Wolf Hall. Many people have read it, or tried to read it and were put off by the writing. Hilary Mantel uses a tense that a lot of readers find confusing and difficult to stay with. I found it to be almost musical and a pleasant exercise for my brain, like light mental stretching. If I could write this way I would, but I don’t think I could manage it! Ms. Mantel is, to my mind, a terrific writer with an exceptional command of language.

Take this passage about the peeling of an apple:

Standing in a wash of chary autumn sun, he holds an apple in his hand. He pares it with a thin blade, and the peel whispers away from the flesh and lies among his papers, like the shadow of an apple, green on white paper and black ink.

Wolf Hall examines the events taking place around the court of Henry VIII at the time of his divorce from Katherine. While most readers are already familiar with this story, it’s getting inside the mind of Thomas Cromwell, the court’s Machiavellian, roguishly charming facilitator, that makes the book interesting. (See the bottom of this post for some of my other favorites in historical fiction.)

So: to the recipes.

On page 472, the household servants are in the half light of morning, picking mushrooms for a torta al funghi, and will also be serving eggs baked in cream. These are two simple dishes that are open to wide interpretation, so if you don’t like the way I’ve done them here, it’s easy to tweak them to fit your own imagining.

I’ve sauteed a mix of wild mushrooms from the grocery store with olive oil, butter and fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Thyme always goes well with mushrooms. When they were just short of being done, I turned off the heat and stirred in a few tablespoons of mascarpone cheese that I already had in. You can use ricotta, or cream cheese, or just sprinkle in something that will melt- any kind of shredded Italian cheese.

For the crust, I didn’t feel like making my own today. This is supposed to be a quick meal so I used a ready- made crust I had in the freezer, that you defrost and roll out. I’m not embarrassed! And neither should you be. That said, if you want to make your own, I find the King Arthur Flour recipes are usually fool- proof. Just don’t pick something too crumbly or flaky, as you won’t be able to cut the tart into slices.

Roll out your pie crust into a circle, and when the mushroom mixture has cooled enough, place it in the middle of the circle. Fold the edges of the crust over into a rustic tart. Cook at around 350 to 375, for anywhere from twelve to twenty minutes. I made this a few times and found temperatures and times vary according to the crust recipe used.

After baking. Great for any meal, just slice and serve.

Eggs baked in cream- so simple! The hardest part about this was finding a small enough cooking vessel that could be used in the oven. I finally found an oven- proof dish that was the right size for two eggs. One for me and one for my husband, and a delicious breakfast it was. (You can do this in ramekins also, one egg per dish.)

Butter your dish generously. Crack your eggs into the plate, then cover with heavy cream. If you wanted you could add sauteed greens here, in with the eggs, or some ham, or even some mushrooms if you saved any. I didn’t have any of those things so we just did simple toast slices. I very generously buttered some bread, cut it into slices and arranged it in the pan around the eggs. I baked this at 375 for 20 minutes but again, you should check to see how you like yours done. I wanted the yolks to be mostly set but a little jammy. You could also add fresh herbs to this. I added just salt and pepper.

Be sure to generously butter your dish all the way to the edges. I used some thick white toast here but you can use any kind of bread you like, and add in greens or veggies.

After baking. Bake until the yolks are the way you like them but the whites are set. This was very simple and very delicious!

If you are interested in historical fiction, here are just a few of my suggestions, (professional librarian cap in place):

Bernard Cornwell, and Edward Rutherfurd, obviously. I particularly like Cornwell’s The Saxon Tales series (subject: vikings, made into the BBC series The Last Kingdom), his various Agincourt era books, and the King Arthur series. The New Forest, by Rutherfurd, is another favorite of mine.

Rosemary Sutcliffe wrote one of the best King Arthur series, ever, in my opinion. You can follow that with The Merlin Trilogy by Mary Stewart.

Anya Seton is old school historical fiction. My favorite is The Hearth and Eagle, set in and around Marblehead, Massachusetts in the 1700s.

The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste. Ethiopian women become warriors during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.

The Pillars of the Earth series by Ken Follett. Then you can watch the tv series with a young Eddie Redmayne.

Is Cold Mountain historical fiction? I think so.

For younger readers, Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Fever. Woodsrunner by Gary Paulsen.

The Awakening Land series by Conrad Richter. The Trees, The Fields, and The Town. Another old school historical fiction pick from the 1950s focusing on American settlers moving west in the late 1700s.

Happy reading! Support your local library and ask a librarian near you for more suggestions.