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Synopsis

Chapter 1 - Novels of the Seventeenth Century

For news on the latest reviews, author interviews and additions to this website, see the blog.

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The British Isles and North America in the 17th Century

Mysteries: 17th Century Britain and North America

Continental Europe and North America in the 17th Century

Mysteries: 17th Century European Continent and North America

The seventeenth century offers a variety of stirring historical settings, including the Civil Wars in England between the Royalist supporters of King Charles I and the Puritan Parliamentarians; the Thirty Years War that engulfed Germany and its neighbors; the migration from the Old World to the American Colonies and Canada; the last of the witch persecutions, especially the hysteria in the Puritan colony of Salem; and major advances in science led by mathematicians like Kepler and alchemists like Isaac Newton.

For the migration-rich seventeenth century, it is difficult to classify novels set partly in North America and partly in Europe by setting, so all novels set in North America appear in either the British Isles or the Continental Europe categories, depending on where the immigrant characters in a stand-alone novel or series of novels primarily came from. Novels with seventeenth-century settings outside Europe and North America (Africa, Asia, Australia and the Middle East) will be grouped in separate pages, by continent, when posted.

The British Isles and North America

in the 17th Century

Click on the title for more information from Powell's Books or another online source, or if you're outside the U.S., try The Book Depository.

Peter Ackroyd, Milton in America (1986), alternative history in which Milton flees England in 1660 after Cromwell falls.

William Harrison Ainsworth, The Lancashire Witches (1849), about the witches of Pendle Hill in Lancaster County, England, who were tried and executed in 1612.

Vanessa Alexander, The Loving Cup (2001), about a love affair between the poor clerk of Samuel Pepys and a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine who run afoul of the Restoration-era "papist plot" to overthrow King Charles.

Valerie Anand, The Faithful Lovers, family saga about seventeenth-century descendants of English serfs; #4 in the Bridges Over Time series (see the "Medieval" page for #1 in the series)

Poul Anderson, A Midsummer Tempest (1974), alternative history in which Prince Rupert of the Rhine is instrumental in helping the Royalists win the English Civil War.

Anthony Anglorus, The Prince of Prigs (2015), about a highwayman who steals from Roundheads to support the Royalists during the English Civil War.

Evelyn Anthony, Charles the King (1961), about King Charles I of England, who was executed in 1625, and his wife Henrietta Maria of France.

Aileen Armitage, Flames of Fortune (2002 reissue; originally published 1972 as Child of Fire under the name Aileen Quigley), historical romance about a tavern girl whose fortunes rise after the Great Fire of London, leading her to become involved in the intrigues of two Restoration courtiers.

Aileen Armitage, A Passionate Cause (2000 reissue; originally published 1971 as King's Pawn under the name Aileen Quigley), about a young pregnant woman who goes to England to find her lover and discovers him at the Restoration court of Charles II.

Michael Arnold, Traitor's Blood (2010), about a soldier who returns to England on a mission of revenge, and is sent to find and capture a spy among the supporters of King Charles I; #1 in the Civil War Chronicles series.

Michael Arnold, Devil's Charge (2011), about a military officer during the English Civil War who goes on a secret mission to find out what has happened to the woman he loves, a spy for Queen Henrietta Maria; #2 in the Civil War Chronicles series.

Michael Arnold, Hunter's Rage (2012), about a Royalist military officer whose company is threatened with annihilation after they lose a battle in Dartmoor; #3 in the Civil War Chronicles series.

Michael Arnold, Assassin's Reign (2013), about a Royalist military officer who questions his loyalties after an old friend, now fighting for Parliament, saves his life; #4 in the Civil War Chronicles series.

Michael Arnold, Warlord's Gold (2014), about a Royalist military officer sent to recover a treasure in the Scilly Isles in 1643; #5 in the Civil War Chronicles series.

Michael Arnold, Marston Moor (2015), about a Royalist military officer fighting in the Battle of Marston Moor on July 2, 1644; #6 in the Civil War Chronicles series.

Gillian Bagwell, The Darling Strumpet (2011), about Nell Gwynn, the mistress of Charles II.

Gillian Bagwell, The September Queen (2011), historical romance about a young woman who prefers adventure to marriage and finds it when she is asked to help Charles II escape to safety during the English Civil War.

Calvin Baker, Dominion (2006), about a freed slave who settles in the Carolinas in the late seventeenth century and his descendants.

Russell Banks, The Relation of My Imprisonment (1983), the fictional memoir of a coffin-maker who is arrested and thrown into prison.

Margaret Campbell Barnes, With All My Heart (1953), about Catherine of Braganza, the wife of Charles II.

Margaret Campbell Barnes, Mary of Carisbrooke (1956), about Mary Floyd, the seventeen-year-old daughter of the sergeant in charge of the military garrison of Carisbrooke Castle when Charles I was imprisoned there. Review

Mary Ellen Barnes, Peregrine (2012), about the daughter of a royal falconer and her struggle for self-determination during the reign of Charles I, Cromwell's Protectorate, and the settlement of the New World.

John Barth, The Sot-Weed Factor, a humorous literary novel about a seventeenth-century Englishman in America.

Andrew Beahrs, Strange Saint, about seventeenth-century immigrants to the Plymouth Colony in America.

Clifford Beal, Gideon's Angel (2013), about a royalist exile who decides to return to England to assassinate Cromwell in 1653.

Laura Beatty, Darkling (2014), about Lady Brilliana Harley, who defended her castle during a Royalist siege in the English Civil War, and the present-day woman who is researching her life.

Pamela Belle, The Moon in the Water (1982), about a seventeenth-century royalist family during the English Civil War; #1 in the Heron series.

Pamela Belle, The Chains of Fate (1983), about a seventeenth-century royalist family during the English Civil War; #2 in the Heron series.

Pamela Belle, Alathea (1985), about a seventeenth-century royalist family during the English Civil War; #3 in the Heron series.

Pamela Belle, The Lodestar (1987), about a seventeenth-century royalist family during the English Civil War; #4 in the Heron series.

Pamela Belle, Wintercombe (1988), about a Puritan family during the seventeenth-century English Civil War; #1 in the Wintercombe series.

Pamela Belle, Herald of Joy (1989), about a Puritan family during the seventeenth-century English Civil War; #2 in the Wintercombe series.

Pamela Belle, A Falling Star (1990), about a Puritan family during the seventeenth-century English Civil War; #3 in the Wintercombe series.

Pamela Belle, Treason's Gift (1992), about a Puritan family during the seventeenth-century English Civil War; #4 in the Wintercombe series.

Vanora Bennett, Portrait of an Unknown Woman, about a foster daughter of Thomas More and her attraction to two very different men, the portrait-painter Hans Holbein and a student of medicine with a mysterious background.

Fr. Robert Hugh Benson, Oddsfish! (1914), about a Catholic in the Restoration court of Charles II as the king struggles with the general prejudice against Catholics, his moral failings and his faith.

Pauline Bentley, The Cavalier's Masque, historical romance set during the English Civil War.

Pauline Bentley, Fallen Angels, about a family of traveling players during the English Civil War and the Restoration; sequel to Rogues and Players, set in Renaissance England.

Virginia Bernhard, A Durable Fire, about women immigrants to the Jamestown Colony in early seventeenth-century Virginia.

Charlotte Betts, The Apothecary's Daughter (2012), about a London woman trained in herbal medicine who marries to escape her stepmother just as the Plague is about to descend on the city.

Ina Binner, The Devil Prince (1979), about Rupert of the Rhine, who fought for the Royalists during the English Civil War; not readily available in the U.S.

Nancy Blanton, Sharavogue (2012), about an Irish warrior's daughter who vows revenge against Oliver Cromwell after his army ravages a village and beheads a boy; self-published.

Douglas Boren, Pirate's Revenge (2012), about a pirate who wants revenge on the father he never knew, who treated his mother brutally.

Tracy Borman, The King's Witch (2018), about a woman whose uncle forces her to come to court after King James I (James VI of Scotland) succeeds Elizabeth I as the English monarch in 1603, to find that her skills as a herbalist are now regarded as witchcraft.

Paula Brackston, The Witch's Daughter (2011), about a woman who practices Wicca in the present day and three dramatic episodes in her life since she learned witchcraft in the seventeenth century and became immortal. Review or Author Interview

Paula Brackston, Return of the Witch (2016), about a witch, her daughter, and an evil warlock; sequel to The Witch's Daughter.

Paula Brackston, The Little Shop of Found Things (2018), about the present-day owner of an antique shop who slips back in time to the 17th century when she handles a beautiful silver chatelaine, and is charged with the responsibility of saving a girl's life.

Gillian Bradshaw, London in Chains (2009), about a young woman who goes to work in London for a publisher of political pamphlets during the English Civil War.

Gillian Bradshaw, A Corruptible Crown (2011), about a