31 books like The Light of the World Trilogy

I’m a medieval historian, and I’ve written academic books and articles about the history of the medieval world, but I have also written two historical novels. I became interested in history in general and the Middle Ages in particular from reading historical fiction as a child (Jean Plaidy!). The past is another country, and visiting it through fiction is an excellent way to get a feel for it, for its values, norms, and cultures, for how it is different from and similar to our own age. I’ve chosen novels that I love that do this especially well, and bring to light less well-known aspects of the Middle Ages.

I have lived in North Norfolk for more than thirty years and grown to love its creeks, dunes, crumbling cliffs, and atmospheric church towers. I’ve spent years working in a shed in the garden of my remote flint cottage (originally built as a hovel), writing features for national newspapers and magazines. I’ve visited grand old mansions with eccentric aristocratic owners; become familiar with the setting for L.P. Harley’s The Go-Between; been fascinated by the steam trains and railways that once linked ocean and fen; listened to skeins of geese flying overhead each winter; and been transported by the spiritual dimension in the vast horizontals of land, sea, and sky. 

It’s not my fault! My foremothers were strong, capable, compassionate women. Angry with the silence around women in history, I have been passionate about restoring the voices and contributions of women to history and culture. I have written several books on neglected aspects of women's history that have been translated into 12 languages. While a voracious reader of history, I enjoy historical fiction (when it’s done well). I will never recommend a novel that does not respect this. And I love author’s notes and/or historical notes where the author explains what is real and what is imagined; and resources to learn more about the subject of the novel. 

It’s not my fault! My foremothers were strong, capable, compassionate women. Angry with the silence around women in history, I have been passionate about restoring the voices and contributions of women to history and culture. I have written several books on neglected aspects of women's history that have been translated into 12 languages. While a voracious reader of history, I enjoy historical fiction (when it’s done well). I will never recommend a novel that does not respect this. And I love author’s notes and/or historical notes where the author explains what is real and what is imagined; and resources to learn more about the subject of the novel. 

I've always been fascinated by the way history feels inherently uncanny, as we inhabit the same places as people long dead. I suppose that’s why the novels I write tend to be in historical settings, and they tend to have a speculative twist. For much of my working life, I was a journalist, so I love the research part of writing historical fiction. I tend to be drawn to old stories, and I especially love looking at those stories from angles I haven't seen before. Two of my novels bookend the European Middle Ages: The Valkyrie, set in the 5th century CE, and The Chatelaine, set in the 14th century CE.

I’m a medieval historian, and I’ve written academic books and articles about the history of the medieval world, but I have also written two historical novels. I became interested in history in general and the Middle Ages in particular from reading historical fiction as a child (Jean Plaidy!). The past is another country, and visiting it through fiction is an excellent way to get a feel for it, for its values, norms, and cultures, for how it is different from and similar to our own age. I’ve chosen novels that I love that do this especially well, and bring to light less well-known aspects of the Middle Ages.

I've always been fascinated by the way history feels inherently uncanny, as we inhabit the same places as people long dead. I suppose that’s why the novels I write tend to be in historical settings, and they tend to have a speculative twist. For much of my working life, I was a journalist, so I love the research part of writing historical fiction. I tend to be drawn to old stories, and I especially love looking at those stories from angles I haven't seen before. Two of my novels bookend the European Middle Ages: The Valkyrie, set in the 5th century CE, and The Chatelaine, set in the 14th century CE.

I’m a pragmatist and a problem-solver. As a student of innovation, I draw inspiration from a risk-taker’s approach to attacking a problem. I’ve changed my life drastically from a farmland kid to a global technology CEO and then author. Along the way, I’ve had opportunities to struggle. I’ve found conventional wisdom seldom fixes the problem, so I’ve refined the ability to look for unique paths. I believe women provide the best examples to learn from because they don’t walk into the room bluffing their way to the solution. They credit the resources they tapped for their solution and bring others along in the journey to raise the education level.

I love stories where characters become more than what was expected of them, and where I can feel the human emotions they endure in their rise or fall. I write stories for the fearful, the voiceless, the broken, and the brave—reminders that pain can shape purpose, that hope can rise from heartbreak, and that no one endures alone. Ancient queens typically embody those truths. Dismissed as pawns, they carried dynasties on their shoulders, often at great personal cost. Their humanity—their love, fear, sacrifice, and imperfections—reminds me that beneath the crowns, we all bleed, we all long, and we all need each other to survive.

Ever since childhood I’ve been fascinated by the history of England, and fifteen years ago I made the decision to write a series of novels set before the Norman Conquest. Since then I’ve immersed myself in the history of that period and made numerous visits to the locations where I set my novels. I’ve been frustrated though by the enormous gaps in the historical records of that time, in particular the lack of information about the women. Because of that I am drawn to the work of authors who, like me, are attempting to resurrect and retell the lost stories of those remarkable women.