I'm looking for any novel that feels like you're passively learning history. Something that really fills out all the small details, has you looking up words for items that don't exist anymore, and shows you day to day life as well as the larger picture of living in that time period. Something that almost makes you suspicious about how the author even managed to reach this level of detail without having experienced it all themselves.
I don't care when or where the book is set. Specific genre doesn't matter either. I mostly read horror (supernatural elements are welcome) but I'm open to anything.
Looking forward to seeing your suggestions 🙂
by Striking_Delay8205
12 Comments
The Flashman Papers.
*Shagduk* by J.B. Jackson absolutely nails 1977 Texas, right down to the language. It’s about a librarian who in the course of investigating the disappearance of his professor friend discovers arcane magic and accidentally summons an imp. Great fun.
This is a bit of a weird suggestion, but I feel like I learned a ton about Victorian London from reading The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is also great for the 16th century.
The Greenlanders
*Doomsday Book* by Connie Willis. It is meticulously researched historical fiction, the premise of which is that time travel exists and historians use it to study the past first-hand. This particular story (one of several in the Oxford Time Travel series) takes place in the 1300s and is “a record of life in the middle ages” ‐- with a twist.
There’s a series by Ken Follett that might be of interest — the Kingsbridge series (*The Pillars of the Earth*; *World Without End*; *A Column of Fire*; plus a couple more new ones I haven’t read yet). *Pillars* is set in the 1100s, and *World* is set in the 1300s.
*Slammerkin* by Emma Donoghue. Fantastic story that’s based off of the existing facts of a young woman’s life in the 1700s.
Harlem Rhapsody
Have you thought about reading historical novels instead? Like “War and Peace” or “Little Women.”
Elizabeth Gilbert, The Signature of All Things, City of Girls
Bernard Cornwell writes about several historical periods. His Saxon Stories (Last Kingdom) and Sharpe Series about fighting in the Napoleonic Wars (he wrote a history of Waterloo) are pretty well respected…he has many other shorter series as well…
The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin is a murder mystery set in Ottoman Istanbul. MC is a eunuch who has served in the palace and has access to powerful people but who currently lives in the city. Author is a Byzantine historian.
Another murder mystery series starts with A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters. Set in Medieval England. MC is a Welsh crusader turned monk. I had to look up and learn more about the wars and power struggles occurring in England and Wales at the time. The books have a glossary at the back.
Outlander. Yeah the tv show is good but the books are a gazillion times denser than the show can ever be. The incredible amount of detail can be overwhelming. But I feel that if I got sucked into 18th century Scotland I’d fit right in. The books are romantic but they are not Romances with a capital R. I actually had to stop reading them at about volume 5? The details just became overwhelming.
Wolf Hall. nuff said.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Company of Liars by Karen Maitland
– medieval historical mystery with a little bit of magical realism. I think you would enjoy this a lot!