

I hope you eventually enjoy reading Pillars of the Earth. Please let me know your thoughts on the book when you have finished reading it. My copy is well thumbed, not sure how many times I have read it. I understand that he wrote six drafts before the final product. He is also one of those authors who insist on massive amounts of research

 

[Rosemary]

Anyone here read 'Lady of Hay' by Barbara Erskine? I was given this by my mother, who thought it was a fantasy. She wasn't far wrong. It had a similar theme to 'Daggerspell'. A group of characters are reborn over and over again, seemingly doomed to live out the same tragedy. The story is mainly split between the present (1980s I think) and 14th century middle England.

It's been a while since I read it, but I remember that I found it a fascinating read. The historical sections are all seen through the medium of a hypnotic technique called regression, which allows the character to explore her past lives. As she does so, the reader learns more of the repetitive tragedy that always ends with a murder. Her murder. The question is, can she stop history from repeating itself this time?

Barbara Erskine did a pretty good job of making this a sort of mixture of modern thriller and medieval historical fiction.

Hi Mark, I have read Lady of Hay, however it was a while ago now. I do know that I readlly enjoyed her style of writing and of course all the historical facts bound in amongst her story, very interesting. I'm not sure but I have a feeling that she did a follow up book. Will try and find a web site to check that out.

Has anyone read the series Angelique? Unable to recall the writers name however as it was many years ago when I first read them. It was set firstly in France during Louis IVX's reign. Angelique finally leaves France with the persecuted Hugonots and sails to Canada. Wonderful set of novels full of historical facts.

 

[murphy]

It's been years since I read Angelique, but my mother and I loved them. Your post got me wondering about the authors, so I went Googling. The books were written by Anne and Serge Golon and it seems that there were films also. I never saw any of the films, but since they were French, there would probably be subtitles.

 

[murphy]

I've been trying to track down some Angelique books so that I can reread them. Prices are exhorbitant. Will keep looking for them though, she was supposed to be rereleasing them, hopefully with better covers so that they don't look like an average bodice ripper.

 

[littlemissattitude]

I've seen the Angelique books, but have never read any of them. However, they do bring to mind another series, which I did read...avidly...when I was in junior high school. These were the Catherine books by Juliette Benzoni, in translation from the French. I had five of them, but I see from a little searching around on the 'net that there were 7 in the French. I don't know if I just missed two, or if two of them were never translated into English.

Typical bodice rippers that took place during the Hundred Years' War if I recall correctly. Anyway, they probably weren't that accurate historically, but I liked them anyway. Somewhere along the way I lost track of my copies of these books, but I surely wish I could find them again, if only to see how silly they really were. From what I can remember, the child Catherine (blonde and beautiful, of course) falls in love with a beautiful blonde young man who is soon killed, breaking her heart. Ah, but wait a bit, and she discovers that he has a twin brother who is his double except for having darker coloring. And thus begins a love/hate/love relationship that lasts through the various volumes.

Aw, heck, I was twelve or thirteen when I read these books. But I do remember them fondly.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

hopefully with better covers so that they don't look like an average bodice ripper.

Um, the Angelique books were ripping bodices at a time when most historical romances were fairly sedate. According to my memory of the plots (and Angelique's sexual adventures) I'd say they were just the sort of books the term was invented to describe.

 

[murphy]

The Angelique books were supposed to be historically accurate, but she did skip from bed to bed. It was funny as well as pretty good story-telling.

 

[Rosemary]

There was another series set in about the same era, only in England. Have tried to find out the author but maybe it was too long ago now.
The basic historical facts were mainly of Charles II, his exile in France and his many bedroom visitors! His mistresses Nell Gwynn and Barbara Villiers appear in many other historical novels.
It also mentions the Kings's help during The Great Fire Of London.
There are also plenty of facts pertaining to the French Louis XIV, The Sun King and his affairs. There was also 'witchcraft involved' in a lot of the French Historical Novels. For lovers of Historical Novels this series was just marvellous. I am pretty sure that it was published around the same time as Angelique.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Speaking of the court of Louis XIV, I recently found one of my favorite sources from that period as a free etext at Blackmask: the Memoirs of the Duc de Saint Simon (in translation, which is handy since I don't speak or read French) -- in twelve volumes! All the gossip, all the intrigue, all the politics -- all the remarkably unglamorous details of a courtier's life -- written by someone who was actually there. Fans of Angelique would undoubtedly meet some of their favorite historical characters.

One of those books I used to haul home from the library and wish that I could own a copy. Now, for the price of paper and ink, I can.

 

[murphy]

(snip)

Can anyone recall who wrote the series about the Welsh Kings?

Sharon Kay Penman wrote a trilogy about the Welsh. Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow, and The Reckoning. Is that who you meant? Very good and accurate historical novels, but then I am a fan of hers.

 

[murphy]

I've seen the Angelique books, but have never read any of them. However, they do bring to mind another series, which I did read...avidly...when I was in junior high school. These were the Catherine books by Juliette Benzoni, in translation from the French. I had five of them, but I see from a little searching around on the 'net that there were 7 in the French. I don't know if I just missed two, or if two of them were never translated into English.

Typical bodice rippers that took place during the Hundred Years' War if I recall correctly. Anyway, they probably weren't that accurate historically, but I liked them anyway. Somewhere along the way I lost track of my copies of these books, but I surely wish I could find them again, if only to see how silly they really were. From what I can remember, the child Catherine (blonde and beautiful, of course) falls in love with a beautiful blonde young man who is soon killed, breaking her heart. Ah, but wait a bit, and she discovers that he has a twin brother who is his double except for having darker coloring. And thus begins a love/hate/love relationship that lasts through the various volumes.

Aw, heck, I was twelve or thirteen when I read these books. But I do remember them fondly.

In checking out eBay for the Angelique books, I came across some books by Juliette Benzoni about a Catherine.

 

[littlemissattitude]

That would be them. Thanks, murphy. I'm beginning to think it's possible to find anything on eBay.

 

[murphy]

For out-of-print books, I start out by looking at Barnes & Noble online, then Amazon, followed by Alibris and then eBay. The first three are pretty reliable and using eBay is taking a chance.

 

[murphy]

Just for fun, I check the out-of-print section at the online B&N, they have a number of Juliette Benzoni at very decent prices. Of course, you have to add $3.99 for shipping for each book.

 

[Anubis]

I just started reading Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver, and so far I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
It's beautifully constructed and very ambitious in scope. It does move a little slowly at first, but the many surprising historical references keep it interesting.

Also, I wanted to ask whether anyone here has read a book by a Dutch writer Hellas S. Haasse called in English 'In a Dark Wood Wandering'. A good book set around the time of Henry V. It's a fascinating, if somewhat melancholy story about the life of Charles D'Orleans.