Historical Fictionistas discussion

I'm just starting some research into the 18th century for a new novel and wonder if anyone has read anything that really gripped them set in that period?
I've read Pure and a lot of fiction written in the 18th century but nothing else contemporary set in that time..
Thank you!

I highly recommend Thackeray's "Barry Lyndon." It's classic historical fiction, written in the Mid-Victorian era and set in the late 18th century. A great resource for studying the manners, morals, social attitudes, prejudices and politics of the period.

Brilliant, thank you, Gary.

Marie-Anne wrote: "I'm just starting some research into the 18th century for a new novel and wonder if anyone has read anything that really gripped them set in that period?
I've read Pure and a lot of fiction written..."

Depending on where you are placing your novel, I recommend "Everyday Life in Colonial America, from 1607 to 1783" by Dale Taylor. It's part of The Writer's Guide To series. I've used other ones of those books for my writing. They have all kinds of categories like Clothing, Eatery, Toys, Weaponry, etc.

Marie-Anne wrote: "Brilliant, thank you, Gary."

You're welcome, Marie-Anne. Kubrick's film version is also worth a look if you haven't already seen it.

Jude Morgan's Passion, Philippa Gregory's A Respectable Trade and Beryl Bainbridge's According to Queeney come highly recommended by me! Also, a shameless plug but I have a novel set in the period, about George III and Queen Charlotte, coming out in September called God Save the King.

Thank you all, these are really helpful and Laura, am always happy to hear a shameless plug! If you remember,please send me a link to your novel when it comes out.

Hi Marie-Anne, It all depends what country you are planning to use in your book. Being a historian from England, I can recommend The Agricultural Revolution era which really took off during the early 18th century but also roled into the beginning of the Industrial Revolution era. So anything in that period of time can be inspiring for you to read history wise to give you the background material that you need.

However you may wish to chose a different country and I have just gave you the English option.

David Coe, D. B. Jackson, has a colonial series. Thieftaker
Richard Hofstadterhas several books set during 18th c. like The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It and America At 1750: A Social Portrait

Scaramouche If your are looking for historical fiction around the french revolution.

A Tale of Two Cities, of course. And Samuel Shellabarger's Lord Vanity.

I write in the later eighteenth century. My novel The False Light has been praised for its depiction of every day life in that era.
Another shameless plug, sorry!

I really enjoyed Diana Norman's "A Catch of Consequence". There are other books in the series that I have never been able to run down. "The Sparks Fly Upward" is one, I believe.

Also "Push Not the River" by James Conroyd Martin was fantastic and generally don't like books written by men (sorry guys!)

Thank you for those!

Rebels, Turn Out Your Dead is historical fiction set during the Revolutionary War, circa 1776.
I know you're looking for historical fiction, but David McCullough might be helpful, since you're doing research. He's written several biographies about notable people from the 18th century, as well as some history books.

I adored The Tree of Liberty, about the American Revolution and path to independence. Yes, I read it years ago, so maybe it will seem old-fashioned, but I don't think so.

May I ask, what did you think of Pure? I have been considering it. You did not specify which place you were most interested in..... What about books on the French Revolution: A Place of Greater Safety or Abundance, A Novel of Marie Antoinette? I am sure you will recognize these two authors.

Melissa - that's great, I always read non-fiction too when I'm researching. Chrissie - I reviewed Pure here - I loved parts of it but found the plot unconvincing by the end. I know many people loved it though. What did you think?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2PN8O...

I haven't decided yet whether to read Pure; that is why I asked you!

I've read numerous books about the eighteenth century. Which country are you researching? America, England or France?

I'm researching mid C18th London but the story ends in mid C18th Connecticut.

You should readDr. Johnson's London: Coffee-Houses and Climbing Boys, Medicine, Toothpaste and Gin, Poverty and Press-Gangs, Freakshows and Female EducationIt's full of wonderful details about mid-eighteenth century London.

Georgette Heyer. These Old Shades, Devil's Cub, The Convenient Marriage, and The Talisman Ring are her four big 18th-century novels. Heyer had an Austen-like grasp of character, and she nailed the culture as no one else has. The Black Moth is also 18th-century and an amazing achievement for a 15-year-old, but she remade it into These Old Shades, which is even better.

Daniel Pool's What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew is a light-hearted but academic look at the manners and mores and, more important, material culture of a very slightly later period. It will help you surmount the modern mental "hump" and get in touch with how our ancestors thought.

Keira Knightley's filn about Georgiana, duchess of Devonshire, is also good research for this period, as is Sophia Coppola's film about Marie Antoinette.

I like David Liss's series about a "thieftaker," Benajamin Weaver, "the Lion of Judah," set in London in the 1720s. Currently three books in the series - A Conspiracy of Paper, A Spectacle of Corruption, and The Devil's Company.

Thank you again for all these suggestions. I love being a part of goodreads!

Susanna wrote: "I like David Liss's series about a "thieftaker," Benajamin Weaver, "the Lion of Judah," set in London in the 1720s. Currently three books in the series - A Conspiracy of Paper, A Spectacle of Corr..."

Marie-Anne wrote: "I'm just starting some research into the 18th century for a new novel and wonder if anyone has read anything that really gripped them set in that period?
I've read Pure and a lot of fiction written..."

dianna gabaldon The outlander series, set in the 17 hundreds, very, very ,very good series

Marie-Anne wrote: "I'm researching mid C18th London but the story ends in mid C18th Connecticut."

Apologies for coming late to this thread. My own novel, The Jacobites' Apprentice is set in Manchester, Edinburgh and London in 1745 (plug, plug!). I have to be honest and say that, whilst I read quite a few of the novels listed above - some of which helped me with dialogue etc - they didn't do MUCH for me by way of everyday details. For those I relied on more or less contemporary writing, by Fielding and others. Also, there's an EXCELLENT soft-cover book called London, 1753 or similar, which uses contemporary art and illustrations to explain daily life of the city at that time.

Marie-Anne wrote: "I'm researching mid C18th London but the story ends in mid C18th Connecticut."

Yes, just checked. I'm sure you'll have come across it but it's called London 1753 by Sheila O'Connell and others from the British Museum. Some good online resources too by googling Daily Life in 18th Century England; 18th Century Thieves' Cant; The Food Timeline, etc

Thank you, David - I have that book but I
will add yours to my reading list.

Marie-Anne wrote: "Thank you, David - I have that book but I
will add yours to my reading list."

As always, of course, I ended up with far more research on the period than I could ever hope to use. So then stored it on the offchance that I might write further books set in the 1700s. I suppose at some stage "somebody" should try to compile a definitive set of resources from which we can all check out the topics we need. Anyway, thanks for "adding" the book Marie-Anne and good luck!

Actually, David that is a brilliant idea. I would buy that book!

17th century culture similar to 18th, so if you enjoy outdoor survival, try SILVER'S ODYSSEY. Historical fiction of a Spanish shipwrecked soldier in wilderness Florida.

Hi Marie-Anne,
Sorry too for the shameless plug but my novel is set in the years leading up to the French Revolution, if that's any help.
Also, if it's helpful, I would be happy to send you a list of all the books I used for my 18th century research?Spirit of Lost Angels

Liza that's incredibly generous and I am happy to get shameless plugs.I will add your novel to my list. My email is hotelalphabet at gmail dot com.

Thanks, Marie-Anne,
Sorry, I only just saw your reply... am about to send you an email!

Liza wrote: "Thanks, Marie-Anne,
Sorry, I only just saw your reply... am about to send you an email!"

Dear Liza, I have just bought your book as a small thank you. Great reviews. I am reading The Coral Thief at the moment and a couple of books for the Review Group but I look forward to starting yours.

Aw, Marie-Anne that is very sweet of you... I really appreciate it. Cheers!

When I was doing research I read A History Of The English Speaking Peoples, Volume II: The New World by Winston Churchill and Roy Porter has a great book English Society in the Eighteenth Century, it all comes down to what you find compelling, and then run with that.

I echo what was said about Barry Lyndon. Great book, great film, and great soundtrack. Read the book before watching the film, otherwise you'll be whistling sarabande all the time!

I agree, Barry Lydon, book and film, was fab!

I'm definitely a Barry Lyndon fan, book and film.

Raphael Sabatini's Scaramouche is a bit dated, but still a good read. And the early 1950's film starring Stewart Granger is a classic Hollywood swashbuckler.Scaramouche

S.R. (Sarah) wrote: "Marie-Anne wrote: "I'm just starting some research into the 18th century for a new novel and wonder if anyone has read anything that really gripped them set in that period?
I've read Pure and a lot..."

Other entries in this series may be better, but I would not recommend The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Colonial America to even a casual student of the period. When I managed interpretation for a major museum we evaluated the book as a potential introductory text for docents and interns and found it inadequate. Sources and cites are very poor and much of the information is debunked "folk wisdom." Try Jane Nylander's Our Own Snug Fireside: Images of the New England Home, 1760-1860 for a close look at early New England. For costume I would suggest Sharon Ann Burnston's Fitting and Proper.