Any advice for a Hilary Mantel 'style' historical fact/fiction book?

[CheCheChe]

Hi all - My partner loved the Hilary Mantel 'Wolf Hall' Trilogy of books.
She has kind of hinted that if I could find a similar style, well written, historical fictionalised story of the time before that Wolf Hall era, then it would be gratefully accepted as the best Christmas present in years.
Could anybody recommend one or more please?
Thanks in advance

I second the recommendation for Dorothy Dunnett - like Hilary Mantel she was utterly committed to research and to building a complete portrait of the historical period and milieu, and her books are literary and intricately plotted, the work of a master.

The excellent Lymond series as mentioned above is set just after the Wolf Hall time period. If your partner wants something set earlier, Dorothy Dunnett's other series which starts with the book "Niccolo Rising" is set in the second half of the C15th so fits the bill in terms of timeline.

I recently read a great couple of books set across the English civil war/interregnum/restoration period. Great stories but also rich with historical detail. I think one was called The Puritan Princess?

Manda Scott - Boudica series starting with Dreaming the Eagle. Wonderful series that I could not put down, factually well-researched and imaginatively embellished, with very evocative writing.

I was bereft after finishing the series, and was very glad when Wolf Hall came along. I have also recently read The Man on a Donkey and although I really enjoyed it, I did struggle to keep up with some of the characters, but it is a fantastic counterpoint to HM's trilogy.

A Place of Greater Safety is brilliant.

Maybe Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle trilogy. Similarly dense and complex fictionalised account with many real historical figures. Takes a bit of time to get into but it's brilliant.

Wolf Hall has ruined me for fiction - nothing I've read since has matched up to her writing. I shall try some of the recs here.
I did try an Alison Wier novel recently and couldn't get beyond the first few pages, I thought it was very poorly written.
I've also picked up a couple of non-fiction books by Tracey Borman from charity shops and am hopeful they'll provide a good read

I did try an Alison Wier novel recently and couldn't get beyond the first few pages, I thought it was very poorly written

I haven't read all Weir's works but the only one that's halfway readable in her non-fiction is Eleanor of Aquitaine. My copy of The Lady in The Tower had so many marginal notes disagreeing with AW that I had to throw rather than donate it.

OP - Rosemary Hawley Jarman, books about Richard III, Elizabeth Woodville and Katherine of Valois. Very well written, plotted and researched.

Dorothy Dunnett is a favourite here too - with similarly literary style and much careful reading required. I prefer her 'Niccolo' series and this has an earlier setting.

(I'm only at the beginning of the Lymond ones.)

This is brilliant. It really stayed with me afterwards. I also loved The Manningtree Witches.

Not British history but what about the Kristen Lavransdatter trilogy by Sigrid Undset and translated by Tiina Nunnally. Set in 11th century Norway it's the story of a fictional woman set in a historically accurate world. Please ensure you read the Tiina Nunnally translation though, the earlier translation has a tendency to go a bit 'ye olde worlde'.

Agree with pp that the Sharon Penman novels are great reads, much better than Gregory although not comparable with Mantel.

If you're after genuinely high literature with an historical focus may I also suggest the Henri Quatre series by Heinrich Mann (brother of Thomas.) Strikes some of the same undertones Wolf Hall does even though it was written much earlier - the rise of modernity and a sort of sceptical humanism opposed to traditional faith/ideology.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/227232-henri-quatre

Kate Mosse Languedoc Trilogy.

I've not read the Languedoc Trilogy, but Kate Mosse is really not in the same league as Hilary Mantel.

Agreed , but her books are historically accurate and that’s one of the things he asked for. Not many are on a par with HM. Certainly not Philippa Gregory as some have suggested.

I loved Wolf Hall too.

Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell are both great historical fiction. I cried when I read Hamnet, and I very rarely cry over a book. It was beautiful.
The Olivia Manning trilogies are worth a look. She's not quite as good a writer as O'Farrell or Mantel, but as good or better than Follet.
Also Pat Barker's First World War fiction is very very good. Regeneration trilogy is excellent.
And her novels about the Greek women at Troy.
I love really well written literary fiction, will keep an eye on this thread for other recommendations.
What about novels written in another period? I also love Middlemarch by George Eliot, which covers all kinds of themes: family relationships, politics, human frailties... great insight into social and economic issues of the mid 19th century and brilliantly well developed characters.

"The Second Sleep" by Robert Harris?

Such good recommendations @WellWoman! Middlemarch really is the greatest novel of all time imo, it’s just utterly stunning. And Hamnet was so perfect I’m almost scared to start The Marriage Portrait!

@peachgreen Middlemarch is also my favourite novel ever. Very nice to hear it has a big place in your heart too! 😘

Cecily by Annie Garthwaite - set in the War of the Roses, and both well researched and also well written.

And anything by Helen Castor (eg Joan of Arc). Actually non fiction but written in a fiction style and very readable.

Second Pat Barker Silence of the Girls and Women of Troy. Excellent although quite harrowing.

Rose Tremain. Lots of her books will fit this criteria. Brilliant writer.

What about novels written in another period? I also love Middlemarch by George Eliot, which covers all kinds of themes: family relationships, politics, human frailties... great insight into social and economic issues of the mid 19th century and brilliantly well developed characters.

George Elliot wrote a historic novel, Romola, set in 15th century Florence. Not for everyone admittedly but I thought it was interesting.

Walter Scott wrote historic novels which were enormously influential at the time but are not read very much these days. I've only read 'The Pirate', it was (loosely) based on the true story of the pirate John Gow that 'The Pirates of Penzance' was. His books I think are quite gothic and romantic so don't have the same psychological complexity that Hilary Mantel's do.

Another vote for Dorothy Dunnett, either Lymond or Niccolo series. Very densely plotted, and I have been lost down many Wikipedia/internet rabbit holes learning more about things I had had no clue about (the Timbuktu trade routes, the siege of Malta, the Kings of Cyprus, the vestiges of the Ottoman Empire…..just so many)

The Winter Pilgrims series by Toby Clements (starting with Kingmaker) is set in the Wars of the Roses and has a wonderful sense of place and time. I felt that I learned so much about the period as well as being gripped by the plot. I was genuinely gutted when I'd finished it. Hilary Mantel gave it a ringing endorsement, which I think was fully justified.

The winter pilgrims is seconded here! Super series.
Master and Commander series too is brilliant written by Patrick O'Brien but about 300 years after wolf hall

I’m slightly obsessed with Tudor history and loved the Hilary Mantell books. Another one I also really enjoyed was Margaret George’s Autobiography of Henry VIII. I’ve also read her book on Cleopatra. Both very detailed, well written and like Mantel, she really did her research. Another vote as well for anything by Edward Rutherford; his books Sarum, Roma and London are also excellent, juicy reads and I loved his style of weaving different stories and characters throughout the development of each city from its very beginnings.