The Secretary, Catherine Hokin’s fourth Second World War-inspired novel, is a dual-timeline story set in the Third Reich Berlin of the 1940s and the Stasi-controlled eastern side of the city in the 1980s. Our exclusive extract is the prologue, which introduces us to Magda, one of the two main protagonists, and the Tower House – […]
The Unwanted Suitor: a short story
This is the first part of Historia’s exclusive extract from the latest HWA short story collection, Victoriana. With a gothic undercurrent and a satisfying twist at the end, The Unwanted Suitor by Sophia Tobin is set on the East Kent coast in the mid-19th century. Some tales are harder to tell than others. I tell […]
A False Hawksman
John Pilkington’s short story, A False Hawksman, is taken from Royal Blood, the HWA collection of Tudor-era stories by well-known historical fiction writers. He says: “The Thomas the Falconer books have proved to be my most successful historical series. I’m very fond of Thomas and was keen to bring him back, choosing a pivotal moment […]