Read Great Historical Fiction Beyond Philippa Gregory
Discover captivating historical fiction beyond Philippa Gregory! Explore our curated list of must-read books that bring history to life with rich storytelling and vivid characters.
Book
The Mercy Seller
by Brenda Rickman Vantrease
This spellbinding tale about the power of love and the perils of faith is from the bestselling author of "The Illuminator."
Book
Mistress of the Art of Death
by Ariana Franklin
Sent to medieval Cambridge in order to exonerate Jewish prisoners who have been accused of murdering four children, University of Salerno medical expert Adelia discovers that the killer may be a former crusader.
Book
Innocent Traitor
by Alison Weir
A fictional portrait of Lady Jane Grey, the great-niece of Henry VIII, follows her turbulent life against the backdrop of Tudor power politics and religious upheaval, from her youth, to her nine-day reign as Queen of England, to its tragic aftermath.
Book
The Terror
by Dan Simmons
The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of triumph. As part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage, they are as scientifically supported an enterprise as has ever set forth. As they enter a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, though, they are stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, with diminishing rations, 126 men fight to survive with poisonous food, a dwindling supply of coal, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is far more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror constantly clawing to get in.When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. With them travels an Inuit woman who cannot speak and who may be the key to survival, or the harbinger of their deaths. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear that there is no escape. The Terror swells with the heart-stopping suspense and heroic adventure that have won Dan Simmons praise as "a writer who not only makes big promises but keeps them" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). With a haunting and constantly surprising story based on actual historical events, The Terror is a novel that will chill you to your core.
Book
The Rose of York
by Sandra Worth
Set in Malory's England, it traces Richard's remarkable reign, his passion for justice, and his undying devotion to Anne, and delves into the still-unresolved mystery of his nephews' disappearance.
Book
Martha Peake
by Patrick McGrath
When Ambrose Tree is summoned by his ancient uncle to the brooding mansion Drogo Hall, he suspects it’s to hear the old man’s dying words and then collect a sizable inheritance. He has no idea he is about to learn the bizarre story of Harry Peake, Cornish smuggler turned poet who became a monster capable of the most horrifying acts. Or that he’s about to become psychologically enmeshed in the riveting life of Harry’s daughter, Martha, who flees her father for colonial America where she becomes a heroic figure in the revolution against England. Or that he himself has a crucial role to play in this mesmerizing tale as it rushes headlong and hauntingly toward its powerful climax. Martha Peake is a spellbinding alloy of Gothic mystery and historical romance.
Book
Portrait of an Unknown Woman
by Vanora Bennett
In an epic tale set against a backdrop of civil-war torn sixteenth-century Europe, portraitist Hans Holbein the Younger flees to the safety of Tudor England in order to escape artistic censorship.
Book
Leonardo's Shadow
by Christopher Grey
Fifteen-year-old Giacomo--servant to Leonardo da Vinci--helps his procrastinating master finish painting "The Last Supper" while also trying to find clues to his parentage and pursue his own career as an artist in late fifteenth-century Milan.
Book
The Earthquake Shack
by Gary Diedrichs
Who among us does not need refuge from a catastrophe that upends, shakes and changes us forevermore? And so it is with Will Dumont. Against the upswell of late 1950s Sausalito, California -- artists, beats, bohemians, unforgettable locals like Sally Stanford, Alan Watts, Sterling Hayden, Jean Varda -- Will seeks his shelter in the Earthquake Shack. This beachfront cottage clad in mossy brown shingles was built as a house of refuge, beginning its existence in nearby San Francisco, after the 1906 earthquake. Resettled to Sausalito's idyllic waterfront, it is haunted. One lively spirit, its orginal tenant, is a Barbary Coast piano man; another is a Miwok princess who tribe once danced on the same beach. Will's hopes of distancing himself from his past, however, are severely shaken by a headstrong artist named Maggie. She's not only hellbent on defending the loose and easy waterfront life from those who would steal it away, she also offers Will the gift of love and a chance to recover from his personal earthquakes. Out of Will's struggle to find the means to accept that gift comes a poignant, lyric love story for those ready to be transported by a sense of place and the sweep of history. It's a wild and wonderful ride!
Book
The Temple Dancer
by John Speed
In seventeenth-century India, Maya, a high-priced dancer who has been bought for one of the most powerful men in Bijapur, faces dangerous obstacles in her caravan journey across the Mogul Empire to her new master.
Book
Sovereign
by C. J. Sansom
From one of P.D. James's favorite mystery authors comes the third Shardlake novel, set in autumn 1541 during the reign of Henry VIII. This time Matthew Shardlake is faced with the most terrifying fate of the age: imprisonment in the Tower of London.
Book
The Observations
by Jane Harris
In an attempt to escape her not-so-innocent past in Glasgow, Bessy takes a job as a maid. Her "missus" demands Bessy keep a journal of her thoughts in this powerful story of secrets and suspicions, hidden histories, and mysterious disappearances.
Book
The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
"Original hardcover edition published by William Morrow and Company Inc.; previously published in a Plume edition"--T.p. verso.
Book
The Water Devil
by Judith Merkle Riley
The final adventure in the beloved and bestselling Margaret of Ashbury trilogy, which began with A Vision of Light and In Pursuit of the Green Lion. Margaret of Ashbury is ready to settle down; the medieval healer is looking forward to an uneventful life in the country. And, indeed, life with her true love and a brood of rambunctious children is nearly perfect—except for her husband Gregory’s ever-meddling family. Finding himself deep in debt once again, Gregory’s father has plotted to sell Margaret’s daughter off in marriage to save his woodlands from a greedy abbot. In a panic, Margaret turns to her old friend Brother Malachi to help save her daughter by whatever means necessary. The tension within the feuding family rouses an ancient being that dwells in a spring at the center of the disputed woodland. The watery creature has its own plans, and its eye is on Margaret’s infant son. Favorite characters return, the stakes are high, and the air is thick with intrigue and danger. Written with the historical accuracy, supernatural plot twists, and humor that Riley’s readers have grown to love, The Water Devil is a high-spirited adventure that brings Margaret’s odyssey to a satisfying conclusion.
Book
The Firemaster's Mistress
by Christie Dickason
First published in Great Britain in 2005 by HarperCollins.