manuscripts-dontburn:Historical fiction has always been my favourite genre of books. I started with

manuscripts-dontburn:Historical fiction has always been my favourite genre of books. I started with fairy tales, moved onto myths and from there it has been a very smooth transition into history. Ever since my mum gave me my first adult historical fiction to read (I was 13) it has always held the greatest attraction to me as a reader. Here are just some of my favourite adult historical fiction books I have read in my life, listed chronologically according to their setting:Quo VadisWritten and published first as a serial in Polish newspaper, Quo Vadis was awarded the 1905 Nobel prize for literature. The author, Henryk Sienkiewicz, presented a story of the clash of two cultures: the sophisticated, beautiful but also morally corrupt one of the Roman Empire, and the new, slowly growing Christianity, viewed by many contemporaries as a dangerous sect with an incomprehensible philosophy. The first is represented by a young military tribute Marcus Vinitius and his uncle, Arbiter of Elegance Petronius, the latter by Lygia, a hostage “barbarian” Princess. As Petronius carefully balances on the edge at the court of Emperor Nero, Vinitius need to govern his passions, if he ever wants to gain Lygia´s trust, if not love. The DovekeepersIn 70 C.E. the Roman armies besieged the magnificent fortress of Masada in Judean desert. When they finally, after long months, managed to storm it, there was no fight to win. Almost 900 Jewish men, women and children lay dead in front of their eyes. Denying the ultimate victory to their enemies, they had chosen a few who then slaughtered them all - only two women and five children were found living in the fortress. The Dovekeepers is a story of four different women who found their way to Masada before the Romans laid siege to it. It is through their eyes and their personal experience that the reader can glimpse the magnitude of the bravery, foolhardiness and magnitude of the Masada event.The Heaven TreeA trilogy by Edith Pargeter, set in medieval England follows first a son of a minor noble family Herry Talvace, who flees home to save his best friend, which gives him opportunity to follow his own dreams of becoming an artist and an architect. Returning to the border area between England and Wales in the service of Lord Isambard, he makes a pledge which comes to haunt him. Later, his own young son takes the lead, but his life continues to be intertwined with the devilish Isambard, beautiful Donna Benedetta and his father´s magnificent work.The Name of the RoseIconic book by Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose is perhaps the ultimate book about a library. Set in medieval Italy it introduces a brilliant monk William of Baskerville and his young pupil Adson, who have been called upon by a terrified abbot to a secluded Benedictin monastery, where a suspicious death has occured. What more, as soon as the visitors arrive, the deaths start to multiply. A perfect historical thriller.The Crimson Petal and the WhiteLondon of the 19th century was much, much darker than even Charles Dickens dared to write it. Michel Faber walks you through it as if he had intimatelly known it himself, as you follow and grow to love Sugar, a fiercely intelligent young girl forced into prostitution by her own mother. When a rich factory owner (whose own wife seems to be going mad) decides he wants her for his own, Sugar finally sees a glimpse of hope. Perhaps there is a way out of gutter….. through a man´s lust.The OrdealA trilogy also known as “Road to Cavalry” by Russian writer Alexei Tolstoy is a brutal, poetic, passion filled story of two upper-class sisters Dasha and Katya in the mad whirlwind of the Russian revolution and the subsequent Civil war. One loves a Bolshevik, the other an officer of the White army. The four young people need to find themselves, each other, and the way to survive, when everything they have ever known had collapsed and the world seems beyond repair.The Shadow of the WindCarlos Ruiz Zafón spins a story that is as breathtaking and mysterious as the city of Barcelona of the 40s and 50s which he uses both as a background and as a living, breathing character. You will believe there is a place called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and you will experience the pangs of terror and suspicion together with young Daniel, who just desperately needs to protect a book he had chosen. Even more so because all of the books by the same author seem to be disappearing, as indeed had the author himself. -- source link
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