Tuesday 5 March 2024

To my shame...

The Best Books of 2023: Historical Fiction



(according to Waterstones.)





The Fraud by Zadie Smith

Taking inspiration from a real-life nineteenth-century imposture trial, Smith's immersive first historical novel weaves together the stories of a Scottish housekeeper with a novelist cousin, a formerly enslaved valet unexpectedly thrust into the limelight of a legal case and the missing heir to the Tichborne baronetcy.

North Woods by Daniel Mason

A novel with the quality of a spell, this mesmeric tale takes a single house in the woods of Massachusetts and those who inhabit it across four centuries to explore the countless ways in which the past lives on in nature, memory, language and the human heart.

Victory City by Salman Rushdie

A luminous epic that spans a quarter of a millennium and begins in fourteenth-century India where a girl is tasked by a goddess with giving women agency in a patriarchal world.

The Glutton by A. K. Blakemore

In this rich and absorbing tale of depravity, pleasure and class, Blakemore serves up another glorious evocation of the past, as a hungry peasant embarks on a curious crusade in revolutionary France.

Sharpe's Command by Bernard Cornwell

Another unputdownable entry in the mega-selling Sharpe series as Britannia puts her faith in our maverick hero to defend her troops from French forces in early nineteenth-century Spain.

The New Life by Tom Crewe

A tender and powerful tale of passion, progress and personal freedom that re-imagines the lives of the two men who published the first English medical textbook on homosexuality, Crewe’s beautiful novel is filled with nuance and forensic insight into love.

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

A tour de force of historical storytelling, as a fleeing servant girl finds herself adrift in a world she can scarcely comprehend.

The Armour of Light - The Kingsbridge Novels by Ken Follett

A sweeping story of industrial unrest, oppressive government and the spectre of revolution in the tinderbox of the late eighteenth century

Wolves of Winter - Essex Dogs by Dan Jones

The siege of Calais and pirate ships spell new dangers for the Essex Dogs as the Hundred Years' War rages on in the second part of the gripping trilogy from the popular historian and broadcaster.

Atalanta by Jennifer Saint

The bestselling author of Ariadne and Elektra brings the formidable Atalanta and her adventures amidst the Argonauts to vivid life in another sweeping re-imagining of Greek myth.

Weyward by Emilia Hart

A woman fleeing an abusive relationship heads for Weyward Cottage and makes a startling discovery about her ancestors in this bewitching debut perfect for fans of Bridget Collins.

Well, there you go. The first ten and to my shame I have to say I have not read any of them!

Friday 16 February 2024

How popular is historical romance?

 

Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods. Walter Scott began it all in the early 19th century. with books like Ivanhoe and Rob Roy.

Some say  historical romance dominates the romance genre. Others disagree.

Historical romance novels set in particular time periods usually offer rich character development plus descriptive prose. Some say that anything in a setting prior to 1950 is categorized as historical though those who were born before that date beg to differ!

The most popular eras are:
  • · Medieval Period
  • · Viking Age
  • · 17th Century Scottish Highlands
  • · Colonial America
  • · Regency England*
  • · Victorian England
  • · American Civil War
  • · American Western Expansion
  • · Early 20th Century
*Regency historical denote stories between the time period of 1811-1820, during the Regency Era of England, sometimes expanded to 1795-1837. The emphasis of the story is often on the society of the times and usually imitates the dialogue habits of the time, but like the entire genre, swirls around a relationship that has a happy-ever-after conclusion.

(This list from the internet has taken American sales and habits into consideration, and because of the massive population in that country, they tend to swamp the lists.)

Kathleen Woodwiss and her book The Wolf and the Dove, which I read many years ago, is an example of the common belief that historical romance is full of women in corsets desperate for love in a patriarchal society. Older book covers of the genre have done little to help. Covers today tend to focus on the heroine wearing an exaggerated ball gown and do offer a heroine who has more on her mind than finding love
.

Sunday 4 February 2024

How popular is fantasy?

 As an ex-librarian I used to read the Bookseller.

Part of the job, and book selection was always a good part!

But now I find it is hiding behind a subscription wall just like the Guardian, Publishers Weekly and many more. So my attempt to discover the Top 20 books of fiction in 2023 was foiled. It's not desperate, but a trifle annoying. I can get a list from Amazon with no bother at all, but I suspect the titles will be vastly different.

I wanted to check and see how many fantasy books were now making inroads in the historical fiction market. Time travel and time swap novels have grown considerably in the last year or two. I read my first Urban Fantasy series last month, and thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm tempted to add fantasy elements to the story I'm attempting now.

I did this once with Magician's Bride and it didn't have a riotous reception. One reader said she thought it was more suitable for the children's market. Well, maybe that was because there was no sex in it as far as I recall and it appears sex has to be in everything these days. Whole generations seem to be hard wired for sex and it is hard to avoid (should you wish to do so!) on tv and in adverts. 

Not to worry. I shall continue to try and find a  list that I can access and see what I discover about historical fiction plus fantasy.

Friday 26 January 2024

It's a puzzle

 


It sometimes puzzles me why we have so many charities in the UK. Avoiding the heart-rending appeals during tv advert breaks has become almost impossible without a lot of channel flicking. There are charities to whom I donate a couple of times a year, but I do not sign up to give money weekly or monthly.


In 2023 168,850 charities were registered in England and Wales. The average amount which people give to charity per month was 27 British pounds, compared with 24 pounds in 2019/20.

Those most likely to give are women, and the most charitable age group were those between 65 and 74. What also puzzles me is why people are so against increased tax in this country. If they are prepared to give all this money to charities, why not give via income tax? Perhaps it is a matter of choice, but it seems to me that extra pennies given by the taxable population would be far more efficient method than randomly selecting a charity. I suppose such a move would mean many charity workers would lose their jobs, but then, when I donate to charity I hate to think of my money going to support some very highly paid Chief Executive of whichever charity, just as I also hate to think of those rich folk who pay almost no tax because they deal through off-shore accounts and the like. And then there are the workers who come here and send the bulk of their income “back home” where it does no one in this country any good at all.

There is a lot that needs sorting out in this country.

Wednesday 10 January 2024

"Goodreads is broken."

 Saw this today:

"Goodreads is broken. What began in 2007 as a promising tool for readers, authors, booksellers and publishers has become an unreliable, unmanageable, nearly unnavigable morass of unreliable data and unfettered ill will. Of course, the internet offers no shortage of bad data and ill will, but at its inception Goodreads promised something different: a gathering space where ardent readers could connect with writers and with one another, swapping impressions and sharing recommendations. It’s an idea that’s both obvious (the internet is great at helping like-minded people assemble) and essential (reading is a solitary activity, but there is great joy in talking through a book afterward). In fact, Goodreads is still an essential idea — so much so that it’s worth fighting to fix it...

Source: New York Times (free access)

I have to say I never got to grips with Goodreads. I never understood how to use it to my advantage as an author. But then, I was unaware it was never designed (as the article says) as a tool for authors but only as a place for readers to talk about books read. 

The site still displays the old covers I had for my self-published books because although I have much better covers now, I didn't find a way to change them on Goodreads. Essentially, I gave up trying to do so, thinking I needed a Master's degree in IT. It would be nice if Goodreads morphed into something I could use. Here's hoping!

 

Friday 15 December 2023

Raunchy Readers


Spotted an article I thought many writers and readers might find worth reading, especially if they remember (and enjoyed) books that came out in the eighties. I know I did! 

Jilly Cooper has a new book out this year, and though for me football is not such an attractive topic as horse riding maybe if I read the book, I might change my view!

Clare Thorp says:

“If the covers are iconic, it's what's beneath them that has made Cooper one of Britain's most popular and biggest-selling authors for the last four decades. Cooper writes irresistible sagas of sex and shenanigans among England's rural upper-middle class society, featuring dashing cads, ambitious women, and a supporting cast of horses, hounds and huge country houses. The behaviour is bad, the sex copious, the parties raucous and the overall mood… well, rather jolly. Her characters manage to be deeply melodramatic, while never taking themselves too seriously.”

“Turner – who plays Campbell-Black – has said making it has been the most fun he's had on any job in his career. A dose of pure pleasure is what many of us are craving at the moment, and, thankfully, it looks like Cooper will be spreading joy for some time yet.” Regrettably, Aidan Turner’s words are locked away behind a subscription wall but some of you will be able to read them.

Read the whole article : By Clare Thorp 10th November 2023

From Riders to Tackle! – how Britain loves Jilly Cooper's raunchy novels - BBC Culture

Friday 1 December 2023

Conflict can be simple

 Ever wondered about conflict in creative writing?

It's important. Without it, a book is boring.

There is conflict in action and everybody can see when two characters come to blows or the Indians attack the cowboys. There can also be conflict that is only implied or suggested, even hidden.

People rarely agree about everything, no matter how good a friendship is. Little things niggle and become an irritant, and can lead to big blow-ups which may seem to be about one thing but are often due to something completely unsuspected. Those conflicts make life really interesting! So often these spats show what people really are and what makes them tick - or explode.

My dog and I have conflict. She wants to dart from side to side at great speed, following every last smell but I want her to walk sedately by my side and not drag me into a hedge or a cowpat.  We struggle. Eventually I win, and she loses interest in the smells. (Not really, but she stops dragging me to them!) Sometimes I can be patience itself with this behaviour but sometimes I am dangerously close to shrieking at her and since she's deaf, it doesn't help. 

The shrieking can be because several small incidents have happened to me that particular day, and it is the cumulative effect that tips me too far over the edge. This can happen in fiction, too.  It doesn't have to be one word, or one phrase, but it might be several comments from different characters spread over a day. Conflicts can be simple or they can be complex. Writing conflict is wonderful.

To my shame...

The Best Books of 2023: Historical Fiction (according to Waterstones.) The Fraud by Zadie Smith Taking inspiration from a real-life ninetee...