|summary=Imagine first century Rome as seen through the eyes of a wry Brummie with a fine sense of humour and a real talent for introducing you to characters so real you could easily see yourself having a drink with them after a hard week at the office. That is Lindsey Davis' gift, and while this book is a departure from her usual Falco novels, the trademark charm, piercing intelligence and ready wit are as abundant as ever.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444707329</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Emma Donoghue
|title=The Sealed Letter
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=If you are in the mood for a deliciously scandalous Victorian page-turner, look no further than Emma Donoghue's ''The Sealed Letter''. Set in 1864, it's based on the real life story of secrets and scandal surrounding Helen Codrington's divorce from her older husband, the rather dull Vice Admiral Codrington. There's added spice and intrigue provided by the unwitting involvement in events of Emily 'Fido' Faithfull, an early mover in the rights of women movement and that good old standard, the Victorian spinster.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447205987</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jennifer McVeigh
|title=The Fever Tree
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Frances Irvine enjoys a privileged lifestyle in Victorian England: a beautiful house, servants, rich gowns and all the trappings her position as the daughter of an industrialist demands. However, Frances' lifestyle proves to be a precarious house of cards balanced on her father's investment in the Northern Pacific Railroad in North America. When the Canadian terrain proves too much for the railroad construction to continue, her father's shares are rendered worthless. As this occurs just before his sudden death, Frances is forced to make a choice as her finery and home are auctioned off. Does she throw herself on the mercy of her lower class relatives or commit herself to a loveless marriage to distant cousin Dr Edwin Matthews?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0670920894</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Sax Rohmer
|title=Fu Manchu - The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
|rating=4
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=A couple of years after their encounter with the villainous Dr Fu Manchu, Dr Petrie and Nayland Smith are reunited once more to take on the returning evil genius. When the Rev JD Eltham vanishes after conversing with Petrie, the two realise that Fu Manchu has returned and must risk life and limb to save their friend.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857686046</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Margaret Dickinson
|title=Jenny's War
|rating=3.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Jenny's home life in the East End is an uncomfortable one. Her mother Dot cares little for her and thinks nothing of giving her a slap to make sure she knows her place. Dot's boyfriend, Arthur, tries to show Jenny some kindness but has issues of his own.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330544306</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tan Twan Eng
|title=The Garden of Evening Mists
|rating=5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Malay Chinese Teoh Yun Ling travels to the Cameron Highlands of Malaya to meet the legendary Japanese garden designer and expert, Nakamura Aritomo. As the sole survivor of a World War II Japanese slave labour camp, Yun Ling has many reasons to hate the Japanese but some things are stronger than hatred. For, whilst in the camp, she promised her sister a Japanese garden. When life became difficult during interment, the sisters discussed and visualised the finished result to keep them hanging on. Ling's sister perished but the dream of a memorial garden drives her on. Nothing is that straightforward, though. The designer refuses the commission. Instead he suggests that she stays, as his apprentice, learning the art in order to become her own designer. Yun Ling agrees and discovers more than horticultural finesse.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905802625</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Meg Clothier
|title=The Girl King
|rating=4
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=King Giorgi, King of Georgia, is without an heir so he does the unthinkable. He names his eldest daughter, Tamar, as 'King' on his death. Tamar is strong, feisty and a total tomboy but, the fact remains, she's female. Therefore when Giorgi passes away the kingdom he's held together starts to crack as the opportunists equate the fairer sex with weakness and possibilities. If Tamar is to gain united lands, she must lose something in return. Is this a sacrifice too far?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099553139</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Ella March Chase
|title=The Virgin Queen's Daughter
|rating=4
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Elinor de Lacey (Nell) has an eager, quick mind that's been trained by her scholarly father, against her mother's wishes. Nell would rather be discussing Copernicus' latest theories than learn how to keep a wet larder or how to be a dutiful wife. It's Nell's greatest wish, in fact, to attend the court of Queen Elizabeth I so that she can discuss and argue with the finest scientific and philosophical minds of the day, but her mother is ardently against it. Nell doesn't understand why. Not, that is, until her dream becomes a reality but by then it's too late to go back.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091947162</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Victoria Lamb
|title=The Queen's Secret
|rating=3.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=It was July 1575 and the court had left the unpleasant atmosphere of London for its annual progress round the homes of the more prominent nobles. It was to stay at Kenilworth Castle, home of the Earl of Leicester (better known as Robert Dudley, the queen's favourite) for some three weeks. The expenditure on the stay was enormous, but Leicester was determined to persuade Queen Elizabeth to marry him. The fact that he was also having an affair with Lettice Knollys, wife of the Earl of Essex, was beside the point. Lucy Morgan, a black entertainer of Moorish descent, was drawn into the midst of this intrigue and found herself on the edge of a plot to assassinate the queen.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0593067991</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Dasa Drndic and Ellen Elias-Bursac (translator)
|title=Trieste
|rating=5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Haya Tedeschi, an 82 year old woman, sits alone in Italy, waiting. She waits for the adult son she hasn't seen since he was a baby. As Haya waits, she goes through her red basket of photographs and memorabilia, hanging ''out her life on an imaginary washing line''. She then takes the reader back in time, back to her life as a Catholicised Jew, before, during and after World War II in an area called Trieste.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857050222</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Elaine di Rollo
|title=Bleakly Hall
|rating=5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Nurse Montgomery (Monty to her friends) and daring ambulance driver, Ada, met in Belgium during World War I. They worked as a team collecting the injured from the front line, dodging snipers and shells and ignoring social standards that accompanied the class system of the day. Monty may have been Ada's social 'superior' but such things were irrelevant whilst they faced death on an hourly basis. After the war Monty comes to work at Bleakly Hall, a hydropathic or country house hotel specialising in hydro therapies for the rich and ailing and is reunited with Ada, working as a mechanic and all-round assistant.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099513471</amazonuk>
}}