Books like Susan — picked by fans

I love this famous book set in WW2 because it describes life in the 1940s so realistically.

It reminds me that today’s modern conveniences were not always available, and people had to make do with what they could get. I love it because it’s so clever, going into the nuts and bolts of Bletchley Park and the effort to break Germany’s Enigma machine to keep Britain’s merchant fleet safer.

Robert Harris’s writing style is superb, and I have read the book many times, always finding it difficult to stop reading. The book is character-led, which I particularly like. The people in it are so life-like and in keeping with the times. 

I loved the book because it is so well-written and evocative of the period.

I have re-read it many times, and I loved the BBC TV adaptation, which I’ve also watched many times. I like the way in which the main characters come to life and are fleshed out. I also liked the fact that the characters develop as the story unfolds and become more sympathetic to the needs of others.

The details of the legal system of the era are excellent, and I loved the detailed courtroom scene. I admired the way in which the personalities of Jane Austen’s characters were maintained and not distorted. The plot is well thought out, and the book is very readable.

I love this book, which I have read several times, because it provides a lot of detail about Britain and America in the seventeenth century and the political troubles at the time.

Robert Harris’s writing style is brilliant as always, and as with all of his books, it was difficult to put down. The descriptions of the main character’s travels, especially in America, in an effort to hunt down his quarries are excellent. 

Incredibly, the author manages to create sympathy in the minds of readers for the regicides who are being hunted, even though they signed King Charles I's death warrant, and yet one also sympathises with the hunter.

I love this book, which I’ve just finished reading for the second time, going through the series once again.

On my first reading of this book, I realised that here was a brilliant writer whom I’d never come across before. The descriptions of London and elsewhere in the late 16th century are stunning. I never tire of this writer’s frequent and quite poetic use of simile to illustrate the appearance and qualities of objects, buildings, etc. in the book.

I enjoyed the "whodunnit" theme of the book as well as the many references to medicinal plants. The inclusion in the book of real 16th-century characters and the way they come over as real people is Impressive. There is a hint of a romance yet to come to fruition, which is very appealing.

Helena of Rivenloch is a feisty, sword-wielding wench who refuses to be tamed by any man.

When an unsuitable suitor wishes to wed her younger sister, Helena attempts to slay the bridegroom, abducts his right-hand man, and demands her sister’s freedom. But her plans go awry when her captive captures her fiery, rebellious heart.

I loved how Helena was as fierce a fighter as any knight, capable of capturing Sir Colin du Lac. I loved her independent, fierce spirit, as she forged her own destiny. And I especially loved the passionate romance that bloomed between Helena and Colin, who respected her as his equal as she won his heart.

So far I’ve recommended books that I read over and over again because I’ve enjoyed them so much.

This time I am recommending a book which has only recently come out, but which has really impressed me with the clarity of the writing, the interesting story, and the convincing historical details.

And, of course, a hero who is just a little bit out of the ordinary, who marries his childhood friend in order to inherit enough money to save his property, and slowly learns that she is the only woman he could ever truly love. (sigh)

This book is the last book in the stellar Pennyroyal Green series which pits two local families (the Everseas and Redmonds) against each other. Lyon, the Redmond heir, has deliberately vanished, leaving the woman he loves, Olivia Eversea, behind to rebuild her life.

Throughout the series, the specter of his disappearance and the tragedy of their love story hangs in the background, building the reader’s sense of intrigue, suspense, and the bittersweetness of unrequited love. Finally, we get our answers in this last book.

I love the sexy, sentimental, yet torrid rollercoaster ride of emotions surrounding love lost and found and the pursuit of trust regained. For me, this story demonstrates all the best of experiencing a heart-piercing love affair without burdening us with manners and drawing rooms.

Eloisa James has long been one of my favourite authors, and I love her witty stories in the Regency romance genre, as well as her friends-to-lovers and second-chance tropes in this story. 

The hero, James, had always cared about the heroine, Theodora, who is known in London society as The Ugly Duchess. She wasn’t ugly–just “mannish” and dressed by her mother in a way that didn’t capitalize on her looks.

I liked the fact that she grew in herself and that her transition wasn’t instant. I also loved that James didn’t fall in love with her simply because of her looks but because of her capabilities and her growth in personal confidence.  

I cannot resist beautiful, elegant writing, and Hoffman achieves this every time. Set in the Old Testament on the refuge of Masada in Judea, you come to know the lives of four women intimately.

I love substantial, complicated narratives that bring you directly into people’s lives. Each woman is strong and steadfast in what they will do to survive and save their children in lives full of danger. It is a stunningly truthful story and one of my all-time favorite books.

In the nineteenth-century setting of Snowpelled, the proper role of a lady is politics, and magic is the domain of men. Cassandra Harwood is the one scandalous exception—but something’s gone wrong. At the start of the story, all we know is that even the simplest spell is now out of her reach.

The mystery unfolds as Cassandra attempts to outsmart an elf lord and avoid her (absolutely delightful) ex-fiancé, the latter task no less difficult than the former. 

I love third-person point of view, but one of the joys of this book is getting the story directly from Cassandra—a woman who became a magician by “utterly refusing to give up on my great plans until the world around me finally saw sense and accepted them.”