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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Historical fiction recommendations
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
I just remembered that Poisonwood Bible is historical, deals with American missionaries to Africa in I suspect the 1950s, and has strong women characters.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
Egeria: quote:
I don't get the comment about "political correctness" (which is a pretty meaningless expression usually employed by people who feel it is their "right" to be narrow-minded, uncharitable, and rude);
If this is aimed at me, I hope you do not think I am narrow-minded, uncharitable and rude. I think we will have to agree to differ about the relative merits of O'Brien and Forester.
I used the term 'politically correct' as shorthand for 'anachronistically in tune with modern ideas about slavery, racism, sexuality and women's rights.' Authors writing fifty or even thirty years ago are less likely to be guilty of this than contemporary writers; there has been a huge shift in attitudes in my lifetime, even within the last 15 years. If you have read any of my contributions to the threads on gay marriage (to take one example) you will know that I am generally in favour of "political correctness" as it is now interpreted. That doesn't stop me from being irritated by clunky anachronisms, though.
The past wasn't monolithic either; "The British" were not all "enthusiastically engaged in the slave trade" as Svitlana puts it. Some of them were, certainly; some were equally vehemently opposed to it and eventually succeeded in having it banned. Some were victims; during the seventeenth century large numbers of white British people were transported to the West Indies, for example after Monmouth's rebellion and the Bloody Assizes.. So it would be plausible to have one or two characters who are abolitionists, maybe several people who are involved in the slave trade or have relatives who are, quite a lot of people who haven't really thought about it one way or another and perhaps someone who changes his or her mind during the course of the story. I'm sorry to bring up Naomi Novik again but she does deal with the issue of slavery very well in her books, both directly in her treatment of black characters and indirectly in how people relate to dragons.
A contemporary writer might ignore the issue completely or put in a few veiled hints that are too subtle for modern readers to pick up. Jane Austen's Mansfield Park has been criticised for not mentioning slavery, despite the fact that Austen herself was opposed to the trade - but she doesn't really mention the Napoleonic Wars either, except as a source of men in uniform for her heroines to flirt with. And some critics have pointed out that Sir Thomas's West Indian estates might have been among the handful of plantations that were worked with free labour, which would explain why he approves of Fanny (in favour of abolition) quizzing him about the slave trade at dinner. This reference is almost thrown away and easy to miss, but then Austen was writing a 'Girl Meets Boy' romance, not a political tract.
A modern author can't get away with that. Jane Austen's contemporaries already knew what people wore at balls and who unpacked your luggage when you went to stay with someone, so she didn't bother telling them things like that; modern writers go into great detail about styles of bonnet and what jewellery to wear with the ballgown and so on. And they have to tell you about the politics because you want to know that the protagonists are sympathetic characters; part of that is whether they would agree with what we think about issues like slavery and women's rights.
Or take another example: Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Modern readers are usually so appalled by the double standard that allows Angel, but not Tess, to be forgiven for a premarital affair that Hardy's portrayal of her as a 'good woman' who is forced into going back to Alec is unquestioned. Some contemporary critics disagreed; Elizabeth Gaskell, for example (who wrote a book about an unwed mother, so was no stranger to moral ambiguity) points out that Tess was a skilled dairymaid in the middle of an agricultural boom. Finding a job where nobody knew she'd been disgraced might have been difficult, of course; but if she really didn't want to live with Alec she didn't have to.
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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Twilight
Puddleglum's sister
# 2832
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Posted
quote:
Or take another example: Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Modern readers are usually so appalled by the double standard that allows Angel, but not Tess, to be forgiven for a premarital affair that Hardy's portrayal of her as a 'good woman' who is forced into going back to Alec is unquestioned. Some contemporary critics disagreed; Elizabeth Gaskell, for example (who wrote a book about an unwed mother, so was no stranger to moral ambiguity) points out that Tess was a skilled dairymaid in the middle of an agricultural boom. Finding a job where nobody knew she'd been disgraced might have been difficult, of course; but if she really didn't want to live with Alec she didn't have to.
I agree with Jane and think Tess is a perfect example. I've been in groups where the majority of women absolutely hate Angel for his attitude after Tess's revelations. My heart always breaks for Tess during that scene but also for Angel who finds out that the Tess he married is not exactly the same person he has idealized for the past year. She is not the girl he has defended to his parents as from a poor background but more "pure," than the young women of his own class. He has held that quality in his mind as her best and most defining feature and now feels that he barely knows her without it.
When I first read Tess, at about fifteen, I thought she went to Alex, not because it was her only means of support but because, from a Christian standpoint, he was her true husband. These days I'm not so sure and as wonderful and dramatic as the ending is I don't really understand Tess' motive for murdering Alex. (I'm not convinced he ever raped her and I pity him along with the other two.)
Yet today's reader usually is convinced he raped her and hates Alex along with Angel.
This novel is also a good example of the difference between "historic" and "historical." In Hardy's day this was probably close enough in time to be contemporary so it's not an historical novel. I love seeing the difference between books written in X-time verses books written now and set in X-time. I hope the day never comes when we quit reading Hardy and Dickens because their characters' beliefs and motivations are "unfashionable."
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
I found and read books by Naomi Mitchison in my teens, some historical, some riffing on history, and I have some waiting on my shelves to be read for the first time or reread. She has depths I certainly couldn't fathom in my teens. (Trivially, there's still a joke in "To the Chapel Perilous" I can't make head or tail of (though reading the Wikipedia article suggests my doubted deduction might have been correct), and it took me ages to find out what a Chad was.)
[ 07. June 2013, 18:21: Message edited by: Penny S ]
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
I was catching up with last week's Elizabethan Time Traveller, when his remarks about witchcraft being acceptable unless used for killing reminded me of Elizabeth Goudge's "The White Witch". I used to read her books a lot, and as Wikipedia says, she has Christian themes.
Checking on my Mitchisons, I found that rather than having "The Conquered" which I thought to start with, I had two copies of "Cloud Cuckoo Land". One is part of a group of three in common binding. The other, one of a set of historical fiction selected by Rosemary Sutcliffe, with an introduction by her. Decisions, decisions - which one goes to Oxfam?
There is a list of 8 books in the second series, one of which may not be chosen by Sutcliffe. Might be interesting.
An Infamous Army - Georgette Heyer
Elizabeth, Captive Princess - Margaret Irwin
Poor Man's Tapestry - Oliver Onions
The Golden Warrior - Hope Muntz (I've read that when I was reading as many novels about 1066 as I could - there was something about it that I wasn't happy about, but I can't remember what. It's waiting to be reread to find out.)
The Golden Strangers - Henry Treece
Monmouth Harry - A.M. Maughan
Cloud Cuckoo Land - see above
The Rider of the White Horse - Rosemary Sutcliffe (introduction by Elizabeth Goudge)
I notice something about that author list.
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by QLib:
Toni Morrison's Beloved is a fantastic book....
A wonderful book. But not light reading. Harrowing and disturbing and scary, because of the things depicted.
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Penny S:
I found and read books by Naomi Mitchison in my teens...
Its Friday night and I'm aabout to go to the pub so I can't resist my second name drop of the thread - I was once introduced to Naomi Mitchison. About thirty years ago. In the bar of the Central Hotel in Glasgow, at an SF convention. I was utterly unable to say anything sensible -she is the only famous person I've ever met who rendered me speechless. A little Scots woman very much like my Gran in some ways, but Gosh! Wow! This is Me! Sitting! At! The ! Same! Table! As! Naomi! Mitchison!
And yes another person worth reading. There are so many!
(If I was to namedrop utterly shamefully I could add that I think I once knew Pat Barker very slightly in that I rented some rooms off her - but she wasn't famous then - and I'm not 100% sure it was the same Pat Barker - though the famous Pat Barker was married to one of my university lecturers so I was at minimum one handshake away from her but I can't actually remember if that was the Pat Barker who was my landlady... it is so long ago...)
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
The past wasn't monolithic either; "The British" were not all "enthusiastically engaged in the slave trade" as Svitlana puts it. Some of them were, certainly; some were equally vehemently opposed to it and eventually succeeded in having it banned. Some were victims; during the seventeenth century large numbers of white British people were transported to the West Indies, for example after Monmouth's rebellion and the Bloody Assizes.. So it would be plausible to have one or two characters who are abolitionists, maybe several people who are involved in the slave trade or have relatives who are, quite a lot of people who haven't really thought about it one way or another and perhaps someone who changes his or her mind during the course of the story.
I've come across some fascinating books about white slavery - let me recommend the novel 'Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl' by Kate McCafferty - and I've also read about the abolition movement, some of whose participants were from my very own city. Nevertheless, 'the British' as a nation sanctioned and pursued the Transatlantic slave trade because it was good business, from which the nation benefited. The abolitionist movement then came along, thankfully, but it couldn't change the past, only the future. In fact, in the case of my own industrial city, many of the abolitionists (even the Quaker ones) were from families that had directly or indirectly profited from the slave trade in their business activities. And once decency supposedly prevailed and the slave trade was abolished, the British government compensated slave owners for the loss of their slaves, to the tune of £20 million....
I agree with you that novels set during the era of the slave trade and then slavery could include a range of different attitudes, and I find that they often do. Most of the novels I mentioned above indicate to some degree the psychological complexity that this situation often generated. This sort of complexity would be interesting to explore in a novel about the ideals and difficulties enveloped in the British struggles for abolition.
'Strange Music' by Laura Fish is well worth reading. It's about the poet Elizabeth Barrett (before she married Robert Browning) and how she and her slave-owning family coped after the abolition of slavery.
[ 07. June 2013, 20:00: Message edited by: SvitlanaV2 ]
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Antisocial Alto
Shipmate
# 13810
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Posted
A couple of mystery series set in slightly unusual places / times:
-the Yashim series by Jason Goodwin. (Begins with The Janissary Tree). His sleuth is a Muslim eunuch in Turkey in the 1830s, which is a period I've never read much about so I have no idea how accurate any of it is, but it's beautifully written.
-the Burren mysteries by Cora Harrison. (My Lady Judge et al.) About a female judge and law professor in the West of Ireland in the 1500s- a totally different legal/political system to the English law of the time. Definitely better written than Sister Fidelma.
Posts: 601 | From: United States | Registered: Jun 2008
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Melangell
Shipmate
# 4023
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Posted
I don't think anyone has yet mentioned Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. I started reading her modern-day Inspector Bill Slider detective series and enjoyed these books so much that I was persuaded to try her British historical series with the overall title The Morland Dynasty. This is based on a family living just outside York, but with various members moving elsewhere, including the US. Volume 1 is set in the period of the Wars of the Roses, and by volume 34, the saga has reached 1925, with more volumes to come. So if you find you enjoy this series, it should keep you occupied for quite a while!
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Gwnewch y pethau bychein (Dewi Sant)
Do the little things (Saint David)
Posts: 367 | From: A bit of Wales in Surrey | Registered: Jan 2003
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St. Gwladys
Shipmate
# 14504
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Posted
A friend's visit to the Saxon churches in Exeter reminded me of Bernard Kight's "Crowner John" series, set in Medieval Exeter and the surrounding area.
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"I say - are you a matelot?"
"Careful what you say sir, we're on board ship here"
From "New York Girls", Steeleye Span, Commoners Crown (Voiced by Peter Sellers)
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Timothy the Obscure
Mostly Friendly
# 292
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Posted
Rosemary Sutcliffe has been mentioned. The other great historical novelist writing of the medieval era (and I really do mean great--I don't understand why she isn't on the shortlist for the next Nobel, except that historical fiction is out of fashion) is Cecelia Holland. She writes modern psychological realism, but set in (mostly) medieval times and places. Her protagonists are an 11th century Irish chieftain, the wife of a Norman king of Sicily, one of Ghengis Khan's commanders, etc.--and she gets inside their heads in astonishing ways that illuminate their world view (Sister Fidelma, by contrast, is just a 20th century Unitarian Universalist in an 8th century Irish nun's habit). My favorite is The Kings In Winter, which is about the aforementioned Irish chieftain.
[ 12. June 2013, 04:56: Message edited by: Timothy the Obscure ]
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When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
- C. P. Snow
Posts: 6114 | From: PDX | Registered: May 2001
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Edith
Shipmate
# 16978
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Posted
Another writer that I have just remembered is Thomas Armstrong. He wrote a number of historical novels which were hugely popular in their day, but the best by far was KIng Cotton. I believe it was Harold Wilson's favourite book! It's years since I read it but it tells the story of the cotton industry in the North West and has a wonderful narrative sweep.
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Edith
Posts: 256 | From: UK | Registered: Mar 2012
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Timothy the Obscure:
The other great historical novelist writing of the medieval era (and I really do mean great--I don't understand why she isn't on the shortlist for the next Nobel, except that historical fiction is out of fashion) is Cecelia Holland.
I'll have to look out for these. The only book of hers I've read is "Floating Worlds" which is an odd sort of sci-fi novel. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoyed it.
There are some great recommendations on this thread, many thanks to those who took the time to post suggestions.
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
The only Thomas Armstrong I've read was "Dover Harbour" because that was where I lived, and the machinations of the people concerned made sense in the context of place. (Think I've got a copy somewhere from my parents' effects.) I thought it was good at the time, in my teens.
[ 15. June 2013, 21:30: Message edited by: Penny S ]
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Twilight
Puddleglum's sister
# 2832
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Posted
I just saw a bit of news about Prince William having an Indian woman as a great-great-great- grandmother on his mother's side. I'm already looking forward to the novel based on this.
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Percy B
Shipmate
# 17238
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Posted
A novel about an obscure time and place that I loved is Dominic Cooper's Men at Axlir, set in 18th century Iceland.
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Mary, a priest??
Posts: 582 | From: Nudrug | Registered: Jul 2012
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Timothy the Obscure
Mostly Friendly
# 292
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
quote:
Originally posted by Timothy the Obscure:
The other great historical novelist writing of the medieval era (and I really do mean great--I don't understand why she isn't on the shortlist for the next Nobel, except that historical fiction is out of fashion) is Cecelia Holland.
I'll have to look out for these. The only book of hers I've read is "Floating Worlds" which is an odd sort of sci-fi novel. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoyed it.
There are some great recommendations on this thread, many thanks to those who took the time to post suggestions.
When Holland gets out of the historical fiction area she's less satisfying. Her most recent books are historical, but with a fantasy element that I don't care for so much, even though I like fantasy.
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When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
- C. P. Snow
Posts: 6114 | From: PDX | Registered: May 2001
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Percy B
Shipmate
# 17238
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Posted
Tim the Obscure - could you recommend where to start with Cecilia Holland - which novel you like the most? I'm interested in reading one of hers.
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Mary, a priest??
Posts: 582 | From: Nudrug | Registered: Jul 2012
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Timothy the Obscure
Mostly Friendly
# 292
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Posted
My personal favorite is The Kings in Winter, which is set in Ireland around the time of the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Great Maria (11th century Norman Sicily) is another good one to start on.
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When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
- C. P. Snow
Posts: 6114 | From: PDX | Registered: May 2001
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QLib
Bad Example
# 43
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Posted
I've just finished reading my first Norah Lofts' novel, The House at Old Vine and am grateful to shipmates for their recommendations. Although the book is the second in a trilogy, that didn't matter, because the main connecting link is the house, though I gather there are other threads as well. Actually, one of the best things is the way she interweaves the series of stories, so Character Two's tale often fills in details about Character One, and so on, in a kind of chain. Apart from the interest of the stories themselves, and the quality of the historical research (which seems pretty spot-on to me, though I admit my expertise stops with A level History and a bit of wider reading) this manner of telling stories encourages one to reflect on the brevity and vanity of human existence. A lot of historical novels centred on ficitonal characters often have a happy ending – I'm not averse to a happy ending, but they're often a bit unrealistic. She's certainly avoided that and yet the effect isn't grim. Now my only dilemma is whether to go back to Book One, or on to Book Three, but I expect the town library will make that decision for me.
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Tradition is the handing down of the flame, not the worship of the ashes Gustav Mahler.
Posts: 8913 | From: Page 28 | Registered: May 2001
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PaulBC
Shipmate
# 13712
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Posted
Napoleonic sweeps CS Forester Hornblower, Dudley Pope Ramage series, Bernard Cromwell Sharpe
Medivel the Brother Cadfael series Ellis Peters
Roman Rosemary Sutcliffe Eagle of the Nineth
all of the above I have read and enjoyed.
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"He has told you O mortal,what is good;and what does the Lord require of youbut to do justice and to love kindness ,and to walk humbly with your God."Micah 6:8
Posts: 873 | From: Victoria B.C. Canada | Registered: May 2008
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Twilight
Puddleglum's sister
# 2832
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Posted
QLib, I'm thrilled that you've discovered Norah Lofts! I hope you can find both books one and three of that series and then go on to many more of her books. You'll find that her continuity of characters runs sideways from novel to novel as well as backwards and forwards. Characters mentioned in "Jassy" will show up as party guests in another novel or a horrible incident you read about in one novel will explain why that part of the woods seems to have a bad vibe around it in some otherwise unrelated novel. Another thing that makes them seem real and connected to me is that she seems to set most of them in the same area around Bury St Edmunds with the various towns on the fingertips and in the crooks of a huge forest shaped like a hand. As I said. Thrilled.
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Pine Marten
Shipmate
# 11068
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Posted
That's a really nice idea, Twilight, that characters or incidents turn up or are mentioned in different novels - I like that kind of continuity, a sort of elongated sideways story arc.
After reading QLib's post I had a look on Amazon to see the descriptions of the trilogy, and read sample pages, and they do look very good. I might keep them in mind for future reading... I've got a shelf or two of books lined up and waiting to be read first though ![[Smile]](smile.gif) .
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Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. - Oscar Wilde
Posts: 1731 | From: Isle of Albion | Registered: Feb 2006
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Edith:
I've just finished The Potter's Hand by AN Wilson, about Josiah Wedgwood and the Enlightenment. Wonderful writing and some fascinating reflections on the part played in 18 C England by religion in the shape of Methodism, Unitarianism and the established church.
Thanks for this recommendation. I've had my eye on this book ever since it came out. It seems to have everything I like in a novel: 18th c. setting, Nonconformist history, Transatlantic connections, and lots of famous local people (I'm from the West Midlands). I'll definitely buy it now it's out in paperback. It would be even better if I could get it signed by the author.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Percy B
Shipmate
# 17238
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Posted
That sounds a very interesting book. I hadn't realised it would cover those issues.
I am interested in reading about church groups in a historical setting e.g. Unitarians etc. and I would appreciate recommendations.
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Mary, a priest??
Posts: 582 | From: Nudrug | Registered: Jul 2012
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
Percy B
I'd love to read more fiction about historical Nonconformist church life. Unfortunately, the average British reader prefers to read about medieval Catholic monks or comedy Anglican vicars. IMO other denominations smell too much of religious 'enthusiasm', and that makes most British people rather nervous.
These titles are on my To Read list, and if anyone can recommend them I'd be grateful:
Arnold Bennett, 'The Old Wives' Tale'' (Partly about late 19th c. Wesleyan Methodism in the Potteries.)
Luther Blissett, 'Q' (About the religious ferment on the Continent during the Reformation.)
Arthur Quiller-Couch, 'Hetty Wesley' (About one of John Wesley's sisters. Written in the early 20th c.)
Deborah Swift, 'The Lady's Slipper' (17th c. Quakers)
Helen Pike, 'The Harlot's Press' (Radical politics and religion, debauchery, early 19th c.)
Richard Francis, 'Ann the World: The Story of Ann Lee, Female Messiah, Mother of the Shakers, Clothed with the Sun' (This isn't a novel, but the reviews make it sound gripping. Ann Lee founded the Shakers in Manchester.)
I have read Cedric Barber, 'Slaves, Sinners and Saints: A True Story of the Barber Family over Three Centuries'. It's family history rather than fiction, but it reads very well. The historical aspect deals partly with the Primitive Methodists, again in the Potteries. Mr Barber is a descendant of Francis Barber, the Jamaican manservant of Dr Samuel Johnson.
I'll wager that Barber and Johnson both appear in 'The Potter's Hand', and that Joseph Priestley, the 18th c.'s most famous Unitarian, also does a turn. Priestley deserves a novel to himself, but he doesn't have one as far as I can tell.
The Americans have written a couple of novels about John Wesley.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
There's also Sheila Kaye-Smith's 'The Tramping Methodist' (1908). I think it's about a Methodist preacher in the rural south of England.
The late Victorian Hocking brothers were Methodist ministers who also wrote novels, as did their sister. Silas was a bestselling author at one stage. Some of his work dealt with faith issues, so I understand. But I don't think these books were 'historical' as we'd understand the term.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
Richard Francis, 'Ann the World: The Story of Ann Lee, Female Messiah, Mother of the Shakers, Clothed with the Sun' (This isn't a novel, but the reviews make it sound gripping. Ann Lee founded the Shakers in Manchester.)
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If you do want a novel about her - and a gripping one at that - John Fowles A Maggot.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Eigon
Shipmate
# 4917
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Posted
I find John Fowles quite hard going, and really disliked The Magus, but A Maggot is very good.
I've got as far as I can go in the Game of Thrones saga now (yay! Daenarys! Not so yay! Jon Snow! and Tyrion coming up smelling of roses again)
So, now for something completely different - I'm about to start The Morville Hours by Katherine Swift, which I've been wanting to read for a long time.
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Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
Posts: 3710 | From: Hay-on-Wye, town of books | Registered: Aug 2003
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cygnus
Shipmate
# 3294
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Posted
I would second the Cynthia Harrod-Eagles suggestion. I have been reading her Morland series for close to 30 years, eagerly waiting for the next volume each fall (Volume 35 comes in September- it's one of the few series I buy in hardback).
The series starts in 1450, and now she's in the 1930s. She started out planning a 12 volume series, with each book covering 50 years or so, but about volume 4 she got involved with the characters, slowed down and took her time, and the series improved greatly (although the first few aren't bad!) The Battle Of Waterloo is a book in itself, as is each year of WW1. Despite the hundreds of characters in the series so far, no two run together- they are all quite distinct and individual, with strong women characters especially- although they are very much of their times- NOT feisty modern heroines who happen to wear long dresses. She does a good job of giving you a feel for each era of history- the rich and the poor, and has a real gift for describing war and battles as well as more domestic scenes.
The main problem I have is with her idealization of some of the older historical figures who interact with the family- Richard 111, Anne Boleyn and Rupert of the Rhine in particular. But that's a minor quibble in an otherwise outstanding series. I think she wrote Elizabeth 1 well, though. I also spotted a couple of problems with aristocratic titles and how they are used in a couple of places. But given the thousands of pages of writing so far, it's an amazing achievement.
Recommended for people with a lot of time who want to lose themselves in another world for a while!
Posts: 123 | From: canada | Registered: Sep 2002
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Percy B
Shipmate
# 17238
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
Percy B
I'd love to read more fiction about historical Nonconformist church life. Unfortunately, the average British reader prefers to read about medieval Catholic monks or comedy Anglican vicars. IMO other denominations smell too much of religious 'enthusiasm', and that makes most British people rather nervous.
These titles are on my To Read list, and if anyone can recommend them I'd be grateful:
Arnold Bennett, 'The Old Wives' Tale'' (Partly about late 19th c. Wesleyan Methodism in the Potteries.)
Luther Blissett, 'Q' (About the religious ferment on the Continent during the Reformation.)
Arthur Quiller-Couch, 'Hetty Wesley' (About one of John Wesley's sisters. Written in the early 20th c.)
Deborah Swift, 'The Lady's Slipper' (17th c. Quakers)
Helen Pike, 'The Harlot's Press' (Radical politics and religion, debauchery, early 19th c.)
Richard Francis, 'Ann the World: The Story of Ann Lee, Female Messiah, Mother of the Shakers, Clothed with the Sun' (This isn't a novel, but the reviews make it sound gripping. Ann Lee founded the Shakers in Manchester.)
I have read Cedric Barber, 'Slaves, Sinners and Saints: A True Story of the Barber Family over Three Centuries'. It's family history rather than fiction, but it reads very well. The historical aspect deals partly with the Primitive Methodists, again in the Potteries. Mr Barber is a descendant of Francis Barber, the Jamaican manservant of Dr Samuel Johnson.
I'll wager that Barber and Johnson both appear in 'The Potter's Hand', and that Joseph Priestley, the 18th c.'s most famous Unitarian, also does a turn. Priestley deserves a novel to himself, but he doesn't have one as far as I can tell.
The Americans have written a couple of novels about John Wesley.
Such a helpful list, SvitlanaV2. Many thanks.
I will look out for the Ann the World biography too.
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Mary, a priest??
Posts: 582 | From: Nudrug | Registered: Jul 2012
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SvitlanaV2
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Just a quick correction: the book about the Shakers is called 'Ann the Word', not 'Ann the World'. My mistake!
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Pancho
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# 13533
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Willa Cather wrote a couple of novels the OP might find interesting: "Shadows On he Rock", about a father and daughter in late 17th century Quebec, and "Death Comes for the Archbishop", about a French bishop sent to serve in 19th century New Mexico just after it was conquered by the United States. It's one of her best known novels.
If the OP doesn't mind trying a children's novel he can try the books of Scott O'Dell. They're often set in California and Mexico and several have won awards. I recommend "Island of the Blue Dolphins", inspired by the true story of a 19th century Indian woman who lived alone for many years after being left behind on one of California's Channel Islands.
[ 13. July 2013, 07:19: Message edited by: Pancho ]
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“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’"
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Nenya
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quote:
Originally posted by Jengie Jon:
I just remembered that Poisonwood Bible is historical, deals with American missionaries to Africa in I suspect the 1950s, and has strong women characters.
Jengie
That book haunted me for months after I'd read it and not in a good way. I still feel nauseous when I think about baby birds, snakes and small girls in that context. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
I've just read "The Last Wife of Henry VIII" by Carolly Erickson, which I enjoyed.
Nen - delicate disposition.
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They told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn.
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Sighthound
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I recommend pretty much anything by Elizabeth Chadwick and Sharon K Penman.
Robert Graves is the all-time great of the genre, but somewhat neglected now.
Less well known, Susan Higginbotham, Anne Easter Smith (though her books are very 'feminine' for want of a better word.)
Bernard Cornwell writes some good stuff, but he is the antithesis of Easter Smith, his female characters are sketchy at best. Dorothy Dunnett is rewarding but generally needs a couple of reads as she is quite a demanding author. I also like C J Sansom's Shardlake novels, even if they are set in Tudor times, which I dislike. If you can find it, as it is scarce, The Heron's Catch by Susan Curran is well worth a read (15th Century).
I could go on, but perhaps that's enough for now.
[ 18. July 2013, 16:12: Message edited by: Sighthound ]
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Supporter of Tia Greyhound and Lurcher Rescue.http://tiagreyhounds.org/
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Gamaliel
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The key aspect of a good historical novel is that it doesn't simply 'ventriloquise' or represent the narrative history in fictionalised form. This can be difficult to pull off.
J G Farrell managed it in 'The Siege of Krishnapur' (fictionalised siege during the Indian Mutiny) and 'Troubles' (about the Irish Troubles of the early '20s).
He arguably failed to do so convincingly with 'The Singapore Grip' about the fall of Singapore in WW2. The historical facts and narrative are too close to the surface in that one.
I agree with SvitlanaV2 that Priestley deserves a novel, but it would be hard to see how it could work without ending up as, 'So what are you working on now, Dr Priestley? Have you discovered oxygen yet?'
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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SvitlanaV2
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quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
I agree with SvitlanaV2 that Priestley deserves a novel, but it would be hard to see how it could work without ending up as, 'So what are you working on now, Dr Priestley? Have you discovered oxygen yet?'
What about the riots that led to his house being burned down in Birmingham? Or his new life in America? Or his theological and other writings? Or his connections with influential men from around the West Midlands - not to mention his friendship with Benjamin Franklin?
There's a lot that could be said about him as a radical public figure and as a family man. Science was only one aspect of his life.
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