Good novels based in Europe to read
 

Hi there,<BR><BR>Can anyone recommend a good novel set in Europe (England, France, Italy) to get in the mood for my honeymoon? My husband and I are leaving in 34 days, and if its possible I'd love to get even more excited about it!<BR><BR>Thanks<BR>Jamie

Hi Jamie,<BR>If you like fiction and mysteries, I highly recommend any of the novels by Elizabeth George and Anne Perry. The Elizabeth George novels are set in modern day London (and some other areas of England) and involve a detective from Scotland Yard and his police partner, significant other, friends, etc. They are better if you try to read them in order b/c certain plot elements come up again in other novels. The Anne Perry novels are set in London during the Victorian era and are also mystery novels. She has one series called &quot;the Thomas Pitt&quot; series that involves a policeman and his wife. The wife always manages to get involved in solving the crime, even though women were not supposed to &quot;do&quot; things like that in that time period. The other series are the &quot;William Monk&quot; books and involve Monk, a former policeman who lost his memory and is now a detective. His missing past is slowly coming back to him in each novel. There is also a great female character, Hester, in these novels. She is a nurse and always gets involved with the mystery. None of these novels are funny or frivilous and usually contain very serious subject matter. They are a great read! I love both of these authors and have enjoyed every one of their books.

Where are you going (if you care where the setting is)? The Phantom of The Opera was really good set in Paris and Brittany. I never saw the musical, but the original piece of literature is worth reading if you are going to France. Shakespeare for England or any other English writers. I also liked Wuthering Heights my Emily Bronte. I read that twice.

I'll second the Anne Perry suggestion, pretty easy reading and quite entertaining. Another good mystery, set in France, is The Mystery of the Yellow Room, written by Gaston Leroux better known for Phantom of the Opera.<BR><BR>For something a little more serious there's Dickens' Tale of Two Cities, set in both London and Paris during the French Revolution.<BR><BR>The Scarlet Pimpernel is a love story set during the French Revolution, Charlotte Gray (Sebastian Falkes), a love story set in France during during WWII, A Very Long Engagement (Sebastian Japrisot) a love story set in France during WWI. And two of my all time favorite love stories, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier.<BR><BR>And I'd recommend anything by Jane Austen.

Any historical novel by Sharon Kay Pennman, The Sun in Splendor&quot;, &quot;There Be Dragons&quot; and &quot;When Christ and all His Angels Slept&quot; were all good ones.<BR><BR>Historical novels set in the medieval time frame...outstanding works!<BR><BR>US

It is somewhat weighty but the best novel of the French Revolution is A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel. A lighter selection is A Year in Provence by Peter Mayles and any other books written by him.

If you are interested in a historical novel that will be worth your while...try &quot;Pillars of the Earth&quot; by Ken Follett!<BR><BR>US

Thank you so much for all the suggestions...I love mysteries and history... I actually read Pillars of the Earth in Grade 8-9 and loved it!<BR><BR>Jamie

Jamie,<BR><BR>Then you may realy like the historical novels by Pennman. <BR><BR>Same time frame, written about Europe in the medieval times with enough accurate history and fictional dialogue to entertain.<BR><BR>Different subjects like the White Ship and the struggle for the British throne and the dealings between England and Wales.<BR><BR>Very good reading!<BR><BR>US

A hilarious European travel book to read is Tim Moore's &quot;Continental Drifter&quot;. This guy sets out in a clapped-out Rolls Royce to retrace the route travelled by a 17th century eccentric, from England to Venice, via France, Germany, Holland...<BR>It's one of those rare books that had me giggling out loud in while I was reading it on the metro. His misadventures through the canals of Venice are hysterical!

This is for your honeymoon? And you're thinking about Ken Follett? no, no no.<BR><BR>Get with the programme. Try anything by EM Forster, Jane Austen, Barbara Trapido, oh, and some of John Mortimer's non-Rumploe stuff. And have a great time.

Umberto Eco, Focault's Pendulum. Takes place in Piedmonte and Paris.

Mark Twain-Innocents Abroad (Funny)<BR><BR>Hemingway-A Farewell to Arms (Not funny)

You MUST read &quot;A Thousand Days in Venice&quot; by Marlena de Blasi. It's not fiction. It's an autobiographical account of an American woman who meets a Venetian man, falls in love &amp; marries him. I just finished it having read about it here. I can't think of a more appropriate book for a honeymoon and it's a fast read. Lots of good luck!

Margaret George has written a number of historical novels that I enjoyed reading. &quot;The Autobiography of Henry VIII&quot; is very good.

Agony &amp; Ecstacy (sp?) by Irving Stone - I read it while on my honeymoon in Italy this summer, it was wonderful! (though not much romance) It is about the life of Michealango - Amazing book to read while you are traveling in Italy, helps you appreicate the history so much more. <BR><BR>Enjoy!

As a Brit, I enjoy getting into the atmosphere of a good Sherlock Holmes novel - nothing like it to immerse yourself in Victorian England (by Arthur Conan Doyle). <BR><BR>I KNOW this is not set in England, France or Italy (before anyone writes a comment!) but I absolutely LOVED the novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin (set in Kefalonia, Greek Isle). Much better than the movie and very moving.

Good suggestions but would add &quot;Miss Garnet's Angel&quot; by Sally Vickers and &quot;The Silent Gondoliers&quot; by William Goldman (who also wrote &quot;The Princess Bride&quot;) both for Venice, if that's on your trip. Both are slim books since you only have 34 days.<BR><BR>For something weightier, I loved &quot;The Book of Kings&quot; by James Thackara.<BR><BR>Henry James' &quot;Italian Hours&quot; and Thomas Hardy's &quot;Return of the Native&quot; ... so many novels centered around England and Italy it's hard to even narrow it down. &quot;The Enchanted April&quot; by Elizabeth Von Arnim is excellent.<BR><BR>For humor, Bill Bryson's &quot;Notes from a Small Island&quot; or my favorite &quot;Neither Here Nor There&quot;.<BR><BR>&quot;In Search of England&quot; by HV Morton published first in the 1920s but still very charming account of the author's trekking around the English countryside.