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What's your favourite historical novel? Tell us and be in with a chance to WIN a SIGNED COPY of Helen Dunmore's new novel Exposure plus backlist book bundle

138 replies

UrsulaMumsnet · 01/02/2016 15:11

Set against a backdrop of the Cold War, spies and scandal, Helen Dunmore's remarkable new novel, Exposure, out this week, tells the story of a woman's determination to protect her family at all costs. When Lily's husband is accused of passing on highly sensitive information to the Soviets, and arrested, Lily is forced to confront forbidden love, intimate betrayal and the devastating power of exposure.

"Exposure is the sort of winter read you hanker for...the period is so meticulously re-created that you almost hear the hiss of the gas streetlamps." - The Times

"This book is a triumph - a marvellous piece of seamless storytelling." - Penelope Lively

Share your favourite historical novels for a chance to win a signed copy of Exposure, plus a backlist bundle of books including Sunday Times bestseller The Lie and The Betrayal.

Helen Dunmore is the author of fourteen novels. Her first, Zennor in Darkness, explored the events which led to D H Lawrence’s expulsion from Cornwall (on suspicion of spying) during the First World War. It won the McKitterick Prize. Her third novel, A Spell of Winter, won the inaugural Orange Prize, now the Bailey’s Prize for Women’s Fiction. Her bestselling novel The Siege, set during the Siege of Leningrad, was described by Antony Beevor as ‘a world-class novel’ and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel of the Year and the Orange Prize.

She is fascinated by the Cold War era, which was also the era of her childhood, and is the setting for Exposure, and by the secrets, betrayals, loves, lies and loyalties which make up the period’s intimate history.

What's your favourite historical novel? Tell us and be in with a chance to WIN a SIGNED COPY of Helen Dunmore's new novel Exposure plus backlist book bundle
What's your favourite historical novel? Tell us and be in with a chance to WIN a SIGNED COPY of Helen Dunmore's new novel Exposure plus backlist book bundle
What's your favourite historical novel? Tell us and be in with a chance to WIN a SIGNED COPY of Helen Dunmore's new novel Exposure plus backlist book bundle
OP posts:
starlight36 · 01/02/2016 21:20

Another vote for Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies. I also have a soft spot for Philippa Gregory and have read a large number of her novels - my favourite still remaining 'The other Boleyn Girl'.

BloodyPlantagenets · 01/02/2016 21:06

Another one for Pillars of the Earth, I'm actually re-reading it at the moment for maybe the fourth time. It's so well written and I love all the detail about how they built the cathedrals etc. I'm normally a science fiction/fantasy girl.

Jossykaye · 01/02/2016 21:03

I loved Katherine by Anya Seton. You really feel as if you're witnessing famous Medieval events as they unfold and a great romance.

LadyIsabellaWrotham · 01/02/2016 21:00

Pretty much all of Sarah Waters. Wolf Hall/Bring Up the Bodies of course.
Blackout/All Clear, To Say Nothing of the Dog and The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

But I really need to fly the flag for Georgette Heyer, and in particular An Infamous Army.

Quogwinkle · 01/02/2016 21:00

Am I allowed to mention a couple more?

Strange Meeting by Susan Hill
My Dear I Wanted to Tell You by Louisa Young.

Both brilliantly observed novels about WW1

Roseformeplease · 01/02/2016 20:54

I loved "Sacred Hearts" by Sarah Dunant. Utterly, utterly compelling story of women in an Italian convent in the 16th century. Brilliant characters and it still affects me years after reading it. I also love some of the other books mentioned on this thread, particularly the Wolf Hall ones and The Book Thief.

AlbertHerbertHawkins · 01/02/2016 20:54

*Sanson

AlbertHerbertHawkins · 01/02/2016 20:53

Oh yes! Sarah Waters 'The Paying Guests' and the C J Sandon series.

Lucretia12 · 01/02/2016 20:52

Murder Most Royal by Jean Plaidy - the story of the two queens betrayed and beheaded by Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn is probably one of my favourites as I love all the Tudor tales, but then again Jean Plaidy was such a prolific writer of historical novels that I think any of her books would qualify.

LadyStark · 01/02/2016 20:40

Another Katherine by Anya Seton fan here, named my daughter Katherine too!

Anj123 · 01/02/2016 20:40

I read two excellent historical novels last year. They were the Miniaturist by Jessie Burton and the Paying Guests by Sarah Waters.

Provencalroseparadox · 01/02/2016 20:38

I love Gone with the Wind but also The Earth Song Series by Jeam M Auel

Greymalkin · 01/02/2016 20:37

Too many to pick just one!

I also loved The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. The characters were so well developed.

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir is wonderfully researched and written. It is the story of Lady Jane Grey. Weir is a highly respected historian and it comes across in her books

I'm a huge fan of Bernard Cornwell who has written many novels set in different historical periods. I'm an archer myself so love his books '1356' and 'Azincourt' His writing of battle scenes is well researched and really gives a sense of what it would have been like.

queenoftheschoolrun · 01/02/2016 20:29

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

bookbook · 01/02/2016 20:25

Oh , pp have mentioned a few of my loves - definitely in the top few are Dorothy Dunnett Lymond series
Ken Follett Pillars of the Earth
and All Quiet on The Western Front
but I think my absolute favourite would be
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman about Richard !!! . All her books are good, but this is great!

bigbadbarry · 01/02/2016 20:20

Another vote for Hilary Mantel but, for me, Bring Up The Bodies comes above Wolf Hall. Even though of course you know where it is going, the characters are so beautifully drawn that it is completely compelling.

LifeHuh · 01/02/2016 20:18

Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond series,head and shoulders over all the other books I've loved. If I had to choose just one of the books it would probably be The Ringed Castle, but really it has to be the whole series.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 01/02/2016 20:15

YY to 'All Quiet' - stunningly good book.

Wilding · 01/02/2016 20:13

A Traveller in Time, by Alison Uttley - romantic, heartbreaking and wonderfully evocative not only of Tudor times but of the 1930s. Uttley writes about the English countryside like noone else.

NotJanine · 01/02/2016 20:06

All Quiet on the Western Front

I learned so much from that book

Panadbois · 01/02/2016 20:00

For me it's Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follet. Totally different frim my usual genre of chic lit. Have read it twice and even enjoyed the tv series and the book sequel (End of the world?).

BearAusten · 01/02/2016 19:59

i feel guilty saying this but it would have to be Jean Plaidy (especially Light on Lucrezia - Borgia series). Sansom's Shardlake novels are also firm favourites.

LocalEditorMerton · 01/02/2016 19:56

Without a doubt, Katherine by Anya Seton. Read it as a fifteen year old, and all these years later I'm still fascinated by the 'Beaufort Bastards' and how much their legacy shaped the British Monarchy. Not only that but she was SIL to Geoffrey Chaucer too.

Well worth reading (as indeed are all A.S's other novels)

hanliying · 01/02/2016 19:54

Wolf hall!

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 01/02/2016 19:51

'This Thing of Darkness' by Harry Thompson
It's about Darwin's voyage on The Beagle, but is also about so much more than that. It is brilliant, and enlightening, and moving and inspiring - everything that a great book should be.

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