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Posts tagged with ‘Historical Fiction’

THE GILDED SHROUD, by Elizabeth Bailey

January 17, 2012

CHARMING HISTORICAL MYSTERY with a just pre-Regency English setting and an appealing heroine/sleuth is good fun.

Grade: B PLUS

THE GILDED SHROUD
Penguin
2011

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CHILDISH LOVES, by Benjamin Markovits

January 9, 2012

STORY-WITHIN-A-STORY starts with a bang and ends with a whimper. Even Byron can’t make this novel sizzle!

Grade: B MINUS

CHILDISH LOVES
W. W. Norton
2011

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BOOKS BURN BADLY, by Manuel Rivas

January 8, 2012

EPIC HISTORICAL NOVEL with a magic realist touch takes in the Spanish Civil War, its origins and its aftermath.

Grade: SOLID B

BOOKS BURN BADLY
Random House
2011

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BEFORE VERSAILLES, by Karleen Koen

December 30, 2011

JUICY COURT DRAMA revolves around the loves and hatreds of the young Louis XIV. Lots of detail and intrigue!

Grade: SOLID B

BEFORE VERSAILLES: A NOVEL OF LOUIS XIV
Crown
2011

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THE IMMORALITY ENGINE, by George Mann

December 27, 2011

BEAUTIFULLY PACED AND CRAFTED steampunk Alt-Victorian adventure with lots of twists, turns, and technology.

Grade: B PLUS

THE IMMORALITY ENGINE: NEWBURY & HOBBES INVESTIGATION #3
Tor
2011

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THE FAVORED QUEEN, by Carolly Erickson

December 7, 2011

THE TUDOR COURT’S most opaque figure, Queen Jane Seymour, fictionalized tastefully but with little sparkle.

Grade: SOLID B

THE FAVORED QUEEN
St. Martin's
2011

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LIONHEART, by Sharon Kay Penman

November 30, 2011

EPIC, SWEEPING HISTORICAL novel follows Richard the Lionhearted on crusade. Lots of detail, court intrigue.

Grade: B PLUS

LIONHEART
Putnam
2011

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I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS, by Alan Bradley

November 21, 2011

DECK THE HALLS with Flavia de Luce! The spookily precocious child sleuth returns for a Christmassy whodunit.

Grade: B PLUS

I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS: A FLAVIA DE LUCE MYSTERY
Delacorte
2011

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THE AMERICAN HEIRESS, by Daisy Goodwin

November 6, 2011

SWEEPING HISTORICAL ROMANCE of an American heiress and an English duke has old-fashioned Whartonesque charm.

Grade: B PLUS

THE AMERICAN HEIRESS
St. Martin's
2011

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NAUGHTY IN NICE, by Rhys Bowen

November 2, 2011

ANOTHER CHARMING 1930s mystery for “Her Royal Spyness” as she hits the Riviera with Chanel, Wallis Simpson.

Grade: SOLID B

NAUGHTY IN NICE
Berkley
2011

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