I too would recommend the Susan Howatch books - there are at least 6 in the series - commencing with Glittering Images and I think perhaps Absolute Truths was the final one - published between 1987 & 1994. Un-put -down-able.
As soon as you finish one you can't wait to start the next!.
Try Anthony Trollope and his stories of "Barsetshire". Barchester Towers, The Warden, Dr Thorne,
Framley Parsonage, The Small House at Allington and
The Last Chronicle of Barset
Old style, but classic - also well dramatised with superlative performances from Donald Pleasance, Geraldine McEwan, Nigel Hawthorne and Alan Rickman (among others)