I'm in the mood for a gripping historical story

[RoobyMurray]

I really enjoyed
This Thing of Darkness - Thomas Harris,
Pure and Ingenious Pain - both by Andrew Miller,
Wild Swans - Jung Chang,
Star of the Sea - Joseph O'Connor,
A Long Long Way - Sebastian Barry
Perfume - Patrick Suskind

Can any of you recommend me something to read next?

CJ Sansom/Shardlake novels
Matthew Kneale/English Passengers

Have you read Judith Kerr's trilogy When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit? For children but extremely readable.

Blimey, you were quick!

thank you, I'v not heard of any of those.

How about "Redemption Falls" which links with "Star of the Sea" or "Wolf Hall" is stunning.

Ooh, I was going to say CJ Sansom too. Recently discovered them, and I've really enjoyed them.

There was something else similar that I picked up from a book swap and I can't think what it was, but I enjoyed it. By a woman. I think I've still got it so I'll have a look on the shelf and tell you.

Hang on.

Song of Achilles. Loved it. Finished in 2 days! A great story.

Oh, that was spooky. It's right at the front of the bookshelf, first place I looked!

The Thomas Chaloner Series by Susanna Gregory. The one I've got is called A Conspiracy of Violence. It's very Matthew Shardlake, but good if you like that sort of thing, which I happen to, so that's alright

The CJ Sansom books are fantastic :)

I was going to say them!

I like Phillippa Gregory's stuff - Tudor period history told from the point of view of the women.

Also Bernard Cornwall, he's done loads of different periods in history: Pre history and myth, Saxon / Vikings, and some stuff set in France in the wars around the 1200s I think (that series wasn't y favourite at all).

Simon Scarrow - a brilliant series of books about two roman soldiers in the army during the invasion of Britian.

I recently read All That I Am by Anna Funder and I loved it. It's set in Germany around the time the Nazis come to power - fairly recent history compared to some of the others recommended but it is certainly gripping!
I have also just started The Song of Achilles, only a couple of chapters in but it's good so far.

Oh brilliant thank you!

I loved Song of Achilles too.

Right, I'll definitely get the CJ Sansom one. And I'll have a look at the other suggestions too.

Another vote for shardlake here. I love Tudor stuff, even the most bodice ripping shire. But its rare you get to see something other of the sixteenth century rather than the court or to a lesser extent, the hovel.

The new Philippa Gregory "Changeling" is good - I haven't finished it yet, but am enjoying it so far, a little over half way through. It has a touch of fantasy too it, not completely realistic so to speak, but is really good.
If you don't mind it being made up history, Maya by Richard Adams he wrote Watership Down but this is nothing like it, it's definitely ADULT is very good, and of epic proportions. It reads like a historical novel in a lot of ways, it's just that the "history in the making" and the revolution etc all take place in a different world to ours. I've read it a couple of times now and thoroughly enjoyed it each time. It's nice and big too, so it lasts a while

Not Maya, Maya is my great neice and I typed from habit. The book is Maia

I love Phillipa Gregory, I have to read with my phone in one hand so I can check it all out online, I'm finding it so fascinating to get to know the era better. I'm just about to start Changeling but can't find it I had it the other day and now it's gone for a walk I think.

What about Rose Tremain? Music and Silence and Restoration are both excellent, and the sequel to Restoration is on the way too.

The Secret River by Kate Grenville tells the story of a convict deported to Australia - families went too, which I hadn't realised - and their attempt to start a new life there.

Three books about the slave trade: Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth, set aboard a slave ship, A Respectable Trade by Philippa Gregory, told by a woman who marries a slave trader, and The Long Song by Andrea Levy which tells the story from the perspective of being brought up in slavery. All really good but quite different in tone.

Finally, The Observations by Jane Harris is a great read, quirky and humorous. Really recommend it.

Second a lot of the above especially the Rose Tremains, and then add in Rory Clement's Elizabethan period books about John Shakespeare (yes, brother of Will). Not as good as Sansom's but enjoyable none the less. I'd also recommend A L Berridge's Honour & the Sword and In the Name of the King which are set in the 30 Year's War in France (same time as The Three Musketeers) or Ken Follett's Pillers of the Earth/World without End.

I love historical fiction-I'm a archaeologist have you read the mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn? Brilliant book one of a trilogy kinda

Yes definitely CJ Sansom. Not essential to read them in order, but it helps, in order to understand some of the character references - start with Dissolution.

Also Karen Maitland's Company of Liars, as recommended to me on here not long ago.

The Name Of The Rose by Umberto Eco.

Wolf Hall and Bringing up bodies by Hilary Mantel.

Second the CJ Sansom trilogy.

Alison Weir writes historical fiction and non fiction - Innocent traitor (Lady Jane Grey) is a great page turner.

The Lost king of France, Deborah Cadbury - story of the search for the dauphin after the Revolution. I could not put this book down, read it over a weekend.

I really enjoyed Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.

OP, if you enjoyed Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor, have you tried any of his novels with a contemporary setting? I find him an interesting author as his work is so varied and his non-fiction stuff is hilarious too.

I second The Name of the Rose. If you're in the mood for something a bit more melodramatic, My Cousin Rachel and The King's General by Daphne du Maurier are both excellent.

Pat Barker's 'Regeneration' trilogy is excellent, highly recommend those (set around/just after 1st WW, with well-known literary figures as characters).

I devoured 'Wolf Hall' and am now onto the sequel. Beats P Gregory into a cocked hat, for my money! (sorry, PG fans ).

I'm sure I have Regeneration somewhere, it's ringing bells for me. I had NO idea it was a trilogy though - I'm going to have to reread it now and find the others.

The other one I enjoyed recently was World Without End by Ken Follett. I don't know where I inherited it from - it appeared in the house one day - but I've read it a couple of times now. I must get my hands on the first one too, which I think is called Pillars of the Earth. The beauty of WWE is that it is a beast of a book - probably about a thousand pages, so it takes me about a week to read it. For context, I can get through CJ Sansom books in 2-3 nights.

I've never read Wolf Hall but I'm going to give that a try now.

Great thread OP, so much inspiration here!

Judith Kerr's trilogy about Anna is not really just children's books - the first one is about a 9 year old and reads as written for children but still very interesting reading for older people. The second book is young adult perhaps but I don't think the third book in the trilogy, in which grown up Anna returns to Berlin to visit her mum who is ill, and understands things about her parents she hadn't before, is at all a children's book.

Coincidentally, Matthew Kneale is Judith Kerr's son. I have yet to try his book though.

How about Sarah Waters, or Stella Duffy's Theodora: Empress, Actress, Whore?