Best Historical Fiction

elkiedee : I absolutely loved this when I read it but it was over 30 years ago now. I should reread, and would recommend to people who love historical fiction. I am thumbing it down because it's not a historical novel, it is a dual narrative story with a large part set in the past, but also a novel largely set in the author's present at the time of writing (late 1980s, published 1990).

RuMuse: England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but lacks an heir, which creates ongoing crises. Told from POV of Thomas Cromwell.

aulsmith : More legendary than historical

RuMuse: Set in southern England from 1880 to post-WWI, it's a vivid account of 3 families and their friends, most of them liberal, artistic and unconventional, and how their world changed forever during the Great War.