Tag Archives: historical fiction

The Women by Kristin Hannah

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The Women Book CoverThe Women by Kristin Hannah was first published in the UK in 2024.

The book begins in California’s Coronado Island where Frances (Frankie) McGrath and her brother Finley have had an idyllic sheltered childhood. Their father hadn’t been able to take part in WW2 and had always felt bad about it, it made him ultra patriotic, he even has a ‘wall of heroes’ in his home office. After Finley graduates from the Naval Academy he’s sent to Vietnam, Frankie is determined to follow him, but neither the Navy nor the Air Force will accept her as a nurse, but the Army does. Before she even gets to Vietnam they get the news that Finley is dead, but it’s too late for Frankie to back out. She’s thrown into a hell on earth with just three months training.

The first half of the book is her experiences in Vietnam and the two women Barb and Ethel who get her through it all. But they’re all damaged souls.

Frances had signed up for another year in Vietnam. When she does get back home it’s to a very different society from the one she had left. She is spat on by people when they see her in her army uniform. The people have turned completely against the war, no heroes’ welcome for any combatants or nurses, in fact when Frankie goes looking for help about her mental state she’s informed that there were no women in Vietnam! Obviously nurses didn’t count.

Frankie’s father is even worse than everyone else, his daughter had defied him to go to Vietnam and train as a nurse, instead of staying home and being an obedient daughter, just as her mother had been an obedient wife.

It’s Barb and Ethel who come to Frankie’s aid when she falls apart, time and again, although they’ve each had struggles of their own.

The Women is the opposite of a comfort read really, but it’s important that the truth about the Vietnam war is told, however uncomfortable and harrowing it might be. I vaguely remember it being on the UK news, but it ended when I was a youngster so I did learn quite a bit about it and the aftermath. It seems strange that something I remember being on TV as it happened, albeit I was young – is now tagged as historical fiction.

The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap

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The Resurrectionist Book CoverThe Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap was published in 2025 and it’s the author’s debut novel. I borrowed it from the library. The setting is Edinburgh 1828 where the professors at Edinburgh University, and various others were busy conducting experiments and research on cadavers – dead human bodies. The demonstrations were open to the public and so halls were packed with onlookers, many of whom were men just wanting to view the spectacle, amongst the medical students who had a legitimate reason for being there. It was theatre for some really and they were willing to pay handsomely for the experience.

James Willoughby, a young Englishman had been determined to go to Edinburgh to study to be a doctor, he wanted to be part of The Enlightenment, it was all going on there.  Even when his father died and it turned out that he had gambled away most of the family wealth James was still determined to stick to his plan. He just had to find a way of financing himself.

As you would expect the notorious body snatchers feature in what I suppose could be described as a gothic horror novel. I enjoyed this one although I had to suspend my disbelief quite often as I can’t imagine nobody noticing some of the antics involved in obtaining fresh corpses. As you would expect Burke and Hare feature too.

The book is well written but I didn’t really get any sense of the atmosphere of old Edinburgh.  It’s a place which for me seems quite dangerous and threatening even on a sunny summer evening on my own there, something to do with the narrow wynds and tall old buildings I think – and just not knowing the place all that well. The stones ooze atmosphere. It must have been even scarier in the early 19th century.

Anyway, I enjoyed the book but it’s definitely not for the squeamish.

 

 

The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley

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The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley was published in 2024 by Simon and Schuster. I think this is the third book that I’ve enjoyed by this author. The setting is mainly 1613, Scotland and England.

King James VI’s eldest son Henry has just died, he was just 18 and he had been very popular with the ordinary people, he had been tall, handsome and healthy so it was a shock when he started to have nose bleeds and digestive problems. Inevitably people were suspicious of his demise, none more so than Sir David Moray who had been Henry’s tutor and companion since he had been a young prince. Sir David was more of a father than his father the king had ever been. But jealousy at court led to the finger of suspicion being pointed at Sir David.

The King’s Messenger Andrew Logan is given the task of arresting Sir David and bringing him to the King in London for a ‘trial’ but the outcome of course would be a foregone conclusion. A scribe has also been ordered to accompany them and as he is in ill health his daughter decides to go too.

This is a great read and the 373 pages flew past too quickly for me, I really didn’t want it to end.  Sorrow, adventure, romance and honour, all wrapped in a lovely map of Scotland and England endpapers, with a key showing the locations.

If you do read it don’t miss the sections at the end of the book: ABOUT THE CHARACTERS and A NOTE OF THANKS. They are both informative and if you are like me will spur you on to do some more historical research of your own.  What a miserable ‘family’ life Queen Anne had with King James, I hadn’t realised that he didn’t allow any of their five children to live with their mother – or him. Did he think that was normal as his mother Mary, Queen of Scots had been deprived of him? Surely the children would have been safer with their mother.

It looks like this book won’t be published outside the UK until the 4th of March.

 

 

 

 

Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid

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Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid was published in 2024 and I borrowed a copy of it from the library. In this book McDermid puts forward her version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but written from Gruoch’s (Lady Macbeth’s) perspective.

Shakespeare fed us the myth of the Macbeths as murderous conspirators. But now Val McDermid drags the truth out of the shadows, exposing the patriarchal prejudices of history.

Gruoch is married to Gille Coemgain a chief in what is now the Inverness area of Scotland, he’s the Earl of Moray and is a bit of a brute. Gruoch is in danger because she hasn’t become pregnant and Gille is getting impatient,  obviously Gille Coemgain wants a son. Her days are numbered, and she knows it.

When the very handsome Macbeth arrives to visit his cousin Gille, Gruoch is instantly attracted to him, but apart from that he could be the answer to her problem. In this version the ‘three witches’ are Gruoch’s companions, a seer, a healer and a weaver.

This is a very slim volume at just 134 pages, very different from Val McDermid’s usual style and subject, but still a good read, I really enjoyed it.

This book is part of a series called Darkland Tales published by Polygon. Others in the series are:

Rizzio by Denise Mina

Hex by Jenni Fagan

Nothing Left to Fear from Hell by Alan Warner

Columba’s Bones by David Greig

 

 

 

 

Lamentation by C.J. Sansom

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Lamentation Book CoverLamentation by C.J. Sansom was published in 2014 and it’s the sixth book in the Shardlake series.

Shardlake has been employed by Queen Catherine Parr, supposedly to track down a valuable ring of hers which has been stolen, but in reality he is searching for a book which she has written and which could be construed as a work of heresy. Catherine has plenty of enemies within the court, as ever King Henry VIII’s supposed loyal courtiers are intent on manipulating him for their own familial advantage.

The Queen will be in danger of being burnt at the stake for heresy if she can’t find her stolen book which is called The Lamentations of a Sinner, and so might Shardlake. She regrets not having burnt it when she could.

In this one Shardlake gets involved with men who are a lot more dangerous than he realises, and he and his male employees end up being outfought by men who are hardened fighters compared with them.

This was a good one although for my liking there was a bit too much jeapordy involved for Shardlake and Barak.

I love the historical notes at the back of these books. Sansom certainly put in a lot of research time and his description of Henry VIII in his final year or so seem very authentic and likely.

Heartstone by C.J. Sansom

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Heartstone Book CoverHeartstone by C.J. Sansom was first published in 2010 and it’s the fifth book in the Matthew Shardlake series.

It’s June 1545 and the setting is London, then Portsmouth. Henry VIII is now married to Catherine Parr and he’s not long for this world. He has put on even more weight and his leg ulcers are getting worse, but that hasn’t stopped him from starting a war with France. The road to Portsmouth is packed with soldiers, a massive English army to take on the French. Shardlake and Barak are heading that way too.

Shardlake is determined to get to the bottom of why a woman called Ellen is a patient in Bedlam, she’s terrified of the outside world and has been in Bedlam for over 20 years, but who is paying her fees and why was she put there in the first place?

This is a great read which really gets into the nitty gritty of what life must have been like for the soldiers and sailors who had often unwillingly been pressed into service of the King. In no time anyone travelling within the multitude is infested with fleas and lice. This is the time when the ship the Mary Rose sank so disastrously and it features in the story.

I have quite a lot of faith in C.J. Sansom’s historical details, but he did slip up with his knowledge of hunting when he wrote about servants gutting deer after a hunt. It wasn’t done quickly enough so the meat would have been inedible as deer have to be ‘gralloched’ (disembowelled) as soon as they are killed. But that’s me nit-picking

Heartstone is 715 pages long, which can be a bit off-putting especially when you have  a lot of books waiting to be read, but in no time you can read 100 pages and not realise it. I think that’s proof of how well written this series is.

 

Revelation by C.J. Sansom

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Revelation by C.J. Sansom is the fourth book in the author’s Shardlake series.

The book begins in the Spring of 1543. King Henry VIII is smitten by Catherine Parr whose elderly husband has just recently died, but she’s not all that keen, and who can blame her!

As the king gets older and more ill he seems to be hankering after the religion of his youth,  and all that goes with it, except the Pope of course. Catherine is a reformer, but some reformist congregations are becoming too strict, and  verging on lunacy.

When Shardlake’s friend ends up dead in a fountain, murdered horribly, and then another body is found, the circumstances lead Shardlake to believe that the murderer is a disgruntled reformist who is using the Book of Revelations to punish people that he disaproves of.

Shardlake is also trying to save a young man who has been sent to Bedlam for his own safety really as he has been drawing attention to himself with his vocal religious mania, people have been burnt at the stake for behaving like that.

This was another cracking read. If you do read it make sure that you read the historical notes at the back. I had no idea that there had been a lot of deliberation by the religious powersof the day over the Book of Revelations – as to whether it should be included in the bible or not. It does seem to have caused an awful lot of trouble over the years as it was thrillingly beloved by the Tudor Puritans, and likewise by the Christian Fundamentalists of today.

I must say that I didn’t realise that they picked and chose what they wanted to be included in the bible, so the whole thing has been manipulated, as well as being mis-translated.

 

Sovereign by C.J. Sansom

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Sovereign Book CoverSovereign by C.J. Sansom was first published in 2006 and it’s the third book in the Shardlake series.

It’s 1541 and Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak have been riding for five days, making their way to the north of England. It’s a particularly gruelling journey as the summer has been so wet, the roads are bad. Shardlake is on a mission for Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and he wants to get to York before  King Henry VIII does. After the revolts in the north Henry is making his way there, the revolt has been quelled and this Royal Progress is to consolidate his power. He’s also expecting to meet with his nephew the Scottish King James V, but James isn’t daft enough to travel into England.

Not everyone has been forgiven though, Sir Edward Broderick is languishing in a filthy prison cell, waiting to be transferred to the Tower in London, and it’s Shardlake’s job to make sure that Broderick doesn’t die before he’s taken to London for interrogation and torture in the Tower. It’s a job that horrifies Shardlake, but he has troubles of his own, it seems that someone is trying to kill him.

This is a fairly hefty book at 658 pages, but it really doesn’t seem that long, it’s so well written the whole thing flows smoothly.  Sansom imagines the arrival of the King and his court, the army and masses of followers, and the effect that his presence has on the people who witness his arrival so well. People couldn’t even look at him, and shook in terror. At this time Henry was married to his fifth wife Katherine Howard, and her silly shenanigans come into the tale too. Sansom also didn’t ignore the problems that so many people descending on a place caused, specifically the amount of sewage involved. There’s more involved in the plot, but that’s as much as I’m going to say.

I’m so glad that I didn’t read this series as they were published because now I don’t have to wait for the next book to be published, I’ve already borrowed it from the library.

 

Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom

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Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom was published in 2003 and it’s the second book in the author’s Shardlake series.

The year is 1540 and with Henry VIII in a mood because his marriage with Anne of Cleves had been a disaster as far as he is concerned. As Cromwell brokered the marriage he’s in a difficult and dangerous position, and Shardlake finds himself working for Cromwell.

As Cromwell has so many enemies within the court he’s desperate to get into Henry’s good books. He has heard that someone has found some Greek Fire and is desperate to track it down and then have it analysed so that it can be replicated. The formula has been long lost. With such a horrific weapon in his arsenal the king will be euphoric and Cromwell will feel a lot safer.

Possessing Greek Fire/Dark Fire would have been the equivalent of being a nuclear power in Tudor times.

At the same time Shardlake has to work to get evidence of a young girl’s innocence of a murder. She has already been sentenced to be pressed to death for the murder of her cousin, and Shardlake is sure she is not gulity.

This was a great read, Shardlake is such a likeable character, I can’t wait to get my hands on the third book in this series – Sovereign –  I’m really enjoying this historical crime fiction series.

Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott

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It took me a week to finish Kenilworth, it’s 568 pages long, my edition dates from 1908, it was a prize given to my granny-in-law for ‘general exellence’ at St Gabriel’s Church in Govan. I wonder if she ever ploughed her way through it, she was a big Georgette Heyer fan. The book was originally published in 1821.

I can’t say that I enjoyed this one. I usually get used to Walter Scott’s garrulous writing style fairly quickly but this one felt like a real drag.

The setting is mainly Kenilworth Castle which was owned by Robert Dudley (Earl of Leicester) Elizabeth I of England’s favourite. The whole thing is just Walter Scott’s version of what went on in that Tudor court where men were jockeying for Elizabeth’s attention in an attempt to climb the greasy pole and maybe even become her husband.

Dudley thinks he has a good chance of catching Elizabeth but crucially he is already married to Amy Robsart, although it is a secret marriage. Obviously things don’t end well for Amy.

There’s a lot more to it of course, I don’t think that it helped that I already knew how the story would end. I don’t think I’ll darken Scott’s door for quite some time – if ever.

I would really like to visit Kenilworth Castle sometime though, meanwhile I’m making do with this You Tube video with historian Dan Snow.