Book recommendations

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I've been on a historical fiction kick the last few weeks. Any recommends for books set in Ancient Greece, Rome, Polynesia, China, or Japan, where the main protagonist is female?

Side note: I’m aware of Circe by Madeline Miller and it’s been on my list for a while.

 

[Miss Chicken]

‘The Laughter of Aphrodite’ by Peter Green which is a novel about Sappho of Lesbos. I have not read it but I came across it when I was looking for a non-fiction book about Sappho. It gets good ratings and second hand copies are cheap on AbeBooks.

 

[Timewalker]

I've been on a historical fiction kick the last few weeks. Any recommends for books set in Ancient Greece, Rome, Polynesia, China, or Japan, where the main protagonist is female?

The Flavia Albia novels by Lindsey Davis (Roman murder mysteries that continue from the Marcus Didius Falco novels); also there's a standalone novel about Vespasian's mistress, Caenis (The Course of Honour).

Pauline Gedge wrote some absorbing novels set in ancient Egypt; I recommend Child of the Morning (about Hatshepsut) and House of Dreams/House of Illusions (about a young girl in Pharaoh's harem who gets involved in a plot to kill the Pharaoh).

Gillian Bradshaw wrote some standalone novels set in Greece and Byzantium: The Bearkeeper's Daughter, Imperial Purple, and The Beacon at Alexandria (about a young Greek woman who leaves home to become a doctor).

Margaret George wrote a fantastic novel about Cleopatra: The Memoirs of Cleopatra. She also wrote a novel about Helen of Troy.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Jim Klag]

I've been on a historical fiction kick the last few weeks. Any recommends for books set in Ancient Greece, Rome, Polynesia, China, or Japan, where the main protagonist is female?

Side note: I’m aware of Circe by Madeline Miller and it’s been on my list for a while.

The Persian Boy by Mary Renaul - about Bagoas, a young Persian aristocrat who is captured, castrated and sold to King Darius III. When Darius is overthrown by the Macedonians, Bagoas becomes the servant and lover of Alexander the Great.

 

[Zella]

Just checked this one out myself but not read yet: Pat Barker's The Silence of the Girls. It's The Iliad from Briseis' point of view.

Love Pat Barker's WWI historical fiction. Looking forward to what she does with this one.

 

[publiusr]

You have all probably seen these--but for what it is worth
https://en.softonic.com/solutions/what-are-the-best-fiction-and-non-fiction-books-about-boudica

 

[Worf factor9]

The Silence of the Girls

If...only.

 

[Avro Arrow]

If...only.

I sense that you and @Zella already know each other, and so this is probably intended as just some light-hearted ribbing between the two of you. But I might suggest that it’s best to avoid public banter that could also be interpreted as misogynistic trolling. If this is how you normally interact, then PM might be a better venue for that. I know you don’t currently have access to it, but it looks like you’re only a few posts away.