[/quote]I loved those books.
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What Are You Reading? November 2011
[quote=""boswellbaxter""]I'm reading Thomas Cromwell: The Rise and Fall of Henry VIII's Most Faithful Servant by John Schofield. .[/quote]
Did you read Wolf Hall? I'll be interested in your comments on this non fiction account
Reading two non HF books: the new biography of Kurt Vonnegut "And So It Goes', and the final sequel to Wicked, "Return to Oz" by Gregory Maguire. He was in town this week, very interesting speaker.
Did you read Wolf Hall? I'll be interested in your comments on this non fiction account
Reading two non HF books: the new biography of Kurt Vonnegut "And So It Goes', and the final sequel to Wicked, "Return to Oz" by Gregory Maguire. He was in town this week, very interesting speaker.
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Vanessa
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 4260
- Joined: August 2008
- Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
- Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
- Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
- Preferred HF: Any
- Location: North Yorkshire, UK
I'm just about to start Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet by Jamie Ford.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
[quote=""javagirl""]Ludmilla - This sounds like something I'd like as I'm currently into this period/place. I'll be interested in knowing if you recommend it once you're finished.
[/quote]
Javagirl, I’m almost finished and do recommend this book, especially if you are interested in the early Colonial period and the frontier setting. The story begins in England, but once the characters arrive in the New World, most of it takes place along the Connecticut River and Lake Champlain/Southern Quebec regions. The settlers live in Abenaki territory. The French have allied themselves with the Abenaki while the English have recruited the Iroquois and Mohawk as they spread their squabbles to the New World. It’s chock full of interesting observations of the period. For example, one character muses that the French still retain their Frenchness, even when transplanted in the New World, whereas the English within a generation or two have lost their Englishness, adopting their own customs to suit the new way of life and environment. Above and beyond the main characters, the book is full of quirky characters with interesting stories of their own. I like the author’s writing – very clear, straight-forward and naturalistic but somehow manages to have a dreamy quality about it. For what it’s worth, I noticed also that Rosina (author Sara Donati) who has posted here before gave this book a five star review on Good Reads. I bought a used paperback, and noticed (after I bought the used copy, of course) that a Kindle version of this comes out November 22nd.
[/quote]
Javagirl, I’m almost finished and do recommend this book, especially if you are interested in the early Colonial period and the frontier setting. The story begins in England, but once the characters arrive in the New World, most of it takes place along the Connecticut River and Lake Champlain/Southern Quebec regions. The settlers live in Abenaki territory. The French have allied themselves with the Abenaki while the English have recruited the Iroquois and Mohawk as they spread their squabbles to the New World. It’s chock full of interesting observations of the period. For example, one character muses that the French still retain their Frenchness, even when transplanted in the New World, whereas the English within a generation or two have lost their Englishness, adopting their own customs to suit the new way of life and environment. Above and beyond the main characters, the book is full of quirky characters with interesting stories of their own. I like the author’s writing – very clear, straight-forward and naturalistic but somehow manages to have a dreamy quality about it. For what it’s worth, I noticed also that Rosina (author Sara Donati) who has posted here before gave this book a five star review on Good Reads. I bought a used paperback, and noticed (after I bought the used copy, of course) that a Kindle version of this comes out November 22nd.
Last edited by Ludmilla on Thu November 17th, 2011, 2:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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MLE (Emily Cotton)
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 3564
- 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
beautiful baby
Berengaria, I just have to comment on that baby picture: beautiful, beautiful baby, and beautiful name. As a college teacher, I always tell my students to put the tiny ones on their knee and start reading to them from birth. In fact, Maya Angelou recommends reading to the child in the womb!
Shelley
Rain: A Dust Bowl Story
Shelley
Rain: A Dust Bowl Story
[quote=""SCW""]The Gunpowder Plot by Antonia Fraser. Non fiction account of the plot to blow up the houses of parliament in 1605.
Can anyone recommend any novels set in Elizabeth England relating to the persecution of Catholics![/quote]
I am not always a huge fan of AF but these ones I found OK. As far as modern fiction is concerned many writers tend to skirt the issue of religious strife. The first James Forrester novel has a Catholic main protagonist etc etc. I can give you the names of some older ones which tell their tale either from the Protestant/Puritan POV or the Catholic.
As far as the non-fiction is concerned have you tried Mark Nicholl's Investigating the Gunpowder Plot and as always when dealing with that period S R Gardiner What the Gunpowder Plot was which happens, of course, to be free. I have read several others on the subject I can't come up with the exact details off the top of my head.
I started reading Mark Nicholl to fill me in with the details of English/Scots relations during the period covered by the Lymond Chronicles and it just so happened I already had the later volumes in that series to it worked out nicely. I found him to be a worthwhile read.
Can anyone recommend any novels set in Elizabeth England relating to the persecution of Catholics![/quote]
I am not always a huge fan of AF but these ones I found OK. As far as modern fiction is concerned many writers tend to skirt the issue of religious strife. The first James Forrester novel has a Catholic main protagonist etc etc. I can give you the names of some older ones which tell their tale either from the Protestant/Puritan POV or the Catholic.
As far as the non-fiction is concerned have you tried Mark Nicholl's Investigating the Gunpowder Plot and as always when dealing with that period S R Gardiner What the Gunpowder Plot was which happens, of course, to be free. I have read several others on the subject I can't come up with the exact details off the top of my head.
I started reading Mark Nicholl to fill me in with the details of English/Scots relations during the period covered by the Lymond Chronicles and it just so happened I already had the later volumes in that series to it worked out nicely. I found him to be a worthwhile read.
Currently reading - Emergence of a Nation State by Alan Smith
Posted by SCW
Amongst older novels, Patricia Finney's Elizabethan trilogy starting with Firedrake's Eye and Anthony Burgess' Dead Man in Deptford come to mind.
Christie Dickason's Firemaster's Mistress and Martin Stephen's Desperate Remedy cover the Gunpowder Plot itself.
As SGM says, there have been quite a few authors recently dealing with Walsingham and the underground war on Catholics in historical fiction, amongst them Rory Clements, S.J. Parris, C.W. Gortner and James Forrester.Can anyone recommend any novels set in Elizabeth England relating to the persecution of Catholics!
Amongst older novels, Patricia Finney's Elizabethan trilogy starting with Firedrake's Eye and Anthony Burgess' Dead Man in Deptford come to mind.
Christie Dickason's Firemaster's Mistress and Martin Stephen's Desperate Remedy cover the Gunpowder Plot itself.
Last edited by annis on Thu November 17th, 2011, 7:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.