Top Ten Tuesday | An Introduction to Historical Fiction

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find out everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books I'd Give To Readers Who Have Never Read ____', and as a lover of historical fiction who doesn't tend to come across that many bloggers who read historical fiction when compared with other genres, I'm going to recommend some historical fiction!

Historical fiction is so much fun - people were still people back in the 11th, 16th and 19th centuries! - and there is so much cross-over between other genres. Because of this, I'm going to base my recommendations around the different sub-genres of historical fiction; from romance to crime! I hope you find something here that interests you!

Middle Grade

Pirates!

by Celia Rees

Nancy Kington, daughter of a rich merchant, suddenly orphaned when her father dies, is sent to live on her family's plantation in Jamaica. Disgusted by the treatment of the slaves and her brother's willingness to marry her off, she and one of the slaves, Minerva, run away and join a band of pirates. 

For both girls the pirate life is their only chance for freedom in a society where both are treated like property, rather than individuals. Together they go in search of adventure, love, and a new life that breaks all restrictions of gender, race, and position. 

Young Adult

Code Name Verity

by Elizabeth Wein

Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy? 

LGBT

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...

Romance

A Company of Swans

by Eva Ibbotson

Weekly ballet classes are Harriet Morton's only escape from her intolerably dull life. So when she is chosen to join a corps de ballet which is setting off on a tour of the Amazon, she leaps at the chance to run away for good. Performing in the grand opera houses is everything Harriet dreamed of, and falling in love with an aristocratic exile makes her new life complete. Swept away by it all, she is unaware that her father and intended fiance have begun to track her down. . .

Magical Realism

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

by Katherine Howe

Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest--to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.

As the pieces of Deliverance's harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past then she could have ever imagined.

Science Fiction

Outlander

by Diana Gabaldon

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach--an "outlander"--in a Scotland torn by war and raiding Highland clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into intrigues and dangers that may threaten her life...and shatter her heart. For here she meets James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, and becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Horror

The Scourge

by Roberto Calas

A mysterious plague descends upon 14th century England, ravaging the country and trapping the souls of the afflicted in eternal madness. The feudal hierarchy--and even the church itself-- slowly crumbles as the dead rise to feed and the living seek whatever shelter they can. The bishops of England call for calm and obedience, but one man isn’t listening.

Sir Edward of Bodiam has been separated from the woman he loves and nothing on heaven or earth can stop him from seeking her out. 

Edward and two of his knights travel through the swiftly changing landscape of England, a countryside now overrun by the minions of hell. The knights encounter madness, violence, and sorrow, but Edward fights his way ever deeper into the thickening darkness of unholy terror. 

Crime

Dissolution

by C. J. Sansom

It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers it has ever seen. And under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent through the country to investigate the monasteries. There can only be one outcome: dissolution. 

But on the Sussex coast, at the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's Commissioner, Robin Singleton, has been found dead, his head severed from his body. His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege.

Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell to uncover the truth behind the dark happenings at Scarnsea. But investigation soon forces Shardlake to question everything that he hears, and everything that he intrinsically believes...

Alternate History

Temeraire

by Naomi Novik

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors ride mighty fighting dragons, bred for size or speed. When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes the precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Captain Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future – and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. 

Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.

Non-English

The Shadow of the Wind

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

I hope there's something in this list that interests you! What are you recommending this Tuesday?

J.

TBR | Historical Fiction

Historical Fiction is one of my favourite genres, but I still don't feel like I read enough of it. I've compiled a list here, in no particular order, of the Historical Fiction books that I really need to tick off my TBR list!

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...

Six of the books on this list are waiting to be read on my shelves: Fingersmith is one of them.

I stumbled across Sarah Waters and her novels in the latter half of last year, and since stumbling across them I've been itching to read something of hers and just haven't gotten round to it. I now own four of her books: Fingersmith; Affinity; The Night Watch and The Little Stranger. Fingersmith is one of the books I mentioned in my 2014 Booket List, and I'm hoping to finally pick it up over Easter!

Wolf Hall

by Hilary Mantel

Tudor England. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is charged with securing his divorce. Into this atmosphere of distrust comes Thomas Cromwell - a man as ruthlessly ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.

Like Sarah Waters, Hilary Mantel is another author whose work I have yet to read but really want to! I've heard nothing but amazing things about this book, the first in a trilogy about the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, and I managed to find myself a copy a couple of weeks ago for just £1.50 - bargain!

I'm hoping to read and enjoy this book this year, that way I can get my hands on the sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, and read that in time for the release of the third and final book in the trilogy, The Mirror and the Light, next year.

The Shadow of the Wind

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

If there's one thing I know I haven't read enough of, it's books about books. The Shadow of the Wind is another book that I've heard only good things about, and another of the books on this list that I own. In fact I've owned it for quite a while now, so I really should read it soon.

I know very little about Spanish history, and practically nothing about the Spanish Civil War; the only experience with the Spanish Civil War I have is with the way it's presented in Pan's Labyrinth, so I'm hoping this book will teach me a little more!

Here Be Dragons

by Sharon Penman

Thirteenth-century Wales is a divided country, ever at the mercy of England's ruthless, power-hungry King John. Then Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, secures an uneasy truce with England by marrying the English king's beloved, illegitimate daughter, Joanna. Reluctant to wed her father's bitter enemy, Joanna slowly grows to love her charismatic and courageous husband who dreams of uniting Wales. But as John's attentions turn again and again to subduing Wales--and Llewelyn--Joanna must decide to which of these powerful men she owes her loyalty and love.

Similarly, I know practically nothing about Welsh history either!

Now that my parents live in Wales I'm trying to read more books that are either set in Wales, translated from Welsh or written by Welsh authors. I don't think I read enough Welsh fiction, and this book really interests me; I'm not always the biggest fan of reading Historical Fiction that revolves around real people, but before finding this book in a charity shop I'd never even heard of Joan of Wales or Llywelyn the Great, so I'm looking forward to learning something new!

Burial Rites

by Hannah Kent

Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution. 

Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard. 

I've been wanting a copy of this book since its release, and even though there's now a more affordable paperback copy available I'd much rather own a pretty hardback, so I just have to wait a little longer until I've read enough of the books already waiting on my shelves - otherwise I'd buy a copy and not get around to it for a while.

What interests me most about this book is that it's based on the true story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, an Icelandic woman who was beheaded on 12th January, 1830. She was the last woman to be executed in Iceland.

I'm hoping to get my hands on a copy later this year!

Sovay

by Celia Rees

England, 1783. When the rich and beautiful Sovay isn't sitting for portraits, she's donning a man's cloak and robbing travelers in broad daylight. But in a time when political allegiances between France and England are strained, a rogue bandit is not the only thing travelers fear. Spies abound, and rumors of sedition can quickly lead to disappearances. So when Sovay lifts the wallet of one of England's most powerful and dangerous men, it's not just her own identity she must hide, but that of her father. A dazzling historical saga in which the roles of thieves and gentry, good and bad, and men and women are interchanged to riveting effect.

I have a lot to thank Celia Rees for, because she's the writer who first got me into Historical Fiction during my early teens when I read Pirates! and Witch Child. Since then I've also read Sorceress, but I've yet to read any of her other novels.

I haven't really read any novels that take place in the 18th century, I usually tend to read novels set in the 14th-17th centuries, but I'm looking forward to this read! Considering I've always found the idea of Highwaymen/women interesting I haven't read a lot about them, so that will have to change soon.

The Morning Gift

by Eva Ibbotson

Twenty-year-old Ruth Berger is desperate. The daughter of a Jewish-Austrian professor, she was supposed to have escaped Vienna before the Nazis marched into the city. Yet the plan went completely wrong, and while her family and fiancé are waiting for her in safety, Ruth is stuck in Vienna with no way to escape. Then she encounters her father’s younger college professor, the dashing British paleontologist Quin Sommerville. Together, they strike a bargain: a marriage of convenience, to be annulled as soon as they return to safety. But dissolving the marriage proves to be more difficult than either of them thought...

Like Celia Rees, Eva Ibbotson was another writer who coaxed me into Historical Fiction during my early teens when I read A Company of Swans, which, like Witch Child, is one of my favourite books that I read as a teenager.

Ibbotson has the loveliest writing style, it's relaxing and pretty, and she doesn't write what I would call 'frightening' Historical Fiction. If Historical Fiction is a genre that intimidates you then I think she's a great author to start with, though if you prefer fast-paced novels you might be better of starting off with something else.

The Morning Gift is, I believe, Ibbotson's most well known Teen/YA novel, and I've owned my copy for a while now. I have a soft spot for storylines that involve a marriage of convenience, so I think I'm going to enjoy this one when I get around to it.

The Lady's Slipper

by Deborah Swift

1660. King Charles II has returned from exile, but memories of the English Civil War still rankle. There are old scores to settle, and religious differences threaten to overturn a fragile peace. When Alice Ibbetson discovers a rare orchid, the Lady’s Slipper, growing in a wood belonging to Richard Wheeler, she is captivated by its beauty— though Wheeler, a Quaker, is determined to keep the flower where God intended it to grow. Knowing that the orchid is the last of its kind, she steals the flower, little dreaming that her seemingly simple act will set off a chain of events that will lead to murder and exile, and change her life forever…

This is one of the books I don't own yet, but I'm hoping to pick up a copy of it soon!

I really want to read this book not only because it sounds like a great story, but also because I was lucky enough to meet Deborah Swift at the end of last year. She completed her Creative Writing MA at the same university where I'm currently studying; we talked about the writing process and the publishing industry for a little while and she was lovely! You can find her website here if you'd like to find out more about her and her books.

Mortal Heart

by Robin LaFevers

Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own.

She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has...

I have to wait until November for the release of this book, the third book in the His Fair Assassin series. I read both Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph earlier this year and enjoyed them both a lot, so I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of this one!

Dominion

by C. J. Sansom

1952. Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers, and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany after Dunkirk. As the long German war against Russia rages on in the east, the British people find themselves under dark authoritarian rule: the press, radio and television are controlled; the streets patrolled by violent auxiliary police and British Jews face ever greater constraints. There are terrible rumours too about what is happening in the basement of the German Embassy at Senate House. Defiance, though, is growing. In Britain, Winston Churchill's Resistance organisation is increasingly a thorn in the government's side. And in a Birmingham mental hospital an incarcerated scientist, Frank Muncaster, may hold a secret that could change the balance of the world struggle forever. Civil Servant David Fitzgerald, secretly acting as a spy for the Resistance, is given by them the mission to rescue his old friend Frank and get him out of the country. Before long he, together with a disparate group of Resistance activists, will find themselves fugitives in the midst of London’s Great Smog; as David’s wife Sarah finds herself drawn into a world more terrifying than she ever could have imagined. And hard on their heels is Gestapo Sturmbannfuhrer Gunther Hoth, brilliant, implacable hunter of men . . .

This last book is a little different from the others in that it's actually an Alternate History novel, set in a bleak, German-occupied Britain following Nazi Germany's victory in WWII.

Naturally, rebellion is brewing, and I love a good rebellion story. Not only that, but C. J. Sansom is also the author of the Shardlake series, a Historical Crime series set in Tudor England, which just so happens to be one of my favourite series. Other than that series, however, I have yet to read any of Sansom's other novels, so I'm excited to read this one!

I hope you've found something on this list that interests you, whether you read Historical Fiction or not, and if you are familiar with any of the books mentioned here feel free to tell me which one you think I should read first!

Jess Suggests | Historical Fiction

Historical fiction is a genre which I love but a genre I am also very fussy with. There is a lot of fantastic Historical fiction out there, but there are also many books out there which, to me, are nothing more than royal family fanfiction which try to romanticise fairly brutal periods of our past. There must always be some fabrication - to an extent - to enjoy a piece of Historical fiction as a story rather than simply a list of facts, but when it isn't executed well it can be cringe-worthy.

     
I don't claim to be an expert, but as a lover of history (and someone who's currently working on a Historical fiction novel) I think I know a good piece of Historical fiction when I see one. So, without further ado, here are five Historical fiction novels you simply have to read:

Witch Child 

by Celia Rees

Welcome to the world of young Mary Newbury, a world where simply being different can cost a person her life. Hidden until now in the pages of her diary, Mary’s startling story begins in 1659, the year her beloved grandmother is hanged in the public square as a witch. Mary narrowly escapes a similar fate, only to face intolerance and new danger among the Puritans in the New World. How long can she hide her true identity? Will she ever find a place where her healing powers will not be feared?

This is the novel which really got me into Historical fiction, as such it has a very special place on my bookshelf; particularly since I was lucky enough to meet the author and get my copy signed a couple of years ago. 

     

I first read this book when I was around thirteen, I saw it on the bookshelf and was drawn in, as many people are, by the haunting photograph on the cover. I've always loved history, particularly religious and supernatural history (even as a child, due to my somewhat morbid fascination with the weird, the wonderful, and the cruel) so this book was perfect for me. After the execution of her beloved grandmother, the enchanting Mary Newbury, blessed with peculiar healing powers, travels to the New World with a group of Puritans so as to save herself from the gallows. There she is caught between two cultures: the new settlers who may still hang her if they believe her to be a witch, and the Native American people who see themselves in her talents.

     

Witch Child is a marvellous mash-up of genres; it's both a piece of Historical fiction and also a YA novel told through Mary's insightful diary entries. So if you find Historical fiction boring, intimidating, or a little difficult to get into I highly recommend starting with this book! 

Birdsong 

by Sebastian Faulks

Set before and during the great war, Birdsong captures the drama of that era on both a national and a personal scale. It is the story of Stephen, a young Englishman, who arrives in Amiens in 1910. Over the course of the novel he suffers a series of traumatic experiences, from the clandestine love affair that tears apart the family with whom he lives, to the unprecedented experiences of the war itself.

During the first year of my A Levels I was lucky enough to study war literature - specifically the First World War - and it was fascinating. Unfortunately Birdsong wasn't one of the texts on our course, but it was given to us to read anyway and I'm so glad it was. This book is stunning.

This novel uses the technique of telling the story through two different protagonists in two different time frames. This technique is often used in Historical fiction, and is ideal for readers out there who find history intimidating by giving them a modern day protagonist who is as curious and unsure about the past as they are. The reader follows both Stephen, a soldier fighting in the First World War, and Elizabeth, Stephen's granddaughter living in the 1960s who is trying to find out more about her grandfather.

Whether you're a fan of history or not this book will stay with you forever. It's haunting, moving and both incredibly brutal and very touching. This is one of those books you simply have to read before you die, but don't read it without a box of tissues nearby!

Dissolution 

by C. J. Sansom

It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers it has ever seen. And under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent through the country to investigate the monasteries. There can only be oneoutcome: dissolution. 

But on the Sussex coast, at the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwells Commissioner, Robin Singleton, has been found dead, his head severed from his body. His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege.

Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell to uncover the truth behind the dark happenings at Scarnsea. But investigation soon forces Shardlake to question everything that he hears, and everything that he intrinsically believes...

Historical Crime fiction is an undoubtedly popular strand of Historical fiction, and as far as I'm concerned C. J. Sansom is one of the best authors of this particular strand.

Dissolution is the first book in the Shardlake series, of which there are currently five books: Dissolution; Dark Fire; Sovereign; Revelation and Heartstone. Each book is a separate story in and of itself, but it involves the same characters who gradually develop over time, so I would recommend beginning with Dissolution and reading them in chronological order.

Our main character is lawyer Matthew Shardlake, a Reformer and hunchback living in Tudor England during the reign of Henry VIII. In Dissolution, Matthew is sent to a monastery in the south, which is in the process of being dissolved, to look into the murder of Cromwell's commissioner. Here his wits, his loyalty and the religious beliefs he holds most dear are put to the test.

If the Tudor era interests you then you should definitely give this series a try! Having studied History at university Sansom delivers an accurate portrayal of what living in Tudor England was like at a time of tremendous religious change.

This is easily one of my favourite series of all time.

The Book Thief 

by Markus Zusak

HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. 

1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier.

Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.

SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH.

It's a small story, about: a girl, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery.

ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES.

The Book Thief is aimed towards younger audiences in the same way that Witch Child is, but that doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed by people of all ages. The protagonist, Liesel, is a child, but Liesel is not the narrator of the story. Instead our narrator is the age old figure of Death, and given that the novel is set in Nazi Germany during the Second World War Death is a very busy guy.

What makes this novel so wonderful is the way that it's told. Because our narrator is the all-knowing figure of Death we are often told about events - including character deaths - long before they happen, and yet when they do happen they're still heartbreaking even though we have spent the entire book expecting them. Zusak weaves an entire town of characters for his readers to fall absolutely in love with, and we fall in love with them because they're ordinary people living through an extraordinary era of history.

If you're a fan of fiction set during the Second World War but are a little tired of the typical narrator, this book is for you!

Corrag

by Susan Fletcher

The Massacre of Glencoe happened at 5am on 13th February 1692 when thirty-eight members of the Macdonald clan were killed by soldiers who had enjoyed the clan's hospitality for the previous ten days. Many more died from exposure in the mountains. Fifty miles to the south Corrag is condemned for her involvement in the Massacre. She is imprisoned, accused of witchcraft and murder, and awaits her death. The era of witch-hunts is coming to an end - but Charles Leslie, an Irish propagandist and Jacobite, hears of the Massacre and, keen to publicise it, comes to the tollbooth to question her on the events of that night, and the weeks preceding it. Leslie seeks any information that will condemn the Protestant King William, rumoured to be involved in the massacre, and reinstate the Catholic James. Corrag agrees to talk to him so that the truth may be known about her involvement, and so that she may be less alone, in her final days. As she tells her story, Leslie questions his own beliefs and purpose - and a friendship develops between them that alters both their lives.

I started this post with witches, so it feels right to end it with witches.

Unlike Witch Child, Corrag is not a YA novel and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to people who prefer fast-paced novels. Fletcher takes her time to set the scene - her descriptions of the landscape are stunning - and coax you into the story, but it's so worth it.

The story follows Corrag, who has been imprisoned for witchcraft and murder following the Glencoe Massacre. She is one of the sweetest, loveliest fictional heroines I have come across in a long time - it's incredibly difficult to not fall in love with her.

She, of course, has her own story as to what happened the night of the massacre, and when she is visited in prison by Jacobite Charles Leslie, who longs to see the Catholic King James back on the throne, she has the chance to tell her side. Her storytelling is interwoven with letters that Leslie writes to his wife, and over the course of the novel a beautiful friendship develops between the two of them.

This book is very close to my heart. It's just beautiful, so if you haven't already please pick it up and give it a try!

There we have it! I hope this has been somewhat helpful in your search for Historical fiction. If you already read the genre then I hope you read even more this year, and if it's a genre you tend to stay away from I hope 2014 is the year you give it a go!