You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

I find that I really like it when I'm reading historical fiction and it is actually based on the life of a real person, but someone not very well-known.

Just two examples come to mind now, The Invention of Wings which is about Sarah Grimke, and The Miniaturist which I'm currently reading, about Petronella Oortman.

Do you know of any other books like this?

I read An Expert in Murder a while back. That uses Josephine Tey who wrote The Daughter of Time as the main character. I didn't get all the ins and outs of it, as I didn't realise she was a real person at the time (panicked U pick up for the alphabet challenge).

Picnic at Hanging Rock was inspired by the disappearance of an actual group of school girls at Hanging Rock in 1900.

The Red Tent is debatable about real depending on your personal view of the Bible. But talks about Jacob, his wives and his 12 sons (including Joseph and his bloody larey dreamcoat) from the perspective of his only daughter, Dinah. The Bible is very much from the men's perspective. The Red Tent is where the women were exiled to once a month, and this gives their insight into this part of history.

I'm sure there is more, but something to get you started at 1.30am :)

Oh. And I guess your definition of "Famous" depends on what you know, what you were taught, where you live, what you like, etc. So apologies if these are more famous than what or who you mean.

Thanks Rusalka! You're right about the last part. But Sarah Grimke for example was very important for female rights, and she's from a city in the US (don't remember exactly which one right now), and even the author who grew up there, had never heard of her before.

Same goes for Petronella Oortman (I think), who is not a very important person for something she did, but whose name was attached to a museum piece and that made the author curious.

Oh I completely take your point. But my point is, people I know and recognise here in Aus, will be different to who you know and recognise in The Netherlands, and that will be different again for those who live in the UK, Canada, States, India, South America, etc. Moving target is the only thing I mean lol

I read Fever last year which is about Thypoid Mary, the first women to be discovered as a carrier of the disease but not get sick from it herself. Set in the US,although Mary originated from Ireland.

Ride the Wind is the fictionalized, but fact centered story of Cynthia Ann Parker. She was taken by Comanche Indians from a white settlement. The Comanche raised her as their own and she married one of their chiefs. The real tragedy was the white people taking her back in her 30's against her will and her basically dying of a broken heart. True and so sad.

Did you read Burial Rites, Peggy?

I love historical fiction too.


Burial Rites about Agnes Magnusdottir, the last woman to be executed on Iceland... oh, but then you've read it.

The Whip about Charlotte "Charley" Parkhurst (1812-1879) who lived most of her extraordinary life as a man in the old west.

Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen (self explanatory)

Lady of the Butterflies is based on the life of the great 17th century entomologist, Eleanor Glanville

The Last Nude - Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka

Remarkable Creatures - Mary Anning, who has a talent for finding fossils, and whose discovery of ancient marine reptiles such as that ichthyosaur shakes the scientific community and leads to new ways of thinking about the creation of the world.

Clara and Mr. Tiffany - Clara Driscoll the head of the women's division of the Tiffany Studio and her impact on the development of the leaded glass lamps.

Hild is about St. Hilda of Whitby. It's very, very good.

The Chaperone is about Louise Brooks, silent movie star. (incidentally also my profile picture)

The Twentieth Wife about Mehrunnisa, daughter of Persian exiles and wife to Emperor Jahangir.

Rusalka wrote: "I read An Expert in Murder a while back. That uses Josephine Tey who wrote The Daughter of Time as the main character. I didn't get all the ins and outs o..."

More about Bible-figures; Marianne Fredriksson wrote 3 books about: Eva, her sons and her daughter (not mentioned in the Bible - but well the Bible is mostly about men anyway...) and also According to Mary Magdalene.

I read Burial Rites and loved it! Can't believe I forgot it in the first post. I'm going to look into all other suggestions tomorrow, they sound interesting!

Like Rusalka said, it depends on who you know of and who you don't. I thought this one was a very interesting story. Winston's War It is HF, but has some very interesting facts too. I thought the story was very well written.

Since you're Dutch, Peggy, you could also read the book I'm now reading (for the challenge of this month): De reis van de gazelle by Gerrit Barendrecht. I think it is very interesting. It is about ships and people trying to get frozen meat from South America or Australia to Europe. One of the inventors of the freezing technologies is Ferdinand Carre. He is one of those, not very famous, but real persons. You can look him up on wikipedia. The book isn't really about him, more about the technology he invented.
It is also about a young captain and his ship and a young widow trying to survive in a world which doesn't want them.

Thanks for all the suggestions :)

I also thought of The Island. It does not feature real people, but a real island, Spinalonga, near Crete, Greece. The island was used as a lepra colony in the first half of the 20th century. A small part of the book is set in the present and not all that fantastic, but the largest part is set in the past and is great. I received it as a present from a friend who is from Crete originally, and it actually made me interested in the HF genre :)

Just thought of Pope Joan - Pope Joan, according to legend, reigned as Pope for a bit during the Middle Ages. This was widely believed for centuries but modern scholars have discounted it as fiction. I've not read it yet but I own the book - it does sound fascinating.

Sarah wrote: "Just thought of Pope Joan - Pope Joan, according to legend, reigned as Pope for a bit during the Middle Ages. This was widely believed for centuries but modern scholars have discounted..."

I seem to have rated it four starts although I have no recollection about the details of the book (I know I own it though).

Sarah wrote: "Just thought of Pope Joan - Pope Joan, according to legend, reigned as Pope for a bit during the Middle Ages. This was widely believed for centuries but modern scholars have discounted..."

I have that one waiting in the wings to read. It was a group read in our group a few years back.

Maybe that's how it ended up on my list Janice - I know a few members have given it very high ratings and good reviews.

I finished Lilac Girls, a story waved from the point of view of three women, two of them real: Herta Oberheuser, a Nazi doctor who practiced surgical experiments in women prisoners in Ravensbruck, and Caroline Ferriday, a New York socialite who among many other things help the victims of this experiments come to the US to receive appropriate medical attention. The third one is one of this victims, a woman who is not inspired in a specific prisoner, but in many of them. Very interesting. And sad.
As far as I can see doing some Wikipedia research, the historical facts in the book are pretty accurate.
Caroline Ferriday was a remarkable woman. She dedicated her life to help others. One of his most important works was supporting orphans in France, specially during WWII. Bringing the "rabbits" to America the last thing she put efforts on. I'm really grateful to this author for making her life come to the spotlight. Mrs. Ferriday really deserves it.

Sandra - I really want to read that one. I received an ARC of it and haven't had a chance to read it yet. I have to stop putting it aside.

I'd say that it is a great historical fiction, Kristie. If you enjoy the genre, you'll probably like it.

I had that on my tbr already but I'm now extra excited to read it. Thanks Sandra!