United Kingdom- BOOKS by British Authors (or set in Britain)

[Pauline]

Post your favorite books on this thread and I will keep a list here.

--- Modern Novels (1950+) ---

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. Lovely story of a man who walks from Devon to northern England to reconnect with himself. Recommended by Kathy and Pauline. The author is from Stroud in the Cotswolds.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. Recommended by Kathy.

Joanna Trollope - All of her novels are very good. Recommended by Kathy and Pauline.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Recommended by Chris and Pauline. Her Jackson Brodie detective series books are also good.

--- 20th Century Novels (up to 1950) ---

Cold Comfort Farm by English author Stella Gibbons (published in 1932). Comic novel about life in the countryside. Fabulous! "It parodies the romanticised, sometimes doom-laden accounts of rural life popular at the time, by writers such as Mary Webb."
Recommended by Pauline.

--- 19th Century Novels ---

Everything by Jane Austen (Pauline). Wikipedia. I try to re-read one every year - Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma are my favorites.

--- Historic Novels ---

Hilary Mantel's trilogy about Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VII. Wikipedia
- Wolf Hall, 2009
- Bring Up the Bodies, 2012
- The Mirror and the Light, in progress
The first two won the Booker Prize.
Recommended by Heidi. To be recommended by Pauline if she ever gets around to reading them (everyone loves these books).

Philippa Gregory's Henry VIII novels (Tudor Court series). Wikipedia
Chronological order of the novels:
- The Constant Princess (Katherine of Aragon) 2005
- The Other Boleyn Girl (Mary and Anne Boleyn) 2001
- The Boleyn Inheritance (Jane Boleyn, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard) 2006
- The Queen's Fool (A young Jewish girl's story of her service in the court of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I) 2003
- The Virgin's Lover (Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley and Amy Robsart) 2004
- The Other Queen (Mary, Queen of Scots, George Talbot and Bess of Hardwick) 2008
Recommended by Pauline: I enjoyed this series and learned a lot about Henry VIII. Lightweight compared to Mantel, but fun to read.

Dorothy Dunnett - Recommended by Heidi. I've read and loved several of Scottish author Dorothy Dunnett's books over the years - some, but not all of the Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolo books. These 15thC - 16thC historical novels are wide ranging over the whole of Europe and beyond. They are remarkably well written and exhaustively researched, drawing you into a time and place with Dunnett's talent for description and historic fact. Website

--- Mystery Novels ---

P.D. James - everything by her, especially the Adam Dalgliesh detective series set in England. P.D. James is a British writer and her mysteries are set in England, usually in London or nearby. Wikipedia

Kate Atkinson - Jackson Brodie mysteries. Recommended by Pauline and Chris. Amazon

Tana French - 5 so far in the Dublin Murder Squad series. Recommended by Roz. Amazon

Peter Robinson - the Inspector Banks series. Detective series set in Yorkshire. Written by a Brit who lived in Canada for many years but I think is now back in Britain. Recommended by Roz, Chris, Pauline. Amazon

Elizabeth George - Peter Lynley series. English-style detective novels set in London (some in other parts of England), but written by an American. Recommended by Roz, Chris, Pauline. But Pauline notes that the latest two are not as good as the earlier ones. Amazon

Deborah Crombie - Duncan Kincaid / Gemma James series. English-style detective novels set in London (some in other parts of England), but written by an American. Recommended by Roz, Chris, Pauline. Amazon

Elly Griffiths - Ruth Galloway series. Recommended by Roz. Amazon

Rebecca Tope - Thea Osborne series. Light reading. The author has created an amateur detective whose job description is house-sitting. Stories set in the Cotswolds, Lake District and West country. Thea hikes the villages and towns with her spaniel Hepzidah and makes a point of discovering and relaying the beauty of each of them. Recommended by Lindy. website

 

[Chris]

There are zillions! Right now, I've just started Old Filth by Jane Gardam. Promising...

 

[Pauline]

My new book club recently read that and loved it! I have a long list of favorite books by British authors and will post them soon.

 

[Chris]

I was just sitting here thinking it's too bad I've never kept lists in any of these categories, because what comes to mind when I think about any of them is kind of random.

 

[Heidi]

My mind is almost blank because, as Chris said,

There are zillions!

I can't even start a list but I must say one author who pops out of the heap is Hilary Mantel. I really enjoyed Wolf Hall, her Booker award winning first - of a trilogy - historical novel about Thomas Cromwell. Here's a long interview/bio about Hilary Mantel from the New Yorker - her life reads like a novel.

I have her second in the trilogy, Bring Up the Bodies, waiting in my iPad to read on my travels.

 

[Pauline]

I added the Philippa Gregory series about Henry VIII to the list. I enjoyed these books.

 

[Kathy]

Here are a few off the top of my head (20th and 21st century)... and I will think of more. (I'm not a big reader of historical fiction.)

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

And of course anything by Joanna Trollope.

 

[Chris]

I completely agree with all three, Kathy!

Another I'd add is Kate Atkinson's Life After Life. I like her Jackson Brodie novels, but this one is something else!

 

[Heidi]

I see you added my next recommendation to your list, Pauline. I just finished Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl - it's nearly the antithesis of Mantel's book but well written and entertaining. Not quite a bodice ripper, it adds another layer of insight to the ever fascinating story of Henry VIII - as seen through the eyes of the other Boleyn girl, Mary Boleyn Stafford. I enjoyed it enough that I'll download some of Gregory's other historical novels.

I've read and loved several of Scottish author Dorothy Dunnett's books over the years - some, but not all of the Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolo books. These 15thC - 16thC historical novels are wide ranging over the whole of Europe and beyond. They are remarkably well written and exhaustively researched, drawing you into a time and place with Dunnett's talent for description and historic fact. I need to finish up the series...

 

[Roz]

For mysteries, I love the Tana French books -- 5 so far in the Dublin Murder Squad series.

Other British mystery authors I very much enjoy are:

Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks series.

Deborah Crombie: Duncan Kincaid / Gemma James.

Elizabeth George: Peter Lynley series.

Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway series.

 

[Chris]

I agree on the first three, but Elly Griffiths is new to me, so I just downloaded the sample of the first one in the series. Thanks!

 

[Pauline]

I agree on the first three, but Elly Griffiths is new to me, so I just downloaded the sample of the first one in the series. Thanks!

I have not read the Tana French, but have one on my "Read Next" list.

I have read all of Robinson, Crombie and George - but I am going to stop reading Elizabeth George because the latest two were not good. Either she has run out of steam or someone else is writing them. I loved all the earlier books.

And I have never heard of Griffiths - will look those up.

I will add these to the list at the top of the thread. Thanks Roz!!

 

[Pauline]

I've read and loved several of Scottish author Dorothy Dunnett's books over the years - some, but not all of the Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolo books.

I have heard of these but have not read any. They are on my list now.

 

[Lindy]

Came across this mystery series quite by chance. So far so good - light reading. The author, Rebecca Tope has created an amateur detective by the name of Thea Osborne, whose job description is housesitting. The really interesting part is that 11 of her stories take place in the various towns of the Cotswolds. Lower Slaughter, Cranham, Temple Guiting, Blockley, Snowshill and so on. Sorry no Painswick as yet Pauline. Along with solving crime, Thea hikes the villages and towns with her spaniel Hepzidah and makes a point of discovering and relaying the beauty of each of them. I'm into Shadows in the Cotswolds that takes place in Winchcombe. Sounds like a return visit may be in order.

Rebecca also has books set in the West Country and the Lake District

 

[Pauline]

Cranham is a couple of miles from Painswick, so that book is in my area. I will add them to the list. Thanks!

 

[Lindy]

I just finished Shadows in the Cotswolds (Winchombe). This particular story is not one I would "run around the block to get". I found it trying to finish it. In the beginning the description of the town was endearing, but from then on the actual murder mystery seemed to ramble.......but I will check out one or two of the others and see how they fare.

An amusing comment early on concerning lunch at the Plaisterers Arms (a real pub) for lunch went like this. "While in the Cotswolds, you could never be quite sure of the dress code. There could be mud-spattered hikers, or expensively turned-out celebrities, or a mixture of the two". Ring true?

 

[Pauline]

An amusing comment early on concerning lunch at the Plaisterers Arms (a real pub) for lunch went like this. "While in the Cotswolds, you could never be quite sure of the dress code. There could be mud-spattered hikers, or expensively turned-out celebrities, or a mixture of the two". Ring true?

Definitely mud-spattered hikers as Winchcombe is on the Cotswold Way trail and has several other good walking trails. And we do have some celebrities in the Cotswolds, but they tend to not be expensively turned out - more wellies and walking jackets at least in daytime (which is when you would see mud-splattered walkers).

I think more accurate would be to mention that the Cotswolds you find the very posh, with houses in London and second homes in the Cotswolds. And you find lots of walkers - local, from other parts of England and from other parts of the world because this is a famous walking/hiking destination.

And, the dress code is obvious. Casual or mud splattered during the day. Casual or nicely turned out in the evening.

I would like to mention that we were thrown out of a tea room in Winchcombe one afternoon because we were mud-splattered. @Shannon was with us and said we should not go in because we were too wet and muddy. I said "This is Winchcombe - a Walkers are Welcome village - we will be fine!" Shannon was right - they asked us to leave. (Juries - not recommended)

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

I adore Joanna Trollope, Kate Atkinson and Rachel Joyce. Rachel Joyce's latest novel Perfection is a beautiful and thought provoking read. I also love Sara Waters. I was lucky enough to get her latest, hot off the press from the library in Oxford.

 

[Roz]

I loved Rachel Joyce's Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, but I could not get into Perfect. I see she has a new one coming out soon: The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. As you may recall, Queenie was the person Harold was journeying to visit.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Of course I loved Harold Fry. Who didn't? I found Perfection beautifully written with a spiritual core. Explored mental health issues within a beautifully sad and evocative story. The ending was a bit of a surprise and quietly uplifting.