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Reading Room:  Wanted: Historical Fiction Recommendations  |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 8:38:23 PM
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I am loving the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon now too...I am reading the second one "Dragonfly in Amber" right now and have a couple more ready to take on vacation..thanks to Katiedid! We talk about the books alot now..They are hard to put down!
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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JudyBlueEyes
True Blue Farmgirl
657 Posts
Judith
Spokane
Washington
USA
657 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 9:03:52 PM
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Another suggestion for the Arthurian period is Jack Whyte's series told from Merlyn's point of view. Very interesting and very historic of the Roman period in Britain...and I can't for the life of me think of the title of the first book...but go to Amazon or Google and type in Jack Whyte and you'll find them...good books. Judy
Oh, and there are sequels to Mists of Avalon; I haven't read them yet, but intend to...
Oh, and another historical fiction is the series by Sara Donati, the first of which is Into the Wilderness. The hero of this story is the son of "The Last of the Mohicans" and if you watch that video before or after reading the book, it will totally enhance the experience...
The Rooster crows, but the Hen lays the egg. ~ Texas Proverb |
Edited by - JudyBlueEyes on Apr 04 2007 9:06:12 PM |
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daffodil dreamer
True Blue Farmgirl
805 Posts
Jayne
Hamilton
Victoria
Australia
805 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 9:29:50 PM
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I am going to look into the Diana Gabaldon books - so many seem to love them and I know Jenny and I seem to have similar tastes!
One series I loved (I read them a while ago and would love to re-read them) is the Sevenwaters trilogy bu Juliet Marillier. They are called Daughter of the Forest, Son of the Shadwos and Child of the Prophecy. I seem to recall that the first one was the best and they sort of lost momentum a bit, but they were all good. They are about a father of seven children, six sons and the youngest daughter, who re-marries an evil enchantress (don't they all?!). She casts a spell on the sons to turn them into six swans and the daughter must save them. Set in medieval Finland, Norway, one of those countries, can't remember exactly; loosely based on the fairy tale of the six swans.
I will try to think of some others as I love historical fiction too, but do you think any are coming to mind now?!
Has anyone read The Potato Factory and others in the series? Can't think how many are in the series. Written by Bryce Courtenay - very good Australian writer. About a young girl sent to Australia as a convict and how she becomes one of the colonies most successful businesswomen. I really enjoyed them. I like the ones where the heroine is working in adverse conditions against all the odds - for some reason, once they become successful, I seem to lose interest a bit!
Happy reading
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 10:20:56 PM
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Jayne - have you read "My Brilliant Career?" It's this WONDERFUL book set in Australia about a young girl and her search for happiness (how's THAT for a concise summary ). I just LOVE that book... it's a really good read.
XOXO, Libbie
"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar..." - Helen Hayes |
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daffodil dreamer
True Blue Farmgirl
805 Posts
Jayne
Hamilton
Victoria
Australia
805 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 10:26:42 PM
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Love My Brilliant Career - great autobiography! There are lots of great biographies and autobiographies that read as fiction - biographies now seem to written for readibility rather than just a dry presentation of facts. I'm reading one at the moment about Elizabeth I - love that era of history. I would really like some good ones about the Puritans, if anyone knows any.
Best wishes,
Jayne |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 06:06:12 AM
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Ash--
I sent you an email just a second ago (it's 9:10 am est).
Jonni
"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." Margaret Atwood
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lamamama
True Blue Farmgirl
255 Posts
Melanie
CA
USA
255 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 9:36:43 PM
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My Brilliant Career was also made into a really wonderful movie.
I think you all would enjoy it!
Melanie |
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asnedecor
True Blue Farmgirl
1054 Posts
Anne
Portland
Or
USA
1054 Posts |
Posted - Apr 07 2007 : 6:58:42 PM
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One of the books I loved was "A Gathering of Finches" by Jane Kirkpatrick. It is about an Oregon couple at the turn of the century that build a home and life along the southern Oregon coast. Their estate is called Shore Acres - which I have visited and has beautiful gardens. It is mostly about the woman and how she copes with her illness, her husband's extravagant expenditures, etc. It is wonderful
Anne in Portland
"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them" Eyeore from Winnie the Pooh
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2007 : 08:00:04 AM
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Anne, that's sounds wonderful just because of the title!
I'll have to head to the library tomorrow and see what I can come up with from this rather long list I've been making.
"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." Margaret Atwood
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asnedecor
True Blue Farmgirl
1054 Posts
Anne
Portland
Or
USA
1054 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2007 : 3:26:28 PM
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Jonni -
Here is a better description of the book (finally found my copy) -
Based on the life of Cassie Hendrick Stearns Simpson, who crossed the Oregon coastal tidewaters in 1899 to begin her life beside the prosperous entrepreneur Louis Simpson on Oregon's wide and rugged coast. Cassie seemed to have it all: an adoring husband, a loving sister, a daughter and social position. She inspired a luscious four-acre garden (shore acres). She had wealth to buy anything. But fluttering beneath the surface of her charmed life were self-doubt, fear and the consequences of poor choices. All robbed her heart of peace and left her empty and longing for something more.
Also Jane Kirkpatrick wrote - A Sweetness to the Soul which apparently is a sequel to Love to Water My Soul and Homestead, a memoir of her own journey into the wilderness (haven't read either of these, but if A Gathering of Finches is a taste of her writing, I should try one of these others).
Anne
"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them" Eyeore from Winnie the Pooh
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2007 : 3:30:13 PM
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I second the book "Follow the River" by James Alexander Thom. Warning: It's so hard to put down. I seen the movie they made a couple years ago though and I thought it stunk. Maybe if I'd seen it before reading the book it would have been ok. But this book is one of the best I've ever read. My mother has an autographed copy but we can't touch that one, hehehehe.
~~Blessings, Mikki Jo
http://burningmeadowsprings.blogspot.com/
http://strawberriesnapronstrings.blogspot.com/ |
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faithymom
True Blue Farmgirl
360 Posts
Faith
Sandpoint
ID
USA
360 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2007 : 5:48:31 PM
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OK, I have 2 more recommendations:
I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith
It's not a historical novel, but it's darn good!
Beauty by Robin McKinley
It's a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast
I have read both of these too many times to count!
Has anyone else on the board read these?
Faith
"All television is educational television. The only question is, what is it teaching?"-Fmr. FCC Commissioner Nicholas Johnson |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2007 : 05:53:05 AM
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I've read 'I Capture the Castle', and I liked it too. Didn't care for the movie, though.
Didn't Dodie Smith also write the book '101 Dalmatians' that the Disney movie is adapted from?
Here's a funny subcategory: historical fiction written so long ago that we now read historical fiction set in the era that was modern then. My favorite in this category would be Catherine Maria Sedgewick's 'Hope Leslie' (written 1827, set in 1600's New England).
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faithymom
True Blue Farmgirl
360 Posts
Faith
Sandpoint
ID
USA
360 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2007 : 07:42:10 AM
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Yes, Amie, she did write 101 Dalmations.
"All television is educational television. The only question is, what is it teaching?"-Fmr. FCC Commissioner Nicholas Johnson |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2007 : 12:13:58 PM
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Hey Ash. Just wondering if you received the book yet? I mailed it a week ago Thursday.
Jonni
"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." Margaret Atwood
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ashcordes
True Blue Farmgirl
197 Posts
Ashley
Roann
IN
USA
197 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2007 : 6:01:06 PM
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| Yep, Jonni, just got it today, and tomorrow's my b-day so it was like an early present in the mail. Thanks again! |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2007 : 6:44:22 PM
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Wow. Happy Birthday! Glad you got it, but that took quite some time! I'm really thinking that our receptionist took all the mail home with her over the weekend and didn't mail it until Monday or so....I had some other checks for bills and etsy shopping that took forever, too.....hmmm.
Oh well, let me know what you think!
"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." Margaret Atwood
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TElliott
Farmgirl in Training
14 Posts
Terisa
Lebanon
Oregon
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - May 03 2007 : 8:20:46 PM
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Well... how historical? The Earth's children series by Jean Auel is pre-history really, but it's all based on actual archeological digs, their sights, scientific evidence of the people, and TONS of herbal research. The same woman has a fantastic book about Mamoths that she worked on with others, all from archelogical studies she helps with herself. I started reading The Valley of Horses when I was 13 - yep we had to hide it under the tables at school and passed it back and forth (there are some pretty steamy spots, just as a warning), ah to be a kid again! But as an adult the entire series is SO fantastic! Ayla is the strongest woman alive, she can do anything, bear anything, fix/invent/overcome ANYTHING. If you're ever thinking YOU have it rough... wow. I read the Clan much later - not so uplifting as the Valley. But the series is a must-have, I still own that copy from when I was 13!!
Terisa~ |
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Sweet Harvest Homestead
True Blue Farmgirl
279 Posts
Lindy
Stanfield
NC
USA
279 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2007 : 6:56:47 PM
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Oh, Oh,
I've got a great one! It is very historical but it is Non-Fiction.
You still must read it. It is called Recollections of 92 Years by Elizabeth Avery Meriwether.
My, oh my it is good.
It is the diary of a lady who was from Memphis during the War of Northern Aggression.
It is a short, fast read but you will remember it for years. Anytime I ever feel overburdened I think back to some of her hardships and then I shape up real quick. ( She lost her home and had to drive around the countyside, in a wagon, pregnant with two small boys. She finally found a place to rest and give birth).
It is not a depressing book, although it might appear to be. I have it listed as one of my favorite books on my weblog.
Lindy
www.sweetharvesthomestead.typepad.com |
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Reading Room: Wanted: Historical Fiction Recommendations |
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Wanted: Historical Fiction Recommendations
