|
Historical Fiction -- The Distant Past Books set before 1800
|
|
|
The Clan of the Cave Bear
by Jean M. Auel
Ayla, an injured and orphaned child adopted by a primitive tribe, carries within her the seed and hope of humankind in this epic of survival and destiny set at the dawn of prehistory.
|
|
|
The Secret Chord
by Geraldine Brooks
A tale based on the story of King David is set against a backdrop of Second Iron Age Israel and traces his journey from an obscure shepherd to a hero and king before his fall as a murderous despot. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of People of the Book.
|
|
|
The Flame Bearer
by Bernard Cornwell
Aspiring to reclaim the home stolen by his traitorous uncle after a truce is forged between the Vikings and Saxons, the warrior Uhtred of Bebbanburg draws on skills gleaned from a lifetime of war to confront new enemy Constantin of Scotland, who resolves to claim or annihilate coveted lands.
|
|
|
In the Name of the Family
by Sarah Dunant
When his cold and treacherous son, Cesare, grows out of control, Pope Alexander VI struggles to balance the demands of his thrice-married daughter and becomes a pawn in the schemes of her latest paramour before the family's increasing sovereignty compels Rome to send envoy spies to their Italian city-state region. By the author of Blood and Beauty.
|
|
|
Silence
by Shusaku Endo
A classic novel of faith by one of Japan's finest novelists tells the story of a 17th-century Portuguese priest in Japan at the height of the fearful persecution of the small Christian community.
|
|
|
The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
An epic of kings and peasants set in twelfth-century England juxtaposes the building of a magnificent church with the violence and treachery that often characterized the Middle Ages.
|
|
|
The Confessions of Young Nero
by Margaret George
A tale inspired by the rise of the Emperor Nero follows the ascension of a youth to the head of Julius Caesar's imperial dynasty, where he navigates corruption and his mother's ruthless ambitions to pursue his ideals in the arts and athletics. By the best-selling author of Mary, Called Magdalene.
|
|
|
The Day of Atonement
by David Liss
Returning to mid-18th-century Lisbon to avenge the death of his father, Sebastian Foxx, the protégé of bounty hunter Benjamin Weaver, stealthily collects funds and identifies friends and allies among Inquisition spies. By the Edgar Award-winning author of A Conspiracy of Paper.
|
|
|
After Rome: A Novel of Celtic Britain
by Morgan Llywelyn
Remaining on the virtually abandoned island of Britannia after centuries of Roman rule, two cousins pursue very different efforts to unite disparate tribes and factions throughout the land, including throne-seeking Dinas and reluctant leader Cadogan. By the Nobel Prize-nominated author of The Horse Goddess.
|
|
|
Wolf Hall
by Hilary Mantel
Assuming the power recently lost by the disgraced Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell counsels a mercurial Henry VIII on the latter's efforts to marry Anne Boleyn against the wishes of Rome and many of his people, a successful endeavor that comes with a dangerous price. By the Hawthornden Prize-winning author of Eight Months on Ghazzah Street.
|
|
|
Antony and Cleopatra
by Colleen McCullough
A seventh installment in the popular Masters of Rome series retells the story of Antony and Cleopatra from a meticulously researched perspective that features detailed historical and psychological details about the love affair that transformed the ancient world. By the author of The October Horse.
|
|
|
Circe
by Madeline Miller
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child -- not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power -- the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
|
|
|
Last of the Amazons
by Steven Pressfield
A fateful encounter between Theseus, king of Athens, and the tal Kyrte, a nation of proud female warriors, transforms the ancient world, when Antiope, warrior queen of the Amazons, falls in love with Theseus and flees with him.
|
|
|
Instruments of Darkness
by Imogen Robertson
Discovering a dead neighbor from a menacing local estate, the unconventional Mrs. Westerman of 1780 Sussex enlists a reclusive local anatomist to uncover the family’s secrets, which include Revolutionary War ties and links to the murder of a music shop owner.
|
|
|
The Enchantress of Florence
by Salman Rushdie
The best-selling author of Midnight's Children presents the story of one woman attempting to command her own destiny in a man's world, in a novel that brings together two distant cities--the hedonistic Mughal capital ruled by the brilliant Akbar the Great, and Niccolò Machiavelli's Florence during the High Renaissance.
|
|
|
The Princes of Ireland: The Dublin Saga
by Edward Rutherfurd
A fictional account of the legend of Cuchulainn recreates such events as the mission of Saint Patrick, the Viking invasion, the trickery of Henry II that led to England's establishment in Ireland, the failed rebellion of 1798, and the Great Famine. By the author of Sarum and London.
|
|
|
The Elephant's Journey
by José Saramago
A tale inspired by a true story follows the adventures of a neglected elephant who is given by King Joô of Portugal to Archduke Maximilian as a wedding gift and who travels with the archduke through the war-torn storied cities of 16th-century Europe.
|
|
|
Death of an Eye
by Dana Stabenow
Queen Cleopatra, pregnant with the child of Julius Caesar and co-ruling with her brother, Ptolemy, turns to her childhood friend, Tetisheri, to find a shipment of new coins and discover who murdered the Queen's Eye in 47BCE Alexandria.
|
|
|
Our Lady of Darkness: A Novel of Ancient Ireland
by Peter Tremayne
Returning to seventh-century Ireland from a pilgrimage, Sister Fidelma of Cashel is stunned to discover that her friend and companion, Saxon monk Brother Eadulf, has been accused and found guilty of the rape and murder of a young girl, a crime for which he will be executed, unless she can quickly clear his name.
|
|
|
The Illuminator
by Brenda Rickman Vantrease
Working in secret for a radical fourteenth-century Oxford professor who would translate the Bible into English, Reformation-era master illuminator Finn forms a dangerous alliance with Lady Kathryn, a widow desperate to protect her inheritance from the depredations of the church and the monarchy. A first novel.
|
|
|
The Last Hours
by Minette Walters
Assuming control of her despised late husband's people in the wake of the Black Death, a 14th-century noblewoman struggles to protect formerly oppressed people who have been rendered superstitious and fanatical by the plague. By a New York Times best-selling author.
|
|
|
The Religion
by Tim Willocks
A French countess seeks passage to Malta from Sicily in a quest to find the son taken from her at his birth, in a historical novel set in 1565 during the last great medieval conflict between East and West.
|
|
|
|
|
|