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	<title>Curious Book Fans &#187; History fiction</title>
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	<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk</link>
	<description>This is a site for curious book fans who like to read and write about books they read...</description>
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		<title>Interesting Times</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2012/fiction-books/9031/interesting-times</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2012/fiction-books/9031/interesting-times#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:11:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Anjana Basu</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Contemporary fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kunal Basu]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=9031</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The exploration of the unknown has fascinated writers since time immemorial, wanderings, encounters with a new culture and the induction into it. This has been seen in popular fiction as well as literary – the latter starting perhaps with Marco Polo, who was accused of manufacturing much of his information. What is also curious is that people have been fascinated by encounters between the west and the orient – one could number books like Lord Jim, Shogun, River of Smoke and most recently The Yellow Emperor’s Cure, the last two written by Indian authors. Amitabh Ghosh and Kunal Basu. In fact, the last two have hit the public gaze within a year of each other.  From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>The Winter Palace</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2012/fiction-books/9004/the-winter-palace-eva-stachniak</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2012/fiction-books/9004/the-winter-palace-eva-stachniak#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Bor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eva Stachniak]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=9004</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Eva Stachniak’s The Winter Palace is a colourful tale of the first years spent by Princess Sophie – who in the course of the novel becomes Catherine the Great – in St. Petersburg’s infamous Winter Palace. Told from the point of view of Vavara, a Polish girl who finds herself at the heart of Empress Elizabeth’s court, ‘The Winter Palace’ is a veritable assault on the senses as well as a thoroughly absorbing tale. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2012/fiction-books/9004/the-winter-palace-eva-stachniak/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Stranger’s Child</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/8388/alan-hollinghurst-the-stranger%e2%80%99s-child</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/8388/alan-hollinghurst-the-stranger%e2%80%99s-child#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:52:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Contemporary fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alan Hollinghurst]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=8388</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Stranger’s Child by Alan Hollinghurst is a large book which spans the majority of the 20th century. It tells the story of a young poet, Cecil Valance, although he dies relatively early in the story during the First World War leaving behind a modest group of poems, mainly secondary rate, but one or two of which enter the public consciousness in the English-speaking world. The fulcrum of the novel is a weekend in the late summer of 1913 when Cecil comes to stay at the house of his close Cambridge friend, George Sawle. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/8388/alan-hollinghurst-the-stranger%e2%80%99s-child/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Lady of the Rivers</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/8208/the-lady-of-the-rivers-philippa-gregory</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/8208/the-lady-of-the-rivers-philippa-gregory#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:53:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>eilidhcatriona</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippa Gregory]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=8208</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Lady of the Rivers is the third novel in Philippa Gregory’s Cousins at War trilogy, covering the stories of three of the women involved in the Wars of the Roses. The first novel, The White Queen, was about Elizabeth Woodville, Edward IV’s Queen Consort; the second, The Red Queen, covered Margaret Beaufort, mother of the first Tudor king, Henry VII. Now in The Lady of the Rivers we go back in time to the story of Elizabeth’s mother Jacquetta, firstly Duchess of Bedford, and then following the death of her husband, she marries Richard Woodville who becomes the first Earl Rivers. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/8208/the-lady-of-the-rivers-philippa-gregory/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/8142/theodora-actress-empress-whore-stella-duffy</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/8142/theodora-actress-empress-whore-stella-duffy#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:15:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>elkiedee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stella Duffy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=8142</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In Theodora: Empress, Actress, Whore, Stella Duffy takes some of what is known about Theodora of 6th century Constantinople and turns it into a lively, rollicking historical novel. Theodora is an intelligent young woman who learns and takes on several different roles successfully. This is Duffy’s 12th novel but her first foray into historical fiction. from www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/8142/theodora-actress-empress-whore-stella-duffy/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sarah&#8217;s Key</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7802/sarahs-key-tatiana-de-rosnay</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7802/sarahs-key-tatiana-de-rosnay#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Aug 2011 17:15:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>koshkha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tatiana de Rosnay]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=7802</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sarah's Key tells the story of an event in Paris during the Second World War and how it changed the lives of many, both directly and indirectly involved at the time and for many decades later. It's not a book I would expect to sell well in France because it quite literally opens the cupboard and rattles the skeletons that many would prefer to leave firmly locked away. It is a look at the shame of a nation summed up with the word 'collaboration'.

Paris in July 1942 was a city under occupation. The Jewish population had already been marked with the yellow stars on their clothes which were the standard branding of the Nazi regime. In an apartment a family receive a feared but expected knock at the door and know that the time has come to leave. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7802/sarahs-key-tatiana-de-rosnay/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Pure</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7678/pure-andrew-miller</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7678/pure-andrew-miller#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:13:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Contemporary fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Miller]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=7678</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pure, by Andrew Miller, is a novel about the demolition of a cemetery in pre-revolutionary Paris, and it would be hard to think of a much more gothic premise for a book. The cemetery is les Innocents, a place filled to overflowing with the remains of countless generations of Parisians, rich and poor. Les Innocents has been closed to new interments but retains its priest, an organist and a verger. However, it has become an offense and health hazard to the surrounding area. The Minister commissions a young engineer from the country, Jean-Baptiste Baratte, to undertake the demolition of the cemetery and its buildings, and Pure is the story of the subsequent events. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7678/pure-andrew-miller/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Coffee Trader</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7653/the-coffee-trader-david-liss</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7653/the-coffee-trader-david-liss#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:56:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Bor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thriller fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Liss]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=7653</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It is a skilled author that can create a central character who is quite deceitful and ruthless yet still manages to have the readers rooting for him. Miguel Lienza tries to fix the markets by selling things he doesn’t actually own and even obtains credit for his schemes secretly in his brother’s name, but those who would put an end to any chances of him being successful are so much more odious and underhand that you would forgive Miguel almost anything.

Miguel Lienza is a Portuguese Jew living in Amsterdam and trying to make a decent living on the stock market, at the time the most important trading floor in Europe. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7653/the-coffee-trader-david-liss/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Collaborator</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7586/the-collaborator-margaret-leroy</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7586/the-collaborator-margaret-leroy#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:11:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Bor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Margaret Leroy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=7586</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The wartime experiences of Channel Islanders have been a popular topic in fiction recently, most notably with the quirky Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Mary Horlock’s much darker The Book of Lies. There are a few that don’t make the grade however, among them Margaret Leroy’s The Collaborator. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7586/the-collaborator-margaret-leroy/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The English German Girl</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7524/the-english-german-girl-jake-wallis-simons</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7524/the-english-german-girl-jake-wallis-simons#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:21:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mary Bor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jake Wallis Simons]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=7524</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Anxious to avoid being accused of “bumming a ride on the back of the Holocaust” as he describes it, Jake Wallis Simons, author of “The English German Girl”, writes from the point of view of Rosa Klein who, at the age of fifteen, leaves Berlin on a train bound for England in the hope that, once there, she can find an escape route for the rest of her family. It’s an interesting viewpoint because the subject of the ‘Kindertransports’ is one that’s rarely encountered in fiction, in spite of there being so much literature around the Second World War and the fate of the Jews.

We meet the Klein family in the mid 1930s: father Otto is a successful surgeon who, as the book opens, is summoned to his superior at the hospital to learn that from now on he’ll only be allowed to carry out clerical work. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7524/the-english-german-girl-jake-wallis-simons/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Tenth Circle of Hell</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7288/the-tenth-circle-of-hell-by-rezak-hukanovic</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7288/the-tenth-circle-of-hell-by-rezak-hukanovic#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jun 2011 21:55:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>koshkha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rezak Hukanovic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yugoslavia]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=7288</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Tenth Circle of Hell by Rezak Hukanovic is an eye-witness account of life in the death camps of Bosnia, where Serbs locked up Croats and Muslims and subjected them to the must unimaginable atrocities. It was first published in 1993, the year after most of the events that it describes took place and it has since been translated many times into many languages. It's one of the most shocking books I've ever read but one I feel compelled to recommend and advise others to read. We should not forget that things like this happened in Europe, in a place where western Europeans took cheap package summer holidays and where the people killing each other looked like us, ate like us, sang like us, lived in houses like ours and got up in the morning to go to jobs like those we did. There's a scene in the film 'Shooting Dogs' about the killings in Rwanda where a woman news reporter says she was horrified in Bosnia that the people killing each other looked like her, her parents and her friends. Sadly the same woman then reveals that she's not horrified by the events in Rwanda, dismissing them as just black people killing each other – so clearly people don't always learn the lessons we expect them to. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7288/the-tenth-circle-of-hell-by-rezak-hukanovic/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ramses: The Son of the Light</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7258/ramses-son-of-the-light-christian-jacq</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7258/ramses-son-of-the-light-christian-jacq#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Jun 2011 22:58:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>eilidhcatriona</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian Jacq]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=7258</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ramses: Son of the Light by Christian Jacq was lent to me by a friend who assured me I would like it – we swap a lot of books and have many similar tastes so I thought she was probably right, but it wasn’t the kind of book I was likely to choose for myself. Telling the story of one of ancient Egypt’s most famous pharaohs, Ramses: Son of the Light is the first novel in a series of five.

Opening when Ramses is only fourteen, Son of the Light follows the future leader through his teens as his father, the pharaoh Seti, subtly trains him for his future role – although Ramses older brother Shanaar is thought to be the heir, Seti chooses Ramses.From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7258/ramses-son-of-the-light-christian-jacq/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>On Stranger Tides</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7096/on-stranger-tides-tim-powers</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7096/on-stranger-tides-tim-powers#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 May 2011 10:11:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>eilidhcatriona</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Adventure fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tim Powers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=7096</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers is the novel upon which the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film is based. Originally published in 2006, it has recently been re-released in paperback and Kindle format to coincide with the film’s release. As a fan of the movie series, when I happened upon Powers’ novel available for pre-order at a bargain price in the recent Kindle sale, I decided to give it a go.

Set in the 1700s, the main character is John Chandagnac, who is travelling from England to the Caribbean to track down his uncle, who conned his way into inheriting Chandagnac’s grandfathers whole estate, by claiming his brother, Chandagnac’s father, was dead. Aboard the ship, Chandagnac meets the lovely Beth Hurwood, but their friendship is interrupted by pirates – who force Chandagnac to join them or die. Among the pirates, he becomes Jack Shandy, and although he continues to hope for a chance to reclaim his fathers inheritance, he soon becomes embroiled in violence and magic, and the schemes of the infamous Blackbeard. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/7096/on-stranger-tides-tim-powers/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Crimson Petal and the White</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6952/the-crimson-petal-and-the-white-michel-faber</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6952/the-crimson-petal-and-the-white-michel-faber#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 May 2011 12:33:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ian</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michel Faber]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=6952</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Crimson Petal and the White is a Victorian blockbuster for the modern world. I read it shortly after it was originally published, but have returned to it because of the current BBC television adaptation which I have been watching with interest. I have enjoyed the adaptation, but it does not come close to capturing the richness and complexity of the novel. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6952/the-crimson-petal-and-the-white-michel-faber/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Plague Child</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6903/plague-child-peter-ransley</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6903/plague-child-peter-ransley#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 May 2011 21:18:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>collingwood21</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peter Ransley]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=6903</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“We owe our state of government to it, but most of us have little idea who fought whom or why. Nor do most of us care...yet it made us the country we are, the people we are” – Diane Purkiss, The English Civil War: A People’s History

The English civil war was the beginning of the modern age in Britain. While everybody knows that a King was executed and battles fought between Roundheads and Cavaliers, most people are unaware that, proportionally, more of England’s population was killed in this conflict than in either the First or Second World Wars. It had a huge impact on the country we know today. Yet, despite this, it seems to be an unfashionable era to portray in fiction, and I have come across relatively few novels set at this time. This made me all the more eager to read Peter Ransley’s new novel, Plague Child, the first in a new trilogy set during this tumultuous period. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6903/plague-child-peter-ransley/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Paris Wife</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6867/paula-mclain-the-paris-wife</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6867/paula-mclain-the-paris-wife#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:17:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>elkiedee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paula McLain]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=6867</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Paris Wife is an intriguing look at the life of a literary legend from a different perspective, a novel in which Ernest Hemingway’s first wife tells us her version of their marriage, and their life in 1920s Paris, including encounters with other American expat writers.

I was attracted to this novel by hearing an abridged serialisation on the radio – the confiding intimacy of the first person narrative worked really well in this form, as does the selection of dramatic incidents and turning points in their relationship. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6867/paula-mclain-the-paris-wife/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Land of Painted Caves</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6588/the-land-of-painted-caves-jean-m-auel</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6588/the-land-of-painted-caves-jean-m-auel#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 02 Apr 2011 21:51:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>eilidhcatriona</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jean M. Auel]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=6588</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For millions of fans around the world, Jean M. Auel’s Earths Children series is unmatchable for story or quality. When it was announced that this series would be drawing to a close with the publication of the sixth and final novel, The Land of Painted Caves, in March 2011, her fans felt a mixture of sadness and anticipation. What would become of the characters they had grown to know and love since the publication of the first novel, The Clan of the Cave Bear, in 1980?

In The Clan of the Cave Bear, we met and grew to love Ayla, a young Cro-Magnon girl living during the last ice age, who was adopted by the Clan, Neanderthals. The Valley of Horses saw Ayla alone, having been forced away from the Clan by their new leader, and she raised a horse and cave lion – but she soon met Jondalar, a man like her. From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6588/the-land-of-painted-caves-jean-m-auel/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Machiavellian Conspiracies</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6177/chanakya%e2%80%99s-chant-ashwin-sanghi</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6177/chanakya%e2%80%99s-chant-ashwin-sanghi#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 11:43:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Anjana Basu</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thriller fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ashwin Sanghi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=6177</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Chanakya’s Chant follows very definitely in the footsteps of The Da Vinci Code and other historical thrillers. Ashwin Sanghi brackets past and present to create his page turner, throwing in an ancient chant as a leitmotif. It’s amazing that no one thought of using India’s Machiavelli as the subject or partial subject of novel before, but Chanakya with his king making strategies and devious mapping of power works as the main character of a conspiracy thriller – which is a form that has not really been explored by Indian writers of English.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/6177/chanakya%e2%80%99s-chant-ashwin-sanghi/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Red Tent</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/5375/the-red-tent-anita-diamant</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/5375/the-red-tent-anita-diamant#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:52:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>eilidhcatriona</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anita Diamant]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=5375</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I did not want to read The Red Tent. In the blurb on the back I was informed that the book was about a girl called Dinah who is a character from a bible story. As an atheist, I had no desire to read about some bible character. Yet I did read The Red Tent - it was for my reading group, and the knowledge that the whole point of the group is to read things we might not otherwise try, in order to broaden our reading experience, overcame my dislike.
From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/5375/the-red-tent-anita-diamant/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Empire of Silver</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/5343/empire-of-silver-conn-iggulden</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/5343/empire-of-silver-conn-iggulden#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 01 Jan 2011 21:33:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>collingwood21</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conn Iggulden]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=5343</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Empire of Silver opens two years after Genghis' death, with the Mongol nation in a state of uncertainty. The Great Kahn's nominated heir, his third son Ogedai, has yet to take the oaths of the people that will see him elevated to leader of the nation, leaving the Mongols at peace but also fearing the future and the new leader it may bring them. In the intervening time Ogedai has devoted his attentions to spending the new found wealth and plunder of his people on building a great white city in the plains of central Asia, a new capital for the Mongol nation that he hopes will stand as a symbol of their power and influence to the world. As word of this project spreads, people flock to the expanding Karakorum; Chinese builders, Moslem healers and Christian monks all come to his city to benefit from its wealth and favours. But peace does not sit well with a nation whose most valued asset is the martial skills of its warriors, and Ogedai comes close to losing his life more than once as ruthless family members seek to take advantage of the power vacuum.
From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2011/fiction-books/5343/empire-of-silver-conn-iggulden/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Last Romantic Out of Belfast</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/5273/the-last-romantic-out-of-belfast-sam-keery</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/5273/the-last-romantic-out-of-belfast-sam-keery#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:50:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>koshkha</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sam Keery]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=5273</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Writer Sam Keery is 80 years old and has just published his first novel - or perhaps it's more accurate to say his publishers seem to have just reissued his first novel which was first published in 1984. Personally I wonder why they thought it worth a second shot. The Last Romantic Out of Belfast is set – no surprise - in Belfast and follows young Joe McCabe through his childhood and adolescence through a period that straddles the Second World War. In creating Joe, the reader can't help but assume that the boy is based on Keery's own childhood memories. He's an ordinary Joe – a bit shy perhaps, academically gifted but a bit lazy and he comes from a family that's not too poor or subject to any particularly terrible hardships.
From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Meat Tree</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/5199/the-meat-tree-by-gwyneth-lewis</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/5199/the-meat-tree-by-gwyneth-lewis#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Dec 2010 13:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>collingwood21</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gwyneth Lewis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Myths]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=5199</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Mabinogion are a collection of eleven prose stories that have a very large presence in Welsh literature. Drawing on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, folklore, and early medieval traditions, each of these tales is the product of a longstanding Welsh narrative tradition, and has been widely influential, especially since their translation into English. At the heart of the Mabinogion – the name given to this collection, as compiled and translated in English in the 19th century by Lady Charlotte Guest – is the four branches of heroic tales that make up the Mabinogi proper. The fourth branch, Math Fab Mathonwy (Math, son of Mathonwy) is the tale that has been re-imagined in Gwyneth Lewis’ The Meat Tree, one of Seren Books’ new stories from the Mabinogion collection.
From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/5199/the-meat-tree-by-gwyneth-lewis/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Luxe</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/4942/the-luxe-by-anna-godbersen</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/4942/the-luxe-by-anna-godbersen#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Nov 2010 18:38:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>eilidhcatriona</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Romance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anna Godbersen]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=4942</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Luxe by Anna Godbersen is a novel set in New York in 1899, at the height of the super-rich society families for whom appearance was everything. It is about a group of young people, all of whom want to break the constraints of their lives in different ways and for different reasons.

The very first page of the novel is the funeral announcement for Elizabeth Holland. After a glimpse of the funeral, we are taken back in time to a few weeks before to find out what happens. This is a bit of a strange start, opening with the funeral of one of the main characters, but it does have a page-turning effect, as you always want to keep going to find out what happened to Elizabeth during what should have been a special time of her life. 
From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Dreams of Max and Ronnie</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/4906/the-dreams-of-max-and-ronnie-niall-griffiths</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/4906/the-dreams-of-max-and-ronnie-niall-griffiths#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:03:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>collingwood21</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Myths]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Niall Griffiths]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=4906</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Mabinogion looms very large in the culture of Wales; as Niall Griffiths notes in his afterword to The Dreams of Max and Ronnie, it follows him wherever he goes to write “like luggage”. Given this presence, it is perhaps surprising that it took so long for a publisher to commission a contemporary reworking of these classic myths and stories, to breathe new life into them and bring them to a modern audience and readership. That is exactly what Seren Books have now done in their developing range, “New Stories from the Mabinogion”. In October 2009 they presented the first two books of the series – White Ravens (based on Branwen, Daughter of Llyr) and The Ninth Wave (a retelling of Pwyll, Lord of Dyfed) – and followed them up with The Dream of Max and Ronnie and Gwyneth Lewis’ The Meat Tree in October 2010.
From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sarum</title>
		<link>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/4871/sarum-edward-rutherfurd</link>
		<comments>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/4871/sarum-edward-rutherfurd#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Nov 2010 17:46:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>collingwood21</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fiction Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[History fiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Edward Rutherfurd]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/?p=4871</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“Sarum” is an ambitious book to say the least. Weighing in at an impressive 1300 pages, it is an epic historical novel, the result of several years of research and writing, and takes a good many hours of reading to plough your way through it. (Or listening - Sarum is also available on audiobook, with a running time of some 47 hours!) Rather than focussing on one era of history as most authors chose to do, Edward Rutherfurd has rather traced the entire course of English history from the Mesolithic to the present day (or at least 1987; the present day at the publication of the work) of one region over the course of this book. It was both this ambition and a number of personal recommendations that led me to read Sarum; I was intrigued to see just how such a lengthy and eventful span of time could be condensed into one novel.
From www.curiousbookfans.co.uk]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2010/fiction-books/4871/sarum-edward-rutherfurd/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
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