What to read if you liked Wolf Hall and This Thing Of Darkness?

[Scout2016]

Can anyone recommend something to read for someone who likes historical fiction please? This Thing Of Darkness was a big hit last year. Liked first 2 of Wolf Hall trilogy and OK with some love story type aspects. Likes some Bernard Cornwell too when wanting something a bit less taxing. Interested in social history and architecture too.

I am thinking True Story of Ned Kelly Gang and maybe a Joseph O'Connor?

Try Norah lofts especially the Suffolk trilogy. Have you done Pillars of the Earth? Sharon penman is also amazing

Second Sharon Penman you must read the Sunne in Splendour.

Also, maybe A Gentleman in Moscow

Is it the subject matter you like? Or the Mantel style of writing?

If the latter something like the Susanna Clarke books might suit, they both use rich descriptions rather than fast moving plot.

Little by Edward Carey is good too, embellished historical novel that is written well

And, oh yes, A Gentleman in Moscow is magnificent.

The Shardlake series maybe? Lawyer detective series which starts at the end of Cromwell’s time and go through Henry VIII period as you go through the books. Very good and lots of history in the background

It's not for me sorry, it's for someone else. I think it's subject matter rather than style.

I am familiar with the Susanna Clarke books as DH has read them, I think they might be a bit too magic?

Will look at the others thanks.

What about the Edward Rutherford books? He takes a place and follows a number of families in that place throughout history. Paris and Sarum are both really good.

Restoration by Rose Tremain? Set at the time of Charles II (and a great, entertaining read).

Dorothy Dunnett. The Game of Kings to start with.

I really enjoyed the Mistress of the Art of Death series by Ariana Franklin

Maria McCann - As Meat Loves Salt

Zoe Oldenburg - The World is Not Enough

Some William Boyd novels, maybe Love is Blind; many of his books are set in the past (various periods) and subject matter includes espionage/resistance in wartime, intrigue, and romance.
Under a Pole Star by Stef Penney is about the heyday of polar exploration.
Philippa Gregory; may be a bit lightweight, depending on taste, but she has written many novels set among royalty and aristocracy in the Tudor period. Also some set earlier (Plantagenet times) and later (17th century).
Maybe The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O'Farrell; and Golden Hill, Francis Spufford.

'Man on a Donkey' by Hilda Prescott was the book that Hilary Mantel said inspired her to write Wolf Hall.

It is a sweeping epic and deals with the Pilgrimage of Grace. The writing is fantastic, the characters-a mixture of fictional and real people- are brilliantly drawn and it is meticulously researched.

It come in at about the 1000 page mark, so reading it is a commitment but perfect for snowy days and winter nights.

I've just finished Age of Oblivion by Robert Harris. It got the Sunday Times best Historical Fiction of the Year accolade, if that counts. It's set just after the English Civil War and is about a vengeful prosecutor hunting down the 50 or so men who authorised the execution of King Charles I - the idea being that Oliver Cromwell is dead and Charles' son is now on the throne, generally there's an amnesty but the ones who signed his death warrant are hunted down. In particular he goes after two soldiers who've fled to the East coast of America, well there wasn't much of a West coast back then.

It's engrossing, well written not a murder mystery though. Shardlake is also good though I tend to forget them after they've come and gone.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Some were after I needed to hand the gifts over by I will make a note for future birthdays and Christmases. I went for the first Gengis Khan one, Sunne In Splendour with the Ned Kelly one. I have 2 people I buy for who enjoy these novels so brilliant to have extra ideas.

@MassiveSaladWithChristmasTrimmings
I think I will gift that one day as had heard good things but I worried it might be too similar to Wolf Hall trilogy.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
'Hannah Kent's tightly plotted debut leaves its reader immersed in the Icelandic winter of 1829' - as described by The Guardian
This book has had a view recommendations on MN threads

@SmokeyPaprika I love all her books Smokey and gave one to mother in law Christmas 2021 (Good People, along with a more cheerful option). I don't think my recipients would be keen though, but thsnk you.

Graham Macrae Burnet His Bloody Project is very good but not a happy ending.

What about A Place of Greater Safety if you like Hilary Mantel? It’s her novel about the French Revolution. Or Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell.

I came to recommend A Place of Greater Safety but you’ve beaten me to it! It’s one of the best historical novels ever written and will stay with you long after you finish it. Controversial opinion but it’s better than the Cromwell books in my view.