Just For Fun

Follow British Royalty Through the Ages with this Bounty of Great Historical Fiction

As we all know, Whitehall fans love–or shall we say "fancy?"–British royal history. And what's not to like? England's history is full of scandal and intrigue, particularly a when it comes to in- and inter-family drama. There are even rumors that Elizabeth I (the last of the Tudors, aka "the Virgin Queen") may have ordered someone to kill the wife of her boyfriend, Robert Dudley! Romance, conspiracy, and possibly murder - what more could you ask for...aside from more? Study up on the whole line of throne sitters with these great historical fictions!



Roman Period: 43-410

Dreaming the Serpent Spear by Manda Scott

The fourth and final novel in the magnificent saga of Britain’s warrior queen, Boudica – “Bringer of Victory” and the last defender of the Celtic culture.

It is AD 60 and the flame of rebellion that has been smouldering for 20 years of Roman occupation has flared into a conflagration that will consume the land and all who live in it. There is no going back. Colchester is burning and London is lost without hope. Amidst fire and bloody revolution – a battle that will change the face and spirituality of a nation for centuries to come – Boudica and those around her must find what matters most, now and for ever.

 

Anglo Saxon Period: 500–1066

The Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower

To celebrate the conquest of Britain by his brother, the Duke of Normandy, William, charismatic bishop Odo of Bayeux commissions a wall hanging on a scale never seen before. What he cannot anticipate is how greatly this will change his life–even more than the invasion itself.Enter Gytha the embroiderer, hand-maiden to the fallen Saxon queen and his sworn enemy. Against their intentions, they fall helplessly in love. Friends become enemies, enemies become lovers; nothing in life or in the hanging is what it seems.

 

Norman Period: 1066–1154

When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman

A.D. 1135. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But before Maude could claim her throne, her cousin Stephen seized it. In their long and bitter struggle, all of England bled and burned.Sharon Kay Penman's magnificent fifth novel summons to life a spectacular medieval tragedy whose unfolding breaks the heart even as it prepares the way for splendors to come—the glorious age of Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Plantagenets that would soon illumine the world.


The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick

Eleanor of Aquitaine is a 12th century icon who has fascinated readers for 800 years. But the real Eleanor remains elusive.This stunning novel introduces an Eleanor that all other writers have missed. Based on the most up-to-date research, it is the first novel to show Eleanor beginning her married life at 13.Overflowing with scandal, passion, triumph and tragedy, Eleanor's legendary story begins when her beloved father dies in the summer of 1137, and she is made to marry the young prince Louis of France. A week after the marriage she becomes a queen and her life will change beyond recognition.

 

Plantagenet Period: 1154–1399

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by E. L. Konigsburg:

Eleanor of Aquitaine has every reason to be upset. For centuries she's been patiently waiting for her husband, King Henry II, to meet her in Heaven. Luckily, she's sharing a cloud with some old friends who knew her when she and Henry ruled supreme. As long as they're together, they might as well gossip about old times--and soon all of Eleanor's adventures in the Middle Ages spring to life again.Finally, just when they're about to give up on Henry, Eleanor spots three men floating toward them. After all this time, could one of them be Henry?

 

As a bonus,Through a Brazen Mirror by our very own Delia Sherman and Ellen Kushner.

"In a medieval kingdom both like and unlike 13th C. England, a mysterious young man appears at the door of the palace kitchen, seeing to serve the king. In a lonely stone tower, a woman watches the world through her mirror of bronze. The young king mourns the death of his friend in battle and and puts off choosing a bride. A child abandoned on a farmer’s doorstep grows up to be a powerful witch. The lives of these characters intersect and intertwine in strange and fateful ways as the young man rises from cook to steward to chamberlain and the king becomes more dependent upon him as the sorceress turns his country upside-down in her attempts to defy the fate her mirror has shown her.

 

Lancastrian Period: 1399–1471

A Winter Ballad by our very own Barbara Samuel

Anya of Winterbourne had suffered nothing but humiliation at the hands of men. And yet when she found a fallen knight in a still winter forest, she could not leave him to die.

Weary of battle and pursued by assassins, Christian de Moreerx would have liked nothing more than to stay at Winterbourne and champion the elusive and beleaguered Lady Anya. But his past contained a secret he had to decipher if he was to live, and his presence could only bring more disaster to the manor.

To thwart their separate enemies, Lady Anya and her broken knight battle virulent forces and face death itself to win the love that would long be sung by troubadours as a winter ballad.


Katherine by Anya Seton and Philippa Gregory

This classic romance novel tells the true story of the love affair that changed history—that of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the ancestors of most of the British royal family. Set in the vibrant 14th century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who ruled despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son, falls passionately in love with the already married Katherine. This epic novel of conflict, cruelty, and untamable love has become a classic since its first publication in 1954.

 

House of York Period: 1460–1485

The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman

A glorious novel of the controversial Richard III - a monarch betrayed in life by his allies and betrayed in death by history.

Born into the treacherous courts of fifteenth-century England, in the midst of what history has called The War of the Roses, Richard was raised in the shadow of his charismatic brother, King Edward IV. Loyal to his friends and passionately in love with the one woman who was denied him, Richard emerges as a gifted man far more sinned against than sinning.This magnificent retelling of his life is filled with all of the sights and sounds of battle, the customs and lore of the fifteenth century, the rigors of court politics, and the passions and prejudices of royalty.

 

Tudor Period: 1485–1603

To Hold the Crown by Jean Plaidy

Henry Tudor was not born to the throne of England. Having come of age in a time of political turmoil and danger, the man who would become Henry VII spent fourteen years in exile in Brittany before returning triumphantly to the Dorset coast with a small army and decisively winning the Battle of Bosworth Field ending the War of the Roses once and for all and launching the infamous Tudor dynasty.

Sweeping and dramatic, "To Hold the Crown" brings readers inside the genesis of the great Tudor empire: through Henry and Elizabeth of York's troubled ascensions to the throne, their marriage and rule, the heartbreak caused by the death of their son Arthur, and, ultimately, to the crowning of their younger son, King Henry VIII.

 

Stuart Period (Restoration Period): 1603–1714

The Child from the Sea by Elizabeth GougeAgainst the pomp and pageantry of turbulent seventeenth-century England, a subtle portrait of the fascinating Lucy Walter, the proud and beautiful secret wife of Charles II.From her early childhood in a castle by the sea in Wales, to her tragic estrangement from the king, to her death in Paris at the age of twenty-eight, Lucy Walter lived to the full a life of intense joy and equally intense drama. Against the rich, panoramic background of London at the time of the Great Fire, Goude traces the life and loves of an extraordinary woman.

   

Georgian Period: 1714–1837

Point of Honour by our very own Madeleine E. Robins

Sarah Tolerance is a fallen woman: the daughter of nobility who ran away with her brother's fencing-master. Now that the fencing-master has died, everyone expects her to earn her living in sex work. Instead, she invents a new role for herself: "investigative agent." With her new position, Sarah can float between social layers, unearth secrets, find things that were lost, and lose things too dangerous to be kept. Her wits, her discretion, and her expertise with the smallsword are tested when an agent of the Count Verseillon approaches her with a seemingly routine task: reclaim an antique fan. The fan, he tells her, is an heirloom; the lady, his first love. But as Sarah Tolerance unravels the mystery that surrounds the fan, she discovers that she--and the Count--are not the only ones seeking it, and that nothing about this task is what it seems.


Shades of Milk and Honey by our very own Mary Robinette Kowal

Exactly what we could expect from Jane Austen if she had been a fantasy write, Shades of Milk and Honey is an intimate portrait of a woman, Jane, and her quest for love in a world where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality. She and her sister Melody vie for the attentions of eligible men but, while Jane’s skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face. When Jane realizes that one of Melody’s suitors is set on taking advantage of her sister for the sake of her dowry, she pushes her skills to the limit of what her body can withstand in order to set things right—and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.

 

Victorian Period: 1837–1901

The Traitor in the Tunnel by Y.S. Lee

Queen Victoria has a problem: there's a thief at work in Buckingham Palace. The Agency - the secret all-female detective unit - assigns quick-witted Mary Quinn to the case. Posing as a palace maid and fending off the attentions of the Prince of Wales are challenging enough, but when the prince witnesses a murder, Mary's case becomes anything but petty.Engineer and former flame James Easton has an assignment in the sewers, where someone is making illicit use of the tunnels. Mary will need James's help if she's going catch a thief, solve a murder - and avert disaster.

 

A White Room by Stephanie Carroll

A novel of madness and secrets, A White Room presents a fantastical glimpse into the forgotten cult of domesticity, where one’s own home could become a prison and a woman has to be willing to risk everything to be free.Based on historical trends of the era and inspired by the classic Victorian novels The Yellow Wallpaper, The Secret Garden, and Wuthering Heights, author Stephanie Carroll has taken women's empowerment in fiction to an all new level in this inspiring debut.




Edwardian Period: 1901–1910

Upstairs Downstairs by John Hawkesworth

Exploring the private lives of the beautiful Lady Marjorie, her politician husband Richard, and their devoted staff of servants, Upstairs Downstairs is a formal introduction to the Bellamys of 165 Eaton Place during the Edwardian era. This is a must-read for fans of "Downton Abbey," which was apparently inspired by this story!

   


Get your Restoration Period on when Whitehall returns July 13th!

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