In what has become a December tradition here on the blog, it’s time to look ahead to the historical fiction being published in the year to come. I’m listing below a selection of 2026 releases that have caught my attention for one reason or another – some are review copies I’ve already received, some are new books by authors I’ve previously enjoyed and others just sound interesting. 2026 looks like being a great year for historical fiction and I hope there’s something here that appeals to you!

Dates provided are for the UK and were correct at the time of posting.

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JANUARY

A Slow and Secret Poison by Carmella Lowkis (22nd January 2026; Doubleday) – A Gothic novel set in an English country house.

Brigid by Kim Curran (29th January 2026; Michael Joseph) – A reimagining of the life of Ireland’s St Brigid.

FEBRUARY

The Wandering Queen by Claire Heywood (12th February 2026; Hodder & Stoughton) – The story of Dido, Queen of Carthage.

The House of Fallen Sisters by Louise Hare (12th February 2026; HQ) – A new novel about the dark side of 18th century London

The Night Hag by Hester Musson (26th February 2026; Fourth Estate) – Historical mystery set in 19th century Scotland.

The Cromarty Library Circle by Shona MacLean (26th February 2026; Quercus) – A group of people are drawn together by their love of books in 1830s Scotland.

Nonesuch by Francis Spufford (26th February 2026; Faber & Faber) – Historical fantasy set during the London Blitz.

MARCH

A Far-flung Life by ML Stedman (5th March 2026; Transworld) – A family saga set in Western Australia. It’s been such a long time since Stedman’s first novel!

Pixie by Jill Dawson (12th March 2026; Bloomsbury) – A fictional account of the life of Pamela ‘Pixie’ Colman Smith, a British artist, illustrator, writer and occultist.

A Remedy for Fate by MA Kuzniar (12th March 2026; Hodderscape) – Historical fantasy set in the Magic Quarter of 18th century Prague.

Love Lane by Patrick Gale (26th March 2026; Tinder Press) – A sequel to A Place Called Winter, this time taking us to 1950s Liverpool.

The Dreadfuls by A. Rae Dunlap (31st March 2026; Kensington Publishing) – Historical thriller revolving around the Jack the Ripper murders.

APRIL

The Crownless Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick (9th April 2026; Sphere) – The second in Chadwick’s duology about Jeanette of Kent.

Lochbound by Rebecca Templeton (16th April 2026; Sphere) – A woman in 1720s Scotland is cursed to spend her days in the form of a monster imprisoned in a loch.

Lidie by Jane Smiley (21st April 2026; Knopf Publishing Group) – Two women flee America just before the Civil War begins to start a new life in England.

The House of Boleyn by Tracey Borman (23rd April 2026; Hodder & Stoughton) – A novel about the rise and fall of the Boleyn family.

MAY

Rebel’s Gambit by SJ Parris (21st May 2026; Hemlock Press) – The second book in Parris’ new Sophia de Wolfe mystery series.

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (21st May 2026; Penguin) – Stockett’s long-awaited second novel follows a group of women living in Mississippi during the Great Depression.

Murder at the Spirit Lounge by Jess Kidd (21st May 2026; Faber & Faber) – The second book in the Nora Breen mystery series, starring an ex-nun detective and set in a 1950s seaside town.

The Boleyn Secret by Alison Weir (21st May 2026; Headline) – The latest of Weir’s Tudor novels, this time about Anne Boleyn’s niece, Kate Carey.

The Repentants by Kate Foster (28th May 2026; Mantle) – Foster’s new novel is set in the 18th century and inspired by a real-life attempt by Scottish landowners to annex Iceland for the British Empire.

JUNE

Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See (2nd June 2026; Scribner) – The story of three Chinese women who arrive in Los Angeles in 1870.

The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden (2nd June 2026; Century) – Historical fantasy set in the magical forests of Brittany. I can’t wait for this one!

Land by Maggie O’Farrell (2nd June 2026; Tinder Press) – The story of a father and son working on a project to map the whole of Ireland in 1865.

The Queen’s Sister by Carol McGrath (4th June 2026; Headline) – A Tudor novel about Elizabeth Seymour, sister of Henry VIII’s wife Jane Seymour.

A Ghost Hunter’s Guide to Catching a Killer by FH Petford (4th June 2026; Hodder & Stoughton) – The second book in the Alma Timperley mystery series set during the First World War.

Pale Mistress by Naomi Kelsey (4th June 2026; Harper North) – Set in 17th century Cyprus, this is a reimagining of the story of Bianca from Shakespeare’s Othello.

The Lost Chateau by Dinah Jefferies (4th June 2026; HarperCollins) – A sequel to The Greek House, this time taking us to the French countryside in the 1930s.

This Immortal Heart by Jennifer Saint (4th June 2026; Viking) – A retelling of the story of Aphrodite and her relationship with Ares.

JULY

The Scandalous Ladies Football Club by Frances Quinn (2nd July 2026; Simon & Schuster) – A group of women form Britain’s first ever women’s football team in 1890s London.

AUGUST

Henrietta by Sophie Irwin (13th August 2026; Penguin) – Described as ‘the first and only authorised Georgette Heyer continuation novel’, this book takes characters from Heyer’s Snowdrift collection and works them into a new novel.

Agrippa by Robert Harris (27th August 2026; Hutchinson Heinemann) – The story of the Emperor Augustus seen through the eyes of his closest friend, Agrippa. I love Harris’s books set in Ancient Rome!

SEPTEMBER

Cold Sunset by William Boyd (3rd September 2026; Penguin) – The third book featuring accidental spy Gabriel Dax, this time taking us to Cold War Russia.

The Midnight Guests by Alex Hay (10th September 2026; Headline) – A mystery unfolding over a period of twenty-four hours in a 1920s London hotel.

The Housekeeper by Rose Tremain (17th September 2026; Chatto & Windus) – A fictional account of the woman who inspired Mrs Danvers in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.

OCTOBER

The Puffin by Michelle Lovric (8th October 2026; Salt) – A sequel to Lovric’s The Book of Human Skin, set in 19th century Venice.

DECEMBER

Domain of Darkness by Marisa Linton (3rd December 2026; Hodderscape) – The sequel to the Edwardian supernatural mystery Circle of Shadows, which I read earlier this month and enjoyed.

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Will you be reading any of these books? Are there any other 2026 historical fiction releases you’re looking forward to?

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?

Welcome to this month’s post on all things historical fiction!

First of all, congratulations to Andrew Miller, the winner of this year’s Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, announced at the Borders Book Festival last week.

The winning novel, The Land in Winter, is one of the shortlisted titles that I haven’t read yet and is about two couples living in an English village during the winter of 1962-63, one of the coldest on record. I’ve enjoyed other books by Miller, so I’m sure it’s a deserving winner – and, to be honest, I’m pleased neither Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon nor The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry won the prize as they are the only two I’ve managed to read from the shortlist so far and I didn’t love either. I’ll look forward to reading the Miller book and the other three shortlisted titles, probably after I finish the 20 Books of Summer challenge.

Moving on, last December I posted a list of upcoming historical fiction being published in 2025. Now that we’re halfway through the year, more titles have been announced so I thought I would post an updated list below for the rest of the year. This is simply a selection of books that have caught my attention for one reason or another – some are review copies I’ve received, some are new books by authors I’ve previously enjoyed and others just sounded interesting. Most of the July and August ones are already on my 20 Books of Summer list, so you should be hearing more about them here soon!

Dates provided are for the UK and were correct at the time of posting.

July

Sinners by Elizabeth Fremantle (3rd July 2025)

These Wicked Devices by Matthew Plampin (3rd July 2025)

The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (10th July 2025)

Love and Other Poisons by Lesley McDowell (17th July 2025)

A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith (17th July 2025) – I’ve already read and loved this one!

How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days by Sophie Irwin (31st July 2025)

The Emerald Shawl by Louise Douglas (31st July 2025)

August

The House at Devil’s Neck by Tom Mead (14th August 2025)

Boudicca’s Daughter by Elodie Harper (28th August 2025)

September

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan (2nd September 2025)

The Predicament by William Boyd (4th September 2025)

Circle of Days by Ken Follett (23rd September 2025)

Venetian Vespers by John Banville (25th September 2025)

October

Benbecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet (2nd October 2025)

Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory (7th October 2025)

House of Splinters by Laura Purcell (9th October 2025)

The Witching Hour by various authors (16th October 2025)

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Are you interested in reading any of these? Which other historical novels should I be looking out for before the year of the year? And what do you think of The Land in Winter winning the Walter Scott Prize?

Welcome to my monthly post on all things historical fiction. For my first Musings post of the year, I am looking back at the historical fiction I read in 2024 and have put together my usual selection of charts and lists! I have kept most of the same categories I’ve used for the previous eight years so that it should be easy to make comparisons and to see if there have been any interesting changes in my reading patterns and choices (here are my posts for 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016).

Before I begin, just a reminder that I do actually read other genres but for the purposes of this post I haven’t included those books in these stats!

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Time periods read about in 2024:

The 19th and 20th centuries are almost always the top two periods I read about and last year I read an equal number of books set in each of them.

The books I read with the earliest settings were Babylonia by Costanza Casati (set in the Assyrian Empire in the 9th century BC) and The Voyage Home by Pat Barker (set in Ancient Greece).

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35% of the historical fiction authors I read in 2024 were new to me.

This is about the same as the last few years; apart from in 2019, when I read 54% new authors, I do tend to stick mainly to authors I already know and love.

Here are three historical novels I read by new-to-me authors in 2024:

The Bone Hunters by Joanne Burn
The King’s Witches by Kate Foster
The Fraud by Zadie Smith

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I read 3 historical novels in translation in 2024

If I had included books from all genres, I would have had a much longer list of translated works read in 2024, but these are just the historical ones. Two Japanese and one Welsh!

Silence by Shūsaku Endō (Translated from Japanese by William Johnston)
The Life of Rebecca Jones by Angharad Price (Translated from Welsh by Lloyd Jones)
The Meiji Guillotine Murders by Futaro Yamada (Translated from Japanese by Bryan Karetnyk)

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Publication dates of historical fiction read in 2024:

Again, most of the historical fiction books I read were new releases, which I know is due to my use of NetGalley. I do have lots of older books on my own shelves and am hoping to read more of them in 2025, but I say that every year so we’ll see!

The oldest historical fiction novel I read in 2024 was The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy (published in 1880 and set during the Napoleonic Wars).

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14% of my historical reads in 2024 were historical mysteries.

This is about the same percentage as in previous years. Here are three I enjoyed reading in 2024:

The Bells of Westminster by Leonora Nattrass
A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith
Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead

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I read historical fiction set in 24 different countries in 2024:

This is an improvement on 2023 when I read about 17 countries. England still dominates, but I’m pleased to have read about such a wide variety of other countries as well, even if there were just one or two books set in each. I’ve included Babylonia as a country here, although it was actually an ancient state located in modern day Iraq, Iran and Syria.

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Four historical men I read about in 2024:

St Cuthbert (Cuddy by Benjamin Myers)
Lord Edward Fitzgerald (The Ballad of Lord Edward and Citizen Small by Neil Jordan)
Llewelyn ap Gruffydd (The Reckoning by Sharon Penman)
Somerset Maugham (The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng

Four historical women I read about in 2024:

Claire Clairmont (Clairmont by Lesley McDowell)
Elizabeth Bathory (The Nightingale’s Castle by Sonia Velton)
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (A Woman of Opinion by Sean Lusk)
Berengaria of Navarre (The Lost Queen by Carol McGrath)

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What about you? Did you read any good historical fiction last year? Have you read any of the books or authors I’ve mentioned here and have you noticed any patterns or trends in your own reading?

In what has become a December tradition here on the blog, it’s time to look ahead to the historical fiction being published in the year to come. I’m listing below a selection of 2025 releases that have caught my attention for one reason or another – some are review copies I’ve received, some are new books by authors I’ve previously enjoyed and others just sound interesting. 2025 looks like being a great year for historical fiction – this list is longer than ever – and I hope there’s something here that appeals to you.

Dates provided are for the UK and were correct at the time of posting.

JANUARY

The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O’Connor (30th January 2025) – The sequel to O’Connor’s My Father’s House, continuing the story of the Escape Line, a group of activists who smuggle refugees out of Nazi-occupied Rome.

The Queen of Fives by Alex Hay (30th January 2025) I’ve read this one already and will post my review when the book is published. It’s about a Victorian con woman who has five days to win a fortune.

Island Song by Pepsi Demacque-Crockett (30th January 2025) – This debut novel takes Agnes Deterville from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia to a new life in 1950s London.

The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap (30th January 2025) – Follows the story of a young medical student who joins a group of body snatchers, providing corpses to anatomy schools in 19th century Edinburgh.

FEBRUARY

The Night of the Scourge by Lars Mytting (4th February 2025) – This will be the final book in the Sister Bells trilogy set in a Norwegian village and based around the legend of two very special church bells.

The Secrets of the Rose by Nicola Cornick (7th February 2025) – Like most of Cornick’s novels, this is a dual time period one, with the historical storyline being set at Bamburgh Hall in 1715.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart (13th February 2025) – Divided between the 19th century and the present day, this is the story of two sets of sisters separated by two hundred years.

The Woman in the Wallpaper by Lora Jones (20th February 2025) – The story of two sisters who work at a French wallpaper factory during the Revolution.

The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn (27th February 2025) I loved Frances Quinn’s last book, That Bonesetter Woman, so I’m looking forward to this one about a woman who disappears after the sinking of the Titanic.

Carrion Crow by Heather Parry (27th February 2025) – A Gothic novel about a woman locked in the attic of her family home. I’ve read this one in advance and it’s very unsettling!

The Portrait Artist by Dani Heywood-Lonsdale (27th February 2025) – Historical mystery with an art theme, set in the Victorian period.

The Queen and the Countess by Anne O’Brien (27th February 2025) – Set during the Wars of the Roses, one of my favourite time periods, this novel will tell the stories of Margaret of Anjou and Anne, Countess of Warwick.

MARCH

Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd (11th March 2025) – I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Jess Kidd so far, but this sounds like something different from her – the first in a series of 1950s seaside mysteries.

The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue (20th March 2025) – Donoghue’s new novel is inspired by the Granville to Paris rail disaster of 1895.

APRIL

The Versailles Formula by Nancy Bilyeau (1st April 2025) – I’m not sure about the date for this one as I can’t find details anywhere except Goodreads, but this will be the next book in Bilyeau’s wonderful Genevieve Planché series.

The Eights by Joanna Miller (3rd April 2025) – A novel about the first group of female students to attend Oxford University.

The Greek House by Dinah Jefferies (24th April 2025) – A woman returns to Corfu in 1934, the site of her brother’s tragic disappearance years earlier.

The Midnight Carousel by Fiza Saeed McLynn (24th April 2025) – I’m intrigued by the sound of this novel about a French carousel-maker and a woman who discovers one of his carousels twenty years later.

MAY

Cleopatra by Natasha Solomons (8th May 2025) – I’ve enjoyed some of Solomons’ other books, so will be interested to see what she does with the story of Cleopatra.

The Cardinal by Alison Weir (22nd May 2025) – Following her recent Tudor Rose trilogy, Weir stays in the Tudor period for her new novel which covers the rise and fall of Cardinal Wolsey.

The House of Seymour by Joanna Hickson (22nd May 2025) – I’ve enjoyed most of Joanna Hickson’s other books. Her new one is about the Seymour family of Wolf Hall.

The Elopement by Gill Hornby (22nd May 2025) – In this sequel to Hornby’s Godmersham Park, Jane Austen’s niece, Fanny Knight, is now married to Sir Edward Knatchbull and busy raising his five children.

The Mourning Necklace by Kate Foster (29th May 2025) – Inspired by the real-life story of a woman who survived her own hanging in 1724.

JUNE

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor (5th June 2025) – After writing six books in the Marwood and Lovett series, Taylor is moving on to something different with this new historical mystery set in 1945.

The Rush by Beth Lewis (12th June 2025) – A new historical crime novel set in Canada during the Gold Rush.

Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor (19th June 2025) – Set in 1930s Kansas, this is the story of Emily Gale, Dorothy’s Aunt Em from The Wizard of Oz.

Love, Sex and Frankenstein by Caroline Lea (26th June 2025) – I’ve read several novels about the summer of 1816 at Lake Geneva when Mary Shelley began to write Frankenstein. It will be interesting to see how Lea approaches the subject.

JULY

Sinners by Elizabeth Fremantle (3rd July 2025) – Set in Rome in 1599, this novel is based on the true story of the Italian noblewoman, Beatrice Cenci.

The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (10th July 2025) – I’ve loved all of Shepherd-Robinson’s previous books and this new one, a thriller set in Georgian London, sounds equally wonderful!

The House at Devil’s Neck by Tom Mead (15th July 2025) – This will be the fourth book in Mead’s mystery series set in the 1930s and featuring the partnership of Scotland Yard detective Inspector Flint and the retired magician, Joseph Spector.

Love and Other Poisons by Lesley McDowell (17th July 2025) – Based on a true crime in which a woman, Madeleine Smith, is accused of murdering her lover in Victorian Glasgow.

A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith (17th July 2025) – The second in Smith’s new series about Gabriel Ward, a lawyer who works in London’s Inner Temple in the early 20th century. I loved the first book, so am particularly looking forward to this one!

How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days by Sophie Irwin (31st July 2025) – Irwin has written two very entertaining Regency romances and I’m sure this one will be just as much fun.

The Death of Shame by Ambrose Parry (31st July 2025) – I love this series set in the medical world of 19th century Edinburgh, so I’m happy to see there’s a new book coming next year.

AUGUST

Boudicca’s Daughter by Elodie Harper (28th August 2025) – Following her success with the Wolf Den trilogy, Harper’s next book is going to tell the story of Solina, Boudicca’s daughter.

SEPTEMBER

Circle of Days by Ken Follett (23rd September 2025) – Follett’s new novel will follow the stories of several people involved in the building of Stonehenge.

OCTOBER

House of Splinters by Laura Purcell (9th October 2025) – A new haunted house novel returning to the setting of Purcell’s earlier book, The Silent Companions.

Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory (9th October 2025) – Gregory returns to the Tudor period for her new book about Jane Parker, wife of Anne Boleyn’s brother George.

The Witching Hour by various authors (16th October 2025) – I enjoyed The Winter Spirits so am looking forward to this new, similar collection of short stories by some of my favourite current authors of historical fiction.

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Are you interested in reading any of these? Are there any other historical novels coming in 2025 that I’ve missed?

Welcome to my not-quite-monthly post on all things historical fiction!

This month, I want to highlight the HWA Crown Award longlists which were announced on X last Wednesday by the Historical Writers Association. 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 are announced in October and the winner in November. I have no plans to try to read all of these books, but thought it would be interesting to look at what I’ve read so far from each list.

Gold Crown Award 2024 longlist

The Glutton by AK Blakemore
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
Clear by Carys Davies
You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, tr Natasha Wimmer
Disobedient by Elizabeth Fremantle
Loot by Tania James
The Book of Days by Francesca Kay
Quint by Robert Lautner
Cast a Cold Eye by Robbie Morrison
A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata, tr Juliet Winters Carpenter
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford
Absolutely and Forever by Rose Tremain

I enjoyed Disobedient, about the painter Artemisia Gentileschi, but I was a bit disappointed by the Yangsze Choo, which I found very slow. Absolutely and Forever (also shortlisted for this year’s Walter Scott Prize) and Cahokia Jazz are already on my TBR, and I’ll consider reading the two translated books as I’m making an effort to read more historical fiction in translation. I’m not familiar with any of the others on the list.

Non-fiction Crown Award 2024 longlist

I Seek a Kind Person by Julian Borger
Final Verdict by Tobias Buck
Messalina by Honor Cargill-Martin
Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans by Daniel Cowling
The Shoulders We Stand On by Preeti Dhillon
Survivors by Hannah Durkin
The Exiled by Lucy Fulford
Four Shots In the Night by Henry Hemming
Agincourt by Michael Livingston
The Picnic by Matthew Longo
A Dirty, Filthy Book by Michael Meyer
Impossible Monsters by Michael Taylor

I haven’t read any of these, but as I don’t read a lot of non-fiction in general, that’s not really surprising. I’ve investigated the titles on this list and I feel that there’s not a lot of variety this year, with most of the books dealing with either war or race and immigration. Still, I’m sure they are all interesting reads and if you’ve read any of them, I would like to hear your recommendations.

Debut Crown Award 2024 longlist

The Other Side of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker
The Golden Gate by Amy Chua
Leeward by Katie Daysh
Colours of Siena by Judith May Evans
The Maiden by Kate Foster
The Painter’s Daughters by Emily Howes
All Us Sinners by Katy Massey
The Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill
The Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer
The Beholders by Hester Musson
The Revels by Stacey Thomas
The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh

I loved the Lucy Barker; the other two books I’ve read from this list were enjoyable enough but not necessarily books I would have expected to see nominated for awards. I was already interested in reading The Maiden after enjoying Kate Foster’s new book, The King’s Witches, earlier this year and The Tumbling Girl sounds fun, but I’m not sure if I’ll look for any of the others.

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What do you think of these longlists? Have you read any of these books or are there any you would like to read?