100 books like Crown in Candlelight

By Rosemary Hawley Jarman,

Here are 100 books that Crown in Candlelight fans have personally recommended if you like Crown in Candlelight. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Katherine

Linda O'Byrne Author Of Cassandra

From my list on fiction that doesn’t want to teach you history.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write romantic historical fiction and am a lifelong lover of the works of Jane Austen. I am English, love historical novels but dislike books that give you “great lumps of facts” that slow up the storyline. I like stories and characters that capture your attention and your heart. Plots and backgrounds that make you think about what it might really have been like to live in those times.

Linda's book list on fiction that doesn’t want to teach you history

Linda O'Byrne Why did Linda love this book?

A glimpse into medieval times. It’s a sumptuous tale of passion and danger.

Katherine comes to the court of Edward III aged fifteen and turns the head of the King’s favourite son, John of Gaunt.  But their paths in life pull them apart until their love forces them back together. This is a wonderful book by a writer who manages to make you experience life as it was then, but without trying to teach you, and asks, ‘how much would you give up for love?’

By Anya Seton,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Katherine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Exhilarating, exuberant, and rich," Katherine is an epic novel of a 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 (Austin Chronicle).

Set in the vibrant fourteenth 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 rule 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.…


Book cover of Storm Harvest

Caroline Newark Author Of The Making of a Tudor

From my list on historical fiction that don't disappoint in romance.

Why am I passionate about this?

My love of history began at the age of 9 with a book given to my older brother: Our Island Story. My history teacher at school introduced me to serious historical biography and studying for a Law degree taught me the value of accuracy. The chance discovery of a notebook detailing one strand of my mother's family tree led to my current project of writing about the imagined lives of my female ancestors beginning in 1299  with my 19 times-great-grandmother Marguerite of France and ending in 1942 with my mother. Twenty-one books mean a lot of history and a mountain of research. A very pleasant way to spend my retirement.

Caroline's book list on historical fiction that don't disappoint in romance

Caroline Newark Why did Caroline love this book?

I came across this book at a bring-and-buy sale in West Wales and it has become one of my firm favourites. It tells the story of Faye Ludlow whose husband is impatient for her to adapt to life in his family's ancient manor house. As the Second World War unfolds and nearby Dover comes under daily bombardment, Faye struggles to save not only her marriage but the family's finances threatened by her husband's increasingly grandiose schemes. Any sense of purpose she acquires from her war work as an ambulance driver is bolstered by an unlikely friendship with an enigmatic London banker. A story for any of us who have ever faced temptation.

By Patricia Wright,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Storm Harvest as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Zemindar

Caroline Newark Author Of The Making of a Tudor

From my list on historical fiction that don't disappoint in romance.

Why am I passionate about this?

My love of history began at the age of 9 with a book given to my older brother: Our Island Story. My history teacher at school introduced me to serious historical biography and studying for a Law degree taught me the value of accuracy. The chance discovery of a notebook detailing one strand of my mother's family tree led to my current project of writing about the imagined lives of my female ancestors beginning in 1299  with my 19 times-great-grandmother Marguerite of France and ending in 1942 with my mother. Twenty-one books mean a lot of history and a mountain of research. A very pleasant way to spend my retirement.

Caroline's book list on historical fiction that don't disappoint in romance

Caroline Newark Why did Caroline love this book?

An exciting, richly layered adventure story of the "long learning of love" set against the backdrop of the rule of the British Raj and the first rumblings of the 1857 Indian Mutiny. I lent the book to a friend and thought I'd lost it forever until I discovered it in her spare bedroom! Our narrator, Laura, has to watch as her cousin marries Charles, the man Laura loves, and is then forced to accompany the young couple on their honeymoon. Not something to be recommended! Their destination is the Kingdom of Oudh and the vast Zemindari estate of Charles's unknown brother, Oliver Erskine. I don't recommend Zemindar because it has won a host of prestigious prizes but because it is a great read. 

By Valerie Fitzgerald,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Zemindar as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An international bestseller and winner of the 1981 Georgette Heyer Historical Novel Prize, Zemindar is a magnificent, twisting love story, all unfolding against the tempestuous backdrop of the Indian Rebellion.

Englishwoman Laura Hewitt accompanies her newly engaged cousin to India, first to Calcutta and then to the fabled fiefdom of Oliver Erskine, Zemindar - or hereditary ruler - of a private kingdom with its own army. But India is on the verge of the Mutiny, which will sweep them all up in its chaos...

Praise for Zemindar:
'If you loved The Far Pavilions - and who didn't - this will…


Book cover of Penmarric

Josa Keyes Author Of Sail Upon the Land: A Novel About Motherhood

From my list on novels where a house is a major character.

Why am I passionate about this?

Within the caste into which I was born, daughter of a daughter of a daughter, I was ‘nobody’—no dowry, an awkward brain, and unfashionable looks—dark hourglass, not blonde beanpole. Unless I married the right kind of man, of course–an eldest son with a big house. This was the 70s, and you probably don’t believe me, but many girls still went the full Jane Austen. So I’m perfectly qualified to tell you about the best books that centre on a big house as metaphor, a major character or a massive plot point in a novel. And, reader, I swerved marrying a man for his house too.

Josa's book list on novels where a house is a major character

Josa Keyes Why did Josa love this book?

Susan Howatch walked away from her career as a highly successful novelist some years ago, but she’s well worth a read. Penmarric is the name of another Cornish mansion that is the fixed point in a swirling family saga. She took as her template the lives of the Plantagenet King Henry II and his powerful wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, plus their warring sons, with the house Penmarric standing in for the throne they fought over. You don’t need to know medieval history to enjoy the yarn.

Divided into five sections, each is narrated by a different family member. The action kicks off in 1890 with Mark Castallack clapping eyes on his complicated, older, future wife, Janna, in a churchyard. His mother, Maud, has directed her whole life towards regaining possession of the family estate, left to her cousin Giles instead of her because of primogeniture, and Maud was the wrong…

By Susan Howatch,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Penmarric as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the acclaimed author of Cashelmara: the “grippingly readable” New York Times–bestselling saga of a noble English family torn apart (The Sunday Times).

Overlooking the bleak cliffs of Cornwall is Penmarric, the ancestral home of Mark Castallack. The stunning gothic manor is the picture of English nobility, wealth, and comfort. But as the twentieth century unfolds, those behind Penmarric’s towering walls face nothing short of disaster. As Mark and his children struggle to save their home and their aristocratic way of life, they must engage in a bitter fight against greed, ambition, betrayal, and even murder.
 
Over her forty-year career,…


Book cover of Yellow Notebook: Diaries Volume One 1978 - 1987

Alice Robinson Author Of If You Go

From my list on women in the chaos of midlife.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always tried to find books that explain and explore my life stage. When I was a young mother of little babies, I read many books about early motherhood. When I was studying and travelling and working as a waitress, those topics were represented in my reading too. Now that I’m a woman writer in midlife, with growing children and an art practice, I’m keen to read books by and about women writers who evoke the joys and struggles of this period: aging, the tensions between freedom and responsibility, marriage and separation, ambition and desire. 

Alice's book list on women in the chaos of midlife

Alice Robinson Why did Alice love this book?

This is the diary Australian writer Helen Garner kept during a difficult period of her life: the period when she was married to (and eventually separated from) her third husband.

The writing is exquisite, which is why I love this book. Garner records the intricacies and intimacies of the marriage in such exacting terms. Her observations about marriage and the world leave me breathless. 

By Helen Garner,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Yellow Notebook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Bold, original and never one to shy away from the truth, Helen Garner's writing has shaped Australian literature. The author has kept a diary for almost all her life. But until now, those exercise books filled with her thoughts, observations, frustrations and joys have been locked away, out of bounds, in a laundry cupboard. Finally, Garner has opened her diaries and invited readers into the world behind her novels and works of non-fiction. Recorded with frankness, humor and steel-sharp wit, these accounts of her everyday life provide an intimate insight into the work of one of Australia’s greatest living writers.…


Book cover of Becoming Marie Antoinette

Juliana Cummings Author Of Sleeping With the Impaler: A Historical Romance About Vlad the Impaler

From my list on historical fiction that bring real people to life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a reader and writer of historical fiction for as long as I remember. As a writer, my goal is to bring these figures from the past alive again. These were real people and I want my readers to see that they are not just photos or stories in a history book.

Juliana's book list on historical fiction that bring real people to life

Juliana Cummings Why did Juliana love this book?

Juliet Gray brought Marie Antoinette to life in this book. We got to understand her from such a young girl who had so much pressure put on her. We see her as kind and childlike but we also see how Marie does mature into a woman who strives to have a loving marriage with her husband while they rule France.

By Juliet Grey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Becoming Marie Antoinette as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This enthralling confection of a novel, the first in a new trilogy, follows the transformation of a coddled Austrian archduchess into the reckless, powerful, beautiful queen Marie Antoinette.
 
Why must it be me? I wondered. When I am so clearly inadequate to my destiny?

Raised alongside her numerous brothers and sisters by the formidable empress of Austria, ten-year-old Maria Antonia knew that her idyllic existence would one day be sacrificed to her mother’s political ambitions. What she never anticipated was that the day in question would come so soon.

Before she can journey from sunlit picnics with her sisters in…


Book cover of Cat. Freya North

Barbara Elsborg Author Of Strangers

From my list on romance books to make you smile.

Why am I passionate about this?

I read lots of different genres, but my greatest passion in both writing and reading is romance. Though I am picky! I need humour in the stories. They don’t have to be funny on every page but I do like to smile occasionally when I’m reading. The ability to weave a plot, create interesting characters, and include humour is something I admire greatly. Even in the thrillers and suspense novels I read, it’s those touches of humour that bring the story to life for me. In the 50+ books I’ve written, none are without that spark of fun. Throw in a happy ever after – and you have a perfect romance, guaranteed to brighten the darkest of days. 

Barbara's book list on romance books to make you smile

Barbara Elsborg Why did Barbara love this book?

A romantic romp set in the Tour de France. I quite fancied writing a book about the Tour myself but I don’t think this book can be bettered. Cat, the heroine, is part of a male press corps and has to fight not only for space but for her stories. I learnt a lot about this cycling race from this book and I like the fact that Freya North has books linked through families. 

By Freya North,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cat. Freya North as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

She's in for the ride of her life.

Her career is stuck in a rut.

Her love life has been a tangle.

But fortune favours the brave...

When journalist Cat McCabe lands a job reporting on the Tour de France she's confident it might give her stuttering career the boost it needs and provide a welcome distraction from a messy break-up. Or so she hopes.

She quickly realizes Le Tour is not just all about the bikes. Large bulges, huge egos, lashings of Lycra and plenty of sexy shenanigans play their part and, soon enough, her own life starts to…


Book cover of 1415: Henry V's Year of Glory

Gordon Corrigan Author Of A Great and Glorious Adventure: A Military History of the Hundred Years War

From my list on the Hundred Years' War.

Why am I passionate about this?

I decided to write this book because while there are many works on the Hundred Years War, they tend to dwell on the political and diplomatic, rather than the military aspects. I considered that this period marked a real revolution in military affairs, led by England. It was England that had the world’s only professional army since the collapse of the Roman Empire in the west in the 5th Century, that used technology (the longbow) as a force multiplier, and while moving on horseback did its fighting on foot. It was these three legs of the revolution that allowed tiny English armies to defeat far larger French feudal ones.

Gordon's book list on the Hundred Years' War

Gordon Corrigan Why did Gordon love this book?

Henry of Monmouth, Henry V, was the second king of the disputed Lancastrian dynasty, and in my opinion the greatest Englishman who ever lived.

He was king at 25, slaughterer of the nobility of France at 27, regent and acknowledged heir to the French throne at 32, and dead at 34. Had he lived, the history of Europe might be very different. He was a man who shaped English history and who still affects Anglo-French relations to this day.

This book, by Ian Mortimer, one of the very best authors of the period, looks at the year 1415, the year when the young Henry led a sick, exhausted, and starving English army to a stunning victory over a far larger French force at Agincourt, in an example of leadership and military professionalism of the highest order.  

By Ian Mortimer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked 1415 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Henry V is regarded as the great English hero. Lionised in his own day for his victory at Agincourt, his piety and his rigorous application of justice, he was elevated by Shakespeare into a champion of English nationalism for all future generations. But what was he really like? Does he deserve to be thought of as 'the greatest man who ever ruled England?'

In Ian Mortimer's groundbreaking book, he portrays Henry in the pivotal year of his reign. Recording the dramatic events of 1415, he offers the fullest, most precise and least romanticised view we have of Henry and what…


Book cover of Agincourt: Great Battles

Amy Lidster Author Of Publishing the History Play in the Time of Shakespeare: Stationers Shaping a Genre

From my list on Shakespeare and history.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Lecturer in English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford, where I specialize in early modern drama (including Shakespeare) and book history. Since my undergraduate degree, I have been fascinated by historical drama, poetry, prose, and the often-porous boundary between ’truth’ and fiction during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Most of my research–including a major project on ‘Wartime Shakespeare’ that produced two books and a public exhibition at The National Army Museum in London–explores the profound impact of the stories we tell about the past and what they reveal about concerns and interests in the present. 

Amy's book list on Shakespeare and history

Amy Lidster Why did Amy love this book?

This book astonished me through its careful, compelling account of how art and literature–broadly conceived–have an enormous impact on how we understand and access history.

By concentrating on the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and how it has been represented across the centuries, Curry reveals how much Shakespeare’s Henry V has shaped our historical awareness and cultural imagining of this event.

I am no less fascinated by the conflicting accounts and interpretations of this battle, by the difficulties and different agendas that inform acts of writing about the past, than when I first read this book, cover to cover in one sitting, as a student.

By Anne Curry,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Agincourt as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Agincourt (1415) is an exceptionally famous battle, one that has generated a huge and enduring cultural legacy in the six hundred years since it was fought. Everybody thinks they know what the battle was about. Even John Lennon, aged 12, wrote a poem and drew a picture headed 'Agincourt'.

But why and how has Agincourt come to mean so much, to so many? Why do so many people claim their ancestors served at the battle? Is the Agincourt of popular image the real Agincourt, or is our idea of the battle simply taken from Shakespeare's famous depiction of it? Written…


Book cover of Agincourt: A Novel

Ethan Bale Author Of Hawker and the King's Jewel

From my list on medieval epic adventures.

Why am I passionate about this?

Long before I started my career in journalism I was a voracious reader of historical novels. I devoured epic adventure about medieval Europe and eventually got involved in European martial arts: fighting in full armour in tournaments and melees. My love of history finally won out over my day job of defence reporting and I began penning novels. The books I most enjoy are more than just battle tales, they’re about people. Good historical fiction isn’t just about the history. It needs more than volleys of arrows and swinging swords, it needs characters you care about. These books combine authenticity with passionate, compelling writing and unique characters you won’t soon forget.

Ethan's book list on medieval epic adventures

Ethan Bale Why did Ethan love this book?

Cornwell is one of the best—if not the best—historical novelists writing today.

In Azincourt, we follow one English longbowman on an epic adventure that culminates in one of the most famous battles in history. Cornwell deftly weaves in authentic period detail without hitting you over the head with it.

Most importantly, he is a master of characterisation and rich prose who makes you truly care about the people on the page. Leavened with humor, grittiness, and an engaging romance set amidst war, I found it a compelling and moving read.

By Bernard Cornwell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Agincourt as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An extraordinary and dramatic depiction of the legendary battle of Agincourt from the number one historical novelist

Azincourt, fought on October 25th 1415, St Crispin's Day, is one of England's best-known battles, in part through the brilliant depiction of it in Shakespeare's Henry V, in part because it was a brilliant and unexpected English victory and in part because it was the first battle won by the use of the longbow - a weapon developed by the English which enabled them to dominate the European battlefields for the rest of the century.

Bernard Cornwell's Azincourt is a vivid, breathtaking and…


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