Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.
The rules are simple:
- Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
- Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
- Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
- Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.
For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic we’re invited to pick a genre and build a list around it. My favourite genre being historical fiction, I’ve picked Historical Fiction Featuring Real Historical Figures. Links from the title will take you to my review.
- Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid – Gruoch, the real Lady Macbeth
- The Endeavour of Elsie Mackay by Flora Johnston – pioneering female aviator, Elsie Mackay,
- Precipice by Robert Harris – Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and socialite Venetia Stanley
- The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable – violinist Anna Maria della Pietà and composer Antonio Vivaldi
- The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite – Cecily Neville, Duchess of York
- Agricola: Invader by Simon Turney – Roman general Gnaeus Julius Agricola
- Diva by Daisy Goodwin – opera singer Maria Callas
- A Tapestry of Treason by Anne O’Brien – Constance of York, Lady Despenser
- The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng – author W. Somerset Maugham
- The Chosen by Elizabeth Lowry – author,Thomas Hardy
What Cathy Read Next... 
I haven’t heard of any of these!
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2025/08/05/top-ten-tuesday-ya-books-that-seem-to-be-forgotten/
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This is definitely a very interesting type of historical fiction!
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Neat take on this week’s topic! I enjoy historical fiction, so several of these sound interesting. Here is our <a href=”https://www.longandshortreviews.com/miscellaneous-musings/top-ten-tuesday-middle-grade-novels-ive-recently-reviewed/“>Top Ten Tuesday. </a> Thank you!
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Nice list, Cathy. I haven’t read these yet, but love how you mention the historical figures featured. Thanks for sharing.
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2025/08/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-things.html
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Interesting theme for this week’s TTT. I didn’t know Val Mcdermid wrote historical fiction, but I like her police procedurals.
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Just the one so far, I think, set as far back as this.
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I read a book earlier this year that fits this theme: Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict. It features Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and a couple other femal writers of the time.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/football-reads-ten-books-to-prepare-for-football-season/
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Ooh, that sounds good
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What a great idea! I’ve read quite a few of these as you’ll probably know.
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Good list! I haven’t read any of these but several are on my TBR list
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I could give you a top 20 or 30 list of books about real historical women – it is my favorite genre! I only know of one book from your list, Diva, which I decided not to read. Daisy Goodwin and Maria Callas just didn’t mesh for me, and I was already burned by Gill Paul’s book about Callas and Jackie Kennedy that was a DNF for me.
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Diva was a bit too fiction actually so you haven’t missed much.
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Her historical murder mystery book was good, though, if a bit… romancy for my taste. She writes well, but her subject matter isn’t always to my taste.
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