Newest Historical Fiction Reviews
The May Bride by Suzannah Dunn
Dateline approximately 1527: Edward Seymour marries Katherine Filliol and takes her to live with his family at Wolf Hall. The days pass happily as coquettish Katherine proves to be a breath of fresh air for the household of Sir John and Lady Margery. Of all John's Seymour siblings she's drawn to young Jane the most, the two developing a close friendship punctuated by fun and confidences. (Including some of which Jane is too young to understand fully.) However there is one secret that Katherine doesn't confide and that's the secret that will pull the Seymour family apart. Full review...
The Good Italian by Stephen Burke
Enzo is an Italian living in Eritrea, part of Mussolini's new Italian empire of 1935. In charge of the quiet Massawe Harbour he leads an equally quiet life, trying to adhere to gentlemanly standards; being the good Italian. His friend Salvatore, a Colonel in the occupying Italian army, thinks Enzo should live a little and have some fun with the local women, just like his peers. Enzo isn't so sure but decides to engage a local cook/cleaner - see how it goes. The streetwise Aatifa gets the job, both she and Enzo being surprised by things that weren't in the job description. Meanwhile Mussolini has plans for Massawe that will change Enzo, Aatifa (and everyone around them) forever. Full review...
Poppy by Mary Hooper
Poppy is a parlourmaid at the de Vere family's country house when World War I breaks out. Poppy is a very bright girl but had to enter service rather than continuing on to college after school because her family is poor. But the war is changing everything - even for working class girls - and Poppy's old teacher sees an opportunity for her intelligent ex-pupil. She suggests that Poppy become a volunteer nurse, a VAD. Full review...
August Folly by Angela Thirkell
Richard Tebben came down from Oxford in June with an undistinguished Third and little idea of what he wanted to do with himself. It was a pity that money dictated the need to remain in the Barsetshire village of Worsted (just a little way from Winter Overcotes) with his family and others who were not really up to scratch (his mother had taken a First...) particularly as there was little in the way of diversion other than Mrs Palmer's Greek play, into which everyone was roped willy-nilly. Then the Dean family arrived for the summer, impossibly glamorous and accompanied by six of their nine children and Richard was immediately smitten by Rachel Dean, mother of the family and more than twice his age. Full review...
Rough Passage to London: A Sea Captain's Tale, a Novel by Robin Lloyd
Elisha Ely Morgan leaves his native Connecticut to go to sea, partially but not entirely to escape his father's cruelty. There's a second reason: the sea has been blamed for the loss of two of his brothers, the exact circumstances of his elder brother's disappearance never having been clear. But Ely has heard a rumour; a rumour that will take him as far away as London and obsess him for decades. His brother Abraham may not be dead. Full review...
The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark
Elizabeth Pringle bequeathed her house on Arran to Anna Morrison even though she didn't actually know her. Anna just happened to walk past and ask to buy the house decades earlier. Elizabeth hadn't said yes but always remembered the young lady, walking past with the baby in the pram. The baby, Martha, is now an adult visiting Elizabeth's house – Anna's house – after Elizabeth's death. Through the belongings that Elizabeth left with it, Martha sees glimpses of a past life while hoping that that this refuge will now become a haven for her mother before it's too late and while she still has a mind to take her back to the good times. Full review...
After the Bombing by Clare Morrall
On 28th March 1942, the city of Lubeck was attacked by RAF bombers. The medieval buildings were reduced to rubble and hundreds of innocent people lost their lives. In retaliation, Hitler decided to bomb the most beautiful and culturally rich cities of England, using Baedeker’s tourist guide as a reference. The cities he chose were Exeter, Bath, Norwich, York and Canterbury. 'After the Bombing' follows the story of an Exeter schoolgirl and her friends in the aftermath of the attack. Full review...
Midnight in St Petersburg by Vanora Bennett
Inna Feldman is in the Kiev theatre the night that Prime Minister Stolypin is assassinated in front of the Tsar. Fearing the retribution against the Jews in general and being picked out as a suspect in particular, Inna flees to St Petersburg and her landlord's cousin Yasha. Her arrival causes complications. Not only is she unexpected but Yasha is a revolutionary, a dangerous occupation in Russia during 1911. The family that Yasha is living with takes her in anyway, unaware that darker times are ahead for all of them. Full review...
The Illusionists by Rosie Thomas
Devil Wix is a great Victorian illusionist. Admittedly Lady Luck hasn’t been too good to him lately and he may look a little ragged but he's talented and repeatedly tells himself so. One particular night as he's reassuring himself over a drink or three, he runs into Carlo Boldoni. (Or rather Carlo runs into him as he's picking Devil's pocket at the time.) Formerly Charlie Morris and a dwarf to the Victorians/person of restricted growth to us, Carlo was part of a performing troupe but now finds himself alone due to tragic circumstances. They join forces but little do they know the future nor the part that a certain young lady will play in it. Full review...
Love and Treasure by Ayelet Waldman
Jack and his granddaughter Natalie are both at a cross roads in their lives. She is single again after a short disastrous marriage and he is dying. Natalie comes to stay and during her visit Jack asks a favour. He asks her to embark on a mission for him involving a peacock pendant and some unfinished business from nearly 70 years ago. Full review...
The Eagle Trail by Robert Rigby
The Nazis have occupied Antwerp, where Paul lives with his English father and French mother. But Paul doesn't think things are too bad. Life is going on pretty much as normal if you are a teenaged boy, Paul feels. But Paul is wrong.
In the space of an afternoon, Paul's world is turned upside down. His father is shot in front of him, having been discovered as an early resistance organiser. His mother is arrested. And Paul finds himself fleeing for his life, hunted by the Nazis for what his father knew. The journey is a long and dangerous one - through Belgium and France for the Pyrenees and Spain and then, hopefully, for England. Every stage is dangerous but the final one - the Eagle Trail across the mountains - is the most perilous. Full review...
I Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira
Mary Cassatt was an anomaly among the Impressionists: she was one of very few women, and also the only American-born member. A Philadelphia native, she made Paris home for nearly five decades. Oliveira's novel opens in 1926, with Cassatt (now nearly blind) searching for the letters Edgar Degas wrote her in the 1870s-80s. Degas and Cassatt had been subjects of Parisian gossip; no one knew for sure whether their friendship shaded into romance. Even Mary herself seems confused about what they meant to each other; 'she still didn't understand…whether there was room for love in two lives already consumed by passion of another sort. Full review...
Loxley by Sally Wragg
Harry, the eleventh Duke of Loxley, fell in love with Bronwyn and they married. It wasn't the match that his mother would have chosen - Bronwyn was, after all, nothing more than the daughter of the local doctor and even Harry and Bronwyn wondered whether or not they'd done the right thing as they struggled to come to terms with married life. Katherine, the dowager Duchess, didn't make Bronwyn's life any easier - I mean, the girl wasn't above starting to clear the breakfast dishes when there were servants to do that sort of thing. And - to cap it all - she still wasn't pregnant and an heir for Loxley was of paramount importance. Full review...
The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson
1727: The Marshalsea prison is hell on Earth and a Damoclesian sword over the heads of prospective debtors. Tom Hawkins, gambler and bon viveur, has always stayed one step ahead of it until, ironically, the day of his big win. He's mugged, his winnings are stolen and Tom's hurled into the depths of Sheol itself. Is it as bad as he thought? Worse! Not only does he have to survive the cruel and brutal deprivations but a murderer walks the prison's corridors. Full review...
Kindred by Octavia E Butler
Life is a nightmare for black women (and indeed men) back in the southern USA in 1815. For Dana that's just history as she lives over a century away with her husband in their new LA apartment. However one day everything changes: Dana starts to feel faint, the edges of her modern life blur and she's back in the era that can take more than her liberty. She knows her time travel is somehow linked to plantation owner's son Rufus but that doesn't help. In fact its knowledge that could make matters worse. Full review...
Everland by Rebecca Hunt
There have been two expeditions to the Antarctic island of Everland a century apart. The ill-fated 1913 trip of Dinners, Napps and Millet-Bass is primitive by today's standards. The 2012 expedition is better equipped, better prepared and arrives at a better time of year so all bodes well for Decker, Brix and Jess. But despite the differences both expeditions have things in common. Both groups carry secrets, some become obvious but others remain behind waiting to become discovered. Full review...
Empress of the Night by Eva Stachniak
Russia, 1796 and the ruler is dying from a stroke. As each new symptom hits and her life recedes a little further she remembers how she came this far. Her recollections begin when she was Sophie, Princess of Anholt-Zerbst, sent to young Russian Grand Duke Peter as a marriage prospect. The wedding plans go through and her new life is accompanied by a name change: Princess Sophie becomes Catherine Alekseyevna but history will christen her Catherine the Great. Full review...
A Love Like Blood by Marcus Sedgwick
One day towards the end of World War Two, Charles Jackson is dragged to a museum of antiquities just outside a newly liberated Paris by his commanding officer during their downtime. While the other looks at the unusual ancient artefacts, Jackson finds something much more horrific – a man in a wartime bunker in the grounds, squatting over a female figure, blood on his lips that could only have come from her neckline. Years later, Jackson returns to Paris for reasons to do with his medical career, and finds the same man in the company of someone who, were he only aware of the fact, is to become the first and possibly only love of his life. But that's not the only time the paths of Jackson and the mysterious male are destined to cross – the prologue was set in the late 1960s… Full review...
Little Egypt by Lesley Glaister
Twins Isis and Osiris are now in their 90s, living together in Little Egypt, the English manor house where they were born and brought up. Their names are a clue to their parents' near fetish for everything Egyptian. In fact this near fetish leads their parents to Egypt itself, in search of a big discovery back in the 1920s, demonstrating more enthusiasm than savvy. Having left the twins in the care of the housekeeper, they never return. Isis and Osiris are now bound to the house, tied not by love or memories but dark secrets that won't let go. Full review...
The Scandalous Duchess by Anne O'Brien
1372: Lady Katherine de Swynford is widowed and in reduced circumstances as a result. She remembers a more sumptuous life before her marriage; a life in the service of Queen Philippa, mother of John, Duke of Lancaster. In the hope of reprising her past lifestyle she goes to the Savoy Palace to beg the Duke for a role in his household. He willingly employs her to help his new wife, Constanza, the Princess of Castille, with her imminent birth but this is a dangerous move. As John and Katherine fall in love and Katherine becomes John's mistress they endanger more than their hearts; their attraction provides ammunition for their enemies, risking fatal results. Full review...
We That Are Left by Juliet Greenwood
Hugo and Elin are settling down to life at home in Hiram Hall now Hugo is back from the Boer War. He refuses to speak about his experiences in Africa but carries the psychological effects. However, appearances count for a lot so they both continue to run the house, gardens and staff while Elin tries to ignore the deficiencies in their marriage. She succeeds as well but then two things change her outlook: the arrival of daring adventurer Lady Margaret ('Mouse' to her friends) and the less welcome outbreak of World War I. Both will leave their indelible mark so that, for Hugo, Elin and many others around that time, there'll be no going back. Full review...
Further Encounters of Sherlock Holmes by George Mann (Editor)
Hot on the heels of Encounters of Sherlock Holmes comes another collection of brand-new tales written by some of the brightest creative minds from the genres of science fiction and crime. In this anthology, Holmes and Watson are pitched headlong into twelve different mysterious scenarios and invited to unravel secrets and unmask villains as only they know how. During their adventures they come face to face with a mountain monster, take a murderous boat trip, meet Moriarty’s siblings and even indulge in a little space travel. The game is afoot! Full review...
One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore
In June 1945 two school students are shot dead in Moscow. These aren't just any school students; they attended Josef Stalin School 801, the academy that taught Stalin's own children and the current educational establishment of choice for the offspring of many government and army grandees. Why did they die? Did the seemingly innocent Fatal Romantics Club have anything to do with it? For the children the club is a way of living their love of Pushkin's literature but to others it seems a little different. Stalin himself is determined to have it investigated and what Stalin wants, Stalin gets no matter how wide the ultimate spider's web of suspicion is cast and no matter whom it catches. Full review...
Will by Christopher Rush
It's March 1616 and William Shakespeare, not having long to live, sends for his lawyer and old friend Francis Collins to draw up his will. While Francis works (at both the will and eating Shakespeare out of house and home) William's mind meanders, regaling Francis with stories and opinions from a life well-lived in a nation in turmoil. After all, Mr S could never resist an audience. Full review...
The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian
An old woman has been left alone in the mountain camp. Not totally alone, her grandson An'tsaur has stayed with her, to do the chores that she no longer has the physical strength to do. Full review...
The Ghost of the Mary Celeste by Valerie Martin
On 5th December 1872 the merchant brig Mary Celeste was found devoid of human life (or death), floating aimlessly in the Atlantic. Many, including Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, are intrigued by the mysterious absence of all crew and Captain Benjamin Briggs' family (keeping the Captain company for the trip). Meanwhile investigative journalist Phoebe Grant wants to reveal the charlatans behind the popularity of spiritualist mediums and chooses Violet Petra as her study sample. Does Violet have the powers she claims and why is she getting so upset about Conan Doyle's Mary Celeste story? Phoebe is determined to find out and, in doing so, will be pulled into a maritime conundrum that may never be completely solved. Full review...
The Kept by James Scott
Elspeth and her 12 year old son Caleb have been beset by one of the worst types of tragedy. As a result, fuelled by Caleb's need for revenge and Elspeth's motherly love, they set out on a journey that brings them to the small Lake Erie town of Watersbridge. With their new setting comes a greater understanding of their past which is a mixed blessing that must be met head on before they have to face their future. Full review...
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Will Hobson (translator)
Leaving his home to try and join the famous musketeers in Paris, young Gascon d'Artagnan encounters troubles on the way but quickly falls in with title characters Athos, Aramis and Porthos. Soon, the quartet are caught up in a diabolical plot of the wicked Cardinal Richelieu and his accomplice Milady de Winter - can they save the Queen's honour? Full review...
Wake by Anna Hope
Wake:
1 Emerge or cause to emerge from sleep
2 Ritual for the dead
3 Consequence or aftermath
We often hear the term Broken Britain in reference to modern society, but the Britain presented in Wake epitomises the term completely. This is a country reeling from the aftermath of the Great War. Unemployment is rife, food scarce and every family has been touched and scarred forever by the events of the preceding years. Full review...
Keane's Company by Iain Gale
There is one fictionalised character that straddles recent historic fiction set during the Napoleonic Wars like a Colossus and that man is Bernard Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe. To take on this level of success is no easy task, but with Sharpe books no longer being released, there is room for a new man. Is that man James Keane, star of Iain Gale’s ‘Keane’s Company’? This is a book that forgoes some of the deeper literary elements in favour of action and thrills. Full review...
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Henry 'The Onion' Shackleford lives as Henrietta (or just plain Onion) until he's 17 due to a misunderstanding that may prove too dangerous for him to correct. The reason is that the person under this misapprehension is the fiercely well-meaning slavery abolitionist (with the emphasis on the 'fiercely') John Brown. As Onion accompanies him on his quest to free every slave they encounter, he discovers that Brown's philanthropy only stretches so far. Meanwhile it's that time of the 19th century when a shadow spreads over America, one that will cause a historic scar almost as great as that of slavery but Brown is oblivious to this. He doesn't; want to start a civil war, just an armed slave revolt. Full review...
