Historical Fictionistas discussion

I am looking for historical fiction recommendations in which daily life of that period of time is portrayed in detail. The stories taking place in Asia (Middle East or China or Japan) are more prefferd. Thanks in advance :)

Hi, I'd suggest The Lover by Laury Silvers for daily life. Set in Baghdad 10th century.

Pavilion of Women: A Novel of Life in the Women's Quarters by Pearl S. Buck, set in early- to mid-20th century China.

The court of the lion by Eleanor Cooney and Daniel Altieri. There are also Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu and Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin

I definitely second the recommendation of ‘The Story of the Stone’ (also called ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ but don’t settle for an abridged version!) by Xueqin Cao — wonderful characters and great detail about daily life of the wealthy in 18th century China. While not historical fiction, I would also recommend Six Records of a Floating Life — it is a short but enjoyable read, very personal and with many details of daily life and I found it interesting to see the similarities and differences with life depicted in ‘The Story of the Stone’.

Always looking for books like this! My last two faves were The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar and Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.

You may raise an eyebrow at my suggestion...

Shogun (James Clavelle) is one of the best HF books I've read. It is an epic story but the minutiae of life in feudal Japan is superbly covered. You even learn a bit of Japanese while reading it.

The thing I liked best about the book was how well the author delved into such alien minds. I was constantly shocked by the choices of the Japanese, and yet they always made perfect sense.

Just brilliant.

From the woman's perspective, there's Betty Bao Lord's novel, . Takes place in Chine about 150 years ago, as I recall.

It's been a while since I read it, but it seemed excellent. I was an Asian studies major in college and lived in China for 6 months and the depiction of that history was good.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Also her Peony in Love.

But really, any good historical novel set in Asia will discuss daily life, even my own.....

This one was fanastic. In the Realm of Ash and Sorrow Gives a great description of life in Hiroshima right before the bomb dropped.