Historical Fiction Fit For A Queen

History Of A Pleasure Seeker

by Richard Mason

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Hardcover, 277 pages

Richard Mason's History of a Pleasure Seeker is one of the most enjoyable books I've read all year. Set in belle epoque Amsterdam, it is filled with sensuous detail and vividly drawn characters. Its protagonist, Piet Barol, is a fascinating blend of manipulator and victim, hero and cad. Born to poverty, he uses his preternatural charm to secure himself a place as a tutor in one of the richest households in Amsterdam, and once there, sets about thoroughly sampling its many delights. Despite Piet's sometimes ruthless exploitation of others, I couldn't help rooting for his rags-to-riches dreams, all while basking in Mason's lush evocation of the period's art and architecture. In particular, Mason is a genius when it comes to describing music, making a drawing-room concert feel as high-stakes and vivid as a spy thriller. Do you, for instance, know what piano key is best for seducing aristocratic ladies? Piet Barol does. Read this witty and deeply pleasurable novel, and learn from a master.

http://www.npr.org/2012/06/23/155275410/rich-reads-historical-fiction-fit-for-a-queen 

HHhH

by Laurent Binet

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Hardcover, 327 pages

HHhH is a startling novel. For one thing, it's Laurent Binet's first, though you'd never know it, given the flawless, self-assured storytelling. On top of that, who would expect a postmodern exploration of the limits of historical fiction to be a page turner? But it is, absolutely, thanks to Binet's skill with his fascinating subject matter: the assassination of Himmler's brutal right-hand man, Reinhard Heydrich, by two Czechoslovakian resistance fighters, Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis. The book's main character, however, is really Binet himself, who makes a wonderfully nontraditional and unreliable narrator as he struggles to unearth the truth beneath layers of history. The result was awarded France's prestigious Prix Goncourt for a first novel, and is now freshly translated into English by Sam Taylor. If you are curious about the unusual title, it comes from a bit of German wordplay: Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich, or in English, Himmler's brain is called Heydrich.