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Original poster

Historical. Fiction or non fiction.

55 replies

PeachesMcLean · 18/04/2008 21:54

I read very infrequently and would like some recommendations please.

I read three of the Philippa Gregory ones last year and really enjoyed them. I like the historical side of it, the detail, but am wary of stuff that is just heaving bosoms in period dresses.

Am I being a snob? Did I really just give in to my inner Barbara Cartland? What do you think?

Or perhaps a good biography? Not averse to a bit of reality. the Duchess of Devonshire one was very good when i read that many moons ago. Anything similarly good? Perhaps about strong women rather than men.

What do you think?

OP posts:
Elasticwoman · 18/04/2008 22:00

Page-turner memoir by Jennifer Worth, about being a midwife in the East End of London in the 1950s. Can't remember exact title.

Then there's Stella Tillyard's The Aristocrats.

Original poster
PeachesMcLean · 19/04/2008 11:15

Thanks elasticwoman, I'll check those out.

No one else have any suggestions???

OP posts:
poodlepusher · 19/04/2008 19:39

I think history books are actually very interesting (having done History A level a few times to get the right grade...)

I'll have to look up authors, but short books entirely about the Russian Revolution, the rise of the Labour Party 1945-51 etc I do remember actively enjoying.

Not sure about Historical Fiction. Blurs the lines a bit. Like Polliakof's the Lost Prince I think its probably fascinating but I can't take it seriously because I feel the information is unreliable / inaccurate and neither here nor there in terms of fiction or history.

Sorry, long and somewhat negative reply.

Buckets · 21/04/2008 17:50

I've recently developed a taste for Regency bonkbusters thanks to this author. She's very amusing, the men are lovely and you meet the characters again in different books. Nothing wrong with a bit of escapism , if you ever need a pickmeup next time you're in the library, have a look.

marina · 21/04/2008 17:54

Alison Weir is good on Eleanor of Aquitaine, an extraordinary woman of the early Middle Ages.
In fact Alison Weir might be just up your street, she has also written on the six wives of Henry VI and on Mary Queen of Scots

throckenholt · 21/04/2008 17:56

I would recommend the Sharon Penman books - very detailed history with a human aspect - not at all Barbara Cartland. Similar to Philippa Gregory - but I think better.

Wheelybug · 21/04/2008 17:57

Alsion weir has recentlyish written her first fiction book as well - about Lady Jane Grey. Can't remember what its called, I have it but haven't read it yet (Innocent Traitor possibly ?).

I read A biog of Emma Hamilton (England's Mistress I think it was called) last year for book club and everyone loved it - it was quite an easyish read and we felt we learned a lot.

I too love Phillipa Gregory and another friend that does has recommened the C J Samsone books - particularly the trilogy that starts with Dissolution. Again, on my bookshelf but unread.

throckenholt · 21/04/2008 18:02

also the Cynthia Harrod Eagles - Morland series is good - starts in about 1500 and goes through to Victorian times (not sure how far she has got - must check what the latest one is). Based on one family and how they coped with historical events. Fiction - but pretty good detail.

hanaflower · 21/04/2008 18:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

throckenholt · 21/04/2008 18:03

just checked - she has now got through to WW1 - will have to order some from the library me thinks. And Sharon Penman has some new ones too.

Thanks for this thread - I thought I had exhausted these authors years ago - but looks like they have been busy.

ellingwoman · 21/04/2008 18:05

Yes C J Samsone very good.

Have read Sovereign and and just about to start next one. It's set in Tudor times and the main character is a lawyer.

saltire · 21/04/2008 19:29

Some historical fiction I enjoy. I liked the Other Boleyn Girl and the Boleyn inheritance, yet other books in a similar vein i don't like. catherine cookson, now there's an example, i don't like her books.

saltire · 21/04/2008 19:30

I also read Mrs Simpson last year(although maybe that's not exactly history), which was good, and a book about Mary, Queen of scots which again was good. both non fiction

Original poster
PeachesMcLean · 21/04/2008 19:33

Wow, lots to go off here! I'll have to take the thread to Waterstones and have a rummage round. Thanks all.

OP posts:
misspollysdolly · 21/04/2008 19:41

Just just written this in another post, but Tracey Chevalier's books are fab! Fiction but based on something historical and real. Esp love Girl with a pearl earring, though also really liked Falling Angels set around the suffragette movement. They are great IMO and easy to read (and re-read).

RustyBear · 21/04/2008 19:43

Alison Weir has now written a second fiction book - about Elizabeth I's childhood - called The Lady Elizabeth.

Wheelybug · 21/04/2008 20:16

rusty - have you read the first one about lady jane grey ? Is it good ?

Rose99 · 21/04/2008 20:27

Sharon Penman is very good, especially "The Sunne in Splendour" about Richard 111.

RustyBear · 21/04/2008 20:50

I found it a bit disconnected as it keeps switching from one narrator to another & I don't tend to find Lady Jane a very interesting charater tbh

I did enjoy the Elizabeth one - though as she admits in her post script she does go very much 'against her instincts as a historian' - I won't say in what respect as it would spoil the story

Flynnie · 21/04/2008 21:01

If there was a fire I have to confess I would have to save my collection of Julie Garwood novelsafter the dds of course!

Wheelybug · 21/04/2008 21:10

thanks rusty - I won't rush it up the TBR pile yet then !

tealady · 21/04/2008 21:24

The Josephine Bonaparte trilogy by Sandra Gulland had me completely hooked here

It is written in diary style but with plenty of historical fact.

Original poster
PeachesMcLean · 21/04/2008 21:44

So of all the fiction authors, who has the best reputation for historical accuracy?

And of the non fiction ones, who do you think is the most entertaining?

OP posts:
marina · 22/04/2008 11:01

Jean Plaidy was always accurate, I felt
She is little mentioned these days but I devoured her novels as a teenager
It's sort of fiction/non-fiction but my all-time favourite read has to be The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey. A cleverly constructed riposte to the generally held view that Richard III had his nephews murdered in the Tower of London. Great fun.
Alison Weir is also reliable IMO.
And even dear Anya Seton of Katherine fame did her research thoroughly as far as she could, and freely admits what she has made up in the preface
She even went to Kettlethorpe

pageturner · 22/04/2008 11:07

Just have to second marina on Josephine Tey, daughter of Time is wonderful. Would disagree about Alison Weir's accuracy, however, in her non-fiction as well as her fiction...but that's just a personal bugbear! Jean Plaidy was good (and accurate), read loads when younger, and Anya Seton too. I loved Sunne in Splendour too, read it alongside Daughter of Time and you could have the makings of an obsession!