Historical fiction set in the 17th century
Explore the best historical fiction set in the 17th century, from Tracy Chevalier's *Girl with a Pearl Earring* to Sandra Gulland's *Mistress of the Sun*—a curated list of captivating tales.
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Mistress of the Sun
by Sandra Gulland
An eccentric young woman's love for a wild white stallion tempts her into using an ancient magic that overshadows her subsequent life and leads to her affair with the charismatic Louis XIV.
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Music & Silence
by Anne Redmon
This is the story of a young English lutenist named Peter Claire who, in 1629, arrives at the Danish Court to join King Christian IV's Royal Orchestra.
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The Vanishing Point
by Mary Sharratt
Constrained by their small 17th-century English town, two independent, spirited sisters push the limits of propriety--one journeys to America where she disappears, and the other, trained in the physician's arts, sets off to find her in a wild, uncultivated land where old rules no longer apply.
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Girl with a Pearl Earring
by Tracy Chevalier
Holland comes to dazzling life in this richly imagined portrait of Griet, a sixteen year old of the 1660s who inspired one of Vermeer's most celebrated paintings.
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Beneath a Marble Sky
by John Shors
Journey to dazzling seventeenth-century Hindustan, where the reigning emperor, consumed with grief over the tragic death of his beloved wife, commissions the building of the Taj Mahal as a testament to the marvel of their love. Princess Jahanara, their courageous daughter, recounts their mesmerizing tale, while sharing her own parallel tale of forbidden love with the celebrated architect of the Taj Mahal. This impressive novel sweeps readers away to a historical Hindustan brimming with action and intrigue in an era when, alongside the brutalities of war and oppression, architecture and the art of love and passion reached a pinnacle of perfection.-Back cover.
