Historical Fiction Recommendations

Alison Weir’s fictionalised biographies of Henry VIII’s queens (she has published the first three so far) are great.

I also love Phillips Gregory’s books - the Cousins’ War series, and The Constant Princess, The Other Boleyn Girl, and the Boleyn Inheritance are particular favourites.

Iain Pears "An Instance of the Fingerpost". Charles II has returned to England and his throne. Religion is still in turmoil. This is a beautifully written book, his best.

Dippy, thanks for the recommendation for Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. I loved her Bill Slider crime series. She has a weakness for awful puns! Memorable characters and good plots. I would imagine she spins an engaging story.
It's funny how one's taste changes with age, though. I read and re-read Dorothy Dunnett in my teens, but can't abide them now. Her hero annoys me.
I love Aubrey/Maturin, St Mary's, and the wonderful Georgette Heyer. I have tracked down hardback copies of most of her books, after my paperbacks disintegrated!
Will look out for the Temeraire stories. I recently read a fantasy novel by Naomi Novik and really enjoyed it.

I was coming on to say Sharon Penman. You can easily get her books on amazon. She is fantastic.

Elizabeth Chadwick is also good. Both she and Sharon really do their research.

I'd give Phillipa Gregory a huge body swerve. Her earlier stuff was okay, but she appears to have given up on research and is just intent on churning out books at a rate to match Danielle Steel with just as much depth and content.

The Shardlake series is good. I haven't got into the last book, but in my defence, I hurt my thumb so am struggling even more than usual to hold such a large book and we got a puppy at the same time and daren't take our eyes off him...

Anne O'Brien is quite goo, too. I also really like Susanna Kearsley. Barbara Erskine lost her way a bit for a while, I felt, but Sleeper's Castle was excellent.

Absolutely second the Chronicles of St Mary’s, fabulous series.

I’m a Georgette fan as well, have you read her mysteries? Her histories are also good (pretty much only available second hand or on Kindle).

Cadfael is such a joy, the descriptive language is just a pleasure.

I’ve also loved picking up Rosemary Sutcliffe novels on Kindle. I know they were originally YA but they have stood the test of time due to the immensely high quality of the research.

They're a bit lightweight but there is a whole series of books called the Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. They follow one family starting in around the Tudor times up as far as the 1920s (she seems to have got bored and not finished them). The key events of the times are seen through the eyes of the family members.

shamelessly marking for ideas....

Thanks very much for the additional recommendations.

I like the sound of The Beginning of Spring. I loved the Bronze Horseman trilogy set in WWII Russia but haven't read any other Russian-set historical fiction.

BakingDemon I'm so glad you're enjoying it! There is something so lovely about someone trying your recommendation and liking it

I also recommend Diana Norman, who wrote as both Diana Norman and Ariana Franklin (historical crime fiction). The Vizard Mask is one of the books available as a Kindle book and is one of my favourites of her books.

I also really like Helen Dunmore (favourites include Zennor in Darkness - DH Lawrence in early 20th century Cornwall) and The House of Orphans - Finland at the very beginning of the 20th century and Sarah Dunant (Sacred Hearts - in a 16th century Italian convent). Readers who like these would probably also enjoy Penelope Fitzgerald's historical novels such as The Beginning of Spring - Russia in 1912, just before WWI)

Sharon Penman's books mostly about medieval royals - my favourite is Here Be Dragons - the main character is less well known, and marries a Welsh prince (I read it a long time ago hence slightly hazy memory).

I don't really read much historical fiction these days, but when I was younger I really enjoyed the YA series "Dear America" which are diaries of young girls in certain situations who live or lived in the US. They're very quick reads and there's also a Dear Canada series as well.
Also really enjoyed, when younger, Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Great book, just very intense.

@CharminglyGawky @RCohle based on your recommendations I've just started the first Temeraire book and I'm loving it so far. Don't know why I hadn't heard of them before!

Sarah Dunant is good for renaissance Italy novels with a romantic element. My favourite is 'In the Company of the Courtesan', she has also done some on the Borgias but I haven't read them yet.

Helen Dunmore is brilliant if you like poetic (not plot-driven) writing. My favourite is 'A Spell of Winter' about the relationship of a brother and sister on the eve of WW1.

I love 'The Crimson Petal and the White' by Michel Faber, but it is looong and not an easy read. Set in Victorian London, it's the story of a Madonna/Whore pair of women - a businessman's virginal wife and his prostitute mistress.

I second recommendations of Mary Renault and Bernard Cornwall. My favourite Cornwalls are the King Arthur trilogy, starting with The Winter King, set in the context of the Anglo Saxon invasions of Britain - mostly historical with some hints of magic.

For anyone who likes time travel, I must put in a plug for The Chronicles of St Mary's by Jodi Taylor. Not historical fiction as such, but you do meet a fair number of historical characters along the way. The history is excellent, there's action and romance and laugh out loud humour.

Norah Lofts is THE historical novelist, IMO. Some of her books have been reprinted as well.
Andrew Miller - Pure, and 'Now we shall be Entirely Free' are excellent.

Alexander Seaton series by Shona G. MacLean (plot occasionally gets a bit far fetched in the later books)

This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson (sadly his only book as he died shortly after completing it)

Another vote for the Alexander trilogy by MR

Norah Lofts is amazing (if you can still find her). Lots of her books follow particular houses or places through the centuries. She has also written some excellent (and creepy) ghost/historical stories. I think Gad's Hall and The Haunting of Gad's Hall are 2 of my favourite books ever.

This is a bit left field but I'm currently reading the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, it's a reimagining of the Napoleonic wars but with an airforce of dragons. It sounds really odd but it is written just like a normal historical novel and the dragons whilst being the main focus of the books kinda just are an everyday and normal thing. I'm really enjoying them!

I was going to recommend Elizabeth Jane Howard too.

Rosamunde Pilcher's The Shellseekers and Coming Home are comfort reading.

Beryl Kingston also writes family saga type novels set in various periods from the 1700s to the 1970s. Her Tuppenny Times series is a personal favourite

There's also the Poldark books.

I loved Margaret George's "The Autobiography of Henry VIII". I've got her Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I books to read on my bookcase.

I'd second Cadfael - they're a very gentle read, despite the themes of murder and mayhem.

Two historical novels I loved are:
This Thing of Darkness by Harry Fletcher (I think) about Darwin's voyage on the Beagle
The Man on a Donkey by HFM Fletcher about the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Both quite heavyweight but excellent.

Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalets series about life on the home front during WW2 is one of my favourites. And Kaite Welsh's The Wages of Sin about a medical student in C19th Edinburgh investigating murders is really fun. I also second the Outlander series (the first 3-4 are good but they tail off in quality recently) and Colleen McCullough's books about Ancient Rome.

Probably obvious but Hilary Mantel - definitely Wolf Hall, but also A Place of Greater Safety is set during the French Revolution.

Eleanor Catton - The Luminaries (colonial New Zealand)

I haven't read any of the Phryne Fisher books but have just started re-watching the series on Netflix and if the books are anything like as good I would highly recommend.

There was a new (the last? I'm only about a quarter of the way through so I don't know!) Shardlake book out just before Christmas, if you haven't seen it.

Sharon Penman - her books can be tricky to get now, but her Welsh Princes trilogy is wonderful. And her Queen's Man series set in the time of Richard and John is very readable.

Cornwell's Last Kingdom series is a rollicking read, especially if you have the actor who plays Uthred in the TV series in your mind's eye...

And Cadfael, of course - a great comfort read when the world is too much.

Look at Geraldine Brooks.
Fabulous writing.

Anya Seton's "Katherine"

"Pompeii" by Robert Harris