Historical+Novel

Please click the edit button and type in the name and author of any historical novel you'd like to recommend to the group.

If you've read someone else's recommendation, please click the edit button and add your comment about the book.

__These is my Word__s by Nancy E. Turner - (Beth recommended it to me.) I liked it! [|Amazon -review] - Jackie
 * I also have read this one. It's in the school library. It's a very good read. It's written from the viewpoint of a girl in the 1800's as the SW is being settled. Arizona - if memory serves me. It was a rough country, and she lives through some rough times. Anyone who likes historical fiction of the U.S. will like this one. -Charlotte

__Sarah's Quilt__ by Nancy E. Turner- Sequel to __These Is My Words__. I found it to be just as good as the first one. It begins where __These Is My__ Words left off. I enjoyed it very much. - Jackie

__Star Garden__ by Nancy E. Turner- Third book in the __These Is My Words__ series. This one was also very good. All three books were equally well written. -Jackie

I read two historical novels toward the end of summer: __The Reader__ by Bernhard Schlink and __Agincourt__ by Bernard Cornwell. __The Reader__ is doable in a day, AND it's wonderfully written. Really quite beautiful. It is set post-WWII West Germany and involves a young, impressionable boy (Michael Berg) of 15 and an attractive older woman (Hanna) who comes to his aid when he falls ill. Some months later, he makes a point of finding her and thanking her. They quickly develop a very close (inappropriate?) relationship, based on mutual attraction and Hanna's love of listening to him read to her, which he does regularly.The book follows Michael's life as he attends college, marries and has a daughter of hs own, while Hanna seems to have disappeared. Later, they meet again as he attends a trial -- hers -- and observes her trying to defend herself for war-related crimes. It's a great read and will have you contemplating the true nature of guilt, justice and forgiveness...

The other book turned out to be more of a "guy book". I love the middle ages and early Renaissance, and read a review of __Agincourt__ by the //NY Times//, I think... Anyway, I picked up a copy at Barnes and Noble, only to find that Cornwell is exceedingly prolific with may titles to his credit. It is about the battle of Agincourt -- a battle which was fought on French soil by Henry V of England who believed himself to be, through birth, the rightful ruler of this region of France. Lots of sword, long-bow and cross-bow battles. It also includes an appendix which includes lyrics to The Agincourt Carol and an exerpt from Shakespear's //Henry V//. The man knows his history, and it helps if the reader also knows minute facts (and vocabulary) common circa 1500. I have to say, it wasn't me. Deb Fenn