Historical Fictionistas discussion

Having read a number of historical mysteries this last year in my F2F mystery book club, some of the members requested a historical fiction book club. I've really expanded my reading thru this group, but tend to concentrate my personal reading with my favorite time periods (19th and 20th century, with some 18th thrown in).

What was your absolute favorite HF published in the last 5 years?

Since our group will mainly be obtaining titles from the library, we're looking for readily available titles. We're a fun and informal group, so the whole "what was the author's motivation" thing really isn't a factor.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I'm a little confused - are you creating a new HF group on Goodreads?

Historical Fiction is my favorite genre....here are some that I really enjoyed. Good Luck and Happy Reading.

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution
The Winter Sea
The Rose Garden
The Revolt of the Eaglets

The Queen's Pawn
Epitaph for Three Women

The Queens Rival

I'd suggest:
The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb: A Novel and Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
Corrag by Susan Fletcher
The Woman Who Heard Color by Kelly Jones
Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick

Well, if you want to keep at the mysteries and incorporate the HF part there are loads of those, quite a few of late from the inter-war period.
Paul Grossman's series is set in Berlin as the SS is ramping up. Also,
William Ryan has a series set in post-revolution Russia.
A series that would expose you to numerous time periods is written by The Medieval Murderers. This is a group of mystery authors writing some of their regular series characters together. And by together I mean that each chapter/section is by a different author with their own character. They premise is that an item is 'followed' through the each period of the medieval era ending in modern times.
If you're looking for non-mystery stuff within the 19th and 20th centuries, is there a geographic area that you'd prefer? This would also apply to genre and style.

Becky wrote: "I'm a little confused - are you creating a new HF group on Goodreads?"

Sorry for the confusion. This group is so wonderful I would NEVER try to compete with it on GR. This group has been the best thing that I've discovered on the 'net.

The book club we're looking to start is a face to face HF book club at the library where I work.

D wrote: "Well, if you want to keep at the mysteries and incorporate the HF part there are loads of those, quite a few of late from the inter-war period.
Paul Grossman's series is set in Berlin as the SS is..."

Historical mysteries are my preferred genre, so I'm hoping to get suggestions on any time period and location outside of my comfort zone. Our F2F mystery book club read A Trace of Smoke, The Holy Thief: A Novel, The Convict's Sword and Slash And Burn (not actually HF just yet - set in the early 70's!). It was Slash and Burn that actually started the conversation about a HF book club.

Martyr is quite good.
Also, this is technically not really a mystery, but I found that I enjoyed it as there are secrets aplenty in Plague Child. I'll look through my shelves later to offer more suggestions.

Here are a few to look into:

The Paris Wife
The Spanish Bow
The Snow Child
Doc
The Crown

Cheryl wrote: "Becky wrote: "I'm a little confused - are you creating a new HF group on Goodreads?"

Sorry for the confusion. This group is so wonderful I would NEVER try to compete with it on GR. This group ha..."

Ahh, OK. I was worried that you were leaving us! :( Glad to know that's not the case. :)

While I have some real faves before this period, I also have some more up to date in publishing terms. I will have to look up the titles since I'm off to work in a few.

Published in the last 5 years? That's tough since I'm still working on a lot of author's back catalogs. And if you're looking for books readily available from the library, I'm guessing indie books are out too? That rules out a few of my fav historical mystery series. All that's left really is:

Cheryl, you are one of the more voracious readers in the group --- some of the ones that I thought you've already read!

Here are some suggestions --- some are older than 5 years, but I know that I've checked them out of the library. Also, not all are mysteries and some are historical fantasy which may or may not be your cup of tea.
River God by Wilbur A. Smith -- this is an HF classic about ancient Egypt. Smith also has a series about the Courtney family --- I've read several of the them and enjoyed them immensely -- lots of history about South Africa.
A Very Long Engagement by Sébastien Japrisot: a favorite of mine(and my book club) is older as well.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières: also a fav, don't judge by the movie
The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst: This is actually part of a series called the Night Soldiers.....you don't have to read in order -- the stories take place in various countries prior to WWII -- lots of spies and resistance workers
Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland: Enjoyed this one -- she also wrote a trilogy about Josephine which is getting made into a TV mini-series. The trilogy is older but probably available as it is also quite popular.
Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead: Lawhead is a often in the fantasy section because he started as a fantasy writer, but many of his recent works (except the brand new series) are more historical. This is a stand-alone, book which is a sweeping saga of a scribe. He also wrote a trilogy called the Celtic Crusades. He also wrote a trilogy about Robin Hood which is slightly different than the typical legend (especially around the placement) -- this one did have some magical elements.
The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch: just read this for my F2F bookclub (not just HF), everyone really liked it. It is based on the authors ancestors
The Angel Makers by Jessica Gregson: also based on true story...the story is really intriguing but I didn't love the writing. I think there would be some interesting discussion though.
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik: for something really different -- this is a take on the Napoleanic Wars with dragons as part of the military. I LOVED the first book, and I'm not into dragons or anything. There is a lot of good historical detail.

Have fun....there is also a list of Top 10 books in the HF list thread (I think), where folks indicated their top books

JoLene wrote: "Cheryl, you are one of the more voracious readers in the group --- some of the ones that I thought you've already read!

Here are some suggestions --- some are older than 5 years, but I know that I..."

Thanks, JoLene. I really appreciate all the suggestions from everyone - none of which I've read. I'm really in a rut - most of my HF is 20th century and I tend to shy away from "royal" HF, so I really appreciate having a variety of titles to bring to the table at our first meeting in February!

Does 'In the name of the rose,' count as historical fiction? It always seems difficult to pigeonhole. Good luck with your bookgroup.

I would think that would count as HF.

The best HF I've read this year:

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich
The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
Poison by Sara Poole
North River by Pete Hamill

I don't pay a lot of attention to when a book was published, so these may not be what you are looking for, but they are excellent books with lots of room for discussion:

Ten Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Half-Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks

I also heartily second the previous suggestions of
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières:

Stacielynn wrote: "I don't pay a lot of attention to when a book was published, so these may not be what you are looking for, but they are excellent books with lots of room for discussion:

Ten Thousand White Women b..."

In my experience, it's a fine line with book clubs as the reading abilities and reading speeds of the members will vary, so a list like yours is a good choice.