Books Set in the Past featuring Historical Figures

 

 Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Books Set in the Past featuring Historical Figures

For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, I decided to pick books set in the past that feature historical figures.

1. A Warning about Swans by R. M. Romero 

- This is a young adult historical fantasy book written in verse that is loosely based on Swan Lake. The story is set in Bavaria and has the historical figure King Ludwig II. He is famously known as the fairy tale king because of the fairy tale murals he had painted in his castle, Neuschwanstein. Neuschwanstein is also meant to look like a castle from a fairy tale. One of the plot points in this book deals with him having the murals painted by a side character named Franz. 

2. Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan 

- This book is a beautiful story about the love between a sister and a brother and the lengths she will go to for him. Megs' little brother George falls in love with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and wants Megs to find out where Narnia came from for C. S. Lewis. George is homebound due to his illness and becomes very fixated on the book. Megs goes to meet C.S. Lewis (who goes by Jack) to find the answer to her brother's question. Throughout the novel, Jack tells Megs about his life, and she tells her brother the story. 

- I loved that this story occurred right after the first Narnia book was published. Going into this book, I knew a lot about Jack's life, but I loved learning even more. I also enjoyed how this book showed how deeply George and Jack loved reading and how it helped them in their lives. 

3. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

- I love the books by the Lady Janies. They take historical characters and give humorous twists to their stories. This focuses on Lady Jane Grey who is famously known as having the shortest reign in British history. She became the queen of England for nine days until she loses her head to Mary I. In this book, Jane is given a very different story. 

4. King of Shadows by Susan Cooper 

- This is a story about a young man named Nat Field that finds comfort in theater which he doesn’t have in other parts of his life. He is meant to be traveling with an American trope to London to perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a replica of the Globe. He becomes sick shortly after arriving in London and mysteriously transports back in time four hundred times to the original production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While there, Nat grows close to William Shakespeare himself and finds a father figure in the man. 

5. In the Garden of Monsters by Crystal King

- An eerie historical fiction retelling of the Persephone (Proserpina) and Hades (Pluto) myth which is set in Italy’s Sacro Bosco (The Garden of Monsters). It has such a unique twist on the classic story with a gothic atmosphere which pulled me in from the first page until the last. Along with the retelling, it also features the famous Salvador Dalí and his wife, Gala Dalí, who are such over the top personalities in this story. 

- It is about a woman named Julia who is modeling for Dalí in a work that he is doing of Sacro Bosco. He wants her to be his muse for the goddess Persephone. While at the garden, Julia meets Ignazio who she eerily finds familiar even though she doesn’t believe there is a chance she has met him before. 

- I knew I had to read this book after first seeing the cover and tagline. It is definitely one of the most unique takes I have seen of this myth. 

6. Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen

- The Chronicles of Imaginarium Geographica is a series which I am highly enjoying. The first book starts after an unusual murder brings together three complete strangers, John, Jack, and Charles in London, during the first World War. They meet a man named Bert, who explains to them they are now caretakers for an atlas called the Imaginarium Geographica. It is for all of the lands that have ever existed in myths, legends, fables, and fairy tales. The entire series has plenty of historical figures who are mainly all authors such as J. M. Barrie, Edgar Allan Poe, etc. I will not spoil any of the others. 

7. Amber and Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz

- One of my favorite books from last year. It is an intricately woven story told through artifacts, verse, and prose. Rhaskos and Melisto’s story is told through many perspectives, such as their mothers, the Greek Gods, the historical figure Sokrates, and many others in their lives, along with themselves. My favorite of the narrators was definitely Hermes. 

- Each artifact is illustrated and precedes a section of the story. They are meant to be exhibits in a museum which we then get context for in the poetry or prose that follows each piece. It was brilliant how Laura Amy Schlitz chose to play with format throughout the entire book. She has a historical context section at the end of the book where she explains Greek Verse and how she used it for the characters. I definitely recommend this for fans of historical fiction, Greek Mythology, and Greek History. 

8. Mary’s Monster: Love, Madness and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein by Lita Judge

- One of my favorite pieces of nonfiction that I have ever read. Going into this book, I knew very little of Mary Shelley’s life and really enjoyed seeing it depicted here. This focuses on her life, how she met and fell in love with horrible Percy Shelley, and where she originally got the ideas for Frankenstein. It is written in verse and a good amount of it was inspired by Mary Shelley’s journals. Along with the beautiful poetry throughout, we also get stunning illustrations. 

- I will never get over the fact that she started writing Frankenstein when she was only eighteen years old. 

9. The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C. S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien by John Hendrix

- Now onto my favorite nonfiction book. I was lucky enough last year to get to read an ARC of this book early in the year. John Hendrix blends prose, images, and narrative comics to chronicle the lives of two literary greats, C. S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien. It not only focuses on their Fellowship but also goes into details about their early lives, inspirations, how they were affected by fighting in WWI, their friendship, and many other aspects of their lives. Hendrix does a wonderful job using this medium to tell his story and I love the use of Mr. Lion and The Wizard, who are takes on Aslan and Gandalf. 

- Along with the information on both authors, Hendrix also has what he calls Portals. They discuss other information such as myth and fairy tales. These are sections which are great extras that add to the overall experience of the book.

- I highly recommend this book to fans of both authors. It was an incredible read that was informative, enjoyable, and heartwarming at times. I know I would have loved this book when I was younger and first reading from both of their fantasy worlds. Definitely, would also love to see more books like this for other fantasy authors, such as L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, etc. 

10. Spear by Nicola Griffith 

- Stories featuring King Arthur have always intrigued me since I was a child and first watched The Sword in the Stone. One of my favorite books featuring the Once and Future King is called Spear, which focuses on a young woman who travels as a man, in hopes of joining Arthur’s knights. It is a sapphic romance with such beautiful writing. I have been meaning to reread this wonderful novella for years and I plan on doing so very soon.