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Original poster

Your favourite book - historical fiction, not UK/US based?

38 replies

RejectedAgainandAgain · 23/08/2023 20:01

I've been reading a lot of historical fiction recently and realised I'm very blinkered in my geographical choice. I prefer Middle Ages or earlier and would like to try something that is not set in the UK or US. What do you recommend?

OP posts:
Blackcountryexile · 23/08/2023 22:07

The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson. Set in seventeenth century Iceland and Algiers.

CatChant · 23/08/2023 22:05

Mary Renault’s novels set in Ancient Greece: The King Must Die and its sequel The Bull from the Sea, which are based on the legend of Theseus; The Praise Singer, The Mask of Apollo and The Last of the Wine, which are stand-alone novels set largely in classical Athens; and her Alexander the Great trilogy, Fire from Heaven, The Persian Boy and Funeral Games.

I also adore Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series, as do DH and DD. Gripping, humane and so very funny.

Rocknrollstar · 23/08/2023 22:04

Kate Moss has a good trilogy. The last one just came out and it’s about South Africa

FizzingAda · 23/08/2023 21:45

The four books in the Boudicca series, by Manda Scott. Absolutely brilliant.
i liked a Norah Lofts, she wrote mostly about ordinary people, often set in Suffolk or a Norfolk where she lived. There a trilogy she wrote starting with the Town House, about the building of a house just after the black Death, and all the people who lived in it up to the present. Love all her books.
i liked the first four Jean Abel books too, but the later ones were repetitive and rather parochial, I think she lost her way a bit.
love historical fiction.

Notgoodatpoetrybutgreatatlit · 23/08/2023 21:07

Might not be at all your thing, but I am just reading the Patrick O'Brien naval series. They are set in the Napoleonic wars and the action takes place mostly on board war ships all over the world.
They have a bit of a reputation for being for male readers but I'm a woman and I love them!
The only problem is that there are more than 20 and I have been reading them for so long I have started using 18th century naval expressions in my normal speech!
The two main characters are men but there are women, and all the characters are drawn in depth. As you can see I'm a total fan.

PersephonePomegranate23 · 23/08/2023 20:53

I really like Sarah Dunant's books which are all set in Italy (not a series).

MrsW9 · 23/08/2023 20:51

The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco

The Leopard - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (this one isn't medieval, though)

beetlebrain · 23/08/2023 20:30

The World is Not Enough by Zoe Oldenbourg. French crusaders. Superbly well written. Brutal.

PermanentTemporary · 23/08/2023 20:27

I found The Book of Night Women by Marlon James incredibly gripping. 18th century again though...

gingersnappz · 23/08/2023 20:22

I've just read and enjoyed The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell.

DrMadelineMaxwell · 23/08/2023 20:11

How much farther back? I like the Jean M Auel books, but they are set in pre-history.

RumNotRun · 23/08/2023 20:09

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani is based in Iran in 1620s, a bit later than you prefer but i thought it was really interesting

Meadowdog · 23/08/2023 20:03

Only 18th century but how about The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell set in Japan amongst a colony of Dutch traders?