Historical novel is not only an enjoyable pastime for that history enthusiast, it's among the best ways to draw someone in to the study of history itself. There are several pretty terrific historical novels available, but there are also some real stinkers. Read reviews of medieval historical fiction by other About.com visitors, and share your ideas on novels bad or good in your own review.
Written by among Ireland finest living writers and also the only Irish novel on this list, this really is to my mind the finest fictional management of the revolutionary period, plus an outstanding first world war novel. Telling the storyline of the only son from the Dublin Castle chief, it provides a fascinating glimpse in to the conflicting loyalties and identities from the period. This is an era that has attracted many would-be contenders for that great Irish novel, and few are located with credit.
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Occur ’50's Ireland and Ny, this sparely written novel concentrates on the story of Eilis Lacey and her immigration from Ireland to bustling Brooklyn. Eilis is really a complex and reserved character, a girl who is feeling her way through life while spending so much time and experiencing first love. The description of Brooklyn within the ’50's is energetic and buoyant and also the ending is unexpected. An attractive and controlled novel.
Romola by George Eliot
The truly amazing Victorian novelist’s foray into historical book is really a sprawling epic about Renaissance Florence, which centres on Tito Melema, an Italianate-Greek scholar who turns into a conniving politician, and his wife Romola. The novel consumes many key figures of times, including the Dominican friar Savaranola and Machiavelli. Critics have stressed the resemblances between Eliot’s Florence and Victorian Britain (additionally a society in a state of flux) in addition to parallels between Romola and her creator: both women of formidable learning who led unconventional lives.
The Children’s Book with a.S. Byatt
Byatt’s dense and lush book packs in several characters, lots of historical events and a lot of ideas. It is overwhelming for many, but I found this novel, set throughout the late Victorian/Edwardian era, utterly irresistible. The kids of writers and artists discover life on their own and step out of the safety (or nightmare) of the parents’ talent with sometimes tragic results. If you value this time period, The Children’s Book is really a must-read. Byatt manages to capture the spirit from the times while also telling a convincing story. This can be a book to be slowly savored.
Orhan Pamuk
This excellent novel set in medieval Constantinople is just one of many historical novels which have explored the interaction between east and west. Other favourite these include much of Salman Rushdie’s works such as the fantastic, and underrated, Enchantress of Florence and Umberto Eco’s Baudolino. Pamuk’s tale of the group of miniaturists at the Ottoman Court, like a lot of Rushdie’s work, introduces your reader to a whole new world, which we as readers need to take on trust. Just like other historical novels occur exotic places, so that as with unfamiliar histories, I've learned a lot, much of it possibly wrong, but just like history surely area of the raison d’être is to spark curiosity!
The Eagle from the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff
Predictable, perhaps, however it was actually the first work of historical fiction I ever read, after i was still in primary school, also it left me having a hunger to read more. If there’s a much better reason than that for celebrating a magazine and its author, I've yet to think of it. I haven’t included Michelle Paver during my list, but I possess a feeling that the next generation can include her works with just as much predictability as Miller and that i include Sutcliff’s.
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