On 8 May, 2025, it’s the 80th anniversary of VE Day. To mark the day, Duncan Barrett remembers the stories of the Blitz Kids, told to him by eyewitnesses who, as children, lived through the bombing of Britain’s cities during the Second World War. It’s 2012 and my partner Nuala and I are in the […]
The Devil’s Draper by Donna Moore
When whispers of abuse at Arrol’s department store reach Mabel, a determined policewoman, she knows she must act. Enlisting the help of Johnnie, a cunning thief, and Beatrice, a savvy businesswoman, they embark on a perilous journey to uncover the truth. Set against the backdrop of 1920s Glasgow, where women’s voices are often silenced, this […]
Fashion research for historical novels
Fiona Veitch Smith immerses herself in researching her 1920s and 1930s novels, using period objects and recreating costumes – which she also wears. She tells Historia about her 10 years of historical fashion research and offers some tips for anyone who’d like to try this way of getting a feel for the era they’re writing […]
The Midnight Carousel by Fiza Saeed McLynn
Paris, 1914, and Detective Laurent Bisset has reluctantly closed a most puzzling case. Fairgoers have been vanishing while riding a dazzling carousel. The only man who could be responsible is behind bars – but Laurent cannot explain what happened to those still missing. In Chicago, in 1920, Maisie Marlowe acquires a beautiful, antique carousel, and […]
Blitz Kids by Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi
When the Second World War began, there were 10 million children living in Britain. Many were evacuated to the countryside, but others stayed behind and witnessed the Blitz close-up in cities around the UK. Blitz Kids tells the remarkable true stories of children who spent their nights in cold, cramped air-raid shelters, hearing the rumble […]
Isolation Ward by Martine Bailey
Yorkshire, 1983, and Margaret Thatcher is in N0 10, Thriller is on the radio and Lorraine Quick is having to put plans to tour with her band on hold due to work. With her expertise in psychometric testing, she is being sent to the Yorkshire moors to build a PR-friendly team out of the rag-tag […]
The Penford Manor Murders by Fiona Veitch Smith
At Penford Manor, the guests are arriving to celebrate the start of the grouse-hunting season: lords and ladies, barons and baronesses, a Member of Parliament — and chemistry graduate turned detective, Miss Clara Vale, an old friend of the family. But Clara is no ordinary guest: she’s secretly investigating a blackmail plot against Lady Penford […]
A Call to Home by Holly Green
Alix has always been on the side of the Resistance. Over two years of danger and suffering, she has continued the fight alongside her comrades in the Partisans. But while facing constant threat, her personal relationships, with Nikola – the man she was supposed to marry – and Drago, her lifelong friend, are complicated. Working […]