Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
What are you reading?
I just finished Harold the King by Helen Hollick, and really enjoyed it. But toward the end I had to force myself to pick it up, knowing what was going to happen, kept thinking as I was finishing it - "if only this, or if only that" - a useless and frustrating activity.
She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain. (1873) -- Louisa May Alcott
Past Caring by Robert Goddard. I think it's quite good.
Here's the Amazon blurb:
Written in clear, resonant prose, Goddard's first novel, nominated for the Booker prize, is a poised telling of a complex tale. A fascinating "could this be true?" story within a story is reminiscent of Josephine Tey's Daughter of Time, while Thomas Hardy's tragic characters are deliberately echoed in the Edwardian British politician Edwin Strafford and the troubled historian Martin Radford, who has been chosen to research Strafford's tormented life.
Radford finds a memoir that contains hints of a political and moral crime, past but not forgotten, so devastating that even in 1977 it reverberates through the corridors of power. As he reads the memoir, Radford eventually comes to regard the dead Home Secretary as a friend, even as his search uncovers corruption and murder. The novel's subtlety is reflected in the different meanings of its title, and the satisfying climax weaves together the strands of past and present. In one sense a historical thriller, and in another a romantic novel of a love affair gone disastrously wrong, this is, in any case, a wonderful read.
Here's the Amazon blurb:
Written in clear, resonant prose, Goddard's first novel, nominated for the Booker prize, is a poised telling of a complex tale. A fascinating "could this be true?" story within a story is reminiscent of Josephine Tey's Daughter of Time, while Thomas Hardy's tragic characters are deliberately echoed in the Edwardian British politician Edwin Strafford and the troubled historian Martin Radford, who has been chosen to research Strafford's tormented life.
Radford finds a memoir that contains hints of a political and moral crime, past but not forgotten, so devastating that even in 1977 it reverberates through the corridors of power. As he reads the memoir, Radford eventually comes to regard the dead Home Secretary as a friend, even as his search uncovers corruption and murder. The novel's subtlety is reflected in the different meanings of its title, and the satisfying climax weaves together the strands of past and present. In one sense a historical thriller, and in another a romantic novel of a love affair gone disastrously wrong, this is, in any case, a wonderful read.
- sweetpotatoboy
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1641
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: London, UK
[quote=""lindymc""]I just finished Harold the King by Helen Hollick, and really enjoyed it. But toward the end I had to force myself to pick it up, knowing what was going to happen, kept thinking as I was finishing it - "if only this, or if only that" - a useless and frustrating activity.[/quote]
We were saying the same thing on our book group meeting this week on "The Last English King", which essentially tells the same story as "Harold The King" (though very differently). Knowing what happens does affect your relationship with a book, especially as the ending comes ever closer.
We were saying the same thing on our book group meeting this week on "The Last English King", which essentially tells the same story as "Harold The King" (though very differently). Knowing what happens does affect your relationship with a book, especially as the ending comes ever closer.
- SonjaMarie
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 5688
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: Vashon, WA
- Contact:
Get better nona!
SM
SM
The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
Well, I was reading Silver Wattle, a gift from my goodie swap pal, but I placed it on my bookshelf while cleaning up and my sister came over last night and ended up borrowing books....of course, that was one of the ones she took!! I was 1/3 of the way through and enjoying it! Oh well, I'll get it back soon! Now I have no idea what to read next! That threw me off, lol!
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel
- SonjaMarie
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 5688
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: Vashon, WA
- Contact:
[quote=""LCW""]Well, I was reading Silver Wattle, a gift from my goodie swap pal, but I placed it on my bookshelf while cleaning up and my sister came over last night and ended up borrowing books....of course, that was one of the ones she took!! I was 1/3 of the way through and enjoying it! Oh well, I'll get it back soon! Now I have no idea what to read next! That threw me off, lol! [/quote]
Well that's annoying, did she ask you first before taking it? That would annoy the hell out of me if someone just took a book without my permission, especially if I was reading it!
SM
Well that's annoying, did she ask you first before taking it? That would annoy the hell out of me if someone just took a book without my permission, especially if I was reading it!
SM
The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
- diamondlil
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 2642
- Joined: August 2008
I started Under a Blood Red Sky by Kate Furnivall last night. So far, it's very dramatic and gripping!
My Blog - Reading Adventures
All things Historical Fiction - Historical Tapestry
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton
All things Historical Fiction - Historical Tapestry
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton
No, it was my fault actually! She always borrows books from me and I never leave a book I'm reading on the shelf where she knows she can pick out any books that she wants. I just happened to have mindlessly set the book there while cleaning so she thought it was fair game. But I did call her and tell her to read it first so I can get it back sooner, lol.
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel
- SonjaMarie
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 5688
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: Vashon, WA
- Contact:
[quote=""LCW""]No, it was my fault actually! She always borrows books from me and I never leave a book I'm reading on the shelf where she knows she can pick out any books that she wants. I just happened to have mindlessly set the book there while cleaning so she thought it was fair game. But I did call her and tell her to read it first so I can get it back sooner, lol.[/quote]
Oops! I'm the only real reader in my house so I don't have to worry about my books going missing.
SM
Oops! I'm the only real reader in my house so I don't have to worry about my books going missing.
SM
The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965