Lately, I’ve been into historical fiction — books set in the past with real historical events, but fictional characters. So far, I mostly know Ken Follett. Pillars of Earth, Fall of Giants etc. Long books are my favourite.
I also vaguely remember reading a book as a kid/teenager about two teenagers on a quest to find the Garden of Eden or was it an apple… but I can’t remember the title.
Does anyone recognize it or have recommendations?
by Leopatto
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Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter… amazing amazing book. You REALLY are left wondering if Honest Abe fought vamps
Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
Wolf Hall and it’s 2 sequels – Hilary Mantel – by far the best historical fiction I’ve ever read – chronicles the life of Thomas Cromwell adviser to Henry VIII (if you listen to audiobooks, I especially recommend the audiobooks narrated by Ben Miles, who played Cromwell on the stage)
Daphne Du Maurier wrote several historical novels including Jamaica Inn; The King’s General, and The Glassblowers
The Brother Cadfael books by Ellis Peters are shorter but fun murder mysteries about a monk, set in the 12th century during the war between Stephen and Matilda.
The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco – is much longer book about a medieval monk who solves murders, but also about religion and religious orders in medieval Europe. Some of the theology and Latin was over my head, but you don’t need to understand it all to love the book and the story.
Boon Island Kenneth Roberts
The Oxford Time Travel books by Connie Willis. The general idea is that historians use time travel to study the past first-hand. There are several in the series (they’re all related but standalone works):
*Doomsday Book* takes place in the 1300s and is “a record of life in the middle ages” with a twist.
*Blackout/All Clear* specifically focuses on WWII. Willis interviewed all sorts of folks on the civilian front lines in London, and England as a whole, like ambulance drivers and fire watchers and WAACs and Wrens, adding a level of authenticity that’s quite rare.
*To Say Nothing of the Dog*, also by Willis, takes place in the late 1800s and is a comedic romp through chaos inspired by Jerome K. Jerome’s book *Three Men in a Boat*.
Finally, *11.22.63* by Stephen King. A man goes back in time trying to prevent the assassination of JFK. Meticulously researched and a brick of a book, but thoroughly enjoyable. There’s an adapted mini series, too.
Four Treasures of the sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang
We Are Not Your Free by Traci Chee
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins Valdez
Go as a River by Shelley Read
Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly
Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer
Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
A Thousand Times Before by Asha Thanki
Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames
The Huntress by Kate Quinn
A Hope Divided by Alyssa Cole
The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
Under a Painted Sky by Stacy Lee
Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
The Girls We Sent Away by Megan Church
All You Have to Do Is Call by Kerri Maher
Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Cleopatra’s Moon by Vicky Alvear Schecter
“The Hornet’s Nest” by Jimmy Carter is set during the American Revolution in the southern colonies, mostly South Carolina and Georgia