Historical fiction
The de Lacy Inheritance by Elizabeth Ashworth
Set in England in 1192, the novel is full of details of life in this period, and resists the temptation to get overtly bogged down in excessive political detail, which makes this a very accessible read to those (like myself) who are not too knowledgeable about this particular historical period. Returning from the Crusades, Richard is forced to leave his family and atone for the sins which he believes has lead to him being afflicted with leprosy. Undertaking a quest to his grandmother's nearby cousin (who is childless, so grandmother wants Richard to present her case for inheriting his lands), Richard finds refuge here. This point struck me as odd - almost jarring in it's unlikelihood. Not only does Richard find help/support/refuge here (whilst remaining unknown to all except the cousin and his wife), but he's virtually welcomed with open arms. Would an itinerant leper be treated in this way? It did add a note of discord to the narrative - as if the quest for inheritance was more important that his trials as a leper. Full review...
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
The central character is a single woman in her middle years who relishes the chance to return to her roots in the tight-knit South Riding community. She's ambitious and well-travelled and has tasted life and work in bustling, cosmopolitan London. So it would appear that her pull back home is very strong indeed. But, you have to ask yourself the question, who would choose to give up this stimulating life down south and return up north? One Sarah Burton, schoolteacher with promotion in her mind, that's who. Everything depends on Sarah actually getting this job. And straight away, Holtby gives us the low-down on the collective mentality of local government. Yes, narrow-minded, parochial, dull - it's all of those things and more. But not everyone is a political 'sheep'. There's one or two who can see the bigger picture and can look beyond personal gain. Full review...
Dark Fire by C J Sansom
1540 was the hottest summer of the sixteenth century but Matthew Shardlake was doing his best to hold his legal practice together, which was made more difficult by the fact that he believed himself to be out of favour with Thomas Cromwell. He tried to keep a low profile but when he defended the accused in a most unpopular case – that of a girl accused of brutally murdering her cousin – he found that the king's chief minister had a new assignment for him. Unless he could solve Cromwell's problem his client was likely to die a slow and nasty death. Full review...
The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas
The book is set in the Ottoman Empire and the reader is given a potted history of those times,. Wars, troops, Rome and the Byzantines all get a passing mention ... and a baby called Eleonora is born. Sadly, her mother does not make it and it's left to her father to bring her up. He struggles and decides the best thing for himself, but more importantly, for his young daughter, is to enter into a marriage of convenience with a member of his extended family. Domestic life rumbles along, but underneath the surface, things are brewing ... Full review...
A Study in Crimson by Molly Carr
As soon as I read the blurb on the back cover I thought there's no doubting that this book is going to be one of those delightful romps, shall we say. Carr takes the famous and much-loved and much-read detective Holmes along with his trusty, if rather dull and plodding side-kick Watson and decides to have a bit of fun. But will it work? Full review...
The Chinaman's Bastard by Amanda Taylor
I found the title of the book excellent and I was keen to find out more. The blurb on the back cover does its job - until the last bit, which becomes a bit irritating. It claims the book 'is very captivating'. Well, to be brutally honest, it's either captivating or it's not. The word 'very' is not needed. And sadly, no, I didn't find the book captivating at all. Full review...
Trade Winds by Christina Courtenay
It is 1731 and Killian Kinross, disgraced heir to the estate is making his way as best he can through the gambling dens of Edinburgh, trading on his skill, ability to hold his drink and the smiling fickle fortunes of lady luck. The Lady is smiling at the moment, although she hasn't always done so. Full review...
The Silver Locket by Margaret James
It is the eve of the First World War and Rose Courtenay's parents are keen to marry her off to well-bred Michael Easton. But Rose is certain a life of domesticity in Dorset is not for her and so instead she takes the bold step of running away to London where she volunteers as a nurse for the war effort. Posted to France, Rose meets injured soldier Alex Denham who she has known since childhood, and is the only man who has ever made her blush. Romance soon blossoms between Rose and Alex, despite Rose fighting against her feelings as Alex is already married, and also disapproved of by her parents due to his dubious background. Full review...
The Legion (Roman Legion 9) by Simon Scarrow
Ajax and his crew of fellow renegade gladiators have been stirring things up in Egypt. Attacking small naval bases, merchant ships and villages along the coast, they're successfully stirring some unrest. Because Ajax isn't silly. Not only is he a skilled fighter and capable commander, he's also full of guile. The band pose as Roman soldiers when raiding, so their victims are left with anti-Roman sentiment in addition to their losses. Full review...
Harvest Nights by Pamela Evans
It is 1920 and London is struggling to deal with the consequences of the Great War. Unemployment is high and money is scarce. Clara Tripp, a former Land Girl has been forced to return to the city to work as a waitress, leaving behind the countryside which she loves so much. When Charlie Fenner, an acquaintance from Clara's Land Army days, comes in to the teashop where she works, Clara can't help but feel overjoyed. He offers her temporary work on his parents' orchard in Kent and she gladly accepts. Yet a serious accident forces Clara to stay longer than expected and it is then that she makes a shocking discovery which threatens to destroy the Fenner family. Back in London Clara struggles with her confused emotions and the looming prospect of her marriage to local boy Arnold. When devastating news comes from Kent, Clara realises she can no longer keep her discovery a secret. But coming face-to-face with Charlie again means Clara must acknowledge her buried feelings and make a decision between doing the right thing and following her heart. Full review...
Justinian: The Sleepless One by Ross Laidlaw
Born Uprauda Ystock, the son of a peasant, Justinian (as he was to become known) managed to change his life around when his mother's brother, Roderic, an important general in the Roman Army, paid for his education. After a series of successes, Roderic became Emperor Justin and then passed the mantel on to his nephew, who became known as Justinian. When he came into power, the Roman Empire was under attack from all directions and Justinian was forced to battle for his right to remain Emperor. Fortunately, he married Theodora, an ex-courtesan, who helped to mould him into the leader that he needed to be. Was this enough to remain in power, or would it all be snatched away from him? Full review...
Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey
Olivier de Garmont is a young, French aristocrat who is drugged by the enigmatic Marquis de Tilbot, a close friend of Olivier's monarchist mother, and dispatched to the safety of the emerging United States to avoid the 1830 July Revolution, and the threat of the dreaded guillotine, in his native France. At least nominally his task while there is to prepare a report on the American penal system on behalf of the French government, a task for which he has little interest or indeed talent. Tilbot also dispatches his servant, an older British man, John Larrit, known to everyone as Parrot, to act as Oliver's secretary, servant, translator and to spy on Olivier for both his mother and Tilbot. They are an ill-matched pair, from opposite sides of the social spectrum but in democratic America, this relationship develops in ways that neither of them would expect. The story is told in alternating voices of these two main characters. Full review...
Theoderic by Ross Laidlaw
This is a historical tale with a capital 'H'. A Glossary, Historical Note, Prologue plus a map entitled 'The Barbarian Kingdoms and the Roman Empire' are all for the reader's maximum interest and (hopefully) maximum enjoyment and all before settling down to the first chapter. This very much sets the tone of the book. Full review...
A Game of Sorrows by Shona Maclean
Two years have passed since Alexander Seaton found his redemption. He is comfortably settled in his life at the University, about to be sent on the academic expedition of a lifetime, and wondering how best to ask the woman he loves to be his wife. Then a case of mistaken identity, which almost costs him his love and the respect of his friends leads Alexander to discover he has a cousin in town – the son of his late mother's brother, come from Ireland to seek his help. Full review...
The Fan Tan Players by Julian Lees
The story opens with a vividly described cyclone in 1920s Macao. I found Lees' writing was such in the opening chapter that it felt almost apocalyptic. The loss of life, the damage to property and ... 'sounds of the surf regurgitating gurgling carcasses of belly-bulging cows.' I couldn't help but think of the real-life tragedy unfolding in Pakistan. I felt a bit queasy when I was reading this, to tell you the truth. Full review...
Rebel Heiress by Fiona Mountain
Based on the life of a pioneer in the world of butterfly collecting, this novel was an enchanting and enthralling read. Born into a rigorously devout Puritan family, young Eleanor is an anomaly both in her outlook and attitude - and her butterfly collecting interests set her further apart from the more traditional ladies. The prejudices of the times are well explained, and the level of historical detail is sufficient to give the reader a good understanding of the tensions of the period. Full review...
The Price of Glory by Seth Hunter
This is the final book in Seth Hunter's trilogy about the naval adventures and private life of Captain Nathan Peake. While the other two books, The Time of Terror and The Tide of War, were fairly self-contained stories in themselves, the running thread of Nathan's private life continues over the three books and isn't really resolved until the final few paragraphs in The Price of Glory. Full review...
My Last Duchess by Daisy Goodwin
There's plenty to enjoy in this debut novel by Daisy Goodwin. And first up is the elegant cover. I wanted to read the book as soon as I saw the photograph: a beautiful girl with great presence about her. The thoughtful look on her face and lack of ring on her finger hinted at an intriguing story. It was also a fair bet that this historical fiction, set in the nineteenth century, was about a romance, suitable or unsuitable. So the cover complemented the story – a quite unusual feat, judging by other offerings I have seen recently. Full review...
Sacred Treason by James Forrester
In London, in December 1563, the herald William Harley (known to everyone as Clarenceux) had no intention of becoming involved in one of the many Catholic plots against the young Queen Elizabeth, but he's unwittingly drawn into one when his friend and fellow Catholic, Henry Machyn, gave him a chronicle, telling him that it hid a secret which could cost Machyn his life. Clarenceux was sceptical until he was visited by Francis Walsingham's brutal enforcers and within a matter of a few hours he turns from a law-abiding citizen into a man on the run in search of clues which will tell him why the chronicle is so important. Full review...
Serena by Ron Rash
The reader is introduced to one of the two main characters straight away. George Pemberton. But everyone (even his new wife) calls him simply Pemberton. He's faced with an awkward and at the same time delicate situation and deals with it - with violence. No one seems too bothered, not even the local sheriff. Full review...
The Complete Brigadier Gerard Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Meet Brigadier Etienne Gerard. An officer in Napoleon's army, he is a boastful womaniser with a significantly higher opinion of his own intelligence than anyone around him – notably Napoleon himself. He's also brave, resourceful, fiercely loyal to his emperor and any woman he finds himself in love with, and above all, utterly, totally heroic. Full review...
The Road to Rome (Forgotten Legion Chronicles) by Ben Kane
After years of wondering if their twin were still alive, Romulus and Fabiola happen to catch sight of each other on the docks at Alexandria. Their meeting isn't to last long, as Fabiola is being rushed to safety by her lover, Brutus, one of Caesar's most trusted generals and Romulus has just been press-ganged into an army about to go into battle. However, this chance meeting gives them additional strength, which they are certainly going to need to survive the struggles ahead. Full review...
Floating Gold by Margaret Muir
The novel opens with a description of the rotting remains of a human being battered by the waves on the beaches of the Isle of Wight. I cannot recall any book I have ever read starting on a more depressing note, but this is far from a depressing, or disappointing, story. Full review...
No Less Than The Journey by E V Thompson
No Less Than The Journey concerns a young Cornish miner seeking a new life in America. He makes many interesting acquaintances and some rather arduous journeys in his quest to find a family member. Full review...
Heading Home by Katie Flynn
Claudia is seven when this book opens, in Liverpool in 1926. She's a careful girl, perhaps a little spoilt, although clearly not wealthy. She enjoys the protection of thirteen-year-old Danny who comes from a poorer family, and evidently has something of a crush on Claudia. Even in this first chapter, she comes across as somewhat self-centred, wanting people to think well of her, but not naturally generous or empathic. Full review...
The Stamp King by G. De Beauregard and H. De Gorsse
Set in 1896, this is the story of William Keniss and Betty Scott, two young American philatelists each intent on owning the world’s only complete stamp collection. The rarest specimen of all is one issued by the Maharajah of Brahmapootra but never placed on general sale, although one copy did pass through the postal system, and it is one of only two in the entire universe. The Maharajah owns this one himself - and our collectors are determined to get their hands on the other. Full review...
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
In a story that takes us from the elegance of Paris, through the streets of Budapest and on into the Hungarian countryside and the Ukraine this is an epic tale, masterfully told. It is 1937 and Andras Levi, a young Hungarian Jewish student, is about to leave his brother Tibor to go and study architecture in Paris. Andras' story unfolds first amongst the beautiful buildings of Paris, the theatres and the bars, as he struggles in his studies and falls in love with a beautiful ballerina who has a terrible secret to hide. As the tragedy of World War 2 edges ever closer to Andras, the book moves back to Hungary, to the little village where Andras and his brothers grew up, to Budapest where his new family live and then on into the forced labour camps across Hungary. Full review...
Lady Farquhar's Butterfly by Beverley Eikli
Olivia - Lady Farquhar - has recently been widowed. This does not upset her in the least; indeed, as becomes clear through the novel, her husband was an unpleasant bully who subjected her to all kinds of abuse. Unfortunately, however, the terms of his will have ensured that her beloved toddler Julian has been taken away to live with his uncle Max until such time as Olivia marries someone considered to be above reproach. For that reason, she is seriously considering marrying Nathaniel, a clergyman who has helped her for many years. The only problem with that is that she finds him increasingly repulsive... Full review...
Day After Night by Anita Diamant
First of all, I really liked the unusual pitch for a Second World War novel, set in a detention camp in Palestine in October 1945, soon after the liberation of Europe. The war machine has ground to a halt, leaving millions of bewildered refugees to find their way out of chaos. With huge effort, hundreds of Jewish men and women reach their promised land, albeit as illegal immigrants. Though imprisoned again, Atlit camp is emotionally a halfway house between the past and the future for them. They are at least well-fed and humanely treated by their British captors. With no particular duties and in limbo for an indeterminate period, the women start to come to terms with how life will be for them in the future, safe at last from Nazi persecution, but having lost all their loved ones. Full review...
The Opposite of Falling by Jennie Rooney
It is 1862 and when wealthy Liverpool girl Ursula Bridgewater finds herself single and restless after her fiancée Henry Springton leaves her for another woman, she soon turns to travel as a means of escape and sets off on her first expedition. But she has agreed to stay friends with Henry and cannot quite escape him completely as they continue to write to each other. Ten years later and Ursula has travelled all over the world and is about to embark on a trip around America, but this time she decides to take a companion. Full review...
Stone's Fall by Iain Pears
I read Iain Pears' The Portrait a year or so ago and loved it so I was really looking forward to reading this novel. The front cover is strikingly handsome and hints of good things to come between its covers. The novel is divided up into sizeable chunks of three. Three different decades and three different locations. Pears then dips in and out of the main characters' lives, telling the reader basically what makes them tick. Full review...
Confessions of a Duchess by Nicola Cornick
Dowager Duchess Laura Cole has come to the village of Fortune’s Folly to live a quiet life as a widow with her young daughter. But when the village squire decides to invoke the Dames’ Tax, a law requiring every unmarried woman to give up half her wealth to him, the town becomes a hotbed of men searching for heiresses now desperate to marry. Joining the men is Dexter Anstruther, sent to secure a rich wife and carry out a murder inquiry on behalf of Lord Liverpool. The last thing Laura and Dexter expect is to see each other again after their steamy encounter four years ago. But their passion for each other is reawakened and looks set to ruin them both. Full review...
The Shape of Him by Gill Schierhout
The story is told in the first person by Sara Highbury. She's running a small business in an efficient but rather detached fashion. She's all washed up. She starts to recount her earlier, happier life when it meant something to her. And the reader soon discovers that a diamond digger called Herbert was - and still is - the love of her life. And here Schierhout gives us a taster of the hard and dirty work digging for stones (they're never called diamonds by the workers apparently). The danger and precarious nature of the work is laid bare. But Herbert seemed to be a natural. Why? Full review...
Far Above Rubies by Anne-Marie Vukelic
Shy Catherine Hogarth first meets Charles Dickens at her parents' house when he hilariously comes in through the window to dance a jig before the assembled guests, before leaving and then entering again via the front door. Employed by her father George, the editor of the Evening Chronicle, as a reporter and sketch writer, Charles is at the start of his writing career and soon becomes a regular visitor to the Hogarth household. Full review...
To Defy A King by Elizabeth Chadwick
- Set in the traumatic and violent period leading up to the Magna Carta, Chadwick concentrates on the fortunes of two extended families. The Marshals, close to the throne for their expertise, political and military might, and the Bigods, who are directly related to King John, through their half brother Longespee, son of the family matriarch, and John’s father. Banished from Court, and forced to leave her son there, Ida marries Roger and founds a strong patriarchal dynasty. However, tension is never far from boiling point, with the two half brothers tolerating each other at best, loathing each other more often than not, due to their opposing natures.
Virgin Widow by Anne O'Brien
The mighty Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, is famous throughout England as one of King Edward IV’s most trusted advisors. But as Edward is lured towards another influential family when he falls in love with Elizabeth Woodville, Warwick responds by backing the alliance between Margaret of Anjou and King Louis XI of France, aiming to put Margaret’s husband Henry VI back on the English throne. A helpless pawn, Anne is torn away from the man she loves, who will grow up to become Richard III, to be used as political capital by her father and his allies as they try to regain the kingdom of England. Full review...
Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd
Straight away the reader is plunged into the language of Austen's era, so dotted all over are such rather flowery phrases as ' ... conjugal felicity ...' and ' ... her family were not consumptive...' We are also introduced to a host of characters and although Shepherd has thoughtfully provided right at the beginning Names of the Principal Persons, it does bombard and perhaps confuse the reader a little. I must admit to referring to this dratted list time and time again. It does break the flow at the beginning of the novel. But, several chapters in and you're right into the story thereafter. Full review...
The Fortunes of Grace Hammer by Sara Stockbridge
The short prologue shares with the reader a childhood incident in the life of Grace Hammer. It had a dramatic effect on her and her life thereafter. She is a changed person. She's also driven. She grows into a desirable woman and turns men's heads wherever she goes. But she's also smart. Some would perhaps think at this point, why not go 'up west', bag a sugar-daddy and live in luxury for the rest of her days? But life is not as simple as that. Full review...
The Tudor Wife by Emily Purdy
From the moment she sets eyes on handsome George Boleyn, plain Lady Jane Parker falls madly in love and prays that George will be hers. As Jane and George's families negotiate the marriage Jane meets Anne Boleyn and quickly realises that George only has eyes for Anne, but remains determined that she can make George love her. Full review...
The Sheen on the Silk by Anne Perry
Anna Zarides arrives in Constantinople, determined to find out why her twin brother Justinian has been convicted of murder. But it is 1273, and a woman cannot move about freely to ask questions. Anna is a skilled doctor, who uses Arab and Jewish medicine in secret as well as more accepted Christian remedies: in her quest for information she disguises herself as a eunuch and successfully treats a wide range of people from the very poorest right up to the emperor himself. Full review...
The King's Daughter by Penny Ingham
The central female character - 'The King's Daughter' is Elflaede. She's young, feisty and very pretty. She also has this unforgettable reddish hair. At this point in the story I was reminded a little of Queen Elizabeth I, I have to say. In Elflaede's own words she 'had never known a time without war .' The hordes of Pagan Norsemen are to blame. They've come to England with their own set of superstitions. And they've come with one aim. To conquer great swathes of England. Full review...
The Half-Slave by Trevor Bloom
At Samarobriva in Roman Gaul, a raiding Saxon tribe meets its match in the form of a division of the Franks, who have suborned the Roman authorities and are establishing their control throughout the region. A mysterious meeting with the Frankish Overlord persuades the leader of the Saxons to sign a treaty that will forever alter the fate of his people. In return for Frankish silver, he hands over to them his youngest son, Ascha the half-slave, as a perpetual hostage to guarantee the peace. But in the frozen north new powers are rising, and Ascha will soon be drawn into a web of lies and ambition as two very different worlds come into conflict. Full review...
The Tide of War by Seth Hunter
The Tide of War is the second book in a trilogy of historical fiction novels by Seth Hunter, set in the 1790s and recounts the adventures of British naval captain Nathan Peake. In this book newly-promoted Peake is sent to the Caribbean to command a British frigate, the Unicorn, to hunt for the French warship, the Virginie. Full review...
The Book of Human Skin by Michelle Lovric
Ye can't take the slither out ovva snake.
So says Gianni, valet in a wealthy eighteenth century Venetian household. The master, a merchant, divides his time between Italy and Peru, where he deals in silver. But the merchant isn't the serpent - his son Minguillo is. On the night an earthquake ripped through Peru and deposited fanatical nun Sor Loreta at the convent in Arequipa, Minguillo was born - a serpent in his family's midst. His own mother couldn't bear to nurse him and his father went into denial, making more and more frequent trips to a South American home free of sociopathic progeny. Full review...
The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak
This is a sixth novel from best-selling Turkish author, Elif Shafak. Set in twelfth century Anatolia, two famous characters from Islamic history meet in a gorgeously real world. A delicate contemporary US love story is wrapped around the rich, meaty historical fiction. Don't be misled by the dodgy-sounding title! Full review...