The revealing – or reappraisal – of ‘forgotten’ histories, from national to family ones, is a recurring theme in historical fiction, as several recent features in Historia have shown. Often this burying of the past is an attempt to cover events which people have considered shameful, but that’s not always the reason for history getting […]
Under Fire by Naomi Clifford
In the summmer of 1940, June Spencer volunteers for the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service in Chelsea. Every night she writes up the day’s events in her diary, whether it’s driving in a hail of incendiaries, peeling potatoes for the crews, or loading broken and bleeding victims into her ambulance. She also records her hectic social […]
Historia giveaway! Sisterhood by VB Grey
Historia’s giveaway for August 2021 is for three copies of Sisterhood by VB Grey, which is published on 19 August, 2021. Entries open at 6pm on 15 August, 2021, and close at 11.59pm on 24 August, 2021. Three winning entrants will each receive one copy of Sisterhood. Follow the instructions below to enter. You’ve got up […]
Celtic Cross by Sara Sheridan
About to get married, Mirabelle and her fiancé, retired Superintendent Alan McGregor, are torn about where they will settle. When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes up to buy a secluded house on the banks of the Firth of Forth, they submit to getting permission from the local landlord. But that permission comes at a price – […]
Review: The Good Death by SD Sykes
Catherine Hokin reviews The Good Death by SD Sykes and finds it “a book to get lost in” and a story for our times. The Good Death is the fifth book in SD Sykes’s 14th-century Oswald de Lacy series of which I have been a fan since book one. I remain a staunch fan with […]
The Forgotten by Mary Chamberlain
London, 1958. 26-year-old Betty Fisher is one of the first to join the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and attend its inaugural meeting, where she meets John Harris. Posted to Berlin towards the end of the war, John has been left traumatised by his experiences in Germany. And, as his initial admiration for Betty shifts into […]
The Good Death by SD Sykes
1370: Oswald de Lacy was not always Lord of the Manor, or even meant to be. The third son, he was sent off to become a novice monk. Now, with winter closing in on Somershill, his wife flirting with their houseguest, his sister sniping from the sidelines and his mother still ruling his life even […]
The Fair Botanists by Sara Sheridan
It’s the summer of 1822 and Edinburgh is a-buzz 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 […]