LOL on the male admirers. If you say it that way it doesn't sound half so embarrassing...
As for Dunnett, I've only read her Lymond series (http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/dunnett/lymond/), the Johnson Johnson mysteries (which get no respect because they're "just" light detective fiction -- humph), and her stand-alone Macbeth novel King Hereafter (http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/dunnett/king/). These days she's best known for the Niccolo books, another historical series which I haven't not read (and don't plan to -- not because I think Dunnett ever lost her skills as an author, but because I was warned that the series has an extra-heavy dose of the sort of content I could have done without in the earlier books).
But anyway. Dunnett is staggeringly complex, dauntingly brilliant, creates vividly memorable characters, and her stories are both witty and emotionally eviscerating. Knowing you, I think you would like the Lymond (http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/dunnett/lymond/) series in particular very much (it's set in the 16th century, the hero is Scottish), assuming you can plow through The Game of Kings, the first book in the series and the one everybody seems to have trouble with. (On a second reading, I enjoyed it very much: but the first time I confess to having skimmed about two-thirds of it. It introduces us to Lymond, but to the unprepared reader it can be hard slogging. The second book is usually where people seem to "get the hang" of Dunnett and start down the road to total Lymond obsession. And I should probably warn you, that road goes downhill at an awfully steep angle .)
no subject
As for Dunnett, I've only read her Lymond series (http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/dunnett/lymond/), the Johnson Johnson mysteries (which get no respect because they're "just" light detective fiction -- humph), and her stand-alone Macbeth novel King Hereafter (http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/dunnett/king/). These days she's best known for the Niccolo books, another historical series which I haven't not read (and don't plan to -- not because I think Dunnett ever lost her skills as an author, but because I was warned that the series has an extra-heavy dose of the sort of content I could have done without in the earlier books).
But anyway. Dunnett is staggeringly complex, dauntingly brilliant, creates vividly memorable characters, and her stories are both witty and emotionally eviscerating. Knowing you, I think you would like the Lymond (http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/dunnett/lymond/) series in particular very much (it's set in the 16th century, the hero is Scottish), assuming you can plow through The Game of Kings, the first book in the series and the one everybody seems to have trouble with. (On a second reading, I enjoyed it very much: but the first time I confess to having skimmed about two-thirds of it. It introduces us to Lymond, but to the unprepared reader it can be hard slogging. The second book is usually where people seem to "get the hang" of Dunnett and start down the road to total Lymond obsession. And I should probably warn you, that road goes downhill at an awfully steep angle .)
Hope that helps?