Essie Fox reviews the last TV screen appearance of Uhtred of Bebbanburg in Seven Kings Must Die, the final episode of the long-running The Last Kingdom series. She finds much to admire. Seven Kings Must Die is the one-off Netflix film that finally concludes the historical TV series, The Last Kingdom. These enthralling screen adaptions […]
The Chosen by Elizabeth Lowry
One Wednesday morning in November 1912 the ageing Thomas Hardy, entombed by paper and books and increasingly estranged from his wife Emma, finds her dying in her bedroom. Between his speaking to her and taking her in his arms, she has gone. The day before, he and Emma had exchanged bitter words — leading Hardy […]
Rivers of Treason by K J Maitland
London, 1607, and as dawn breaks, Daniel Pursglove rides north, away from the watchful eye of the King and his spies. He returns, disguised, to his childhood home in Yorkshire — with his own score to settle. The locals have little reason to trust a prying stranger, and those who remember Daniel do so with […]
The Paris Notebook by Tessa Harris
It’s January 1939. When Katja Heinz secures a job as a typist at Doctor Viktor’s clinic, she doesn’t expect to be copying top secret medical records from a notebook. At the end of the first world war, Doctor Viktor treated soldiers for psychological disorders. One of the patients was none other than Adolf Hitler. The […]
The Forgotten Palace by Alexandra Walsh
London 1900: Alice Webster has made the worst decision of her life. When her Aunt Agatha offers her the chance to go on a Grand Tour she jumps at the opportunity to get away from the glare of scandal. Heading off to see the world as the century turns, Alice begins to believe her broken […]
Burke and the Lines of Torres Vedras by Tom Williams
In 1810 Wellington needs to protect his army against Napoleon’s stronger forces in the Peninsula. His answer? The Lines of Torres Vedras: one of the greatest defensive works the world has ever seen. But for his strategy to work, the Lines must stay a secret until the French arrive. Fresh from a successful mission in […]
The House of Whispers by Anna Mazzola
Rome, 1938, and as the world teeters on the brink of war, talented pianist Eva Valenti enters the house of widower Dante Cavallera to become his new wife. On the outside, the forces of Fascism are accelerating, but in her new home, Eva fears that something else is at work, whispering in the walls and […]
The Sinner’s Mark by SW Perry
The year is 1600. With a dying queen on the throne, war raging on the high seas and famine on the rise, England is on the brink of chaos. And in London’s dark alleyways, a conspiracy is brewing. In the court’s desperate bid to silence it, an innocent man is found guilty — the father […]