Books like 'WHAT TO READ & WHY'
Readers who enjoyed WHAT TO READ & WHY by Francine Prose also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical literary-fiction early-modern medieval
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Los pilares de la Tierra by Ken Follett
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEl gran maestro de las novelas de acción y de suspense lleva al lector a la Edad Media para sumirlo en un fascinante mundo con reyes, damas, caballeros, pugnas feudales, castillos y ciudades amuralladas. El amor y la muerte se entrecruzan constantemente en este magistral tapiz que tiene como centro la construcción de una catedral gótica... -
![Die Hüter der Rose by Rebecca Gablé]()
Die Hüter der Rose by Rebecca Gablé
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMancher Leser wird sich jetzt fragen: "Was habe ich eigentlich die letzten zwei Jahre gemacht, nachdem ich mit Die Siedler von Catan durch war?" Seitdem ist tatsächlich kein neues Buch mehr von Rebecca Gablé erschienen...Categorized as:
medieval literary-fiction historical-fiction historical fiction audiobook book adult -
![Race of Scorpions by Dorothy Dunnett]()
Race of Scorpions by Dorothy Dunnett
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWith the bravura storytelling and pungent authenticity of detail she brought to her acclaimed Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett presents The House of Niccolò series. The time is the 15th century, when intrepid merchants became the new knighthood of Europe... -
![Der König der purpurnen Stadt by Rebecca Gablé]()
Der König der purpurnen Stadt by Rebecca Gablé
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBook by Rebecca...Categorized as:
medieval literary-fiction historical-fiction historical fiction audiobook book adult -
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![Journeys by Jeanne Roland]()
Journeys by Jeanne Roland
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA barracks full of beautiful boys. A girl in disguise, living among them.It’s the 14th century, and the longbow is king. But in the northern European principality of Ardennes, archery isn’t just the nation’s defense. It’s the national obsession...Categorized as:
medieval literary-fiction early-modern romance historical-fiction young-adult historical fiction -
![The Norton Anthology of Poetry by Margaret Ferguson]()
The Norton Anthology of Poetry by Margaret Ferguson
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Fifth Edition retains the flexibility and breadth of selection that has defined this classic anthology, while improved and expanded editorial apparatus make it an even more useful teaching tool...Categorized as:
early-modern literary-fiction adult anthologies classics fiction historical literary -
![The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George]()
The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThis is the story of England's most famous, and notorious, king.Henry was a charismatic, ardent - and brash - young lover who married six times; a scholar with a deep love of poetry and music; an energetic hunter who loved the outdoors; a monarch whose lack of a male heir haunted him incessantly; and a ruthless leader who would stop at nothing to achieve his desires... -
![The Chief's Maiden by Cecelia Mecca]()
The Chief's Maiden by Cecelia Mecca
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA Scottish chief. An English maiden. Their forbidden love threatens to destroy them both. The Chief The Scottish king gives Toren Kerr a dangerous but important mission—kill the English Warden. The man’s rumored corruption threatens to destroy the fragile peace along the border, and Toren reluctantly agrees to do his duty... -
![Falling Pomegranate Seeds: The Duty of Daughters by Wendy J. Dunn]()
Falling Pomegranate Seeds: The Duty of Daughters by Wendy J. Dunn
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDońa Beatriz Galindo. Respected scholar. Tutor to royalty. Friend and advisor to Queen Isabel of Castile. Beatriz is an uneasy witness to the Holy War of Queen Isabel and her husband, Ferdinand, King of Aragon. A Holy War seeing the Moors pushed out of territories ruled by them for centuries. The road for women is a hard one...Categorized as:
medieval literary-fiction romance historical historical-fiction fiction royalty young-adult -
![His Lass to Protect by Emma Prince]()
His Lass to Protect by Emma Prince
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTo prove herself, she’ll brave anything. To protect her, he’ll risk everything. As the only woman in King Robert the Bruce’s Bodyguard Corps, Mairin Mackenzie is eager to prove herself. When the King proposes a mission to sow the seeds of civil war in England, Mairin jumps at the chance, even though returning there means confronting the nightmarish trauma of her past... -
![Dieu et nous seuls pouvons by Michel Folco]()
Dieu et nous seuls pouvons by Michel Folco
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPour échapper à la galère, Justinien Pibrac devient bourreau officiel du seigneur de Bellerocaille. Le jour de sa première exécution, après quelques maladresses rocambolesques, il parvient finalement à briser les os du condamné. Ainsi début la saga trépidante des Pibrac, qui deviendront de génération en génération les plus grands bourreaux de tous les temps...Categorized as:
literary-fiction medieval adult book fiction historical historical-fiction university -
![The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 1: The Middle Ages through the Restoration & the Eighteenth Century by M.H. Abrams]()
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 1: The Middle Ages through the Restoration & the Eighteenth Century by M.H. Abrams
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsFirmly grounded by the hallmark strengths of all Norton Anthologies - thorough and helpful introductory matter, judicious annotation, complete texts wherever possible - The Norton Anthology of English Literature has been revitalized in this Eighth Edition through the collaboration between six new editors and six seasoned ones...Categorized as:
early-modern literary-fiction medieval adult anthologies classics drama female-author -
![Severed Knot by Cryssa Bazos]()
Severed Knot by Cryssa Bazos
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBarbados 1652. In the aftermath of the English Civil War, the vanquished are uprooted and scattered to the ends of the earth. When marauding English soldiers descend on Mairead O’Coneill’s family farm, she is sold into indentured servitude...Categorized as:
early-modern literary-fiction medieval action-adventure adult book fiction historical -
![Highlander Pledged by Jayne Castel]()
Highlander Pledged by Jayne Castel
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThey wed in the heart of winter, as the Scottish Highlands prepare for Yuletide—but while snow falls, an arranged marriage blossoms into a love match.Robina Oliphant's wishes have never been considered by others, so she isn't surprised when her father marries her off to the ruthless clan Gunn in order to secure a political alliance... -
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![Hereward: End of Days by James Wilde]()
Hereward: End of Days by James Wilde
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEngland, 1071. Five years have passed since the crushing Norman victory at the Battle of Hastings. The country reels under the savage rule of the new king, the one they call 'the Bastard.' The North has been left a wasteland villages razed, innocents put to the sword, land stolen. It seems no atrocity is too great to ensure William's grip upon the crown...Categorized as:
literary-fiction medieval adult book fiction historical historical-fiction violent-conflict -
![The Greenest Branch by P.K. Adams]()
The Greenest Branch by P.K. Adams
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn The Greenest Branch the medieval era comes vividly to life in all its romanticism and splendor, but the societal strictures that prevent women from being able to access education and live independent lives are also on display... -
![Songbird by Karen Heenan]()
Songbird by Karen Heenan
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBess has the voice of an angel, or so Henry VIII declares when he buys her from her father. As a member of the Music, the royal company of minstrels, Bess grows up within the decadent Tudor court, navigating the ever-changing tide of royals and courtiers. Friends come and go as cracked voices, politics, heartbreak, and death loom over even the lowliest of musicians...Categorized as:
medieval early-modern romance historical-fiction fiction historical coming-of-age female-mc -
![Byron's Poetry by Lord Byron]()
Byron's Poetry by Lord Byron
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIt includes eighteen of his lyrics; Cantos One, Three, and excerpts from Canto Four of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; two verse romances, The Prisoner of Chillon and The Giaour, the latter newly receiving critical attention for its prophetically disjunctive structure; Manfred; The Vision of Judgment; and Don Juan, presented in long self-contained extracts--the First, Fifth, Ninth, and Sixteenth...Categorized as:
early-modern literary-fiction adult anthologies classics fiction historical literary -
![The Sun in Splendour by Juliet Dymoke]()
The Sun in Splendour by Juliet Dymoke
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Wars of the Roses are at a decisive stage. On the battlefield, the tide appears to have turned against Edward IV and his Plantagenet dynasty is under threat. At court, his new wife and her ambitious family are undermining his power and advancing their own positions. For those wearing the white rose of York, the future looks bleak... -
![Love in a Mist by Patricia Grasso]()
Love in a Mist by Patricia Grasso
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKeely Glendower, a homeless pagan priestess, and England's wealthiest earl, Richard Deveraux, discover a passion and a secret that could destroy them both in sixteenth-century Wales and England...Categorized as:
medieval early-modern romance historical regency historical-fiction industrial-era fiction -
![Rose Nicolson: Memoir of William Fowler of Edinburgh: student, trader, makar, conduit, would-be Lover in early days of our Reform by Andrew Greig]()
Rose Nicolson: Memoir of William Fowler of Edinburgh: student, trader, makar, conduit, would-be Lover in early days of our Reform by Andrew Greig
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings'A tale I have for you.'Embra, winter of 1574. Queen Mary has fled Scotland, to raise an army from the French. Her son and heir, Jamie is held under protection in Stirling Castle. John Knox is dead. The people are unmoored and lurching under the uncertain governance of this riven land...Categorized as:
early-modern medieval literary-fiction europe british-isles united-kingdom scotland urban -
![The Good Knight by Margaux Thorne]()
The Good Knight by Margaux Thorne
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBetrayed by the man she loved, Lady Willa of Wakefield is left a young widow with a reputation in tatters. Her family circles around her, providing support and safety, but Willa quickly realizes her life can never be as it once was... -
![The Girl from Oto by Amy Maroney]()
The Girl from Oto by Amy Maroney
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“An exquisite novel.” Martha Conway, author of Thieving Forest A Renaissance-era woman artist and an American scholar. Linked by a 500-year-old mystery… The secrets of the past are irresistible—and dangerous. 1500: Born during a time wracked by war and plague, Renaissance-era artist Mira grows up in a Pyrenees convent believing she is an orphan... -
![The Painter's Apprentice: A Novel of 16th-Century Venice (Venetian Artisans) by Laura Morelli]()
The Painter's Apprentice: A Novel of 16th-Century Venice (Venetian Artisans) by Laura Morelli
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWould you rather sacrifice your livelihood, your lover, or your life? When the Black Death comes knocking on your door, you'd better decide quickly. Venice, 1510. Maria Bartolini wants nothing more than to carry on her father’s legacy as a master gilder. Instead, her father has sent her away from the only home she’s ever known to train as an apprentice to Master Trevisan, a renowned painter...Categorized as:
early-modern literary-fiction adult book female-author fiction historical historical-fiction -
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![The Dark Rose by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles]()
The Dark Rose by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings1501: Henry VIII Paul, great-grandson of Elanor Morland, has inherited the Morland estates, and his own Amyas is set to be his heir. But Paul fathers a beloved illigitimate son, and bitter jealousy causes a destructive rift between the two half-brothers which will lead to death... -
![The Lady of the Tower by Elizabeth St.John]()
The Lady of the Tower by Elizabeth St.John
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsOrphaned Lucy St.John, described as "the most beautiful of all," defies English society by carving her own path through the decadent Stuart court. In 1609, the early days of the rule of James I are a time of glittering pageantry and cutthroat ambition, when the most dangerous thing one can do is fall in love . . . or make an enemy of Frances Howard, the reigning court beauty... -
![The Lady Carey by Anne R. Bailey]()
The Lady Carey by Anne R. Bailey
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings“The King will decide what is treason...” These are words Catherine Carey has heard before, and they’ve always led to the block. As a girl, she saw her aunt, Anne Boleyn, go to the scaffold. Now she might see yet another Queen suffer the same fate. She has to decide. To serve her mistress would be treason, to abandon her would mean the doom of a good lady... -
![The Dorothy Dunnett Companion by Elspeth Morrison]()
The Dorothy Dunnett Companion by Elspeth Morrison
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHere is a lovingly assembled, essential A-Z companion to Dorothy Dunnett’s brilliant Lymond Chronicles and the first five novels in the House of Niccolò series.Elspeth Morrison has re-created the author’s exhaustive original research, documenting her myriad sources and literary references... -
![The Burnings by Naomi Kelsey]()
The Burnings by Naomi Kelsey
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNothing scares men like witchcraft . . .1589. Scottish housemaid Geillis and Danish courtier Margareta lead opposite lives, but they both know one thing: when a man cries “witch”, no woman is safe... -
![Blaze Wyndham by Bertrice Small]()
Blaze Wyndham by Bertrice Small
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling "resigning queen of romance" (Literary Times), comes a love story on a grand scale, featuring an innocent country girl who catches the eye of the most powerful man in England-and filled with all the sensuality, drama, and thrilling intrigues of Henry Tudor's glittering sixteenth century court..Categorized as:
early-modern medieval action-adventure adult book fiction historical historical-fiction -
![To Dance with Kings by Rosalind Laker]()
To Dance with Kings by Rosalind Laker
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOn a May morning in 1664, in the small village of Versailles, as hundreds of young aristocrats are coming to pay court to King Louis XIV, a peasant fan-maker gives birth to her first and only child, Marguerite... -
![A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith]()
A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn A Rose for the Crown, we meet one of history's alleged villains through the eyes of a captivating new heroine -- the woman who was the mother of his illegitimate children, a woman who loved him for who he really was, no matter what the cost to herself... -
![The Hawk by Hildie McQueen]()
The Hawk by Hildie McQueen
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPeace has finally come to Clan Ross of Skye and the laird’s younger brother, Gavin Ross, finds himself adrift, grappling with a sense of purposelessness. His days are filled with mundane tasks of training and patrolling, leaving him restless and yearning for something more. Suddenly their hard-won peace is on the brink of shattering, when a man’s death means years old strife may not be dormant... -
![I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles]()
I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsPublicly declared a bastard at the age of three, daughter of a disgraced and executed mother, last in the line of succession to the throne of England, Elizabeth I inherited an England ravaged by bloody religious conflict, at war with Spain and France, and badly in debt... -
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![Courtesan by Diane Haeger]()
Courtesan by Diane Haeger
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAmid the disapproving gossip of the Court, a royal romance defies all obstacles. The Court of François I is full of lust, intrigue, and bawdy bon tempsâ��a different world from the quiet country life Diane de Poitiers led with her elderly husband...Categorized as:
early-modern medieval adult book fiction historical historical-fiction love-triangle -
![The Words in My Hand by Guinevere Glasfurd]()
The Words in My Hand by Guinevere Glasfurd
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Words in My Hand is the re-imagined true story of Helena Jans, a Dutch maid in 17th-century Amsterdam, who works for Mr. Sergeant, the English bookseller. When a mysterious and reclusive lodger arrives - the Monsieur - Mr Sergeant insists everything must be just so. It transpires that the Monsieur is René Descartes...Categorized as:
early-modern literary-fiction adult book fiction historical historical-fiction humor -
![The Kiss of the Concubine: A story of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII by Judith Arnopp]()
The Kiss of the Concubine: A story of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII by Judith Arnopp
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratings28th January 1547.It is almost midnight and the cream of the English nobility hold their breath as King Henry VIII prepares to face his God. As the royal physicians wring their hands and Archbishop Cranmer gallops through the frigid night, two dispossessed princesses pray for their father’s soul and a boy, soon to be king, snivels into his velvet sleeve...Categorized as:
early-modern medieval literary-fiction romance historical-fiction historical fiction royalty -
![A Queen's Spy by Samantha Burnell, Samantha Burnell]()
A Queen's Spy by Samantha Burnell, Samantha Burnell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTwo Queen's, Two Brothers... and a secret that unites them allThe Fitzwarren brothers share no great love for each other, but disinherited, hunted for treason, wanted for murder, circumstance and opportunity lead them into the shadowy world of Royal Court intrigue...Categorized as:
early-modern literary-fiction medieval action-adventure book fiction historical historical-fiction -
![Queen Jezebel by Jean Plaidy]()
Queen Jezebel by Jean Plaidy
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe ageing Catherine de' Medici has arranged the marriage of her beautiful Catholic daughter Margot to the uncouth Huguenot King Henry of Navarre. Margot, still desperately in love with Henry de Guise, refuses to utter her vows. But even Catherine is unable to anticipate the carnage that this unholy union is to bring about.. -
![Shields of Pride by Elizabeth Chadwick]()
Shields of Pride by Elizabeth Chadwick
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe year is 1173. King Henry's efforts to crush his rebellious sons ignite bloody border skirmishes throughout the land. Yet it is a time of triumph for mercenary Josceline de Gael, bastard son of the king's most trusted ally. Victorious on the battlefield, de Gael suffers sweet defeat when his heart is conquered by the lovely Linnet de Montsorrel...Categorized as:
literary-fiction medieval adult book female-author fiction historical historical-fiction -
![The Enemies of Versailles by Sally Christie]()
The Enemies of Versailles by Sally Christie
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the final installment of Sally Christie’s “tantalizing” (New York Daily News) Mistresses of Versailles trilogy, Jeanne Becu, a woman of astounding beauty but humble birth, works her way from the grimy back streets of Paris to the palace of Versailles, where the aging King Louis XV has become a jaded and bitter old philanderer...Categorized as:
early-modern literary-fiction romance historical-fiction historical fiction royalty audiobook -
![Sutton Place by Deryn Lake]()
Sutton Place by Deryn Lake
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe year is 1051. The beautiful and angry Queen Edith curses the ground her husband, Edward the Confessor, hunts on and all its future owners. Five centuries later, Richard Weston, a shrewd politician and rising member of Henry VIII’s court, is awarded the land and builds a magnificent manor house. But his family is living in the shadow of the curse and must soon pay its price... -
![Queenbreaker: Perseverance by Catherine McCarran]()
Queenbreaker: Perseverance by Catherine McCarran
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThere are games played only at court for power, love, revenge...Fourteen-year old Mary Shelton must learn to play them all when she enters the cauldron of spite, ambition, and danger that is the court of King Henry VIII. No one in her family expects Mary to go far; she’s the middle daughter, sharp-tongued, not the favorite, not pretty...Categorized as:
literary-fiction medieval book family fiction historical historical-fiction suspense -
![The Braeswood Tapestry by Robyn Carr]()
The Braeswood Tapestry by Robyn Carr
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe enemy of your enemy is…your lover?A peasant farm girl has no place consorting with feuding lords, yet that’s exactly what Jocelyn Cutler sets out to do. Now Jocelyn finds herself trapped between the tyrannical Lord Kerr, and the dangerous rogue, Sir Trent Wescott... -
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![The Sword & the Swan by Roberta Gellis]()
The Sword & the Swan by Roberta Gellis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRannulf was known throughout the land as a bold warrior. Face-to-face with an oncoming army, he could decide matters of life and death. But now, face-to-face with one gentle woman, he was hopelessly confused and uncertain... -
![The Phoenix of Florence by Philip Kazan]()
The Phoenix of Florence by Philip Kazan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFifteenth century Italy, deep in the Tuscan countryside, a long-held feud between two aristocratic families breaks the two-decade peace. A family is bloodily ripped apart, a girl wanders the forest alone, and everything is lost.But things which are lost are not always gone, instead they are sometimes simply hidden from view.In the middle of Florence, two brutal murders are not all they seem...Categorized as:
medieval early-modern literary-fiction historical-fiction fiction historical mystery crime -
![The Poems of Alexander Pope by Alexander Pope]()
The Poems of Alexander Pope by Alexander Pope
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA splendid presentation of Pope’s poems, excluding only his translations of Homer, this is the only one-volume edition that can lay claim to completeness and accuracy of text... -
![The Players by Minette Walters]()
The Players by Minette Walters
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA gripping tale of compassion, imposture, trickery and surprising alliances set against the backdrop of The Bloody Assizes, from the bestselling author of The Last Hours and The Swift and the Harrier.The much-anticipated sequel to The Swift and The HarrierEngland, 1685...Categorized as:
early-modern literary-fiction historical-fiction historical fiction politics audiobook crime -
![My Lady of Cleves by Margaret Campbell Barnes]()
My Lady of Cleves by Margaret Campbell Barnes
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWritten by world-reknowned historical novelist Margaret Campbell Barnes, My Lady of Cleves gives readers an intimate portrait of the warm, unpretentious princess who never expected to become Queen of England... -
![Finn Mac Cool by Morgan Llywelyn]()
Finn Mac Cool by Morgan Llywelyn
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSomewhere in the shadowy borderland between myth and history lies the territory of Finn Mac Cool. Mightiest of the Irish heroes, leader of the invincible army of Fianna, he was a man of many faces: warrior, poet, lover, creator, and destroyer...Categorized as:
literary-fiction medieval action-adventure adult book fiction historical historical-fiction
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