Skip to main content

If You Want to Read About...France

From www.glsvlsi.org
 
I think French  history is fascinating, mainly because it is so complex.  There are a ton of works of historical fiction set in France and below are some of my favorites.  I know there are more that I could add to the list but some of them I read long enough ago that I can't remember the titles! (Terrible I know!)
 

The Second Empress by Michelle Moran- I LOVE Michelle Moran's books, they are absolutely excellent.  The Second Empress features Napoleon's second wife and allows the reader to watch the fall of Napoleon through her eyes.

City of Lights by Melika Lux-This is a pretty short little book but it is set in late 19th century Paris and has some wonderful descriptions of the city.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay-Sarah's Key is a pretty heartbreaking story but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It is one of the few books I have read that is set in France during World War II and focuses on historical events that I was actually not aware of before reading it.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly-I loved that this book bounced between present day France and revolutionary era France.  It's such a great story!

Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland-Mistress of the Sun showcases one of Louis XIV's mistresses and kind of made me love Louise de la Valliere.  She was such a fascinating character!

Marie Antoinette:  The Journey by Antonia Fraser -This is a work of non-fiction but it is such a great book about Marie Antoinette's life.  It really reads like a novel.

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner-This is the first Gortner book I ever read and it made me a major fan of his work.  Catherine de Medici is a really interesting historical figure and I always feel bad that she has been vilified so much in history.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo- I don't know what to say about this book other than it is a classic and everyone should read it!

What do you all think of this list?  Have you read any of these books?  Are there any you think I may have missed?
Labels:

Comments

  1. ShoshanahJuly 13, 2013 at 2:40 PM

    I was thinking there would be few I've these I've read, but happily that's not the case since I've read Sarah's Key, Les Mis, and Marie Antoinette: The Journey. Although there are several I'd love to read, namely The Confessions of Catherine de Medici . Another one I'd add is Mary, Queen of France by Jean Plaidy. Yes, it is about a Tudor (Henry VIII's little sister), but it's the first book of Jean Plaidy I ever read, and was the reason I started going through all her books.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review and Giveaway: "Distant Signs" by Anne Richter

Synopsis: Distant Signs is an intimate portrait of two families spanning three generations amidst turbulent political change, behind and beyond the Berlin Wall. In 1960s East Germany, Margret, a professor’s daughter from the city, meets and marries Hans, from a small village in Thuringia. The couple struggle to contend with their different backgrounds, and the emotional scars they bear from childhood in the aftermath of war. As East German history gradually unravels, with collision of the personal and political, their two families’ hidden truths are quietly revealed. An exquisitely written novel with strongly etched characters that stay with you long after the book is finished and an authentic portrayal of family life behind the iron curtain based on personal experience of the author who is East German and was 16 years old at the fall of the Berlin Wall. Why do families repeat destructive patterns of behaviour across generations? Should the personal take precedence over
Post a Comment
Read more

Mailbox Monday (49)

It's time for another Mailbox Monday post!  Once again I could not resist the cheap ebooks that Amazon and Barnes and Noble were promoting this week.  I really need to stop!  I already have more than I can read.  I also was able to spend a little time browsing at the library and I came home with a nice stack of books.  These days, I hardly ever get to spend time at the library by myself for more than a minute or two so it was wonderful to have time to just wander and see what I could find. Purchased (for kindle): The Color of Secrets by Lindsay Ashford The One I Was by Eliza Graham House of Bathory by Linda Lafferty   Purchased (for nook): One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore  Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams From the Library: The Messenger by Daniel Silva   The Ripper's Wife by Brandy Purdy Hotel Moscow by Talia Carner Brazen by Katherine Longshore What books did you get this week?
15 comments
Read more

Mailbox Monday (78)

 Happy Sunday everybody!  September is over and I can hardly believe it.  It seems as though the month has flown by.  Now I'm excited for fall and all of the upcoming holidays.  October is the start of my favorite time of year and I'm hoping there will be plenty of room for reading in between all of the upcoming events. I requested some new holiday books from the library and had no idea all of my holds would come in at once so I need to get moving on these.  I'm really excited to dig into some sweet, fluffy reads and these will do just the trick. From the Library: A Snow Country Christmas by Linda Lael Miller This is the fourth book in a series that I really enjoyed so I'm eager to get started on it. Holly and Ivy by Fern Michaels The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson I was so intrigued by the cover on this one that I had to pick it up. For Review (from NetGalley): I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon     I really need to st
13 comments
Read more