If you're not really, really into historical fiction but still consider it an option; Yxta Maya Murray's The Conquest and Margaret Drabble's The Red Queen are both excellent.

Re: Margaret Drabble - if anyone remembers Swinging London, London in the early 60's, her first few novels are set in that era; The Garrick Year, A Summer Bird-Cage, Jerusalem the Golden, The Millstone.