Top Ten Tuesday: Historical Fiction Novels set in France

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books Set in/Take Place During X (Pick a place, time, era, etc. Examples: Books set in Europe/Italy/Australia/Chicago, books set in Regency England, books that take place during the 1900s, books set in imaginary worlds/post-apocalyptic/dystopian worlds, books set on the ocean, books set it castles, books that take place during WW2, etc.)

On a recent post Deb from Readerbuzz asked me to do a post on historical fiction set in France. Challenge accepted Deb!

When I read books set in France, they are most often either contemporary stories about people moving to France (usually from the UK) or they are set during WWII. For the purposes of today's exercise I am going to mostly books avoid set during WWII as I could probably do multiple TTT posts on that theme. The books I have chosen are mostly shown in chronological order. There are some relatively old books on the list too!

Let's get started.

The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick - Eleanor of Aquitaine is a woman who I have read quite a bit about. I find her completely fascinating. Did you know that she is the only woman who was queen of both France and England and a major landowner in her own right? This is the first book in a trilogy about her life and it starts in 1137

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C W Gortner - Catherine de Medici is another fascinating woman from history, although her life and actions are much darker. A member of the famous Italian Medici family, Catherine married the man who became Henri II. This books starts in 1527 and charts the tumultuous reigns of both her husband and her son. We visited the beautiful chateau at Chennonceaux when we went to France a couple of years ago. This was one of her homes after she confiscated it from her husband's lover following his death. (My review)

The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll - This is the first in the Faire Isle trilogy which is set in the 1570s during Catherine de Medici's reign. In theory, this is a romance, but it is firmly based in history, albeit with a bit of witchcraft thrown in. This whole trilogy is excellent and I was obsessed with them for a while. (My review)

Angelique by Sergeanne Golon - If you want to read a rip roaring, huge and epic novel try this series which was originally published in 1957. This book starts in 1648 and Angelique gets into all sorts of adventures throughout the series. At various times she is welcomed at the highest levels of court, at others she lives with the poorest of the poor. At one point later in the series she is even captured by pirates. Towards the end of the series it all gets a bit silly but the early books are spectacular.  (My review)

An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain - Antoine Laurain is the first of three French authors I have in this list. In this book Antoine Laurain tells the story of Guillaume Joseph Hyacinthe Jean-Baptiste Le Gentil de La Galaisiere, astronomer to the Academie Royale des Sciences who is chasing the first of two Transits of Venus which occurred during the 1760s.  (My review)

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B by Sandra Gulland - This book is the first in a trilogy that tells the story of the woman who we now know as Josephine Bonaparte. This story starts 1777 when we first meet young Rose, a planters daughter from Martinique in the Carribean. This author has also written about a couple of other infamous women who were mistresses of kings (My review)

Champagne Widows by Rebecca Rosenberg  - This story starts in the late 1790s and tells the story of a young woman called Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, who we now remember more famously as Veuve Cliquot - the widow Cliquot. This tells the story of how this remarkable woman revolutionised the champagne industry. (My review)

For the King by Catherine Delors - Set in 1800, this book tells the story of an assassination plot against Napoleon. Delors is a French author. I read a couple of her books and really liked them but apparently never reviewed them! 

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo - What a huge book this is! It took me a good couple of months to gt through this story that starts in 1815 and follows the political upheaval through to the 1830s. This story would be as well known through the musical and movies as it from the book, but I am glad that I took the time to read it a few years ago. (My thoughts)

A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K Runyan - This is the most recent historical novel that I have read set in France (as at the time when I am writing the post any way). This is a dual timeline set in the 1870s and in the immediate aftermath of WWII in 1946. I did say I was going to avoid WWII but I really wanted to include this book because of the 1870s storyline which is about the Prussian siege of Paris and the subsequent uprising of the Communards. (My review)

I am sure that there are lots of other books I could have included on this list. What books would you add?

I am also sharing this post as part of Paris in July, hosted by Emma at Words and Peace.