D. Afonso Henriques - Diogo Freitas do Amaral

I've had this biography of Portugal's first king in my TBR for quite some time (years actually as I don't even remember when I got it) and, as I was looking for books for this challenge, I thought this would be the perfect read.

I did enjoy reading it (even if I skimmed a few bits). If you want to know more about King Afonso Henriques' life and chronology this is a great book. But in terms of historical fiction it just doesn't work.

The mistake is probably mine, because I thought this would be HF, and not the author's, who detailed every known fact in the king's life. But it felt a bit like just a list of facts. There's contextualization of the time to explain political actions but there wasn't much information about the king's every day life. His thought process and what led him to this and that action. His interaction with his family and nobles on a day to day basis.

It felt like there was a lot of history and little, if none, fiction. Since I am a big fan of medieval HF (think Elizabeth Chadwick or Sharon Kay Penman) I am very sorry that we don't have an author capable of bringing Portuguese historical fiction (medieval but not only) to life as they do.

Portuguese Historical Fiction Challenge

 It has been on my mind lately how I read so many books a year and I seldom read portuguese authors or books with a portuguese setting. That has really started to bother me these past few weeks so I have decided that I'm going to challenge myself and read more portuguese authors and portuguese settings. Since my favourite genre is historical fiction and that lately we have seen a lot of new portuguese authors writing in that genre I am going to start a list of with reading suggestions that I plan to read in the near future. Sadly most only have a portuguese edition ( thus the portuguese titles listed) but I'll add english titles if I find translations.

I plan to read 5 titles till the end of the year. They will either be historical fiction written by a portuguese author or set in Portugal. The list is still small but I plan to add to it as I go along. Feel free to suggest titles or join me if you want.

READING SUGGESTIONS:
Domingos Amaral - Quando Lisboa Tremeu
Domingos Amaral - Enquanto Salazar Dormia
João Aguiar - A Hora de Sertório
João Aguiar - O Trono do Altíssimo
João Aguiar - A Voz dos Deuses
Deana Barroqueiro - D. Sebastião e o Vidente
Deana Barroqueiro - O Navegador da Passagem
Deana Barroqueiro - Pero da Covilhã I a V

Francisco da Fonseca Benevides - No Tempo dos Francezes
Maria João Lopo de Carvalho - Marquesa de Alorna
Mario de Carvalho - Um Deus Passeando Pela Brisa da Tarde - A God Strolling in the Cool of the Evening: A Novel
Bernard Cornwell - Sharpe e a Defesa de Portugal - Sharpe's Enemy: Richard Sharpe and the Defence of Portugal, Christmas 1812 (Sharpe 15)
João Paulo Oliveira e Costa - O Império dos Pardais

João Paulo Oliveira e Costa - O Cavaleiro de Olivença
João Paulo Oliveira e Costa - Fio do Tempo

Francisco Moita Flores - Mataram o Sidónio
Alvaro Guerra - Razões de Coração
Alvaro Guerra - A Guerra Civil

José Jorge Letria - Mal por Mal, Antes Pombal
Maria JoÃo Martins Pardal e Ezequiel Passos Marinho - A Comenda Secreta
Paulo Moreiras - O Ouro do Corcunda

José Norton - Juliana, Condessa de Stroganoff

José Norton - O Ultimo Távora

Pilar Queralt del Hierro - Inês de Castro
José Rodrigues dos Santos - Codex 632 - Codex 632: The Secret of Christopher Columbus: A Novel

José Saramago - A Viagem do Elefante - The Elephant's Journey
José Saramago - Memorial do Convento - Baltasar and Blimunda
José Saramago - O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo - The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
Isabel Stilwell - Filipa de Lencastre

Isabel Stilwell - Catarina de Bragança

Isabel Stillwell - D. Maria II, Tudo por Um Reino
Miguel Sousa Tavares - Equador - Equator
Susana Torrão - Anjos na Guerra
Robert Wilson -O Ultimo Acto em Lisboa - A Small Death in Lisbon
Katherine Vaz - Mariana - Mariana

Books read:

1.  O Segredo da Bastarda - Cristina Norton
2. A Small Death in Lisbon - Robert Wilson
3. Codex 632 - José Rodrigues dos Santos