I really enjoy Phillipa Gregory.

I'll 2nd (or 3rd or 4th or 5th) Daughter of Fortune A Novel.

For Civil War era, I really liked The Widow of the South.

I know I've read more. Those are just the recent ones that stand out in my mind.

Hi Maria, I've recently read two of Bradshaw's books.
"Island of Ghosts", which is about the Roman occupation of Britain and the barbarian tribes that helped them, was just ok for me. There wasn't much action for a book about barbarians and warriors.

Also read "The Wolf Hunt" which is much much better. It's a fairy tale-ish, medieval story about a young woman who's kidnapped from a nunnery and meets a lord who's hiding a deep dark secret about his identity. She keeps his secret from being exposed and, of course, falls in love with him.

I'm looking forward to reading Bradshaw's books about Egypt.



Maria wrote: "Has anyone read any of Gillian Bradshaw's books? I heard good things about them...they don't seem well known on Goodreads as far as # of ratings.

I've been meaning to pick up :

[b:The Beacon..."

Thanks for the tips, ladies! If I ever get done my Afghanistan/Middle Eastern library I know what to read next!

I have to say some of Gregory Maguire's Fantasy meets Historical Fiction are great (ie Mirror Mirror).

Also read Pillars of the Earth (LARGE!) and as much as I kept telling myself I hated it, I couldn't stop reading it :)

I LOVED LOVED LOVED The Mistress of the Art of Death and The Serpent's Tale(don't let the names scare you). Easy and quick but with plenty to think upon.Ariana FranklinGregory Maguire

I highly recommend THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER by Kathleen Kent, set during the time of the Salem witch trials and written by a descendant of one of the women condemned as a witch. A fascinating and emotional read!

Beth wrote: "I highly recommend THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER by Kathleen Kent, set during the time of the Salem witch trials and written by a descendant of one of the women condemned as a witch. A fascinating and emo..."

THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER is not really fiction, as the characters really lived, and were involved in the Salem Witch trials. The facts in the book are skewed a little. Perhaps the book would be classified as "creative nonfiction", which I really love as a genre. However, it's definitely not fiction.

I loved the book, I almost (ALMOST) felt it was comparable to To Kill a Mockingbird, as it was a child's voice telling of historic/difficult times.

Really I would have thought Heretics Daughter was historical fiction? I mean isn't historical fiction a story that takes place within history following a generally accepted account of happenings but taking allowance to add conversations and liberties to events? The Boleyn series by Phillipa Gregory is historical fiction yet all those people did live. We just don't know what they thought or how they acted or why they did what they did and the author gives their take on those things.

I loved Heretics Daughter too. I cant wait for the prequel.

The last few post have made me wonder what the actual definition of "historical fiction" is, so I decided to do some more googling. :o)
Actually, I started on the website for The Heretic's Daughter, to see what they listed the book as. And they do state that it is "a novel", and note the following about the author:
"Kathleen was very honored to be awarded the David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction!"
So apparently the publisher considers it historical fiction.

And according to The Historical Novel Society:
To be deemed historical (in our sense), a novel must have been written at least fifty years after the events described, or have been written by someone who was not alive at the time of those events (who therefore approaches them only by research).

Here is the website for The Historical Novel Society, which according to their homepage "is THE best place to find out about new historical fiction."
http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/ma...

that's great they have an entire society of it!

I think, for me, there is historical fiction and then there are period pieces. Stories that take place in the past but don't really center on a historical person or event seem more of just a period piece of work.

Tera, since you have read Gone With The Wind, is that one you would consider more of a period piece? I know it is often called historical fiction, but I'm thinking it is more fiction in a historical setting, or a period piece, since yes it is set in the civil war times, but I see it as mainly a novel about completetly fictional characters.

So if my great grandfather (yes, I still have a great granfather- 91 and kicking!) were to write a novel about WWII it wouldn't qualify as historical fiction because he lived through it? Huh.

Kelly Jo- I finished Miracles of Little No Horse this weekend. I'm still not decided what I think about it. I read you're a history major, and I'm not sure how historically accurate it is. It had the feel of mysticism or a dream-like quality to it. The characters are unique, and there are some very funny moments juxtaposed with some very thought-provoking concepts. Overall I liked it. I think the hardest part for me was picturing every thing, I didn't get the sense that I was *there*. I don't know if read Heretic's Daughter, but reading that I felt like you could plop me down in town and I could find my way around. Definitely not the case at Litlle No Horse. I hope that makes sense and doesn't deter you from reading it as there are some amazing characters and occurences throughout.

Jennifer, it seems that if your great grandfather lived through WWII, then wrote a novel about it, it would be considered a autobiographical novel....

"An autobiographical novel is a novel based on the life of the author. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Names and locations are often changed and events are recreated to make them more dramatic but the story still bears a close resemblance to that of the author. While the events of the author's life are recounted, there is no pretense of neutrality or even exact truth. Events may be reported the way the author wishes they had been with enemies more clearly loathsome and triumphs more complete than perhaps they actually were."


Interesting how books are, and can be, classified so many different ways.

I was totally thinking about GWTW when I was thinking about how I classify them. I personally see GWTW as more of a period piece rather than a historical fiction. The story is timeless. The war is a backdrop and it does lead the characters but it isn't defined within the story. It could be any war in any land (relatively).
Where as Roots (another great book) is historical fiction/biographical to me because not only is the time a character of the story but many of the characters were real.

I would also agree that Gone With The Wind would be a period piece....

This conversation made me think of books that I've read by Danielle Steel (I know, I know...but I love 'em) where her stories are a story about the characters with something historically significant going on around them. Message From Nam, No Greater Love, Crossings, Zoya...all period pieces where you learned about people and what they went through during a truly horrible time in the world. I learned alot about the Vietnam War, WWII, the Titanic catastrophe, and the Russian revolution by seeing these things through the eyes of her characters.

In light of that I'm going to say I like period novels and not historical fiction now....thanks for showing me the difference!! This was a great conversation for me....... ;)

Wendy wrote: "Hi Maria, I've recently read two of Bradshaw's books.
"Island of Ghosts", which is about the Roman occupation of Britain and the barbarian tribes that helped them, was just ok for me. There wasn't ..."


Thanks Wendy for the review on Bradshaw's other books! I only heard a review on the Egypt book. I'll have to add Wolf Hunt to my library request as well!

Sheila, Thanks for that wonderful research - very historian-like. :)

Jennifer - I'm going to pick up Miracles of Little No Horse shortly. I'm doing some Native American reading/research at the moment and a novel will be a nice break.