This Rec League comes from our very own Redheadedgirl! This is technically her formal request:
I’m looking for books set in York or Edinburgh. You know. For reasons. York is harder to find.
Now, she says “books,” but I think most members of the Bitchery have a keen sense on what each of us likes to read. RHG likes historical romances, so I’m sure she wouldn’t turn down suggestions of that nature.
But please, don’t limit yourself either as she’s been known to read erotic and contemporary romances, plus nonfiction and women’s fiction as well!
Can we help her out?
Oh great, I can share one of my favourites “Time’s Echo” by Pamela Hartshorne set in York – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15720779-time-s-echo?ac=1&from_search=true
It’s a sort of love story (there are two very touching ones) and a really effective spooky historical story.
Edinburgh – historical gems with Joanna Chambers’ brilliant post-Jacobite m/m trilogy that starts with “Provoked” – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34933997-provoked?ac=1&from_search=true.
Edinburgh – a post-Rankin near-future sorta-comedy/sorta-tec book “Rule 34” – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8853299-rule-34?from_search=true
There’s a scene in the burned York Minster in Last Night’s Scandal by Loretta Chase, and most of that book is set at a castle near (but not in) Edinburgh.
I don’t know if you read mystery/police procedurals, but there are some amazing series set in Ediburgh: the Inspector Rebus novels by Ian Rankin, Kate Atkinson’s One Good Turn, Val McDermid sets some there (although she can be a bit dark and creepy), Stuart MacBride (gritty), Denise Mina’s books are great. Noncriminal,
I enjoyed Margot Livesey’s The Flight of Gemma something or other and I think maybe the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie?
If you haven’t already read it, the absolutely brilliant Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is set in York (well, it kind of hops around Europe, but York is an important recurring base and the inciting incident takes place at York Cathedral). It’s not a romance, although there is a romantic plot line that I found touching. The story chronicles the rebirth of ‘English magic’ during the Napoleonic Wars, through an immensely crusty and cautious academic and his more intuitive, reckless pupil. The writing is such a treat – dry and hilarious.
If you like mysteries, Sam Thomas’ midwife mystery series is set in York, the first few books anyway, as the latest one moved the action to London. It’s set in Cromwell’s England. Some of the action in Anna Lee Huber’s Lady Darby mystery series (regency era) is set in and around Edinburgh.
Only one I can think of, is Lynsay Sands “Vampire, Interrupted”, it partially takes place in York. I know there are a couple of Scottish/Highlander historicals where they visit Edinburgh but can’t think of any specifics.
I’m blanking on romances. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel was great. The James Herriot books are set in Yorkshire more than York, but very satisfying. Bernard Cornwell’s best series is undoubtedly the Viking one, starting with The Last Kingdom, which has a bunch of scenes in York. The only Edinburgh book that comes to mind is Crowded with Genius, which is nonfiction, but not horribly written.
Georgette Heyer set a number of books in Yorkshire. I think Venetia mentions York. The Nonesuch is more Leeds, and the Toll Gate and Arabella are Yorkshire rather than York.
Kate Fenton wrote contemporary romances which tend to be Yorkshire -eg The Colour of Snow and Picking Up.
I’m not familiar with any of these – https://yorkauthors.co.uk/set-in-york/fiction-set-in-york/
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles’ Morland Dynasty starts just before the Wars of the Roses and is up into the 1930’s. It’s family saga (35 books to date) and the first book was originally written 1980. The later books don’t always take place entirely in York, the family and the family home/estate (which is located just outside the Mickle Gate) is always a central part of the story. Big, thick books and the first couple are just over a dollar on Amazon right now. The first ones are very much of their era, but definitely set in and around York and you can see the city change.
Fun story on this one — I picked up Books 1 and 3-5 in a used book store in late ’80s. Could not find Book 2 for love or money. It wasn’t until I was on vacation in the UK and was in York that I was able to grab Book 2 — and Books 6-10, which hadn’t been published in the US at that time.
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman involves several scenes around York and Yorkshire. It’s historical fiction about King Richard III (and Anne Neville). Penman is amazing; she researches each scene to the point of “who was in which castle on which day” when she’s setting up characters in a room. Warning, though: the book doesn’t have a HEA because, well… historical accuracy. But it has SUCH a good romance between Richard and Anne. And who has two thumbs and is obsessed with Richard and Anne? (This girl…)
Similar subject matter with less historical accuracy can be found in The Kingmaker’s Daughter by Philippa Gregory. Also, for a more traditional romance take on the story (because it ends at a triumphant moment) is The Virgin Widow by Anne O’Brien. I can’t remember how much time is spent in each of those in York or Yorkshire, but I’m sure it’s at least a day because Middleham Castle, where Richard was raised and Anne was from, eventually became their home.
I can’t wait to check out these others York and Edinburgh books!
Legend in Green Velvet / Elizabeth Peters
(Starts in Edinburgh) Not a historical, except it was written in the 70s or early 80s and deals with archaeology. There’s an extremely entertaining romance and a mystery that requires the protagonists to race across Scotland pursuing clues and fleeing villains.
Legacy of the Dead / Charles Todd
(Edinburgh) Book 3 of the Ian Rutledge series, in which Ian is sent to Scotland and must confront the PTSD generated spectre of Hamish Macbeth and his own guilt in Hamish’s death. Very atmospheric, but no romance.
Sins of the Wolf / Anne Perry
(Edinburgh) The fifth in the William Monk/Hester Latterly mystery series, and my personal favorite, in which the UST that smolders through the first four books culminates in one the best kisses I’ve ever read.
Sorry, I’m drawing a blank on romances in these locations, especially books set in York, though I know I’ve read them. If I get a brainstorm yielding books set in York or actual romances, I’ll post it later.
@Carol S
Isn’t Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark?
Karina Halle has 1.5:
The Play second half is set in Edinburgh, first half is in San Francisco.
The Debt is set primarily in Edinburgh, but also has cavorting around the rest of Scotland.
In the historical mystery category, Candace Robb’s Owen Archer series is set in medieval York. She has other series but I’m not sure where they’re set. I lost track of her books when she switched to TP.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is partly in York, isn’t it?
I seem to remember Elizabeth Peters’ Legend in Green Velvet is set in Edinburgh or starts there.
The ones that come to mind are Susan Johnson’s Outlaw/i> and To Please A Lady, but then again, it’s been a while so it could just as well be Glasgow. Any way, I they walk that fine edge of old skool and sex positive that might appeal to our RHG.
I’ll be watching this post with interest as the becoming annual Outlander trip is coming up, and I need relevant reading material.
I have got to stop posting from this phone. The autofill is making me look illiterate. I swear I proof read that before I hit send.
It’s been a long time since I read the Owen Archer novels, but I recall them as being some of my favorite medieval mysteries.
For a cozy mystery in a modern Edinburgh setting, Paige Shelton’s The Cracked Spine is just recently out, and features an American heroine emigrating to Edinburgh to work in a fascinating mostly-antiquarian bookstore. I picked this up partly for the setting and partly because I’d liked another of Shelton’s series heroines, and was not disappointed.
This is a real throw-back….Louisa Elliott by Ann Victoria Roberts is set in York. It is set in Victorian-era York and descriptions of the city feature prominently. It isn’t really a romance, more like historical fiction. I liked the sequel Morning’s Gate much better. It features modern descendants of Louisa Elliott trying to figure out their past.
Where is the setting of the Roberta Gellis medieval series with the main character as the head nun? It’s mystery, I think. Not her romances.
The On Dublin Street series by Samantha Young is set in Edinburgh. Definitely a favorite!
I am pretty sure the historical The Lass Wore Black by Karen Ranney featuring a scarred heroine and a hero who is a doctor is also set in Edinburgh.
The On Dublin Street series by Samantha Young is set in Edinburgh. Definitely a favorite!
I am pretty sure the historical The Lass Wore Black by Karen Ranney featuring a scarred heroine and a hero who is a doctor is also set in Edinburgh.
Yorkshire, by Lynne Connolly, is historical romance, set in a crumbling old house, where murders happen. I remember liking it because the reasons keeping the H/h apart were serious not trivial “misunderstandings” or whims of youthful temperment.
For York, there’s an old Georgian romance by Elizabeth Neff Walker called “The Lady next door,” in which a young woman who is estranged from her family because of a Scandal inherits a house in York and takes in boarders. It turns out that her next door neighbor is the head of the family who caused the scandal.
For Yorkshire, although there are scenes in York, there’s Carla Kelly’s “Mrs. Drew plays her hand.”
And, if you combine mysteries, Elizabeth Peters, Yorkshire, and Richard III, you get “The Murders of Richard III,” featuring one of my favorite characters, librarian Jacqueline Kirby.
For Edinburgh, there are tons of books–you can even go reaaalllly old school and try “Scottish chiefs” (which, good luck–I could never get through the darn thing), or even Kate Douglas Wiggins’ charming 1898 “Penelope’s progress (there’s a Kindle version for $.99 on Amazon). For more modern stuff, Lillian Stewart Carl’s Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron mystery series starts in Edinburgh, and the second book in Kate Carlisle’s Bibliophile series, “If books could kill,” is set in Edinburgh.
I think you might enjoy Fiona Shaw’s The Sweetest Thing, set in York, about the chocolate industry in the 19thc.
Then there’s Time’s Echo by Pamela Hartshorne, historical time-slip novel set in York.
Have you seen this article about books set in Edinburgh? I loved Scott’s Heart of Midlothian.
In children’s books, Maisie, the kitten from Morningside.
And I haven’t read this, but Nicola Morgan’s YA novel Fleshmarket, set in Edinburgh in the 1820s, should be good.
Eileen Dunlop’s A Flute in Mayberry Street (children’s) is lovely.
You might like the 1933 mystery novel by Winifred Peck set in Edinburgh, The Warrielaw Jewel. It’s been republished.
In children’s books, you could also look at the spreadsheet Read Your Way around the UK linked from here. There’s a row for Edinburgh on the Scotland tab.
The Kate Douglas Wiggin book roserita mentions, which I know as Penelope’s Experiences in Scotland, is online here. Have to say I find Penelope a bit irritating!
There’s also a book lover’s guide to Edinburgh.
Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland, set in a York bookshop. Women’s fiction rather than romance.
So I had the Roberta Gellis series wrong – starts with A Mortal Bane, set in Southwark (London) and the heroine is a madam, not a nun. Oops.
I love this question (because I am always looking for books set in York, it is my favorite city!), and I am loving all the comments.
The one author who is springing to mind right now is Milly Johnson. She writes contemporaries, and I think they are great. The first few are The Yorkshire Pudding Club, The Birds & The Bees, The Spring Affair. I wouldn’t call them romance novels, although they usually do have a love story happening. These are perfect summer reading! The author is from Barnsley in South Yorkshire, so while the settings may not be right in York, they are in the general vicinity!
I loved The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters (or Barbara Mertz-can’t remember which name she wrote that under!)-I have a lot of thoughts about Richard III-and who actually killed those boys in the Tower.
M.C. Beaton has a series called the Travelling Matchmaker, and one of them is called Yvonne Goes to York. I read the series several years ago, and I enjoyed them all.
Wait. Did someone (author M.C.Beaton) kill Hamish Macbeth? Nooooo. Deep breath. How can Ian Rutledge in the early 1900s have PTSD about Hamish Macbeth? Must be a historical Hamish Macbeth, right?
You could always fall back on the Brontes. Heathcliff on the moors…
@Maureen: Murders of Richard III was Elizabeth Peters. She used Barbara Michaels for her gothics, and Barbara Mertz for her professional/academic works.
I think that both Jo Beverley and Nicola Cornick are either from or lived in Yorkshire and that some of their books are set in Yorkshire. It seems to me that it is some of the later books in Jo Beverley’s Rogues series, because there are smugglers. I am very bad at remembering titles.
With regard to Heyer, the hero in the Unknown Ajax is from Yorkshire (and sometimes speaks with an accent), but I think that most of the action takes place in Suffolk.
Second and third the recommendations for the various books about Richard the III. I started with the Elizabeth Peters book and then moved on to the Penman book. I also enjoyed the Owen Archer books, which have recently been on sale.
One of my favorite historical fiction series is the Lymond chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett, which is starts in Scotland and I think has some parts in Edinburgh (although it has been a very long time since I read the books and the series travels all over the place). If you want something a little different that is set in Scotland, Dunnett also wrote a book about the historical MacBeth, that I really enjoyed when I read it during the early 2000s. It is not a romance.
They are usually contemporary or paranormal, but Jane Lovering’s books tend to be set in or around York. Her Vampire State of Mind books feature a York civil servant. Please Don’t Stop the Music was the 2012(British) Romantic Novelists Association book of the year, and has all the feels.
If you want to go the Ricardian route — The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey.
Not Edinburgh, but Inverness — There’s an OOP book by Paula Allardyce called The Rebel Lover, which is set post-Culloden. It’s long been a favorite of mine, and worth tracking down. It was first released in 1960, and my copy dates from 1975, published by Playboy Press, of all imprints.
If you’re in the mood for a very good historical mystery, C.J. Sansom’s Sovereign is a good bet. It’s one of the best installment in the Matthew Shardlake series (an excellent series overall), and this particular book is set in the York area during Henry VIII’s Northern Progress.
Second The Sunne in Splendour rec!
Thanks for the help, everyone! I can’t wait to dig into these.
@Anna Richland, are you thinking of the Magdalene la Batarde books? She solves mysteries and the place she’s in charge of is called the Old Priory, but it’s not a nunnery. Except in that Shakespearean pun way….
York Explore, the local library, has a big city read each year with books either based in York or by people with local connections. CJ Samson’s Sovereign was one of them that I really enjoyed, and worked well enough as a stand alone. Susanna Gregory’s Mystery In The Minster didn’t stand out for me as much, but it is another York set mystery.
Behind the Scenes at the Museum is set in York and inspired by the Castle Museum.
(as a former York resident, I’m twitching at place names! Micklegate is all one word, and though Strange and Norrell refers to the building as York Cathedral, that’s part of the alt worldness of it and everyone in York calls it the Minster (it’s actually both a cathedral and a minster, but minster sounds cooler!). York, where the streets are gates, the gates are bars, and the bars are good!)
A Queen from the North by Erin McRae and R Maltese. Not historical and mostly set in London, but the main character is from York and it is set in the current time, but as if the War of the Roses didn’t really end. Loved it. Just finished it last night.
Not romance, but Alexander McCall Smith has two series set in Edinburgh: Isabel Dalhousie, which are mystery-ish, and 44 Scotland St, which is new to me while poking around on Amazon. The Dalhousie series lost whatever charm it held for me by the 3rd or 4th book, but they are very popular. Can’t hold a teeny, tiny, candle to Precious Ramotswe, though. 🙂
Jane Lovering has a series set in Yorkshire.
@Minerva:
Ann Victoria Roberts’ books seem right up my alley. I bought them both on Kindle where the sequel is listed as Liam’s Story.
I fifth? sixth? all the recommendations of Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. I really liked that book. I also bought Anne Easter Smith’s books on Kindle which seem to be about Richard III and his family members. One is even called Daughter of York. I think Barbara Taylor Bradford’s Emma Heart books beginning with A Woman of Substance also take place in Yorkshire. I haven’t read them yet either, but I saw where she mentions how she was concerned they wouldn’t sell for that reason. They seem to start out as historical/ family saga and become contemporary as the series goes on.
@Anne: I haven’t made it through the second through sixth books in the series yet since it is so dense, but I do remember very well the opening in Game of Kings where Lymond successfully smuggles himself into Edinburgh which is a walled city in this scene.
YES ABSOLUTELY, THE GAME OF KINGS IS SET IN EDINBURGH! I believe Checkmate is as well, and some of the House of Niccolo books spend time there too, but only the later ones.
If my initial enthusiasm doesn’t make it clear, I adore Dorothy Dunnett and particularly the Lymond Chronicles (and most particularly, the first book). It is admittedly not an easy read, but it is so very good. And it contains what is often referred to as the best fight scene in English letters.