It’s 1579. William Constable – physician and unwilling spy – is in Plymouth waiting to sail to the New World. The expedition, led by renowned explorers and traders, John Hawkins and Sir Humphrey Gilbert, has already suffered birth pangs. William’s friend, Captain Charles Wicken, is accused of killing the son of a wealthy merchant, but […]
The HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition 2019 longlist
The longlist for the Dorothy Dunnett Society/Historical Writers’ Association Short Story Competition 2019.
The Museum of Broken Promises by Elizabeth Buchan
Paris, today. The Museum of Broken Promises is a place of wonder and sadness, hope and loss. Every object in the museum has been donated – a cake tin, a wedding veil, a baby’s shoe. And each represent a moment of grief or terrible betrayal. The museum is a place where people come to speak to […]
Ghost Fire by Wilbur Smith and Tom Harper
1754. Inseparable since birth and growing up in India, Theo and Connie Courtney are torn apart by the tragic death of their parents. Theo, wracked with guilt, seeks salvation in combat and conflict, joining the British in the war against the French and Indian army. Connie, believing herself abandoned by her brother, and abused and […]
The Hidden by Mary Chamberlain
Dora Simon and Joe O’Cleary live in separate countries, accepting of their twilight years. But their monochrome worlds are abruptly upended by the arrival of Barbara Hummel, who is determined to identify the mysterious woman whose photograph she has found among her mother s possessions. Forced to confront a time they thought buried in the […]
The Bellini Madonna by Elizabeth Lowry
The Bellini Madonna by Elizabeth Lowry
HWA Crown Awards 2019: the shortlists
The 18 books shortlisted for HWA Crown Awards in 2019 have been announced. The search is now on to find the winners in the three awards categories: Gold Crown, Sharpe Books Non-fiction Crown and Debut Crown. The shortlisted books are: HWA Gold Crown Award 2019 Little by Edward Carey (Aardvark Bureau) In Little, Edward Carey brings the […]
To have and to hold: pawns in the medieval marriage game
Anne O’Brien’s novels imagine the lives of medieval women, almost silent in the records of their times, but important pieces in the games of diplomacy, dynasty and war. She tells Historia about the royal women who married for duty – and those who defied their families to enter a risky love match. Women from royal […]