take me to the Middle Ages/Renaissance

[kangamitroo]

looking for recommendations for fiction set in the Middle Ages/Renaissance. stories of ordinary people would be preferred, but stories of court would be ok. doesn't have to be European in setting.

only example i can think of that i have read is Tracy Chevalier's "The Virgin Blue." (and Karen Cushman's books, but they are for children.)

i just watched "The Other Boleyn Girl", and while it was totally depressing (ok, a given with Ann Boleyn involved), it reminded me i enjoy period stories.

[Tra1978]

Have you read The Doomsday Book? I just started it but it's about a girl (young historian) who goes back to 1320 to observe life then. So far I'm enjoying it.

[raksmama]

I have one for you set in the Renaissance:
Leo The African by Amin Maalouf. On my list of top favourite 5 books,every person I have loaned it to has found it ito be one of the best books they have ever read. I find it a shame this Lebanon born-Paris based author is not better known in North America.

This is from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Africanus_(novel):
"Leo Africanus is a 1986 novel by Amin Maalouf, depicting the life of the mysterious Renaissance traveller Leo Africanus. Since very little is actually known about his life, the book fills in the historical episodes, placing Leo in the company of many of the key historical figures of his time, including three popes, (Leo X, Adrian VI, and Pope Clement VII), two Ottoman emperors (Selim I and Suleiman the Magnificent), with appearances by Boabdil (the last Moorish king of Granada), Askia Mohammad I of the Songhai Empire, Ferdinand of Spain, and Francis I of France, as well as the artist Raphael and other key political and cultural figures of the period"

I have read it about 4 times in the past 20 years and each time I marvel over how well written it is and how much historical information there is.

[TEAK's Mom]

Mistress of the Art of Death by Arianna Franklin was fun. If you like slightly older historical fiction, try Dorothy Dunnett. Game of Kings is the first one, I think.

[BookGoddess]

Try A Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. It's a novel set in 1600s England during the Plague. I know a novel about that topic doesn't sound that interesting but this book is very captivating.

There's another great story I just finished reading that you might like but the title of the book escapes me at the moment. I'll have to find the book and post the title later.

[Masel]

I love the Catherine LeVendeur mysteries by Sharan Newman. They are set in 12th century Paris. Lots of period details. My favorite is the third one, The Wandering Arm. The author's website had bibilographies.

Morality Play by Barry Unsworth. This is about a group of players who use their play to uncover a mystery. Very dark and spooky.

I'm not typically a reader of mysteries but these books are great for their characters and atmosphere.

A bunch of my friends (we're a bunch of amature medivalists) love the Sharon Kay Penman books but I feel like her charactizations fall flat.

Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose - I read this when I had just graduated from college and still had a chance at translating the Latin bits and getting some inside jokes. Still its a stunning read. Eco's mind is a wonderously complicated place.

Morgan Llywelyn has written a lot about Ireland. There was one about Brian Boru and another that surprised me about Strongbow.

I was trying to remember Unsworth's name and came across this site. http://www.uoregon.edu/~midages/general.shtml
I wish they had more description since it seem to have bodice ripper romances as well a, you know, Umberto Eco listed.

If The Other Boleyn Girl depressed you, for goodess sake, don't read The Domesday Book!

[kangamitroo]

thanks for these recommendations. keep them coming!

The Name of the Rose—that is a book i truly wish i could read again for the first time. i loved the suspense, and monastery life.

[BookGoddess]

Ok, I found the other book. It's The Birth of Venus by Sara Dunant. The story is set in turbulent 15th century Florence about the second daughter of a wealthy fabric merchant. I loved the story. It's complex told in the past and present tense.

[Aubergine68]

Originally Posted by Masel

I love the Catherine LeVendeur mysteries by Sharan Newman. They are set in 12th century Paris. Lots of period details. My favorite is the third one, The Wandering Arm. The author's website had bibilographies.


If The Other Boleyn Girl depressed you, for goodess sake, don't read The Domesday Book!

This

[Chamomile Girl]

I've always been a big fan of Mary Stewart's books:

The Crystal Cave
The Hollow Hills
The Last Enchantment

They are Arthurian stories told from the pov of Merlin, but she really nails many of the period details (set in very early medieval England...almost Late Antique really). LOVE them.

I'm a medievalist so its really hard for me to read stories/see movies set in the medieval period because I pick them apart. For example, Ken Follett's books Pillars of the Earth and World Without End made me crazy (but of course I read them anyways...lol!) The character motivations were just too modern (among other things).

ETA: The Name of the Rose is sublime.

[Petronella]

An author I like is Norah Lofts. Her books are mostly about ordinary people in small towns in England from medieval times on. Her dialogue is so good and you get such a good idea of what life was like. But they're really easy reads too and very interesting. She would often write in trilogies: try "The Town House", "The House at Old Vine," and "Bless This House."

Also if you like mysteries, try a Brother Caedfael book by Ellis Peters.

[rainbringer]

I second the Brother Cadfael books! Also good -

The Dame Frevisse mysteries by Margaret Frazer - set in England during the time of Henry VI

Sharon Penman's books about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine

[BookGoddess]

Originally Posted by Petronella

Also if you like mysteries, try a Brother Caedfael book by Ellis Peters.

:

The PBS series of Brother Caedfael was also excellent.

[annethcz]

I really like Pamela Kaufman's The Book of Eleanor: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine. It's a fictionalized account of the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine who was, at various times, queen of France and England (amongst other places). Although she was a royal, the book doesn't center at all on life at court. It gets into the nitty-gritty, not-so-pretty aspects of her life. Eleanor lived in the 1100s, so it is a middle ages story.

I've also read Kaufman's Shield of Three Lions, which is the first in a trilogy about Alix, the 10 year old daughter of a murdered Scottish baron. She travels in disguise first to London and then to France in an effort to have her property and title returned to her. This story also takes place in the 1100s. It was an entertaining enough book, but not nearly as good as the Eleanor book above. I wasn't inspired enough by this book to continue with the series.

[zinemama]

Seconding what's been mentioned:

- the Ariana Franklin books are really good (Mistress of the Art of Death is the first one. A strong heroine, little-known stuff about doctoring, the Jews of England, etc).

The Brother Cadfael series is also excellent.

Birth of Venus (Sarah Dunant has a new one out, too)

A light-ish, kind of rollicking novel is A Vision of Light by Judith Merkle Riley, about a poor girl with a gift of healing who becomes a midwife and ends up writing her memoirs. There are sequels.

Year of Wonders is great although definitely not medieval. However, the author's latest, People of the Book goes back in time through the lives of all the people who have made the book in question and that does include the medieval period.

The Rashi's Daughters series by Maggie Anton is good, too. It's about the family of Rashi, the 11th century French Talmudic commentator. He had three daughters and no sons and legend has it that he broke with tradition and taught them all Talmud. There's one book for each daughter. Joheved is the first one. The books vividly bring to life the time period: medicine, scholarship, love, Judaism.

[kirstenb]

Originally Posted by annethcz

I really like Pamela Kaufman's The Book of Eleanor: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine. It's a fictionalized account of the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine who was, at various times, queen of France and England (amongst other places). Although she was a royal, the book doesn't center at all on life at court. It gets into the nitty-gritty, not-so-pretty aspects of her life. Eleanor lived in the 1100s, so it is a middle ages story.

I love this book!

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is one of the best books I have ever read. It takes place in 12th century England. I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it.

I also enjoyed Mistress of the Art of Death and the second book by the same author, The Serpent's Tale.

The Four Seasons by Laurel Corona is really good- it takes place in Venice in the 1700s.

To The Tower Born by Robin Maxwell is about the lost princes in the tower.

Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett takes place in Tudor England and is also good.

[Viola]

Originally Posted by kirstenb

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is one of the best books I have ever read. It takes place in 12th century England. I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it.

I was going to recommend that one. There is another one, set about 200 years later, World Without End but I didn't enjoy it as much.