Nominations: February 2011 BOTM

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Sat January 1st, 2011, 2:14 am

I'm going through some of the suggestions for Book of the Month themes that have been made. For February 2010, the theme will be historical fiction about ordinary, entirely fictional people--no famous people, and no ordinary people who interact with famous people.

Nominations will close on January 5.

MLE (Emily Cotton) · Post by **MLE (Emily Cotton)** » Sat January 1st, 2011, 2:52 am

Whe you say 'ordinary' do you mean not noble? And if so, would gentry count?

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Sat January 1st, 2011, 3:09 am

[quote=""MLE""]Whe you say 'ordinary' do you mean not noble? And if so, would gentry count?[/quote]

I suppose gentry or upper-middle-class people, depending on the era, are OK--as long as they're fictional people and the famous people are offstage.

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Sat January 1st, 2011, 3:07 pm

Do you mean February 2011 or are we time travelling?

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Sat January 1st, 2011, 3:33 pm

[quote=""Vanessa""]Do you mean February 2011 or are we time travelling?

[/quote]

Whoops! Fixed now.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sat January 1st, 2011, 4:57 pm

What about The Mistress of Nothing: A Novel by Kate Pullinger

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Sat January 1st, 2011, 6:26 pm

Not as easy as I thought! A lot of my books appear to have factual characters in them alongside fictional ones. I don't think this one does, though.

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
1570 in the Italian city of Ferrara, and the convent of Santa Caterina is filled with noble women who are married to Christ because many cannot find husbands outside. Enter sixteen-year-old Serafina, ripped by her family from an illicit love affair, howling with rage and hormones and determined to escape. While on the other side of the great walls, counter-reformation forces in the Church are pushing for change, inside, Serafina's spirit and defiance ignite a fire that threatens to engulf the whole convent. SACRED HEARTS is a novel about power, creativity and passion - both of the body and of the soul. Hidden history brought alive by a wonderful storyteller, renowned for her Italian Renaissance novels.

Elizabeth · Post by **Elizabeth** » Sat January 1st, 2011, 7:33 pm

In SACRED HEARTS, there are a few mentions of historical members of the Este family, and I believe one of the duke's sisters makes a cameo appearance, but they don't really have that much to do with the story. I liked SACRED HEARTS a lot and would love to discuss it.

I'd nominate RED ADAM'S LADY, but I think it's too hard to find copies of it.

What about one of the Susan Howatch historicals, THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE or PENMARRIC or CASHELMARA? Great turn-of-the-century (19th-20th) sagas with all fictional characters, yet re-enacting Plantagenet drama.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sat January 1st, 2011, 8:27 pm

What about one of the Susan Howatch historicals, THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE or PENMARRIC or CASHELMARA? Great turn-of-the-century (19th-20th) sagas with all fictional characters, yet re-enacting Plantagenet drama.

I'll second that and would make for some fun discussion.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Sat January 1st, 2011, 11:39 pm

[quote=""Vanessa""]Not as easy as I thought! A lot of my books appear to have factual characters in them alongside fictional ones. I don't think this one does, though.

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
1570 in the Italian city of Ferrara, and the convent of Santa Caterina is filled with noble women who are married to Christ because many cannot find husbands outside. Enter sixteen-year-old Serafina, ripped by her family from an illicit love affair, howling with rage and hormones and determined to escape. While on the other side of the great walls, counter-reformation forces in the Church are pushing for change, inside, Serafina's spirit and defiance ignite a fire that threatens to engulf the whole convent. SACRED HEARTS is a novel about power, creativity and passion - both of the body and of the soul. Hidden history brought alive by a wonderful storyteller, renowned for her Italian Renaissance novels.[/quote]

Did we read this before? I think we did, but maybe not.