Historical Fictionistas discussion

Since I'm somewhat new here, I thought I'd start this thread to see how others got stuck into the historical genre and get to know some of you in the process.

Personally, I was visiting Edinburgh sometime after graduating from university, and visited Hollyrood Palace. Now, you've got to get a souvenir, right? So, instead of veering to the typical I-went-to-Scotland-and-all-I-got-was-this-xxx, I went to the bookshelf and bought Margaret George's Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles. Read it and immediately read her other books: The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers and Elizabeth I.

This period also coincided with my interest in the differences between Catholic and Protestant beliefs and the split in the Church - so Historical Fiction during the Tudor period fit right in.

From there, I branched out into the Plantagenets, French and Italian rennaissance history - and now I'm fervently devouring everything Richard III in light of the recent discovery of his bones. I've always been a Ricardian after Sharon Kay Penman's The Sunne in Splendour, so it's an exciting time.

As an aside, Elizabeth Chadwick's The Greatest Knight made me fall in love with William Marshal and has spoilt men for me for an eternity! That's how much some of my favourite authors have breathed life their characters for me :)

Look forward to reading your stories!

Sharpe for me, I guess.

Although I'd read Alexander Cordell, Wilbur Smith and others I never considered them HF as a genre, just action-adventure set in the past. Nowadays I tend to read mostly HF (and HNF) apart from a few favourite authors in other genres.

Funny how life changes you :)

I've told this story somewhere before but... As a very young teen my next door neighbor moved. He left behind boxes of paperback books. Most were men's adventures full of exotic locals, swarthy heros, and curvy women (I'm sure I'm due years of therapy - I'll have to get that someday).

One of the books was titled 'The Mountain Man' I think. A researched story about a young orphan taken on by a trapper, taught the ropes, and attended the yearly gathering of mountain men somewhere up in the Northwest. Disney finally made a movie, 'Andy Burnett' I think. Anyway, history came alive.

I soon found Thomas B. Costain, Shellenburger (sic), Michener, etc. 'Never looked back.

Jonathan wrote: "Funny how life changes you :) "

More like, funny how reading changes your life!

Joanne wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Funny how life changes you :) "

More like, funny how reading changes your life!"

That too!! :)

From my erliest days I remember loving historical fiction. It might have begun when I was in grade read biographies about the early presidents for book reports or when I read the All of a Kind Family books which were about a Jewish family living on the lower east side. When I got to high school, I fell in love with books like Gone With the Wind, Desiree and books by Anya Seton especially Katherine. Then I began reading saga type books by Taylor Caldwell and Susan Howatch. To tell the truth, some days I wish I had never read these books so I could read them for the first time now.

If you have anu suggestions for saga type books from a hundre years ago or more, please post them.

My fascination with the past started young, when I read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books when I was about eight years old. Ever since, I have always gravitated toward historical fiction. I also became fascinated with British royalty at a young age as my grandparents were from London and we used to visit the Tower of London and Hampton Court on our visits to England. I remember reading a lot of westerns, and historical romance as a teen, books I would probably consider trash now, but it fostered a life long love of historical fiction.

Nancy wrote: "If you have anu suggestions for saga type books from a hundre years ago or more, please post them."

Try Sharon Kay Penman's Plantagenet series; and Elizabeth Chadwick's books. You'll fall in love with English medieval history, I promise!

My older brother was assigned Tom Sawyer as a summer read while in high school. Oddly enough, he left it lying around for most of the summer and being a bored 8 year old I picked it up. And read it. Which was something he and my cousins, who'd also been assigned the book and who lived across the street from our family, failed to do by summer's end. I told the story to my sisters and our friends and we played Tom Sawyer all summer long.

The Little House books were next, then the Betsy-Tacy series and then dozens of the other wonderful hf fiction written for children in the decades preceding the 1960's. And of course; Little Women. In my early teens I discovered Thomas Costain; Gwen Bristow; Anya Seton; Lloyd C Douglas and then I moved on to James Clavell; Taylor Caldwell; Frank Slaughter; Betty Smith and countless others; reading and rereading my favorites.

And then there were the bodice rippers of the 1970's. Thankfully, that was a short lived phase. Interspersed with those authors were high fantasy works, which I link with historical fiction, because they so often take place in a medieval or dark ages setting.

When everyone else my age was eyeball deep in Harlequin Romances, I read Regencies to be "different." (My mom wouldn't let me dye my hair black or pierce anything). I guess a shrink would say I was trying to escape the "now" but I just knew that I was enjoying reading about things I could understand "unrequited love, yada yada" combined with things about which I knew nothing. When my mom started researching our family tree and discovered relatives in the branches who had fought on opposing sides in our American Civil War, I was hooked on learning more about that era. On a visit to a battlefield in Chattanooga, the docent mentioned a woman who had been discovered wearing a soldier's uniform, and that sparked a more finite interest that culminated in my first novel Behind The Grey. For years I soaked up every bit of literature I could find that even remotely mentioned that era of our history. Today I also read (and write)a lot of "chick lit" set in modern day, paranormals and mysteries... but my first love for reading AND for writing will always be historical fiction. Since I can't actually live in that era, I can at least spend a goodly portion of my reading and writing hours there!

Hi Bobbye,

Looks like we're kindred spirits! Only your soul is wearing gray and mine; federal blue. I also wrote a novel of the American Civil War with a heroine who disguises herself as a man. But my girl enlists in a Minnesota regiment. My inspiration was a biography of Emma Edmonds entitled The Mysterious Private Thompson. Although Private Thompson never makes an appearance in my story, I hope my heroine has at least of a portion of the grit and determination of the amazing Private Thompson.

In elementary school we had to read a book about the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (I don't remember the name of the author or the title) and I fell in love with being transported there, also by the action. Then we read The Count of Monty Cristo and if there had been any question about liking historical fiction, it was answered. I never looked back. Though I don't read exclusively HF, I'd say most of what I read is.

Jonathan wrote: "Sharpe for me, I guess.

Although I'd read Alexander Cordell, Wilbur Smith and others I never considered them HF as a genre, just action-adventure set in the past. Nowadays I tend to read mostly HF..."

Sharpe as well, especially when the TV series first aired in the 1990s.

I was reading biographies of the presidents and other famous folk when in elementary school but they didn't spark my interest in Historical Fiction. I think it might have started with those sagas mentioned by others. Including Susan Howatch, James Michener, Herman Wouk. My interest is still with English & American HF.

I think my first memory of an obsession of getting through a series of HF books was the Gwen Bristow Plantation trilogy, Deep Summer, The Handsome Road, This Side of Glory. I read them one summer when I was a teen. Then I went on to Gone with the Wind and I was forever hooked with this genre.

History was already such a love for me and I decided that would be my college major. After college I so loved the books of Taylor Caldwell and then John Jakes and Herman Wouk.

Now that I am retired with lots of reading time I read all genres and try to mix it up but HF is and always will be my favorite. When I need a comfort read, it has to be HF.

I think, if I really had to go back and figure out where it started, it would be with fairy tales and the stories of King Arthur and Robin Hood. Reading those gave me a taste for heroes, which also lead to my love of romance. But I also loved reading about historical time periods. I also went through a period in elementary school when I read biographies. But then I graduated to regency romance (still a favorite) and also the big blockbuster books. A favorite was R. F Delderfields God Is an Englishman.

My favorite authors in this genre now are Sharon Kay Penman and Elizabeth Chadwick. I also like Helen Hollick and Bernard Cornwall. For non-fiction - Barbara Tuchman is amazing as is Stephen Ambrose.

Kathleen wrote: "Hi Bobbye,

Looks like we're kindred spirits! Only your soul is wearing gray and mine; federal blue.

Nice to meet you! I'll look for your book. Always thrilled to find more info in the form of fiction or non! And, I have never seen the world as being black or white...there is always a lot of grey, thus the name of my book. My soul wears both colors happily,and my main character did too. She starts out fighting for the Confederacy but when she realizes the similarities between those of both sides, she too is conflicted and, although she doesn't bear arms while wearing it, she does don a Union uniform.

Nancy wrote: "From my erliest days I remember loving historical fiction. It might have begun when I was in grade read biographies about the early presidents for book reports or when I read the All of a Kind Fam..."

Try the Jalna series by Mazo de la Roche. Ontario, circa 1870s. The books date from 1927 and up, not quite 100 years, but close. And they are, improbably, on Kindle, should you happen to own a Kindle-compatible device.

C.S. Forester,
Margaret Mitchell
R.F.Delderfield (& He is an Englishman :-o) )
even Richmal Crompton
after all in the 50's when I grew up, William's era of the 30's was HF

I forgot Howard Spring & H.G. Wells -

I've always loved reading HF, but I fell into writing it when we moved to Jacksonville, Florida and visited Kingsley Plantation. I learned about an amazing person - Anna Kingsley (Anta Majajeen Jai) and determined to write her story. Once I started the research, I became hooked on doing historical research and have been doing that ever since. My 6th book comes out in 2 weeks.

I believe the first HF books that I read, in junior high school, were written by Thomas Costain. Although I didn't read all that much until I went to college, I always had an interest in history. Reading MacKinlay Kantor's "Andersonville" got me focused on HF. Michael Shaara's "Killer Angels" really impressed me. I've read all of the Winston Graham Poldark novels and all of Patrick O'Brian's seafaring novels. I've read five of A. B. Guthrie Jr.'s novels of the West. I'm looking forward to reading another novel by Wallace Stegner.

I actually could not abide history at school. As someone smarter than I once commented: 'history, it's just one damned thing after another!' Then, however, I started researching my own family history. Not only did I find some grisly murders, which led to my writing two novels based on those cases, but it got me interested in history in general, as I found it useful to fit my ancestors into their historical context. Next, I found myself joining a local history and heritage group and researching the history of our lovely English village. I became the group's wordsmith and am now publishing also a series of little popular local history books.

I prefer the HF of course, since it allows me to pursue an 'emotional truth' and to postulate on the reasons why historical characters did what they did.

It was a happy day for me when I learned that not only did the Three Musketeers count as HF, but it was on the top 100 books of all time list. Two birds with one stone!

Joanne wrote: "Nancy wrote: "If you have anu suggestions for saga type books from a hundre years ago or more, please post them."

Try Sharon Kay Penman's Plantagenet series; and Elizabeth Chadwick's books. You'll..."

@Joanne & Nancy...I just started my first Sharon Penman's book, When Christ and His Saints Slept. I'm fairly new at reading HF (I've read some GWTH and other great classics) and wanted to delve into the best and from my research Penman is one of the best. I began the book last night and read only 25 or so pages. I spent much time looking back and forth at the timeline :-)...names, titles, dates...oh my. I loved the writing and felt someone had immersed me in a deep ocean. I was transported to another time and place in a matter of moments and when I awoke this morning visions of what I read were popping into my mind. Always an excellent sign when reading a book. I know this book may take me awhile to read b/c I want to absorb it all. I can't wait to read all of her books which, I'm sure, I will do. What a great way to be introduced to HF at it's best.

The mention of Plantagenet above made me suddenly think: are Trollope's Palliser novels considered historical fiction? To me, they have one of the most interesting love-story-within-a-marriage stories in English literature.

Shelley, http://dustbowlstory.wordpress.com

Denise wrote: "I actually could not abide history at school. As someone smarter than I once commented: 'history, it's just one damned thing after another!' Then, however, I started researching my own family hist..."
That's so interesting! I started doing my husband's genealogy about 15 years ago and became obsessed with it. He has many interesting characters in his family and I am able to trace his family back very far. Simon de Montfort, who is the main character in "When Christ and His Saints Slept" is actually an ancestor of his. But I've always wanted to write about some of his more recent ancestors. I've discovered so many interesting stories!

Leslie wrote: "Denise wrote: "I actually could not abide history at school. As someone smarter than I once commented: 'history, it's just one damned thing after another!' Then, however, I started researching my ..."

@ Leslie, I'm so glad I mentioned the book. How interesting. I, too, would love to do a family trace. I am of Italian descent and know very little about my paternal grandfather. Although we knew him he kept his past to himself for reasons none of us were ever able to uncover. Would love to go to Naples and do a hands on search. Thanks for sharing Leslie.

I have always loved what you would call historical fiction, growing up and reading books like The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and Shakespeare and Mythology. Both my parents are English teachers and both have a love of historical fiction as well.

I also have a love of old movies like Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. I guess reading and the movies have driven me to love history. I had at one point wanted to have a major in history, and thought I would become a teacher but that did not happen.

R.M.F wrote: "It was a happy day for me when I learned that not only did the Three Musketeers count as HF, but it was on the top 100 books of all time list. Two birds with one stone!"

The Three Musketeers may have been the first HF novel that I read as a child, but I'm not entirely sure. I don't remember a time when I didn't read HF.

I remember as a child having a library card almost from the day I was able to read. Just the way things were in our family. I was a wiz at the library card catalog system. I picked up on the Daniel Boone/Davy Crockett bios and such things early on. One day I chose Kenneth Roberts and I was hooked on HF. I'm not sure if it was "Northwest Passage" or "Rabble in Arms," but I went on to read all of Robert's novels. I then got into CS Forester and the rest is, ahem, 'history.'

Have always loved books about early English history and myth. My favorite in the King Arthur genre was T.H. White - The Once And Future King. And I was like many others a Hornblower fan. A marvelous series.

My parents were, and still are, avid readers. My dad read a lot of fantasy and my mom read a lot of just about anything, but mostly horror and fantasy. To be honest it never occurred to me that there was anything else to read besides what they had, and not that I didn't read but I just never read for pleasure because I was never really got interested by what they had.
All that changed one day at Borders when I was looking at the new release table and picked up The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber. I don't know what made me pick it up but there was something about the combination of the title and the cover that said I needed to know more about this book. Ever since I've read hundreds of historical books from NF to HF to Romance and just about everywhere in between.

I guess it's the littlest things that can make you realize you love something you never even knew existed.

Jonathan wrote: "Sharpe for me, I guess."

Sharpe is awesome! At some point I would love to own the whole series of both books and movies.

"I eat soup everyday to remind myself of when I had no soup" - One of the French generals from one of the Sharpe movies I can't recall the title to, but it's always stuck with me.

I was looking at the new release table and picked up The Crimson Petal and the White The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber. I don't know what made me pick it up but there was something about the combination of the title and the cover that said I needed to know more about this book..."

One of my all time favourite books. And such a striking title. I've always wondered what it meant and your post prompted me to google it. It apparently comes from a poem by Tennyson:
"Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;
Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;
Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font:
The firefly wakens: waken thou with me ..."

Denise wrote: I prefer the HF of course, since it allows me to pursue an 'emotional truth' and to postulate on the reasons why historical characters did what they did."

Your comment about 'emotional truth' grabbed my attention as this relates to a bone that historians have sometimes tried to pick with me, particularly as regards biographical novels, maintaining that the only truth is the historian's truth and that historical fiction can only be a travesty. Say what they like, historians never get to the soul of historical characters the way a novelist can.

Leslie wrote: "My favorite authors in this genre now are Sharon Kay Penman and Elizabeth Chadwick. I also like Helen Hollick and Bernard Cornwall."

Hi Leslie, looks like we are kindred spirits! I too love all those four authors!

Barbara wrote: "@Joanne & Nancy...I just started my first Sharon Penman's book, When Christ and His Saints Slept. I'm fairly new at reading HF (I've read some GWTH and other great classics) and wanted to delve into the best and from my research Penman is one of the best. I began the book last night and read only 25 or so pages. I spent much time looking back and forth at the timeline :-)...names, titles, dates...oh my. "

Plug away. You won't be sorry. It was confusing for me at first too, coz sometimes a character is referred to by his name here and his title there, but as you become familiar with the historical facts, HF of medieval England reads like a dream. Quite literally too, given your dream after just a few pages of When Christ and His Saints Slept!

Hilda wrote: "Denise wrote: I prefer the HF of course, since it allows me to pursue an 'emotional truth' and to postulate on the reasons why historical characters did what they did."

Your comment about 'emotion..." Fully agree with you there Hilda. We're not trying to re-write history after all, but to present it in all its aspects.

Joanne wrote: "Since I'm somewhat new here, I thought I'd start this thread to see how others got stuck into the historical genre and get to know some of you in the process.

Personally, I was visiting Edinburgh ..."

I lived all over as a child, including Canada, Spain and Tangier, and as an adult in Europe and England. I don't remember not reading historical fiction and romance. So when my muse started to feed me scenes, it was of course historical.

Never really read a book until I was sixteen, but doing English Literature at Advanced level it was kind of expected.
Like a lot of boys of my generation (one or two of them rather famous authors now) my imagination was captured by CS Forester's Hornblower navy books. But he also wrote a couple of land-based Napoleonic stories and that eventually got me writing my Peninsular War novels.

@Barbara - When Christ and His Saints Slept is actually the 2nd book in a trilogy by SKP
Here are the three books:

The first one is in my top 5 of best books I've ever read. It is amazing. Many people think the second is the weakest in the trilogy, but I liked it alot! And the third is also amazing. Her Plantagenet series is also amazing. I'm about to read


@Joanne - hello! Always good to meet other readers who like the same authors. I'll also be reading this month

I really liked the first one in this series.

Leslie wrote: "@Joanne - hello! Always good to meet other readers who like the same authors."

Don't forget to read The Sunne in Splendour - SKP's best book ever, IMHO!

I actually loved history in school. My love of historical fiction came just a little later when I first read THE PERSIAN BOY by Mary Renault. I was sixteen, and, well, my crush on Alexander was snuffed out, but I found my love of historical fiction, so it wasn't all bad. ; )

Joanne wrote: "Barbara wrote: "@Joanne & Nancy...I just started my first Sharon Penman's book, When Christ and His Saints Slept. I'm fairly new at reading HF (I've read some GWTH and other great classics) and wan..."

@ Leslie, I will keep on. It has already become easier to follow along although I find I'm reading more slowly than usual. I want to absorb it all knowing that this isn't just a tale I'm reading it's history that I'll soon begin researching. These kinds of well written HF books lend themselves to researching the time period after/during the read. I know one thing for sure, schools have it all wrong. Most of us can't really learn history without it hitting an emotional cord. With this book my emotional cords are singing :-).

@Leslie...the reason I began with When Christ and His Saints Slept is b/c I was following this list which I came across on Amazon written by a reviewer.
If you prefer to read in chronological order:
1101-1154 When Christ And His Saints Slept (Vol 1 of Trilogy)
1156-1171 Time And Space (Vol 2 of Trilogy)
12th Cent Devil's Brood (Vol 3 of Trilogy)- not yet released
1192-1193 The Queen's Man
1193 Cruel As The Grave
1183-1232 Here Be Dragons (Vol 1 of Welsh Trilogy)
1231-1267 Falls The Shadow (Vol 2 of Welsh Trilogy)
1271-1283 The Reckoning (Vol 3 of Welsh Trilogy)
1459-1492 The Sunne In Splendour

Would you mind giving your opinion on this list?

Barbara wrote: "@Leslie...the reason I began with When Christ and His Saints Slept is b/c I was following this list which I came across on Amazon written by a reviewer.
If you prefer to read in chronological order..."

Barbara, check out SKP's Goodreads author page here: Sharon Kay Penman for the chronology.

@Joanne
Thanks,, I checked it out and it seems I am reading the first in the series. Am I missing something? Leslie mentioned above that Here Be Dragons is the first in the trilogy.

http://www.goodreads.com/series/87752...

Barbara wrote: "@Joanne
Thanks,, I checked it out and it seems I am reading the first in the series. Am I missing something? Leslie mentioned above that Here Be Dragons is the first in the trilogy.

To be honest, I can't remember as I read those books ages ago - and am waiting for sufficient time to lapse for me to forget enough to read them anew again! - but I would think if it's listed as such on the author's page, it should be correct!

@Joanne, I think I'll do fine reading according to the list I have. Thanks for your input...greatly appreciated.

I got into it because of American Girl. I was reading their bi-monthly magazine, and they were talking up their historical fiction books for the 8-12 set. I was a bit of a bookworm then, but it wasn't as pronounced as now, and my curiousity was piqued, so I started reading the books. The books were so well written that I didn't even realize I was learning about history- I just thought they were fun.