Liz Hyder, author of The Gifts, talks about her own writing process and her love of history, and celebrates the “fascinating, brilliant, inspiring joy” of writing historical fiction. Her book has just been published in paperback. I’ve always been interested in history ever since I can remember. I grew up near the edge of Epping […]
The Gifts by Liz Hyder
October 1840. A young woman staggers alone through a forest in Shropshire as a huge pair of impossible wings rip themselves from her shoulders. Meanwhile, when rumours of a ‘fallen angel’ cause a frenzy across London, a surgeon desperate for fame and fortune finds himself in the grips of a dangerous obsession. One that will […]
Historia giveaway! Five copies of The Gifts by Liz Hyder
To celebrate The Gifts by Liz Hyder being published in paperback on 1 September, Historia is giving five winners a copy of her “haunting, thrilling” novel. The giveaway is open until 11.59pm on Tuesday, 6 September, 2022. Each of the five winners will get one copy of The Gifts. Follow the instructions below to enter. You’ve […]
The Plant Hunter by TL Mogford
1867. King’s Road, Chelsea, is a sea of plant nurseries, catering to the Victorian obsession with rare and exotic flora. But each of the glossy emporiums is fuelled by the dangerous world of the plant hunters – daring adventurers sent into uncharted lands in search of untold wonders to grace England’s finest gardens. Harry Compton […]
George IV’s visit to Edinburgh in 1822
Exactly 200 years ago, on Thursday 15 August, 2022, George IV landed at Leith, near Edinburgh, for a three-week ‘jaunt’. Arriving, he was dressed in naval uniform, but displayed himself to the Scottish capital dressed in tartan, and it’s that image of his visit that has remained in popular imagination. To mark the bicentenary, Maggie […]
The Sign of the Devil by Oscar de Muriel
An ill-fated grave-robbery unearths a corpse with a most disturbing symbol on it. The very same sign is daubed in blood on the walls of Edinburgh’s lunatic asylum, on the night that one of the patients is murdered. The mark in question? The mark of the devil. The prime suspect: Amy McGray, the asylum’s most […]
The Fair Botanists by Sara Sheridan
It’s the summer of 1822 and Edinburgh is abuzz with rumours of King George IV’s impending visit. In botanical circles, however, a different kind of excitement has gripped the city. In the newly-installed Botanic Garden, the Agave Americana plant looks set to flower; an event that only occurs once every few decades. When newly-widowed Elizabeth […]
Rediscovering Edinburgh’s New Town
Sometimes we can get access to a kind of time machine. Reading good historical fiction can transport us to our social and political past, as Sara Sheridan says. But things like Covid lockdowns, when the streets are stripped of crowds and transport, can also open a time portal – which is how she came to […]