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

First of all, congratulations to Alice Jolly, who has won this year’s Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. The winner was announced at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland yesterday, chosen from a shortlist of five books.

The winning novel, The Matchbox Girl, is one of the shortlisted titles that I haven’t read yet. It tells the story of Adelheid Brunner, a mute autistic patient of Dr Hans Asperger in the Vienna Children’s Hospital during the 1930s, while the city is occupied by the Nazis. I’m not sure if I’ll like it as it seems to be written in an unusual style, but I do have a copy of it and will try to get to it soon.

Moving on, last December I posted a list of upcoming historical fiction being published in 2026. 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.

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

JULY

The Scandalous Ladies Football Club by Frances Quinn (2nd July 2026)

Venus, Vanishing by Rebecca Birrell (16th July 2026)

The Forever Summer by Lulu Taylor (30th July 2026)

The Valley of Ravens by Barbara Erskine (30th July 2026)

AUGUST

Little Spark by Jess Kidd (13th August 2026)

Henrietta by Sophie Irwin (13th August 2026)

Agrippa by Robert Harris (27th August 2026)

SEPTEMBER

The Snow Witch by Kirsty Ferry (3rd September 2026)

Cold Sunset by William Boyd (3rd September 2026)

The Newer World by Sebastian Barry (8th September 2026)

The Midnight Guests by Alex Hay (10th September 2026)

Our Noble Selves by Kate Atkinson (10th September 2026)

The Housekeeper by Rose Tremain (17th September 2026)

The Wine-Dark Sea by Victoria Hislop (24th September 2026)

OCTOBER

The Weight of Angels by John Boyne (1st October 2026)

The Puffin by Michelle Lovric (8th October 2026)

Royal Witch by Philippa Gregory (20th October 2026)

NOVEMBER

The Bells of Fortune by Leonora Nattrass (5th November 2026)

The Christmas Tree Murders by Katie Lumsden (5th November 2026)

Orlando by Harry Whittaker (5th November 2026)

Numb Were the Beadsman’s Fingers by Alan Bradley (5th November 2026)

Thorns in the Hollow by Laura Purcell (26th November 2026)

DECEMBER

Domain of Darkness by Marisa Linton (3rd December 2026)

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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 Alice Jolly winning the Walter Scott Prize?

Welcome to my monthly post on all things historical fiction. For my first Musings post of the year, as is now traditional here, I am looking back at the historical fiction I read in 2025 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 2024, 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 2025:

The 19th and 20th centuries are almost always the top two periods I read about and last year I read amost an equal number of books set in each of them. A change from the previous year is that I read more books set in the 18th century than in the 17th.

I read four books with Ancient history settings last year: Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault (4th Century BC), The Hymn to Dionysus by Natasha Pulley (Ancient Greece), Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (5th Century BC) and Cleopatra by Natasha Solomons (Ancient Egypt).

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33% of the historical fiction authors I read in 2025 were new to me.

This is almost exactly the same as last year; 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 2025:

The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap
The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
Clear by Carys Davies

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I read 1 historical novel in translation in 2025

This is a big disappointment. If I included books of all genres, however, I would have more translated novels on my list with languages ranging from Japanese to German and Norwegian.

If you’re wondering, the one historical novel I did read in translation last year was The Lily and the Lion by Maurice Druon.

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Publication dates of historical fiction read in 2025:

As usual, most of the historical fiction books I read were new releases, which I know is due to my use of NetGalley. If you factor in all the other books I read last year, including Golden Age crime, for example, the picture would look very different. I do have lots of older historical novels on my own shelves and am hoping to read more of them in 2026, but I say that every year so we’ll see!

The oldest historical fiction novel I read in 2025 was Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner (an adventure story published in 1898 and set in the 18th century).

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19% of my historical reads in 2025 were historical mysteries.

This is slightly up on the previous year. Here are three I enjoyed reading in 2025:

A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith
The House at Devil’s Neck by Tom Mead
Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd

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I read historical fiction set in 17 different countries in 2025:

Although England still dominates, I did read historical novels set in 17 different countries last year. I think Guatemala and St Lucia are probably completely new settings for me as well! Here are three novels I read set in countries other than my own:

The Sirens by Emilia Hart (Australia)
The Rush by Beth Lewis (Canada)
Venetian Vespers by John Banville (Italy)

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Four historical men I read about in 2025:

Thomas Wolsey (The Cardinal by Alison Weir)
Robert of Artois (The Lily and the Lion by Maurice Druon)
Anthony Pratt – and his wife, Elva (The Christmas Clue by Nicola Upson)
Alexander the Great (Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault)

Four historical women I read about in 2025:

Dorothy Forster (The Secrets of the Rose by Nicola Cornick)
Beatrice Cenci (Sinners by Elizabeth Fremantle)
Olimpia Maidalchini (These Wicked Devices by Matthew Plampin)
Mary Shelley (Love, Sex & Frankenstein by Caroline Lea)

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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? Are there any other statistics you would like me to start including?

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?