The Lady Tree/Quicksilver/The Memory Palace

[Hayward]

Three extraordinary but very different reads, with some continuing characters, but ranging from the treacherous excitement of the Tulip Fever (Europe's first futures market!) - The Lady Tree , through the almost surreal story of a strangely talented musician who hovers between human and animal and is in equal danger from the superstitious and the scientifically curious, while on a quest to restore family fortune and honour - Quicksilver, to a final resolution in a spirited woman's passion to preserve the story of her love in a fantastic building, which requires her to resolve relationships with three other men to remain true to her lover, fighting his way back from the strange distractions of the New World, and avoid Puritan vengeance for her freethinking and devotion to art and music, - The Memory Palace.

[Darkstar]

Have these been out for long?

[Hayward]

Lady Tree was 1993 and Memory Palace 2003, so ten years.

The main thing I find is that they are not conventional 'historical novels' of the ruffles and lace variety, always something unexpected round the corner, more like psychological historical thrillers, often with a hint of connection to modern concerns, which adds to the sense of immediacy.