Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Top Ten Tuesday: Reasons Why I Love Historical Fiction


Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

I haven't done a Top Ten Tuesday for a while now. I often look at the topic and think I couldn't think of ten things about that topic and then as I see the posts as I check out people's blogs and think well of course I could have!!

This week the topic is Reasons Why I Love......and we can pick our own topic, and I have chosen to post about all things historical fiction - or at least ten things historical fiction. I will admit I did struggle to limit this to just ten.




Jean Plaidy - My love of historical fiction started very early and continues on even now. In early high school I read every Jean Plaidy book that my school library had.She also wrote under a couple of other names including Victoria Holt, Eleanor Burford and more. And with covers like these, why wouldn't you!


Dual timelines - I am a sucker for a dual timelines and there are so many choices for the books. Even if I just want to limit it to Australian authors there are authors like Hannah Richell, Kate Morton but I have to include Canadian author Susanna Kearsley. One of my favourite books ever is The Winter Sea!




Brave knights and powerful men - If you want to read about handsome kings, brave knights, paupers rising through society, poor boys who turn out to be the secret son of some rich and powerful lord, then historical fiction has the stories for you.


Beautiful and powerful women - And for all those handsome brave knights, there has to be the irresistibly beautiful women! who they fall in love with. Many times those women wield huge political power. The books of Susan Holloway Scott introduced us to the mistresses of Charles II, or if you want an old school rollicking adventure try the Angelique books by Sergeann Golon


Fascinating stories based on historical figures - One of the first books I read by Australian author Kate Forsyth was the exceptional Bitter Greens. It's a fairy tale retelling of Rapunzel set in Italy but also featuring Charlotte -Rose Caumont de La Force who wrote the original story that was then adapted by the Grimm brothers. See.... just one example of a fascinating story! Sometimes we think that we know about the historical figure or some times we have never heard of them. Either way can be fascinating.


Well known stories - Sometimes it is possible to read too many books about one subject to the point of not wanting to read it again. For me, I overdosed on Tudor stories years ago, but there are still occasions when I can be tempted into the Tudor world for an exceptional story. An example of this would be Legacy by Susan Kay which was so good. I have also seen people mention that they are started to get a bit of WWII fatigue but I am not there yet, not while there are excellent books like The Nightingale coming out.




Little known stories - For all the well known stories, there are lesser known stories that can be discovered. I had read plenty of historical fiction about the Roman Empire, but I didn't know a lot about the Etruscan civilisation which was located very close to Rome. And then there are the authors who take something that we know about like a famous painting and then add colour and depth to it such as Susan Vreeland's books or a story set against Catherine Medici's reign in France which provides the context of the story in books like The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll.



Stories set against adversity in war - My love of big books set against war started early. I was a teenager when my auntie introduced me to the writing of Noel Barber and I couldn't get enough. i suspect if I was to reread them now they might be a bit problematic but they still have pride of place on my bookshelves.



That fascination continues now - I mentioned people overdosing on WWII fiction, but I can't see that happening for me any time soon. There are so many aspects still to be explored. We could be reading about people in war zones such as All the Light You Cannot See which is set in France but there is also the Pacific theatre of war and also stories about what is happening on the home front such as The Land Girls by Victoria Purman. And that's only talking about WWII. There are so many other conflicts out there where we can read about the triumph of human spirit in the face of adversity!



Big sagas - I love a big book, and there was time where that was actually how I chose which book to buy. If there was a big book and a normal size book I would reach for the big one every time. I also love a series that follows characters through time. There are classic series such as The Morland Dynasty books by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles or new series such as the excellent Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley.

As I finish this posts I am looking at the covers thinking I should have  chosen this book or that books. I haven't mentioned some of my very favourite authors or books. There are just so many great options out there!

57 comments:

  1. I like reading about powerful women, too.

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  2. I also love historical fiction. Discovering little known stories is one of my biggest reasons for being into it. Good list.

    My TTT .

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  3. I love discovering little known stories and following characters through time too - really need to read more historical fiction! Sharon Penman is my favourite :)

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    1. Sharon Penman is one of my favourites too!

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  4. When historical fiction is well done, it's magical transport, and that's brilliant. I just read Simon the Fiddler and it's one of that sort. Time travel that is safe, with a sure-fire way to return home.

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    1. I saw a few reviews of Simon the Fiddler and it certainly looked interesting Deb!

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  5. Oh gosh, Margaret, so many wonderful sounding books here to look up. Just what I need. LOL! I too have not got WW2 fatigue yet, to be honest I feel like I'm just getting started. And I never used to be a fan of dual timelines but now find myself getting more and more into them. I think Liz Fenwick's The Returning Tide converted me.

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    1. Apologies... called you 'Margaret' when I meant 'Marg'.

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    2. Liz Fenwick is a new author to me, and no problems calling me Margaret. I am pretty much Marg online and Margaret everywhere else.

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  6. Before Bitter Greens I avoided historical fiction, it was the book that changed my mind.

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    1. Bitter Greens is such a good book Shelleyrae!

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  7. I am a big sucker for dual timelines too! Even though it is done in almost every other historical fiction, I don't think I'd ever grow bored of it.
    Also, stories of some insanely courageous and badass women - The Nightingale is my all time fav, and I just read The Alice Network last week and I am so inspired.

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    1. I listened to The Alice Network a while ago and thoroughly enjoyed it Aayushi!

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  8. I also love a series! That is one thing I find very satisfying is findng a book I like and discovering there are loads more in the series. I may now be inspired to start a tab or do a post about series I loved on my book blog, Novel Meals.

    Have you ever read or heard of The Australians by William Stuart Long? It's actually a woman author and she had 12 in that series. The Explorers, the Settlers, etc. You follow generations of the same families from 1850s to the 1980s. Loved that series.

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    1. A long time ago I did a list of of all the series I had either finished or started reading. It was quite shocking at the time. Maybe I should revisit it Tina!

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  9. I like historical fiction too. There are so many different time periods out there, and countries. And there's even historical fiction with magic (what I'm reading now, Chain of Gold)!

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    1. Is that the Cassandra Clare book Brooke?

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  10. Thanks for visiting my TTT earlier.

    As I mentioned there, I also love to read historical fiction. From your list, I've only read Wolf Hall and All the Ligh We Cannot See which shows how many different books there are about this topic.

    It was so nice to read this post. Thank you.

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    1. Those are both excellent books Marianne.

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  11. I totally agree! I love historical fiction for all the reasons you mentioned, although I tend to stick with certain time periods more than others, mainly the 1800s on. For some reason, I don't love medieval settings as much as others.

    Happy TTT!

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    1. I think I probably tend towards pre 1800s and then WWI and WWII, so you fill in my gaps Susan!

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  12. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres! You've inspired me to put together a list of my favorites. There will be quite a few which focus on WWII, about which I am not yet weary of reading.

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    1. I am nowhere near being weary of WWII either Les!

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  13. You reminded me of Susan Vreeland, whose books I 've been intending to read. I think I've only read one. Thanks for the idea!

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. I enjoyed all the books I read by Susan Vreeland Mae!

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  14. Great reasons to read Historical Fiction. I don't read a ton of it, but I love it when I do.

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    1. Isn't it funny that enjoying a genre doesn't necessarily mean we read a lot of it Deanna.

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  15. I have been reading a lot of historical fiction this year. I always have liked it, although usually I read historical mysteries. But this year it has been mixed.

    I have read the the Bill Slider mysteries by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles but not her historical fiction series. That would be a big commitment to get into.

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    1. I haven't read the Slider books Tracy. I did read her Russian stories and they were really good!

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    2. I just thought of another reason I love historical fiction. No computers, no social media. I don't want to go back in the past and obviously I use computers all the time, but sometimes I like to get away from them.

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  16. I agree, there are a lot of great historical fiction books out there about brave men and powerful women. Good list!

    Here's my TTT list.

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  17. I got hooked on Jean Plaidy/Victoria Holt when I was in my early teens, and I love Cynthia Harrod-Eagle's Morland Dynasty!

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    1. I need to get back to the Morland Dynasty books. I think I was about 5 or 6 books in. I will have to check my list!

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    2. I've made my way to World War I, but I've fallen several books behind now.

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  18. Hilary Mantel's books have been on my radar for a while. Reading your list makes me want to pick up historical fiction more often!

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    1. I definitely recommend listening to Wolf Hall An!

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  19. I went through a period where I read everything I could get my hands on about the Tudors and Mary, Queen of Scots. I admire those strong women.

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    1. I was definitely the same about 15 year ago Debra.

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  20. Great list!! I've been meaning to branch out in my reading and try different genres! I've read books set in a historical time period before but they always had a fantastical element to them. I'm definitely interested to see what Historical Fiction has to offer!
    Happy Reading!! <3

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    1. Lin, like every genre there's some really great books, some good books and some not so great books. Hopefully this list helps you find some good places to start.

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  21. Hey you did a TTT! Awesome choice of topic - lots of wonderful books showcased here....and quite a few I have not read!

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    1. You sound surprised Bree! And there's so many great books out there still to be discovered!

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  22. This is beautifully written and fully describes why historical fiction is my favorite genre!!

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  23. This post reminded me that although I've read most of Susanna Kearsley's books, I still haven't read The Winter Sea! And I love dual timelines too.

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    1. Laura, The Winter Sea was my first Susanna Kearsley book and is probably still my favourite. I have read most of her books but still need to read Bellwether!

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  24. What a great post. I love historical fiction too! Jean Plaidy is one of my mom's favorite authors. So fun to see your recommendations. I need to look into Bitter Greens thought sounds fascinating!

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    1. Highly recommend Bitter Greens Iliana!

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  25. Yes to everything on your list. I love historical fiction too and you covered all of the reasons perfectly. I especially love a good dual timeline story and also a story that lets me learn something about an event or person that I otherwise wouldn't have heard much about. Code Name Helaine is one that immediately comes to mind in that regard. I had never heard of the White Mouse prior to reading that book and was just amazed at what a huge contribution she made to the resistance efforts during WWII.

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    1. Suzanne, I did know about Nancy Wake because she is Australian. What is interesting to me is that there are 3 new books out about her at the moment but not one of them is written by Australian authors.

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  26. Many of these appeal to me as well. Historical fiction is so multi-faceted. I love it. Great post!

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    1. There is so much breadth in the genre! Something for everyone.

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