Tags
Alison Weir, Anya Seton, Bernard Cornwell, CJ Sansom, CW Gortner, Deanna Raybourn, Diana Gabaldon, Elizabeth Chadwick, Ellis Peters, Georgette Heyer, Hilary Mantel, Jacqueline Winspear, Jane Austen Dorothy Dunnett, Jean Plaidy, Ken Follett, Larissa MacFarguhar, Margaret George, Michelle Moran, Patrick O'Brian, Philippa GRegory, Sharon Kay Penman, Susan Higgonbotham, The New Yorker, Tracy Chevalier
Some time ago, Larissa MacFarquhar wrote about Hilary Mantel in The New Yorker. What struck me at the time is the notion that Mantel doesn’t ”believe in inventing greatness where none exists” and ”feels she can write about greatness only in historical moments that have already proved ripe for its flourishing. She believes that there are no great characters without a great time; ordinary times breed ordinary people”. Mantel implies that our present times are ordinary not great.
Does the favourite authors list from my survey imply that readers like to read about great times? Let’s have a look.
Sharon Kay Penman – Richard III, King John, Henry III, Edward I, Henry II and others
Philippa Gregory – War of the Roses, Katharine of Aragon, Tudor England, 18th C slave trade
Elizabeth Chadwick – knights and crusades, King John, Henry I, Eleanor of Aquitaine
Diana Gabaldon – mid to late 18th C time travel
Bernard Cornwell – Napoleonic Wars, Arthurian times, Alfred the Great, Hundred Years War
Ken Follett – WWI, WWII, Henry I and King Stephen plus contemporary times
Anya Seton – mid 19th C, Aaron Burr, John of Gaunt & Katherine Swynford, 17th C US, Anglo Saxon England
CW Gortner – Elizabeth I, Catherine de Medici, Spanish Queens Isabella and Juana
Alison Weir – Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth I, Tudor times, Lady Jane Grey, many non-fiction books
Margaret George – Mary Magdalene, Cleopatra, Mary Queen of Scots, Helen of Troy, Elizabeth I
Georgette Heyer – Regency romance, contemporary and historical thrillers, William the Conqueror
Michelle Moran – Napoleonic times, Madame Tussaud, Nerfertiti, Nefertari, Cleopatra’s daughter
Jean Plaidy - Norman times, Plantagenet, Tudor, Stuart, Charles II, Queen Victoria
CJ Sansom – series set in time of Henry VIII
Jane Austen – wrote about her own times so not technically historical fiction
Dorothy Dunnett – 15th and 16th centuries, William the Conqueror
Ellis Peters – 12th century Cadfael series, English murder mysteries
Susan Higginbotham – Edward II, Edward III, Henry VI, Henry VIII, War of the Roses
Tracy Chevalier – eclectic mix of periods and subject matter
Jacqueline Winspear – aftermath of WWI
Patrick O’Brian – Napoleonic Wars
Deanna Raybourn – mysteries set in Victorian times
My conclusion is that readers enjoy reading about greatness and great times. What do you think?



