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Recommended historical fiction books (72)
Travel the world without leaving your chair. If you are into historical fiction here are some historical fiction books from United Kingdom for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.

31.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell EN

0 Ratings
Description:
As relevant now as when it was first published, Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South skilfully weaves a compelling love story into a clash between the pursuit of profit and humanitarian ideals. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction by Patricia Ingham. When her father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the North of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of loc... continue

32.

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens EN

Rating: 4 (6 votes)
Description:
A gripping portrayal of London's dark criminal underbelly, published in Penguin Classics with an introduction by Philip Horne. The story of Oliver Twist - orphaned, and set upon by evil and adversity from his first breath - shocked readers when it was published. After running away from the workhouse and pompous beadle Mr Bumble, Oliver finds himself lured into a den of thieves peopled by vivid and memorable characters - the Artful Dodger, vicious burglar Bill Sikes, his dog Bull's Eye, and prostitute Nancy, all watched over by cunning master-thief Fagin. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, t... continue

33.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan EN

Rating: 4 (2 votes)
Description:
It is July 1962. Florence is a talented musician who dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life she will create with Edward, an earnest young history student who unexpectedly won her heart.

34.

Orlando : A Biography by Virginia Woolf EN

Rating: 4 (3 votes)
Description:
Orlando doubles as first an Elizabethan nobleman and then as a Victorian heroine who undergoes all the transitions of history in this novel that examines sex roles and social mores.

35.

Rape of the Fair Country by Alexander Cordell EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Description:
The first volume in Alexander Cordell's classic trilogy of mid-nineteenth century Wales. Set in the grim valleys of the Welsh iron country during the turbulent times of the Industrial Revolution, this unforgettable novel begins the saga of the Mortymer family - a family of hard men and beautiful women, all forced into a bitter struggle with their harsh environment, as they slave and starve for the cruel English ironmasters. But adversity could never still the free spirit of Wales, or quiet its soaring voice, and the Mortymers struggle on even as the iron foundries ravish their homeland and cri... continue

36.

Regrettably, I Am About to Cause Trouble by Amie McNee EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Description:
1535, Oxfordshire. Lady Maude Shaftsberry has it all sorted. She will marry the well-connected lord, ascend the ranks of the Tudor court, and be mother to a small battalion of boys. But Maude has a secret that she carries everywhere: a birthmark that stretches over her stomach and between her legs. Is it a mark of fertility? Did her mother rub her pregnant belly too vigorously on the full moon? Or is it the sign of a witch? Her new husband is certain it's the latter. Maude, faced with annulment and the nunnery, must make her own way. The witches in town are the only ones who will give her refu... continue

37.

Richard III by William Shakespeare EN

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Description:
The authoritative edition of Richard III from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers. In Richard III, Shakespeare invites us on a moral holiday. The play draws us to identify with Richard and his fantasy of total control of self and domination of others. Not yet king at the start of the play, Richard presents himself as an enterprising villain as he successfully plans to dispose of his brother Clarence. Richard achieves similar success in conquering the woman he chooses to marry. He carves a way to the throne through assa... continue

38.

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart EN

Rating: 4 (5 votes)
Description:
Winner of the Booker Prize Winner of 'Book of the Year' and 'Debut of the Year' at the British Book Awards The Million-Copy Bestseller 'An amazingly intimate, compassionate, gripping portrait of addiction, courage and love.' – The judges of the Booker Prize 'Douglas Stuart has written a first novel of rare and lasting beauty.' – Observer It is 1981. Glasgow is dying and good families must grift to survive. Agnes Bain has always expected more from life, dreaming of greater things. But Agnes is abandoned by her philandering husband, and as she descends deeper into drink, the children try their b... continue

39.

South Riding : An English Landscape by Winifred Holtby EN

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Description:
When Sarah Burton returns to her hometown as headmistress she is full of ambition, determined to create a great school and to inspire her girls to take all they can from life. But in the aftermath of the First World War, the country is in depression and ideals are hard won. Lydia Holly, the scholarship girl from the shacks, is the most brilliant student Sarah has ever taught, but when her mother's health fails, her education must be sacrificed - there is nobody else to care for the children. Robert Carne of Maythorpe Hall stands for everything Sarah despises: his family has farmed the South Ri... continue

40.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Description:
Young Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria—even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that old stone wall, Tristran learns, lies Faerie—where nothing, not even a fallen star, is what he imagined. From #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman comes a remarkable quest into the dark and miraculous—in pursuit of love and the utterly impossible.