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Original poster

Medieval/Tudor Fiction

44 replies

DanceWithYourBalloon · 08/09/2023 19:04

I have read everything Philippa Gregory and I've read Elizabeth Chadwick's Eleanor or Aquitaine series.
I've also read her William Marshal series.

What else is out there for me to get my teeth into?

I'm happy with anything medieval to, at a push, restoration.

OP posts:
DaveWatts · 08/09/2023 19:05

Have you read Dorothy Dunnet, A Game of Kings? Quite old now but excellent!

Riverlee · 08/09/2023 19:10

Brother Cadfael (not sure exact time period)

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 08/09/2023 19:11

Nora Lofts - The Concubine, The King's Pleasure
Margaret Irwin - Young Bess, Elizabeth, Captive Princess, Elizabeth and the Prince of Spain, Royal Flush (about Charles II's sister).
Rosemary Hawley Jarman - We Speak No Treason (Richard III) Crown In Candlelight (Henry V and Catherine of Valois), The King's Grey Mare (Elizabeth Woodville).

And a really old one about Catherine Howard - Here Comes the King, by Philip Lindsay, available on Abebooks. Miles better than anything by Gregory or Jean Plaidy.

MyFetch · 08/09/2023 19:14

I’m assuming you’ve read Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy?

highlandcoo · 08/09/2023 19:16

I'm working my way through Alison Weir's Six Tudor Queens; just about to start Ann of Kleve : Queen of Secrets.

Not a light read! Each volume is around 500 pages long. Very well written.

Toddlerteaplease · 08/09/2023 19:22

I enjoyed the Owen Archer mysteries. Set in York in the 1320's.

WhyHasAllTheRumGone · 08/09/2023 19:25

The Kingmaker series by Toby Clements is phenomenal, although definitely for the brave of heart. Really immersive, strong female main character. Set in the late fifteenth century it's a different world from all the Tudor novels about.

Chardonnay73 · 08/09/2023 19:25

Katherine by Anya Seaton is one of my favourites, set in 1300s though, it’s about Katherine Swynford the mistress of John of Gaunt who ultimately became his wife. Brilliant book.

MarchionessOfMayhem · 08/09/2023 19:44

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles The Morland Dynasty! It's excellent Grin

Original poster
DanceWithYourBalloon · 08/09/2023 20:37

Thanks everyone! Lots to get stuck into here.

OP posts:
Afternoonteaandicecream · 08/09/2023 20:55

Sharon Penman - the Welsh trilogy, the Plantagenet books are my fave books set in that sort of period.

Afternoonteaandicecream · 08/09/2023 20:58

Also Robyn Young - her crusade trilogy and her Robert the Bruce trilogy

ElizabethVonArnim · 08/09/2023 21:41

Medieval - if you don't mind older books, the Heaven Tree trilogy by Edith Pargeter (same person as Ellis Peters who wrote Cadfael) is excellent, as is her Bloody Field by Shrewsbury about Henry IV.

Sausagenbacon · 09/09/2023 07:15

Norah Lofts and Dorothy Dunnett. Different ends of the reading experience but both excellent (and historically sound).

lilyfire · 09/09/2023 07:22

CJ Samson - Shardlake books are great for Tudor period.

Mysa74 · 09/09/2023 07:28

Have you tried the shardlake novels by CJ Samson? They're set in the times of Henry v111 and just after, the first starts in 1537, the latest with the protectorship of 11yo prince Edward an era I knew nothing about. They're big books but fascinating and basically historically accurate, they include a reference list of documents used. I can't wait for the next one...

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 09/09/2023 07:30

Sharon Penman - The Queen’s Man series. Set in the twelfth century, and the protagonist works for Eleanor of Aquitaine. Medieval detective fiction, like Cadfael (which I love and re-read so often!)

Talipesmum · 09/09/2023 07:32

Echo the Dorothy Dunnett recommendations (amazing but very dense and initially hard to follow - I needed to read a “recap” type thing a bit like I do with a densely plotted tv show)

Also the shardlake books, cj Samson are excellent, as mentioned above. Bang in the middle of Henry VIIi / Cromwell time period.

For Henry II period, I like the “Mistress of the Art of Death” series by Ariana Franklin - the lead character is a female coroner working for Henry II.

FortunaMajor · 09/09/2023 07:33

Ann Swinfen's Oxford Medieval series is good but she died mid way through the series leaving a lot unresolved.

I also have a soft spot for Susanna Gregory's Matthew Bartholomew series, but they do get a bit samey after a while. There are 25 in the series in which a doctor and a monk turn crime fighting duo.

WolfFoxHare · 09/09/2023 09:24

Ah I was going to recommend these. The Heaven Tree is perfection. The Marriage of Meggota by the same author is also superb.

Not on the same level but also pretty good are Elizabeth Chadwick’s Wild Hunt trilogy.

WolfFoxHare · 09/09/2023 09:24

ElizabethVonArnim · 08/09/2023 21:41

Medieval - if you don't mind older books, the Heaven Tree trilogy by Edith Pargeter (same person as Ellis Peters who wrote Cadfael) is excellent, as is her Bloody Field by Shrewsbury about Henry IV.

I meant to quote the above in my last post!

Trolltrotters · 09/09/2023 09:29

I've just bought Ann Swinfen's murder mystery series on Kindle. They're really good, and I'm a fan of the books you've mentioned and enjoyed.

Not about high profile figures as such, but some nice readings about 14c life.

Trolltrotters · 09/09/2023 09:31

Oops sorry to cross post with @FortunaMajor

SuicideIsPainless · 09/09/2023 09:34

Pillars of the Earth trilogy- Ken Follett

Sourisblanche · 09/09/2023 09:42

My favourites already mentioned, Anya Seaton, Sharon Penman etc.

I’m reading Kate Mosse’s books this summer, historical fiction set in France.