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.

19th c Germany

Want to read novels featuring a particular person or subject? Ask for recommendations here!
Post Reply
tmanwell
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: May 2014

19th c Germany

Post by tmanwell » Fri December 26th, 2014, 8:07 pm

Hi Everyone:
I'm new to this forum. I love historical fiction. I'm really into the books of Edward Rutherfurd and am currently listening to the audiobook version of "Paris."
SOME of my interest will no doubt be covered in this book, but I am VERY interested in finding some historical fiction that covers Germany leading up to the eve of WW1. Political matters such as the unification of the German 'states' are of importance to me, but I'm much more interested in cultural matters, the mystique of the land, rural vs city, etc. Seems like Rutherfurd would be JUST THE PERSON to write a sweeping saga set in 'the fatherland.'

Any thoughts/ideas?

Thanks!

tmanwell

User avatar
Misfit
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 9581
Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Sat December 27th, 2014, 12:30 am

Welcome to the board, BTW.

You've got me stumped, but perhaps others will have some ideas.

Does Austria count? You might look at this book by Robert Taylor Stevens AKA Mary Jane Staples. Goodreads page.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

User avatar
Susan
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3746
Joined: August 2008
Location: New Jersey, USA

Post by Susan » Sat December 27th, 2014, 2:26 am

Not Germany, but there's a six book mystery series (The Lierberman Papers) that takes place in Vienna pre-World War I by Frank Tallis. The books give a feeling for the culture and political situation of Vienna of the time and the murder mysteries are good also.
http://www.franktallis.com/mortalmischief.htm
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/

User avatar
MLE (Emily Cotton)
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Sat December 27th, 2014, 5:12 am

What about the Hangman's Daughter Series? I've only read the first, but the are excellent, if you like historical murder-mysteries. Set in Bavaria 17th century.
And there's an alternate-fiction series 1632, where a small town from 2000 Virginia is transported to Germany in the midst of the Thirty Year's War.

User avatar
Susan
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3746
Joined: August 2008
Location: New Jersey, USA

Post by Susan » Sat December 27th, 2014, 1:31 pm

[quote=""MLE (Emily Cotton)""]What about the Hangman's Daughter Series? I've only read the first, but the are excellent, if you like historical murder-mysteries. Set in Bavaria 17th century.
And there's an alternate-fiction series 1632, where a small town from 2000 Virginia is transported to Germany in the midst of the Thirty Year's War.[/quote]

Agree about the Hangman's Daughter series, although they predate the time period tmanwell was posting about. I've read all of them. They were originally written in German and the author is a descendant of the hangman who is the detective in the series. The author, Oliver Pötzsch, also wrote a book called The Ludwig Conspiracy. The book comes forward in time to two time periods, the present and the reign of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, better known as crazy Ludwig or the Fairy Tale king who built Neuschwannstein Castle, the model of the castle in Disneyland. Through a (fictional) diary, we go back in time to Ludwig's Bavaria in the 1880s. I have a review of it at this site: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... Conspiracy
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/

tmanwell
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: May 2014

Post by tmanwell » Sun December 28th, 2014, 1:31 am

Yeah... I've seen these. Right, not Germany... but I still may give them a try sometime.
But from the responses... looks like I may have stumped the forum. Too bad. Someone like a Rutherfurd really needs to do a German story.

tmanwell

[quote=""Susan""]Not Germany, but there's a six book mystery series (The Lierberman Papers) that takes place in Vienna pre-World War I by Frank Tallis. The books give a feeling for the culture and political situation of Vienna of the time and the murder mysteries are good also.
http://www.franktallis.com/mortalmischief.htm[/quote]

User avatar
Mythica
Bibliophile
Posts: 1095
Joined: November 2010
Preferred HF: European and American (mostly pre-20th century)
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Post by Mythica » Sun December 28th, 2014, 7:01 pm

The Glassblower series is set in a 19th century mountainside German village.

Also, check out Amazon's "German historical fiction": http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=dp_brlad_en ... 7588811011 - those are Kindle books but most should be available in print too, it's just that there is no category by region in the printed book categories. You can narrow down the time period on the left, for example, this should be all 19th and 20th century German based novels:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_n_f ... 7588951011
Last edited by Mythica on Sun December 28th, 2014, 7:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Novels set in 19th Century Germany

Post by Margaret » Thu April 2nd, 2015, 4:59 am

There aren't many. Here are a few, listed on the 19th-Century Europe page at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info:

Longing, by J.D. Landis, about the composer Robert Schumann and his pianist wife.

Knight of Love, by Catherine LaRoche (2014), historical romance about a young woman who escapes her sadistic fiancé and resists the charms of her rescuer, an aristocrat siding with the rebels during the 1848 Revolution in Germany. Kind of a cheesy romance, but an interesting setting - I've reviewed the novel here.

The Greek Treasure by Irving Stone (1975), about Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered and excavated the site of Troy. (Schliemann was German, but I'm guessing most of this novel is set at the excavation site in Turkey.)
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

Post Reply

Return to “Any Good Books About . . .”