Category: Historical Fiction
-
Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka
Cloud of Sparrows: An Epic Novel of Japan takes place in 1861, during the time of shogun, samurai, geisha, and ninjas. I specifically sought out this book after watching Shogun on FX, based on the novel Shogun by James Clavell. On January 1, 1861, a young nobleman named Lord Genji…
-
I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis
This novel is about the woman behind Leonardo da Vinci’s famous portrait. Lisa Gherardini is Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” Set against the backdrop of Florence during the Italian Renaissance, this novel goes into Mona Lisa’s background and her life under the rule of Lorenzo de Medici. Over the years,…
-
A Flame in Byzantium by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
A Flame In Byzantium is the first book in the Atta Olivia Clemens trilogy by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. The trilogy is a spinoff of the Saint-Germain vampire series, where Olivia Clemens was one of Saint-Germain’s lovers. A Flame In Byzantium kicks off during Emperor Justinian’s reign in the year 545.…
-
Lady of the Glen by Jennifer Roberson
Lady of the Glen by Jennifer Roberson is an historical novel about the Massacre of Glencoe, which occurred in the Scottish Highlands in 1692. In summer of 1682, adventurous 10-year old Catriona “Cat” Campbell—the only female in a family of men—meets Alasdair “Dair” Og MacDonald, her clan’s archenemy. Cat and…
-
The Exiled by Posie Graeme-Evans
The Exiled is the 2nd book in the War of the Roses series (or Anne trilogy) by Posie Graeme-Evans. In the first book, The Innocent, Anne was a servant who eventually came to care for the queen and become her medicine woman. Anne’s gentle ways, intelligence, and beauty caught the…
-
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
The White Queen is part of the Plantagenet and Tudor series by Philippa Gregory, who writes some of the best historical fiction in the genre. The White Queen is narrated by Elizabeth Woodville-Grey, and its story starts at the very beginning of this well-known saga, on the day the widowed…
-
The Secret Lion by C.W. Gortner
The Secret Lion, also known as The Tudor Secret, is the first book in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles by C.W. Gortner. It takes place in 1553, at the height of the Tudor scandal between Queen Elizabeth and her lover, Robert Dudley. Brendan Prescott is a man of lowly rank…
-
A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
A Thread of Grace is the 3rd book by Mary Doria Russell. This one is set against the backdrop of 1943 Europe. Teenage Claudette Blum is Jewish, and with the Nazis coming for her, she escapes to Italy with her father and other refugees to escape persecution. In short, this…
-
Symphony by Jude Morgan
Symphony is about the notorious composer Hector Berlioz and the love of his life—actress Harriet Smithson. He fell in love with her when he was 24, and chased after her for about seven years until she agreed to marry him. Harriet was Hector’s inspiration for Symphonie fantastique. Despite having an…