Lincoln in Fiction

A list of fictional books that feature Lincoln.  I have read almost all of these books and recommend them.  You can buy by clicking on the image next to the description, you can choose paperback, Kindle of hardback (where available)

The Pillars of the Earth By Ken Follett
This book was turned into a TV Mini-series. The story centres on a priory in the fictional village of Kingsbridge, the prior is very ambitious and eventually builds a grand cathedral.
​
​I have  included  this  book because  there is a fact-based fictional account of the Battle of Lincoln and several references to Lincoln occur throughout the book.

The building of the cathedral is very detailed and seems to reflect the problems incurred during the building of Lincoln cathedral.

​The Vanishing Witch by Karen Maitland
​Lincoln, 1380. A raven-haired widow is newly arrived in John of Gaunt's city, with her two unnaturally beautiful children in tow.
The widow Catlin seems kind, helping wool merchant Robert of Bassingham care for his ill wife. Surely it makes sense for Catlin and her family to move into Robert's home?
​But when first Robert's wife - and then others - start dying unnatural deaths, the whispers turn to witchcraft. The reign of Richard II brings bloody revolution, but does it also give shelter to the black arts?
And which is more deadly for the innocents of Lincoln?

The Bloody City by C B Hanley
1217: Lincoln is not a safe place to be. A French army has captured the city, and the terrified citizens huddle in the rubble of their homes as the castle, the last remaining loyal stronghold in the region, is besieged. Edwin Weaver finds himself riding into grave danger after his lord volunteers him for a perilous mission: he must infiltrate the city, identify the traitors who are helping the enemy, and return to pass on the intelligence. 
​The last man who attempted such a thing was captured by the French, his head hacked off and catapulted over the castle wall as a warning. The city is awash with violence and blood, and Edwin is pushed to the limit as he has to decide what he is prepared to do to protect others. He might be willing to lay down his own life, but would he, could he, kill?

Alehouse Murders, The (Templar Knight Mysteries, book 1) by Maureen Ash
After years of captivity in the Holy Land, Templar Bascot de Marins escapes with injuries to his body and soul. Now on sojourn at Lincoln Castle, he hopes to regain his strength and mend his waning faith - but not even the peace of God's countryside is safe from the mortal crimes of man. When four victims are found slain in the town alehouse, Bascot discovers that what appears to be the grisly end to a drunken row is in fact a cunning and baffling case of murder. Bascot tracks his quarry from bawdy-house to baron's keep, risking his life for the justice of God's will.
​

A Plague of Poison (Templar Knight Mysteries, book 3 ) by Maureen Ash
When a cake kills a squire, the castle governor enlists the help of Templar Bascot de Marins. But as murder spreads beyond the castle walls, he wonders if it is in fact the work of a lethal master of poisons.

Death of a Squire (Templar Knight Mysteries, book 2 ) by Maureen Ash
When a squire’s body is found hanging from a tree, Templar Bascot de Marins is given the task of unearthing the truth before an unprecedented meeting of kings at Lincoln Castle.

The War Comes to Witham Street By Jean Grundy Fanelli
​The War Comes to Witham Street follows the lives of a group of families living in Lincoln, England, from August 1944 until the end of the war in May 1945. A rest and recuperate scheme for two servicemen, one British and one American, places them with two families. The effect they have on those who have offered the hospitality is profound. Another neighbour has to cope with a love affair of her daughter, a naive young girl, with a G.I. 
Throughout the novel is the day to day problems of the neighbours, the way they get on with each other and with their families, all seen through the eyes of a child. Jane, like most of the other children, is without her father, and relies on grandparents and other relations to fill the gap. And it is through Jane and growing up at a difficult time that we can laugh at attempts to keep moral high, and sympathise with the hopes, dreams, disappointments, and tragedies of those left to cope with war their own way. ​

Katherine by Anya Seton
Katherine tells the true story of Katherine de Roet, the daughter of a minor Flemish herald. Katherine has no obvious prospects, except that her sister is a waiting-woman to Queen Philippa, wife of King Edward III, and the fiancée of Geoffrey Chaucer, then a minor court official. By virtue of this connection, Katherine meets and marries Sir Hugh Swynford of Lincolnshire and gives birth to a daughter, Blanchette, and a son, Thomas.
After Hugh's death, Katherine becomes the mistress of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and bears him four children out of wedlock, given the surname 'Beaufort' after one of the Duke's possessions. She is also appointed official governess to the Duke's two daughters by his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, and helps raise his son by Blanche, the future King Henry IV. The Duke and Katherine separate for a number of years, immediately following Wat Tyler's Peasants' Revolt in 1381, when the rioting peasants sacked and burnt the Duke's Savoy Palace to the ground. The novel's explanation for their separation is Katherine's shock over revelations concerning the death of her husband. However, the couple eventually reconcile and marry after the death of the Duke's second wife. The Beaufort children, now grown, are legitimised by royal and papal decrees after Katherine and the Duke are married, but their half-brother Henry inserts a proviso sometime later specifically barring them from inheriting the throne. -Wikipedia

Havelok the Dane:  A Legend of Old Grimsby and Lincoln 
​by Charles Watts Whistler.
The story takes place around 580 to 600 A.D and is said to have been passed on orally until it was put into a written version at the end of the 13th century.  There are two Norman-English versions and a Welsh version, obviously each vary in the telling of the tale.Havelok was a prince, born in Denmark. When he was very young his father, the king, was killed by a Norwegian king.  
​Havelok was captured by the king who asked a fisherman called Grim to dispose of him at sea.  Although Grim agreed to do the deed he took Havelok to England and settled on the coast establishing the port of Grimsby.
Havelok grew up tall and strong - a gentle giant. He became a fisherman and worked alongside Grim and his sons. Grim didn't tell Havelok that he was a prince, in order to keep him safe from any enemies.

​Famine and pestilence occurred in the area around Grimsby, Havelok moved to Lincoln with one of Grim's sons and worked in the kitchens of  King Alsi who was guardian to an English princess called Goldberga.   Alsi had promised Goldberga's father, as he lay dying, that he would look after his kingdom and his daughter, and find her 'the strongest, goodliest person in the land' to marry.  Alsi held a stone-throwing competition to find Goldberga a husband. He had no intention of finding her a decent husband, but wanted to shame her. His plan was foiled though - Havelok, the gentle giant, won the competition.  Havelok went on to discover he was really a prince, and became King of England and Denmark.  The stone that Havelok threw was said to still exist in Lincoln in the 19th century but so far I have been unable to find if it is still in existence.  This book is based on fact, many of the people and events existed, so it's not entirely fictional.

Whistler wrote this book in 1899, the writing style, which reflects the language of the 6th century, takes a bit of getting used to but it is worth persevering to experience the story.

If you know of any other historical fiction about Lincoln please let me know
​