Liz Hyder is enchanted by the magicians and film-makers of the 1890s, whose extraordinary inventions inspired her new novel, The Illusions, set at a time of great technological and social change. A few years ago, I went to the Wellcome Collection’s Smoke and Mirrors exhibition, which explored the psychology of magic. It was a feast […]
Napoleon’s Spy by Ben Kane
In Russia, in 1812, has France finally met its match? On the eve of the invasion of Russia, half-French, half-English Matthieu Carrey finds himself in the ranks of Napoleon’s 500,000-strong army. With Tsar Alexander seemingly ill-prepared, a French victory seems certain. The Grande Armée will obliterate everything in its path. Carrey’s purpose is less clear. […]
Historia interview: Ben Kane
As his new book, Napoleon’s Spy, takes Ben Kane into a new era, we talk to him about his latest novel, researching historical fiction, and his next project. Ben also offers some tips for new writers. King, your last book, saw the end of your Richard I Lionheart trilogy. Is it a wrench to leave […]
Fyneshade by Kate Griffin
On the day of her beloved grandmother’s funeral, Marta discovers that she is to become governess to the young daughter of Sir William Pritchard. Separated from her lover and discarded by her family, Marta has no choice but to journey to Pritchard’s ancient and crumbling house, Fyneshade, in the wilds of Derbyshire. All is not […]
Revisiting St Petersburg?
When RN Morris went to St Petersburg to research his second 19th-century crime novel it felt as if he was revisiting the city he’d imagined so vividly: so much that his guide, a native St Petersburger, said his book had an “authentic atmosphere”. One day – who knows when – he’d like to be able […]
The Crimson Child by RN Morris
Spring 1880 in St Petersburg. While on an outing with his family in a leafy park, a retired general encounters a mysterious child dressed in red. The child leads him to a secluded spot. And a violent death. The shocking crime, committed in broad daylight against a respected member of the establishment, strikes terror at […]
Vulcana by Rebecca F John
On a winter’s night in 1892, Kate Williams, the daughter of a Baptist Minister, leaves Abergavenny and sets out for London with a wild plan: she is going to become a strongwoman. But it is not only her ambition she is chasing. William Roberts, the leader of a music hall troupe, has captured her imagination […]
Vulcana, the strongwoman history forgot
Kate Williams, known as Vulcana, was a world-famous strongwoman in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but she has slipped out of history since then. When Rebecca F John came across her she knew she had to tell Vulcana’s extraordinary story. Here she does just that, and wonders why Vulcana was forgotten. Was she […]