Historical fiction adventures in the year 2018!

The tale you are now enjoying takes place when and where?

ALSO: the Audiobook forum would appreciate your input!
http://www.librarything.com/groups/audiobooks

12 Days at Bleakly Manor: Book 1 in Once Upon a Dickens Christmas by Michelle Griep
(1850 in London ~ new series I plan to continue listening to)

A Beauty Refined - Tracie Peterson

Sapphire mining in 1907 Montana.

I'm in Cornwall at some point during the Regency in The Lawrence Browne Affair. Can't remember if I got an exact year.

I'm at an exorcism in the present/recent past in A Head Full of Ghosts.

audiobook ~

Lillian and Dash by Sam Toperoff
The Golden Age of Hollywood and Broadway (1930's/40's/WWII)

The Leper of St. Giles by Ellis Peters.

With Brother Cadfael at Shrewsbury Abbey in 1139.

I'm in Victorian London with William Pinkerton in By gaslight. Soot, fog and smoke everywhere.

I'm in Europe on the eve of WWII with Ken Follett's Winter of the World

I've just started Patrick White's Voss, a classic of Australian literature, published in 1957 and taking place in the 19th century.

1799, Dejima Island, the Dutch East Indies Company concession with Jacob de Zoet in the land of The Thousand Autumns.

audiobook ~

A Bachelor Establishment
by Jodi Taylor writing as Isabella Barclay
Regency period

I'm in 1817, Surrey, England. It's Dawn at Emberwilde and there's something odd going on in the woods.

I'm in China and Vancouver's Chinatown from 1920's onwards with Denise Chong's family history, The Concubine's Children. Fascinating for me since my parents were in Chinatown from the late 30's on.

audiobook ~

The It Girls: A Novel
by Karen Harper
Tale based on the lives of Elinor and Lucy Sutherland ~ 1800s/1900s.

Now I'm in 1827 in It Takes Two to Tumble.

Well, to my surprise, I'm reading another book that takes place in the Australian outback during the 1800s. I picked Zane Grey's Wilderness Trek off of my pulp fiction shelf, thinking I was about read a classic American western, only to find that the book is about a couple of American cowboys driving cattle across Australia!

audiobook ~

The Queen's Bastard: a novel
by Robin Maxwell

Did Elizabeth I (1500s) and Robert Dudley have an illegitimate son?

Traipsing all over Europe, courtesy of Ken Follett's Fall of Giants

I'm in an 1890s lumber camp in the Adirondacks with an undercover Pinkerton agent in A Changed Agent.

I'm in a Nova Scotian village during WWI in The Birth House by Ami McKay

on crusade with Richard Lionheart

enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Carnegie's Maid: A Novel
by Marie Benedict

(Pittsburgh in the 1860's/a fave for this year)

I've just started So Wild a Dream, by Win Blevins. It's 1822. 18-year old Sam Morgan leaves his family's farm in western Pennsylvania after his older brother beats him to the girl they both want to marry (and anyway, civilization is coming hard and fast to their beautiful woodland wilderness) to find adventure in the great unknown lands to the west.

I have just started Heinrich Mann's biography of King Henry IV, Die Jugend des Königs Henri IV.

library audiobook ~

Enchantress of Numbers: A Novel of Ada Lovelace
by Jennifer Chiaverini

(England/1800s/Lord Byron's only legitimate daughter is a math whiz and the world's first computer programmer)

UPDATE: pulled the plug on this one

OverDrive audiobook ~

Wilde in Love: The Wildes of Lindow Castle
by Eloisa James

England in 1778 ~ Georgian period ~ first book in a new series
(read by a Brit named Susan Duerden ~ a fave for this type of tale)

In Boston in WWII with one of the first WAVES. When Tides Turn by Sarah Sundin.

In NYC 1861 with Charlotte Waverley deciding to apply to be a nurse in Wedded to War a historical fiction set in the American Civil War by Jocelyn Green.

The Favored Child by Philippa Gregory is the final book in the Wideacre Trilogy.

I really can't recommend this trilogy at all. I endured all three lengthy volumes, where not once does anything good ever happen to anyone. Quite a lot of dreadful things happen, with no redeeming features or satisfactory resolution. It is well written, by a decent author, but dismal and sad. I am going on to read something, anything else, right away, to get the taste of this story out of my mind.

started this OverDrive audiobook ~

Golden Hill: A Novel of Old New York
by Francis Spufford

(NYC/mid 1700s ~ intrigue that surrounds a mysterious, rich young man who arrives in New York)

I'm in Colonial Williamsburg with The Lacemaker on the eve of the American revolution.

I've now started Beauty for Ashes by Win Blevins. This is the sequel to So Wild a Dream, which I read quite recently, and in fact the second book in a 6-book series. The book takes place among the fur trappers, mountain men and Native Americans east of the Rockies during the 1820s.

Spent the past couple of days at a stately home in England during the reign of Queen Victoria with Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. He was kept busy solving the mystery of Bertie and the Seven Bodies (by Peter Lovesey).

>32 tealadytoo: I enjoyed and own this novel! The regional connection and previous vacations to Williamsburg were two of the reasons that I got it.

Haven't left England yet... now I'm in Cornwall with the Poldarks in the tenth book, The Loving Cup.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Hello Stranger: The Ravenels, Book 4
by Lisa Kleypas

(Dr. Garrett Gibson is the only woman doctor in Victorian England)

>35 princessgarnet: I liked it very much. The history was integrated in the story nicely, neither awkwardly tacked on nor ignored for the sake of plot action or modern sensibilities.

I've finished Beauty for Ashes by Win Blevins. This is the sequel to So Wild a Dream, which I read quite recently, and in fact the second book in a 6-book series. The book takes place among the fur trappers, mountain men and Native Americans east of the Rockies during the 1820s. Both books were quite enjoyable, and I also learned a lot, but for now I am going to set the series aside.

Yesterday I started The Apostle, the second of Yiddish writer Sholem Asch's controversial Christian trilogy. The Apostle is Ashe's fictional study of St. Paul. The other books in this trilogy were The Nazarene and Mary. Asch was very well known among Yiddish/Jewish readers in Europe and the U.S., having written both about the Jewish experience in eastern Europe in the 1920s and then, upon his moving to the U.S. about the Jewish immigrant experience. The Christian trilogy was published in 1943 - 1949. As one article I found explained the trilogy, briefly, "Asch had written these novels with a vision of Jewish-Christian reconciliation, particularly after the Holocaust, and his goal had been to expose the common themes behind religious differences." It's a long book, over 700 pages. I'll be interested to see how it goes. I have read one other book by Asch, many years ago, which I enjoyed a lot.

I'm staring an ARC of Never Anyone but You.

I'm reading Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane which is by Lisa See. I know that many think she is a "chick lit" writer, but this book is anything but. When the book started I thought we were in ancient China because of all the superstitions and brutality of life. Surprise--we were in 1989 in the mountainous regions where the non-Han majority lived (s). I have learned so much about tea harvesting, brewing, and tasting, I'm already a winner and only half way through this book.

Also reading, The Judgment of Richard Richter. Thi is sort of slow going. Richard is in a hotel room in Austria with a gun to his head, pondering all the lies his family told him in the past. (His "secret" parentage was probably Jewish).

>41 Tess_W: I loved The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane. It was recommended to me by the owner of a local tea shop. When I finished reading it, I went back to the shop and bought 2 kinds of Pu-ehr tea!

>41 Tess_W: >42 GerrysBookshelf: Hmmmm. That's going on my wish list immediately. Thanks, guys!

I just found this thread! I love historical fiction.

>41 Tess_W: - I have the Lisa See book cued up to be read next, I hope. I just finished a really fascinating book, A Memory of Violets by Hazel Gaynor, read brilliantly by Nicola Barber on audiobook. It is a story of the flower sellers of London in the late 1800s, and has 2, actually 3, intertwined stories, one in 1884 and one in 1912. While most of it is pure fiction, one of the characters and some of the events are based on real people. The narrator really made it come alive but I also borrowed the hard copy from the library as I wanted to check something. I'm glad I did because there was, at the end of the story, an author interview as well as historical info and personal info from the author on how she came to write the book, none of which was on the audiobook.

>44 jessibud2: A Memory of Violets I have as an audio book...hope to get to it in April. I only "read" audio to and from school on the drive so when no school, I usually don't listen.

>45 Tess_W: - I retired from teaching just 3 years ago and used to listen to audiobooks in the car all the time. It's a bit more difficult now as I am not in my car nearly as much but I still always have one in there. Sometimes, when they are really good - as this one was - I bring them inside and listen in the house. I hope you will find the narrator, Nicola Barber, as wonderful as I did. She really nailed all the different accents beautifully. If you have the chance to do so, try to get the hard copy from your library, just for those bits at the end that I mentioned. Pity they aren't on the audio as they really add to the story.

I'm about 1815 I think in Pride and Prometheus.

Just left China in House of 8 Orchids and am entering the Soviet Union in Gnomon with an assassin.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Because of Miss Bridgerton
by Julia Quinn

(1779 in England/book 1, Rokesbys series/read by a Brit named Rosalyn Landor)

In Germany during WWII for White Rose, Black Forest.

I'm in Depression era Seattle with a young Chinese American boy and his best friend, a blind girl. They've run away from their orphanage to search for his Mother.

Songs of Willow Frost - Jamie Ford

>51 tealadytoo:

I loved listening to JF's first book ~ Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

>52 Molly3028: Me, too! Though I read the print version. Great book.

I've just started The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh. The story begins in Burma as the British invade in 1885. I'm up to about page 45, and things seem to be shifting to India, at least for one of the main characters.

I have just finished a beautiful little book about a Japanese doctor who went to great lengths to bring smallpox vaccination to his country in the 19th century: Blumen im Schnee by Akira Yoshimura. I will certainly try to find more of his historical fiction.

OverDrive audiobook ~

Forbidden Orchid
by Sharon Biggs Waller

(Victorian England/an English girl's adventures to and in China/botany/young adult book)

I'm just heading to The Front in France 1914 from Britain in Jacqueline Winspear's The Care and Management of Lies.

enjoying this fascinating Kindle/Audible combo ~

The Moon in the Palace (The Empress of Bright Moon Duology)
by Weina Dai Randel

(book #1/early years of China's future Empress Wu/Tang Dynasty/
a fave for this year)

>58 Molly3028: I'm taking a note of this. Sounds like an interesting companion read to Shan Sa's Empress.

I just finished a tale of spies and intrigue in 16th century Venice which was a bit of mess, plotwise: Der Spion des Dogen. Lots of fascinating details about life in the city, though.

>59 MissWatson:

I am drawn to these kinds of books because of the cultural information that the authors use as frameworks for their imaginative tales.

>60 Molly3028: Oh yes, and I remember such things a lot better if they're told that way.

In Egypt right now with Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George. This is a hefty tome of over 900 pages. Since I knew little or nothing about Ptolomeic Egypt, I've had to do research along the way so been reading this for almost a year. Am about 40% of the way finished. I'm more confident in my knowledge now as well as the author's research. Am awaiting on Antony to arrive in Egypt.

started this library audiobook ~

Tangerine: A Novel
by Christine Mangan

(ex-pat life in 1950's Tangiers/mystery)

UPDATE: pulled the plug on this book.

>62 Tess_W:, it was the second novel I read by Margaret George, after being impressed with her take on Henry VIII. I think the Cleopatra novel would have benefited from some first-person perspective from Antony, but I think the author is very wedded to the idea of occupying just one person's head.

iTunes audiobook/young adult lit ~

The Royal Diaries: Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914
by Carolyn Meyer

(the end of the Romanovs' dynasty/1914-1918)

Finally finished The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George. I researched along the way as I knew nothing about this era in Egypt. I think George did a very good job in getting the history right. I enjoyed the "fiction" of the conversations between Cleopatra and Caesar and Cleopatra and Antony.

I did not realize that Bernard Cornwell has another book out that is not part of a series Fools and Mortals Love his writing. Also have The Far Side of the Sky that I think will be in my beach bag later this month.

So far:
Voyager time travel, London, Scotland, Hispaniola
The Scribe: Silas (Sons of Encouragement Series #5) 1st Century Rome. It starts after the deaths of Paul and Peter.
Jewelled path Romance moving from London to Monte Carlo.
The Secret Annie Oakley I learned a lot about Annie's story.
Absolution by Murder 664 A.D. Ireland.
Night Soldiers the Spanish Civil War
A Crowning Mercy England around 1640s

Just bailed on Far Side of the Sky. Its a story about the thousand of Jewish refugees who make it to Shanghi during WWII. I knew a little about this from a documentary I saw a few years ago, and thought this would be really good. Oh man, the writing is atrocius!
Got through page 20 and decided I couldn't take any more. Pity

A couple days ago I finished If the Dead Rise Not, the 6th novel in Philip Kerr's excellent "Bernie Gunther" noir series. This book fills in some more of Gunther's backstory, as the first part of the story takes place in 1934 Berlin. Then Kerr moves Gunther closer to middle age, as the story jumps forward to Havana in 1954.

Currently reading I am Livia, wife of Augustus Caesar.

I'm following the Franklin expedition in Dominique Fortier's Du bon usage des étoiles, available in English as On the Proper Use of Stars.

>71 Tess_W: I loved that book. The follow up The Daughters of Palatine Hill unfortunately disappointed me.

Reading The King's Hounds. Love the time period and writing, but Im really not all that into medival mysteries. Caedfael being the exception perhaps. I'll continue reading it, but not sure I'll go on with the series.

enjoying this iTunes audiobook ~

The Summer Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine
by Elizabeth Chadwick

(12th Century France/first book in a trilogy)

I love most books by Chadwick - loved this one, then she somehow fell off my radar and just realized there are two more to go! Will need to get those soon.

Enjoyed this library audiobook ~

The Beautiful Pretender (A Medieval Fairy Tale)
by Melanie Dickerson

(Germany, 1300s/young adult Christian lit/a fave for this year)

Ready to dive into this OverDrive audiobook ~

The Hellfire Club
by Jake Tapper
http://www.librarything.com/work/21383687/book/158207875

(1954/McCarthy era DC political tale/narrated by Jake/a fave
for this year)

Really disappointed in Templar Silks the first time for me with Chadwick. I didn't like the structure - past and present alternated (I usually don't mind these, but this felt really disjointed). And to be fair, Ive read so much about the Holy Land (most recently Penmans Ransom ) That I think it just was overload to me. Maybe I'll try it again another time and have better luck with her next book

I've just returned from 1815 Cornwall and France via The Twisted Sword, the second-last Poldark novel.

I'm currently reading the charming Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson. First published in 1988, this enjoyable novel takes place in Vienna circa 1911.

Enjoying this library Playaway audiobook ~

Ike and Kay: A novel
by James MacManus

(WWII/relationship of General Eisenhower and Kay Summmersby/
narrated by a British actress/a fave for this year)

Enjoying this Kindle/Audible combo ~

The Dragon Queen
by William Andrews

(Korean peninsula today and 1800s/Queen Min/
read by Asian narrator Janet Song/a fave for this year)

Listening to this OverDrive audiobook ~

An Expert in Murder (Josephine Tey Mysteries Book)
by Nicola Upson

(London 1934, JT is a crime novelist & playwright &
crime solver/book #1)

One of my favorite authors, Margaret George, Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles.

Finishing July with this library audiobook ~

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

(1500s/tale features the Boleyn family and King Henry VIII/
sisterly rivalry)

>85 Tess_W: I really liked that one!!

I just finished that and liked it almost as much as I am Livia, but I can see not everyone would feel that way. It was an interesting read about Livia, going back to her childhood and how she too, lost a father due to "politics".

Enjoying my first OverDrive audiobook for August ~

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton

(present day and 1950s Cuba/family secrets/
a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick)

Fascinating tale featuring two women and a country frozen in time ~
a fave for this year.

I read My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie and The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs. Both primarily take place in New York (US) during the late 1700s. As a well written representation of historical fiction, between the two books I preferred My Dear Hamilton.

I didn't care for the writing in the Cobbs book. Would like to try My Dear Hamilton

My Dear Hamilton is going to be my next book to read.

My Dear Hamilton is also on my wish list. Currently reading Young Henry from Navarre by Heinrich Mann and although it's about 600 pages and I just read to page 50, I really do like it. Love that time period!

Now reading My Dear Hamilton, and loving it!

>94 al.vick: Great!

Saying goodbye to the Poldarks with the last book in the series, Bella Poldark.

Enjoying this library audiobook ~

The Art of Baking Blind: A Novel by Sarah Vaughan

(England/baking competition/1960s for Kathleen and present day for the contest participants)

>96 rabbitprincess: Congratulations on finishing the final novel! Since I still plan on watching the Poldark series (PBS/US) I cannot bring myself to read beyond The Angry Tide as there are too many spoilers.

>97 Molly3028: I'll be interested to hear what you think of the entire story. It sounds good, especially the baking tie-in. I'm just wondering if the characters have any depth to them.

I completed the PB version of The Alice Network, which I finally rated 4 stars. Kate Quinn is a good writer but my main interest was in the 1915 storyline that focused on the spy ring. The secondary WWII subplot was okay but not nearly as absorbing. Has anyone else read the novel?

>99 This-n-That:, I read The Alice Network recently as well. I also found Eve's storyline in WWI considerably more compelling than the post WWII one. I was interested in Charlie's cousin Rose, but didn't get on as well with Charlie herself. I did feel like I learned quite a bit about the wars, but particularly WWI and its impact.

>98 This-n-That:

The baking book was a 3-star book for me. I enjoyed the backstory the author provided through the "Kathleen" character and the food info she gave in the book she wrote in the 1960s.

>100 Caramellunacy: One of my biggest pet peeves in modern HF is when an author takes an event that in its own right is worth a story and feels the need to add a connection to our relative present. A few authors can do this, but Usually the latter is completely superfulous.

>100 Caramellunacy: >101 Molly3028: Thanks so much for posting your opinions. That is helpful.

>102 cindydavid4: I agree and wish authors would focus on the historical story. In my HF reading experiences, usually dual timelines are distracting and unnecessary.

WWI and the 1920's (technically I finished this a couple of months ago but I haven't been on here in ages so I must catch up!). So enjoyable to be immersed in that amazing time in history: Jazz-Age Harlem, avant-garde Paris, even the racial tension in the US proved riveting and informative. Truly Are the Free by Jeffrey K. Walker.

Love my current read: The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish is about Jews expelled from Portugal during the Inquisition and their life in Holland.

>105 Tess_W: - I am #33 in line for this one at the library! It is the October pick for a local community book club and I can't wait to get to it! Good to hear your enthusiasm.

I am currently listening (on audiobook) to another very good story: When the Moon is Low, by Nadia Hashimi. It is a story of a woman from Afghanistan who is fleeing from the Taliban with her 3 children after her husband is murdered. The story is told in 2 voices; the female narrator is wonderful, the male, less so but the story is still compelling and feels contemporary, given the refugee crisis in so many countries. I am a little over half way through.

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Along Came A Duke by Elizabeth Boyle
(book #1, Rhymes with Love series/England, 1800s/Cinderella-type tale)

UPDATE: a fave for the year

I just went through the last half-century of the Romanov dynasty in Russia with The Romanov Empress. Even though (spoiler alert) it doesn't end well for them, I was engaged in the story throughout. An interesting take from a perspective I hadn't considered before - the protagonist is Empress Maria, wife of Alexander III and mother of Nicholas II. And, because of the incestuous ways of European aristocracy at the time, she was also related to most of the heads of the houses of Europe, including the Queen of England.

My favorite read of that time is Robert Massie's classic Nicholas and AlexandraA history that honestly reads like a novel, I have read it several times and each time I sob at the ending.

I'm in the early 18th century with Jack Sheppard in Confessions of the Fox. (And I will have various bits of The Threepenny Opera stuck in my head at least through tomorrow.)

UPDATE: Please post to the following thread for the remainder of this year ~
http://www.librarything.com/topic/295776