Popular European Historical Fiction Books
Find historical fiction books written by authors from Europe for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (685)
561.
The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis EN
EnglandDescription:
Booker Prize Winner A pub gathering of elderly married couples devolves into booze-inflected reminiscing—and complaining—in this “sharp and funny” English comedy about marriage, aging, and friendship (The Washington Post). Age has done everything except mellow the characters in Kingsley Amis’s The Old Devils, which turns its humane and ironic gaze on a group of Welsh married couples who have been spending their golden years—when “all of a sudden the evening starts starting after breakfast”—nattering, complaining, reminiscing, and, above all, drinking. This more or less orderly social world is ... continue
562.
The Orchard : A Novel by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry EN
RussiaDescription:
Four teenagers grow inseparable in the last days of the Soviet Union—but not all of them will live to see the new world arrive in this powerful debut novel, loosely based on Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. “Spectacular . . . intensely evocative and gorgeously written . . . will fill readers’ eyes with tears and wonder.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: New York Post Coming of age in the USSR in the 1980s, best friends Anya and Milka try to envision a free and joyful future for themselves. They spend their summers at Anya’s dacha just outside of Moscow, lazing in ... continue
563.
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory EN
Description:
The #1 New York Times bestseller from “the queen of royal fiction” (USA TODAY) Philippa Gregory is a rich, compelling novel of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue surrounding the Tudor court of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and the infamous Boleyn family. When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of the handsome and charming Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family’s ambitious plots as the king’s interest begin... continue
564.
The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski EN
PolandDescription:
A young boy, abandoned by his parents during World War II, wanders alone from one village to another in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.
565.
The Palace of Dreams by Ismail Kadare EN
AlbaniaDescription:
At the heart of the Sultan s vast but fragile empire stands the mysterious Palace of Dreams: the most secret and powerful Ministry ever invented. Its task is to scour every town, village and hamlet to collect the citizens dreams, then to sift, sort and c
566.
The Passenger : A Novel by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz EN
GermanyDescription:
Hailed as a remarkable literary discovery, a lost novel of heart-stopping intensity and harrowing absurdity about flight and persecution in 1930s Germany Berlin, November 1938. Jewish shops have been ransacked and looted, synagogues destroyed. As storm troopers pound on his door, Otto Silbermann, a respected businessman who fought for Germany in the Great War, is forced to sneak out the back of his own home. Turned away from establishments he had long patronized, and fearful of being exposed as a Jew despite his Aryan looks, he boards a train. And then another. And another . . . until his flig... continue
567.
The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers EN
Description:
**Selected for BBC 2 Between the Covers 2022****The BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick****Longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2022**'In this folksy, magnetic tale, two outsiders seek healing and enlightenment by creating crop formations in a Wiltshire field ... A memorable hymn to beauty' OBSERVER'The pleasures of this bountiful novel are like a glass of cool water on a parched summer day' THE TIMES'A spirited and anarchic novel... a roiling, rollicking crop-circle folk tale' GUARDIANEngland, 1989. Over the course of a burning hot summer, two very different men - traumatized Falklands veteran Calvert... continue
568.
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett EN
WalesDescription:
Set in twelfth-century England, this epic of kings and peasants juxtaposes the building of a magnificent church with the violence and treachery that often characterized the Middle Ages.
569.
The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco EN
ItalyDescription:
A top-selling international work by the author of The Name of the Rose follows the controversial 19th-century story of a European world where violence and occult practices shaping key historical events are commonly linked by a solitary evil genius.
570.
The Price of Paradise by Susana López Rubio EN
SpainDescription:
In a city as corrupt as it was luxurious, those who dared to dream were bound to pay the price. Havana, Cuba, 1947. Young Patricio flees impoverished Spain and steps into the sultry island paradise of Havana with only the clothes on his back and half-baked dreams of a better life. Blessed with good looks and natural charm, he lands a job as a runner at El Encanto--one of the most luxurious department stores in the world. Famous for its exquisite offerings from French haute couture to Arabian silks, El Encanto indulges the senses in opulent extravagance. It caters to visiting Hollywood stars, r... continue