Historical fiction fans - step this way please......

[fatowl]

I'm big fan of historical fiction - I like fairly accurate and gritty compared to bosom heaving and damsels in distress.
I like fictionalised historical events too if well researched and written.

I'm a big fan of Bernard Cornwell and Ken Follet, Phillippa Gregory as well (but she can be a bit hit and miss)
Never got on particularly well with Sharon Penman though - but might give her another go.
Apart from the above I have particularly enjoyed "Katherine" by Anya Seton and the Forest Lord Series about Robin Hood.
I really enjoyed Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd, but his later books were very meh.

Any others I might enjoy? I know there will be some great ones out there I don't know about.

There seems to be tons and tons written about the Wars of the Roses and the Tudors (of varying quality), but not a huge amount about other medieval kings - eg Henry V (But did really enjoy Bernard Cornwell's Azincourt- written from the point of view of one of his archers)

I loved An Instance of the Fingerpost too. I also loved Shardlake, Wolf Hall and The Luminaries and I'm a big fan of Manda Scott and Phillipa Gregory. I've recently discovered Ann Swinfen, who writes mostly about 16th century London. Her books only seem to be available on Kindle - I signed up for a free month's trial of Kindle Unlimited and read them all! Lexie Conyngham and Shirley McKay both write about St Andrews.
Others I would definitely recommend are Bruce Holsinger and Geraldine Brooks.

Following this thread with interest as I love historical fiction but it has to be good stuff.

I love Sharon Penman btw, and loathe Phillippa Gregory. The Sunne In Splendour is one of my favourite books and I loved the characters in that so much that I can't read anyone else's interpretation of The War Of the Roses so the Conn Iggulden series was a no-no for me but others have said that it's not bad.

I love Sarah Waters' books. She just manages to evoke whatever time period she's writing about brilliantly and I think most of her books focus on the Victorian era but she has ventured into the 20's and 40's.

on the strength of this thread, I've just started Conn Iggulden, but can't say he wows me yet. Perhaps I'll try the Sunne in Splendour. Glad someone else loathes P Gregory.

My kind of thread. My too read list has just grown again. I would suggest Alison Weir although like Gregory she can be a bit hot and miss. I read the trilogy by Elizabeth Chadwick about Eleanor of Aquitaine and really enjoyed them. Pat Barker is great for WW1.

if anyone wants to read good historical factual, I would recomment Sarah Gristwood as well.

hit and miss !! Obviously!!

Ariana Franklin ( Diana Norman, the late wife of Barry Norman the film critic)
Love her The Mistress Of The Art Of Death series, is the first of her medieval novels about a female anatomist named Adelia Aguilar.

Reay Tannahill, The Seventh Son is her novel about Richard III. She writes non fiction and fiction.

Boris Akunin. Pelagic And The White Bulldog, is the first of his novels about Sister Pelagia, a Russian nun and detective

Thanks for all those suggestions

Can also second Arianna Franklin historical crime, and Elizabeth Chadwick - prefer her to P Gregory
Don't see a mention of Jules Watson - The White Mare Trilogy - I enjoyed those ( though the last one lost it a bit...)
I really enjoyed the Robert Harris series on Cicero too , ( starts with Imperium) and the stand alone Pompeii.

Sharon Penman (been reading her for decades); ditto Dorothy Dunnet (since I was 18, am now 51); Ellis Peters;Bernard Cornwell; Elizabeth Chadwick, especially the William Marshal books,;Hilary Mantel; the Shardlake series, and for good books on Waterloo and Henry IV and V, Georgette Heyer. An Infamous Army used to be required reading at Sandhurst, and My Lord John is excellent on Richard II/ Henry IV and Henry V, and John, Duke of Bedford.

Diana Norman as Diana Norman, I loved The Vizard Mask and have read most of her others as well.

It was very sad when Diana Norman died as I really would love to know what she had planned next for her characters. I read somewhere that one of her daughters is writing now. It was the same when Ruth Rendell died

Love Conn Iggulden Emporer series (Ancient Rome) and Conqueror series (Genghis Khan)! Pretty intense undertaking as Conqueror is 7 books and Emporer 5 but really incredible stories. At the other end of the scale Deborah Challinor does easy reading trilogies with nuggets of hard history packed in based on New Zealand / Aussie emigration :)

I've found my people and can second the Elizabeth Chadwick recommendations especially the Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy. Fascinating woman!

So many fantastic recommendations! My to read list is growing massively!

Wow, what a great thread!
I have read many of the recommendations, I especially love Manda Scott and Andrew Taylor. Both excellent people as well as great writers.

I loved Sarah Waters' first few books but can't 'get' the Little Stranger and Stronger than Water.

I adore Georgette Heyer, and I don't care if they aren't accurate about life in Regency London and Bath then they should be!

Phil Rickman's books about John Dee are really good; he's a fab writer and a very nice man. (He emailed me personally when I was moaning about some of his books not being available in the early days of Kindle. I was thrilled, I expected some anonymous response)

Stevie Davies' The Awakening and Impassioned Clay are beautifully written, her work is haunting.

I also enjoy historical mysteries, Ellis Peters, Susanna Gregory, Sansom and Parris. Marcus Didius Falco, Lyndsey Davies's Roman hero, has taught me so much about life in the Empire.

Thanks for all the other recommendations on this thread.

A little late in the day (Amazon have changed the email notification time) but I noticed that The Bookseller's Tale by Ann Swinfen is just 99 pence today.
Set in Oxford just after the Black Death, it's a detective story. The author gets rave reviews, and though I've only read a chapter so far, it seems interesting.

Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco series. I find them entertaining and I think her research is good.

I was going to suggest these but forgot the authors 's surname!. I love the description of England as a muddy place with lousy food! I love how before his marraige his mum would come round with a fish dinner for him and remove rope dancers (pre pole dancers) from his bed!!!

Elizabeth Chadwick, especially her Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy
Sharon Kay Penman's Welsh and Angevin trilogies. Sunne in Splendour makes Richard III to be St Dickon of Middleham and I find him very dull.
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles Morland Dynasty books, which have followed the same family from the Wars of the Roses to the 1930s so far. Also her Russian trilogy for anyone interested in Russian history.
Susan Howatch's historical novels all feature a family based on medieval royals, if that makes sense.
Reay Tannahill is great if you like Scottish history.
Dorothy Dunnett is brilliant but requires quite a lot of effort.

There was a BBC dramatisation of the William Golding sea novels in the noughties - IIRC it was Benedict Cumberbatch's big break. It was great but the books are even better.

YY to Mary Renault, esp the Theseus ones. I also like The Praise Singer.

One of my all-time favourite historical novels is Peter Abelard by Helen Waddell. I remember reading the Norah Lofts house series as a teenager and loving them but when I went back the shine had gone off them. And I must re-read Instance of the Fingerpost. I tried another one of his - set in WW2 IIRC but not at all so good.

Oh, have just thought of a brilliant book that is great historical fiction AND one 'where stuff happens' ... double post coming up. It's The Beacon at Alexandria by Gillian Bradshaw. A young woman passes herself off as a eunuch (bear with me) to train as a doctor in 4th century AD Alexandria, and becomes a doctor in the Roman army. Love it.

Thank you for that! I read that book years and years ago and have been wondering about it ever since.

This a great thread

Niminy you're welcome.

The Revenant (forget the film, the book is fantastic)
The North Water (great book, longlisted for last year's Booker Prize)

Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir crime novels featuring Bernie Gunther are good, especially the earlier ones. I think his publishers want a new one annually now and Bernie's getting on but most recently has been residing in Cap Ferrat and helping out W Somerset Maugham.