Hi 🙂 I'm not much of a reader at all, even less a reader of fiction. But I'd like to get back into reading fiction a bit more.
As a child I enjoyed books set in medieval times, think set in a monastery or abbey. There was often perhaps some element of crime, mystery or betrayal. I'm not that interested in books set in royal families of those times (just saw a stack of those at the library).
Could anyone recommended me some books for adults along these lines please? Perhaps there's something that's been well reviewed that I could get into easily? Or an author that is good for that sort of style?
Thanks in advance!
by Secret_Owl3040
6 Comments
Name of the Rose is a hefty book, but it’s well liked.
Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell or anything by him in that era. There are some great ones like Archers Tail, Harlequin and the Last Kingdom series. And the Lords of the North.
Ellis Peters wrote many great murder mysteries set in medieval England. The first novel is A Morbid Taste for Bones.
This one is set in an alternate universe analogous to medieval Spain, but it features a female protagonist: The Lions of al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Also check out Matrix by Lauren Groff, set in a medieval abbey and loosely based on a historical abbess and poet.
Pillars of the Earth fits the bill here.. it’s long and some of the characters are a bit flat, but the parts involving the monasteries are very well done.
I’m a big fan of Sharon Kay Penman’s books, they’re big and lively and cover multiple generations.
I also like Jean Plaidy’s books, although she leans more towards the melodramatic. But she did do a lot of research, and included bibliographies with her books, so I think it is worth recommending her. She also just wrote a *lot* too, from William the Conqueror on down the line to Queen Victoria, so you won’t run out of reading material with her.