Welcome to this month’s post on all things historical fiction!
This month, I want to highlight the books nominated for this year’s HWA Crown Awards. The longlists were announced last Wednesday by the Historical Writers Association (HWA) and you can find all the details here. There are three separate awards – one for debut novels, one for non-fiction and the other (the Gold Crown) for authors who have previously published. The shortlists will be announced in October and the winner in November. Although I don’t have any plans to try to read all of these books, I thought it would be interesting to look at what I’ve read so far from each list and what else I might like to read.
Debut Crown 2025 longlist
The Wicked of the Earth by AD Bergin
Costanza by Rachel Blackmore
The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable
Nephthys by Rachel Louise Driscoll
Murder in Constantinople by AE Goldin
Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis
Winter of Shadows by Clare Grant
A Poisoner’s Tale by Cathryn Kemp
The Eights by Joanna Miller
A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike
They Dream in Gold by Mai Sennaar
A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith
I’ve read four of these and enjoyed all of them, particularly A Little Trickerie and A Case of Mice and Murder. I’ve already read the second book in Sally Smith’s series as well, and would be happy to read more books by the other three authors. Most of the others on the list are books that I’ve heard of but haven’t had a chance to read yet, with one or two that are new to me.
Non-Fiction Crown 2025 longlist
Lionessheart by Catherine Hanley
The Scapegoat by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
The Endless Country by Sami Kent
Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
Naples 1944 by Keith Lowe
Storm’s Edge by Peter Marshall
Agent Zo by Clare Mulley
Moederland by Cato Pedder
Every Living Thing by Jason Roberts
The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz by Anne Sebba
The Many Lives of James Lovelock by Jonathan Watts
The Grammar of Angels by Edward Wilson-Lee
Not surprisingly I’ve read none of the books on this list and have only heard of one or two of them. The subjects seem a lot more varied than last year’s list and there are a few books here that interest me, particularly The Scapegoat, about the life of the Duke of Buckingham.
Gold Crown Award 2025 longlist
The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers
The Small Museum by Jody Cooksley
Man of Bones by Ben Creed
Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans
Arthur by Giles Kristian
The Maiden of Florence by Katherine Mezzacappa
Hold Back the Night by Jessica Moor
The Map of Bones by Kate Mosse
The Stolen Daughter by Florence Olájídé
The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Time of the Child by Niall Williams
I can’t believe I’ve only read one of these! I’ve read the sequel to The Small Museum, The Surgeon’s House, which was published this year and am not really interested in going back to read the first one, and I’ve struggled with Kate Mosse in the past, but the rest of the books all sound interesting.
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What do you think of this year’s longlists? Have you read any of these books or would you like to read them?
She Reads Novels 
I’ve read The Eights and A Case of Mice and Murder, and enjoyed them very much. The only one on the Golden Crown longlist I’ve read is Small Bomb at Dimperley. I absolutely loved Lissa Evans’s series beginning with Crooked Heart, but I was more ambivalent about this – it seemed quite whimsical to me, and for the first time, I was reminded that she also writes children’s books. I’ll find out more about the others, and maybe give them a try, but I’m getting more and more picky about what I read, and, if I start a book, whether it’s engaging enough for me to finish it. So many books, so little time …
I still haven’t read the Lissa Evans series, although I’ve been hearing a lot of praise for it for years. I’ll get to it eventually! It’s a shame you found her latest book less impressive. I tend to persevere with books I’m not particularly enjoying for longer than I probably should and wish I could be more ruthless about not finishing them.
I haven’t read *anything* on that list (too recent for me) but I do have a copy of ‘Agent Zo’ by Clare Mulley and ‘The Grammar of Angels’ is on my Wish List waiting for the paperback to be issued.
Both of those books sound interesting – actually, all of the books on the non-fiction list do, although who knows when I’ll get round to reading any of them!
Ah, I loved The Eights but absolutely hated The Instrumentalist, and those are the only two I’ve read from all three longlists! So a mixed bag for me!
I haven’t done much better considering I do usually read a lot of historical fiction! I enjoyed The Eights but have seen mixed reviews of The Instrumentalist so not sure if I’ll read that one.
I’ve read precisely none of them! But I do have Storm’s Edge on my wishlist – I’ve read another of Peter Marshall’s books and enjoyed it, though this one sounds quite different.
I haven’t read anything by Peter Marshall, but Storm’s Edge does sound interesting.
I liked Costanza and this Kate Mosse series is a lot better (a lot!) than her first Languedoc books. I’m gonna Google some titles that I don’t know :D.
I didn’t like the Languedoc books, but if you think her current series is better maybe I should give her another chance. I would like to read Costanza!
I’ve read The Instrumentalist but none of the nonfiction. I’ve done better with the Gold Crown because I’ve read The Heart in Winter (which I loved), Shy Creatures (very good), The Small Museum,
Small Bomb at Dimperley (which I didn’t love as much as her previous books), The Map of Bones and Time of the Child (good but I liked This Is Happiness better)
You’ve done very well with the Gold Crown list! I would like to read Shy Creatures and Time of the Child, so I’m glad you thought they were both good.
I ordered The Heart in Winter because it seemed like that was going to be the only way I could get it for the Walter Scott project, and it is taking forever to get here. I think it’s interesting that it only made it to the longlist for this prize but to the shortlist for Walter Scott. I haven’t read any of these books, but I do love Niall Williams.
I didn’t like The Heart in Winter much, but everyone else seems to have loved it, so I’ll be interested to hear what you think of it. I’ll have to try something by Niall Williams – I haven’t read any of his books.
Try History of the Rain, my favorite! I didn’t like the other Kevin Barry book I read, so we’ll see about this one.
I’ve only read The Eights–which I enjoyed. I’ll check out this Association. I didn’t know it existed.
I really enjoyed The Eights too. I’m hoping for a sequel!
Yes, that would be really nice
Ooh there are a couple of books on the debut list that I really want to read – A Poisoner’s Tale and Nephthys I particular.
I don’t think I recognise any of the non fiction titles, although maybe I would if I saw the covers. Non fiction is a genre I still havent got around to trying though.
Oh wow I’ve heard of hardly any from the last section too 🙈 its kind of worrying to hear that you’ve struggled with Kate Mosse before too as I’ve been meaning to try something by her for ages.
Yes, A Poisoner’s Tale and Nephthys both appeal to me too. I didn’t like Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, but that was one of her very early books and I’ve heard that she’s improved a lot since then so maybe she deserves another chance!
That’s one of the titles I planned to try by her 🙈 although I’ll admit I’m more likely to try The Taxidermist’s Daughter first anyway as I can’t resist a gothic premise. If you ever decide to give her another chance I hope it goes better
I just picked up A Case of Mice and Murder. So glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much.
Demon of Unrest was terrific–glad to see it’s on the list.
I loved A Case of Mice and Murder! The second book in the series is great too. I’ll have to try Demon of Unrest – it does sound good.