Name Up to Three Historical Novels You Like a Lot

[hitmouse]

I would suggest the Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper or any of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Is JFC historical fiction, or is it contemporary fiction that was written a long time ago, in the same sense as Jane Austen or George Elliott?

 

[KiraAnn]

Is JFC historical fiction, or is it contemporary fiction that was written a long time ago, in the same sense as Jane Austen or George Elliott?

The stories are set 100 years prior to Cooper.

 

[hitmouse]

Fair enough

 

[psikeyhackr]

Shogan
I, Claudius

There is Tai-Pan, sequel to Shogun, but I do not know how historically accurate it is. There was a real Englishman for the character Blackthorn in Shogan but his name was different.

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Nigel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Cadfael by Ellis Peters

Yes, I know 'Cadfael' is a series and not a single title, but please don't ask me to pick just one of them!

 

[Guttersnipe]

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
No Promises in the Wind by Irene Hunt
Rolling Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

 

[Bick]

Rogue Herries - Hugh Walpole
The Big Sky - A. B. Guthrie
The Man Within - Graham Greene

I could have gone for more obvious books, but I did really enjoy these and you’ve mentioned the likes of War and Peace already.

 

[Bick]

The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Nigel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Cadfael by Ellis Peters

Yes, I know 'Cadfael' is a series and not a single title, but please don't ask me to pick just one of them!

Oh go on, pick just one of them

 

[Extollager]

Okay....since we've heard from a number of Chronsfolk with their three choices, let's open this up to additional titles from those who have already posted. If you haven't posted on this thread before, please limit yourself to three titles when you do.

Please remember these criteria:

Requested here are historical novels written as such; the author understood himself or herself to be writing a novel set in an identifiable past time and a known place. To qualify as "historical," the novel should be set at least 100 years ago from our own time (not necessarily the author's time, provided the qualification just stated is kept in mind. (Please do not suggest science fiction and fantasy novels (time travel), such as by Connie Willis, etc.)

My new selections are Janet Lewis's The Trial of Sören Qvist and Marly Youmans's outstanding Charis in the World of Wonders. I read these in library copies but want to get my own.

Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction | Kirkus Reviews

www.kirkusreviews.com

I'm afraid that Youmans' novel may be getting relegated to a category of religious fiction. It would be a great shame if readers who would love this book avoided it for that reason. "Remember how you used to read as a child, stretched out in the grass or on the couch, lost in the magic of a book.... Be prepared to re-enter that world of magical reading, being so engrossed in the world of the book that you never really leave it, living in a dreamy haze of words and beloved characters. Marly Youmans' new novel, Charis in the World of Wonders (Ignatius, 2020) will put you there, into that trance of reading and joy, as though you had never left it."

 

[svalbard]

The First Man in Rome - Colleen McCullough.

Set in the late Roman Republic and the first in her Masters of Rome Series.

In A Dark Wood Wandering - Hella S Haase.

The life of Charles, Duke of Orleans. It takes in his capture at Agincourt, his imprisonment in England, his return. A reflective novel it left a deep impression upon me.

The Warriors of the Dragon Gold - Ray Bryant.

The story of Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest. An evocative tour de force filled with drama, excitement and we'll drawn characters.

 

[Juliana]

I'm going to toss in a children's series, because I really enjoyed the first few books and I think it has cross-readership appeal: the Blackthorn Key series by Kevin Sands is excellent. Set in London in 1665, the main character is an apothecary apprentice.

 

[CupofJoe]

The Silver Pigs Lindsey Davis
A Roman Private Eye goes in search of a mystery and nearly finds love.

The Knights of Dark Renown Graham Shelby [not David Gemmel]
Bloody gore and intrigue in the Holy Land.

The Eagle of the Ninth Rosemary Sutcliff
A man goes in search what happened to his father and the legion. Read this as a teen and loved it.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I, on the other hand, loved the two Renault books (The King Must Die and The Bull From the Sea) mentioned near the start of this thread.

For my third I guess I would say The Count of Monte Cristo. (Or is that one too close to the author's own lifetime? If so, I'll substitute The Three Musketeers). If I had more choices, there are a couple by R. L. Stevenson I would probably mention.)

 

[svalbard]

I, on the other hand, loved the two Renault books (The King Must Die and The Bull From the Sea) mentioned near the start of this thread.

For my third I guess I would say The Count of Monte Cristo. (Or is that one too close to the author's own lifetime? If so, I'll substitute The Three Musketeers). If I had more choices, there are a couple by R. L. Stevenson I would probably mention.)

If I had a fourth to pick it would be The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault. Although I loved the Theseus books.

 

[paranoid marvin]

The Silver Pigs Lindsey Davis
A Roman Private Eye goes in search of a mystery and nearly finds love.

The Knights of Dark Renown Graham Shelby [not David Gemmel]
Bloody gore and intrigue in the Holy Land.

The Eagle of the Ninth Rosemary Sutcliff
A man goes in search what happened to his father and the legion. Read this as a teen and loved it.

Did you know there was a tv series based on Eagle of the Ninth? Some time since I watched it, but I remember it being very good (albeit done on a budget for tv). Think it's available on YouTube. Much better than some of the terrible movies that have been made on the subject.

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

I was about to mention some classic authors (Dickens, Conrad) but these are widely acknowledged, so whats the point? Thinking a little more outside the box:

Moonfleet, J Meade Falkner
Wolf Hall, Hillary Mantel
Flashman, George MacDonald Fraser

 

[worldofmutes]

Henryk Sienkiewicz - Quo Vadis
Harriet Beecher Stowe - Uncle Tom’s Cabin
James A. Michener - Chesapeake

Er, oops. According to rules, Stowe is out.
In that case, Irving Stone Lust For Life

 

[saulfan]

I very much like British author Michael Jecks' 'Templar Series', beginning with 'The Last Templar' (1997), set in Paris of 1307 and Devon of 1316.

It is a well written and researched series of 'mysteries', which I have thoroughly enjoyed.

The author has embarked on other series, which I haven't had time to get round to yet.

David

 

[worldofmutes]

I very much like British author Michael Jecks' 'Templar Series', beginning with 'The Last Templar' (1997), set in Paris of 1307 and Devon of 1316.

It is a well written and researched series of 'mysteries', which I have thoroughly enjoyed.

The author has embarked on other series, which I haven't had time to get round to yet.

David

I have that book! A neighbour gave it to me before I moved here.

 

[hitmouse]

I was about to mention some classic authors (Dickens, Conrad) but these are widely acknowledged, so whats the point? Thinking a little more outside the box:

Moonfleet, J Meade Falkner
Wolf Hall, Hillary Mantel
Flashman, George MacDonald Fraser

See ##7,12,18 for Flashman.

Wolf Hall is a very good call.