It is 1946 and in the village of Oakbourne the men are home from the war. Their bodies are healing but their psychological wounds run deep. Everyone is scarred — those who fought and those left behind. Alice Rayne is married to Stephen, heir to crumbling Oakbourne Hall. Once a sweet, gentle man, he has […]
Historia interviews: 2022 Debut Crown Award winner AJ West
AJ West’s The Spirit Engineer won the 2022 HWA Debut Crown award for the best first novel by a historical fiction writer. Praised by the judges as “haunting, deeply moving and witty”, it looks at the subject of spiritualism during the Edwardian age through the experiences of a deeply troubled man. We’re delighted to begin […]
The strange death of the Levant company (and how a clock taught me about it)
Sean Lusk’s debut novel, The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley, was inspired by an 18th-century clock he found in a back alley of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. Why would British clockwork be of interest in the Ottoman Empire? So began his interest in the Levant Company, once a powerful force, now hardly remembered. Almost everyone knows […]
Historia giveaway! HWA Debut Crown Award 2021 shortlist
Historia’s running three HWA Crowns giveaways to celebrate the books shortlisted for the 2021 Crown Awards. The first is for all six books on the Debut Crown shortlist. (The Crown Awards winners will be announced on 24 November at 11am on our YouTube channel. You’ll also be able to find out who’s won just after […]
The HWA Crown Awards shortlists 2021
The 2021 HWA Crown Awards shortlists are out! We’re delighted to announce the 18 outstanding books which have gone forward for consideration for this year’s Crown Awards, with six books in each of the three categories: HWA Gold Crown, HWA Non-fiction Crown and HWA Debut Crown. HWA Gold Crown shortlist 2021 V For Victory by […]
HWA Crown Awards 2021: the longlists
We’re delighted to announce the HWA Crown Awards longlists for 2021: 36 books celebrating the best in historical writing, fiction and non-fiction, of 2020-2021. There are three awards categories: HWA Gold Crown, HWA Non-fiction Crown, and HWA Debut Crown. The books longlisted for the HWA Crown Awards for 2021 are: Gold Crown Award 2021 longlist […]
The Master of Measham Hall by Anna Abney
1665. It is five years since King Charles II returned from exile, the scars of the English Civil Wars are yet to heal and now the Great Plague engulfs the land. Alethea Hawthorne is safe inside the walls of the Calverton household as a companion to their daughter. She waits in anticipation of her brother […]
Historia interviews, 2020 Crown Awards shortlists: Anita Frank
Anita Frank’s first novel, The Lost Ones, is shortlisted for the 2020 HWA Debut Crown Award. She tells Historia about her love of history, the inspiration for her book – including big houses, spiritualism and the First World War – and passes on some tips for new writers. The HWA Debut Crown celebrates new voices […]