In a 2015 reader survey, I asked
participants to name three favourite historical novels. Listed below are the twelve
top titles mentioned by over 2,000 readers. What characteristics do they share?
TITLE
|
AUTHOR
|
ERA
|
Outlander Series
|
Diana Gabaldon
|
18th century
Scotland
|
The Sunne in Splendour
|
Sharon Kay
Penman
|
Richard III in 15th
century England
|
Wolf Hall
|
Hilary Mantel
|
Thomas Cromwell in
16th
century England
|
Here Be Dragons
|
Sharon Kay
Penman
|
13th century
England,
France and Wales
|
The Pillars of the Earth
|
Ken Follett
|
12th century
England
|
Katherine
|
Anya Seton
|
14th century
England
|
The Greatest Knight
|
Elizabeth Chadwick
|
13th century
England
|
Gone With the Wind
|
Margaret Mitchell
|
American Civil War
|
The Other Boleyn Girl
|
Philippa Gregory
|
16th century
England
|
When Christ and his
Saints Slept
|
Sharon Kay
Penman
|
12th century
England
|
Dissolution
|
C.J. Sansom
|
16th century
England
|
Aubrey & Maturin
Series
|
Patrick O’Brian
|
19th century
during
the Napoleonic wars
|
Immersed
in time and place. Activating all senses, these novels
transport readers to another era right from the opening pages. Here’s an
example from the opening paragraph of Master
and Commander, the first of the Aubrey and Maturin series: “He was wearing
his best uniform—the white-lapelled blue coat, white waistcoat, breeches and
stockings of a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, with the silver medal of the Nile
in his buttonhole …” Here, words like breeches and stockings help set the time
period, as does the reference to ‘silver medal of the Nile’, a sea battle that
took place in 1798
.
Superb
writing. Prose, pacing, emotional resonance, plot
twists and entertainment value factor into superb writing. Table stakes for
high quality fiction of any genre. Each title on the list offers a uniquely compelling
blend of these factors. As an example, here’s what one Goodreads reviewer had
to say about When Christ and His Saints
Slept: “Sharon Penman is one of those exquisitely rare writers who can’t
put a foot wrong. The vocabulary she can draw upon would put professors of
English to shame, her understanding of the language is almost unmatched, and
her consummate fluidity of writing and fluency has few rivals. Moreover,
Sharon’s writing style is supremely natural and elegant in its simplicity.”
Characters
both heroic and human. Readers want to experience
famous figures as believable characters complete with doubts and flaws or everyday
people accomplishing heroic tasks in times so different from today. Outlander and Gone With the Wind are examples of novels based on everyday people;
Wolf Hall and The Greatest Knight are examples of novels exploring the lives of
famous historical figures. The strengths and flaws of Katherine Swynford and
John of Gaunt emerge in Seton’s Katherine
as do those of Scarlet O’Hara and Rhett Butler in Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind.
Authentic
and educational. Readers love to learn. The
hallmark of favourite historical fiction is meticulous research followed by
carefully chosen information to create a seamless blend of history and story.
If you want to know about building cathedrals in the 12 century, choose The Pillars of the Earth; to explore
Henry VIII’s destruction of the power of the Catholic Church, read Dissolution.
Dramatic
arc of historical events. Each of these novels uses
the dramatic shape of real events to tell a compelling story. In The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
shows us the times and intrigue of Henry VIII’s court as Catherine of Aragon
loses her influence to Mary Boleyn who in turn loses to her sister Anne. Outlander explores a time when Scottish
clans hoped for the return of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the end of English
rule.
I’ve included a brief blurb about each title
to whet your appetite.
Outlander
Series by Diana Gabaldon: Scottish Highlands, 1945.
Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and
reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a
standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles.
Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and
raiding clans in the year 1743. The series explores the life of Claire and
Jamie Fraser, a Scottish warrior who rescues her, during a time of great danger
and upheaval.
The
Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman: A novel of
the controversial Richard III—a monarch betrayed in life by his allies and in
death by history. In this superb novel, Penman redeems Richard III—vilified as
the bitter, twisted, scheming hunchback who murdered his nephews, the princes
in the Tower—from his maligned place in history with a dazzling combination of
research and storytelling.
Wolf
Hall by Hilary Mantel: England in the 1520s: if the
king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war.
Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most
of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly
original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in
reading people, and implacable in his ambition. Cromwell helps Henry break the
opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
Here
Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman: Thirteenth-century
Wales is a divided country, ever at the mercy of England's ruthless,
power-hungry King John. Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, secures an uneasy
truce by marrying the English king's beloved illegitimate daughter, Joanna, who
slowly grows to love her charismatic and courageous husband. But as John's
attentions turn again and again to subduing Wales—and Llewelyn—Joanna must
decide where her love and loyalties truly lie.
The
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: A spellbinding
epic set in twelfth-century England. The
Pillars of the Earth tells the story of the lives entwined in the building
of the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known—and a struggle
between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against
brother.
Katherine
by Anya Seton: Katherine
is an epic novel of the love affair between Katherine Swynford and John of
Gaunt that changed history. Set in the vibrant fourteenth century, the story
features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the
magnificent Plantagenets who rule despotically over a court rotten with
intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son,
falls passionately in love with the already-married Katherine. Their affair
persists through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption.
The
Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick: A penniless
young knight with few prospects, William Marshal is plucked from obscurity when
he saves the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine. In gratitude, she appoints him tutor
to the heir to the throne, the volatile and fickle Prince Henry. But being a
royal favorite brings its share of danger and jealousy as well as fame and
reward.
Gone
With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: Gone With the Wind explores the depth of
human passions with bold intensity. A superb piece of storytelling, it vividly
depicts the drama of the Civil War and Reconstruction. This is the tale of
Scarlett O’Hara, the spoiled, manipulative daughter of a wealthy plantation owner,
who arrives at young womanhood just in time to see the Civil War forever change
her way of life.
The
Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory: When Mary
Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of
the handsome and charming Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love
with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. In
reality, she’s a pawn to her family’s ambitious plots and as the king’s
interest begins to wane, Mary is forced to step aside for her best friend and
rival: her sister, Anne.
When
Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman:
A.D. 1135. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his
barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful
daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But before Maude could claim her throne, her
cousin Stephen seized it. In their long and bitter struggle, all of England
bled and burned.
Aubrey
& Maturin Series by Patrick O’Brian: stories
based on the friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin,
ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against a thrilling backdrop of the
Napoleonic wars. Details of a life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy are
faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room
and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the
wind and the rigging, and the roar of broadsides as great ships do battle.
M.. K. Tod
# # #
About The Author
M.K. Tod has enjoyed a passion for historical novels that began in her arly teenage years immersed in the stories of Rosemary Sutcliff, Jean Plaidy and Georgette Heyer. During her twenties, armed with Mathematics and Computer Science degrees, she embarked on a career in technology and consulting continuing to read historical fiction in the tiny snippets of time available to working women with children to raise. In 2004, she moved to Hong Kong with her husband and no job. To keep busy Mary decided to research her grandfather’s part in the Great War. What began as an effort to understand her grandparents’ lives blossomed into a full time occupation as a writer. Her debut novel is
UNRAVELLED: Two wars, Two affairs. One Marriage.
LIES TOLD IN SILENCE, her second novel, is set in WWI France and tells the story of Helene Noisette who featured in Unravelled. Mary has an active blog -
www.awriterofhistory.com - which discusses all aspects of historical fiction and includes author and reader interviews. Additionally, she is a book reviewer for the Historical Novel Society. Mary lives in Toronto where she is happily married with two adult children. Connect with M.K. Tod on
Facebook and
Twitter.