The Historical Writers’ Association (HWA) has great pleasure in revealing the 2025 Crown Awards shortlists, celebrating the best in historical writing, fiction and non-fiction, published during 2024–2025. There are three awards categories — HWA Gold Crown, HWA Non-fiction Crown, and HWA Debut Crown — and six shortlisted books in each category. The books shortlisted for […]
The Peculiar Incident at Thistlewick House by Jenni Keer
Norfolk in 1895. When renowned spiritualist Edward Blackmore receives a desperate message from his cousin Barnabas, begging him to come to the coastal village of Thistlewick Tye, his first thought is to ignore the request. Despite his cousin’s insistence that his wife is possessed by a malevolent spirit, Edward has no time for the man […]
The Twelve Days of Christmas by Susan Stokes-Chapman
The air glitters with hope as the snowy village of Merrywake celebrates the Christmas season after the tumult of the Napoleonic Wars. As the Viscount’s famous Twelfth Night Ball draws closer, many of the villagers have a story to tell – we meet a lovelorn vicar and kindly maid reunited after a misunderstanding, three sisters […]
Choice of Darkness by Jad Adams
Frank Geyer is a detective in Philadelphia who, in 1894, is called to investigate the death of Ben Pitezel. He encounters Dr Henry Holmes who says he is acting for Pitezel’s family to collect the insurance money. Holmes had been best friends with Geyer in their home town of Gilmanton, New Hampshire. Alerted by the […]
Historical books for summer reading, 2025
We asked five well-loved authors to each suggest a couple of books they recommend for history lovers to enjoy reading over the summer. Their choices include novels about the eve of the Roman Conquest and the eve of the Norman one; non-fiction about the long history of Black people in Britain and the island’s first […]
Love and Other Poisons by Lesley McDowell
1857, Glasgow. A young socialite named Madeleine Smith stands accused of murdering her lover. Thousands wait outside the court to hear the result. The scandalous nature of the affair, detailed explicitly in letters published in newspapers across the world, has made her case a worldwide sensation. But when the jury find themselves unable to decide […]
The King of Montréal by Daniela Norris
It’s 1800 when Louis-Charles, only 15 years old, arrives in Montréal. Known to everyone as Charles, he has escaped France aboard the ill-fated packet ship Freedom. Rescued by Basque fishermen, Charles is taken to the port of Montréal and left there to fend for himself as he bears the heavy secret of his true identity… […]
The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst by Katie Lumsden
The trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst is not Mrs Montgomery Hurst – as young Miss Amelia Ashpoint well knows. The real trouble is the polite society of Wickenshire in 1841, with its inescapable gossip about the arrival of the new Mrs Hurst and – whisper it – her three children from a previous marriage. In […]