When it came to Charles and Mary Bagot, the gossips of Regency England had more than their fill. The marriage, initially the toast of high society, was one marked with scandal and adultery. And when rumours of a particularly salacious affair broke through London, the couple were banished to the New World. Having sailed across […]
The joys and challenges of writing historical non-fiction
Geraldine Roberts considers her experience of researching her new book, The Rebel and the Peacemaker, and the joys and challenges that go with writing historical non-fiction. The Rebel and the Peacemaker is about the Regency power couple Mary and Charles Bagot, who were trailblazers on the diplomatic circuit and documented the highs and lows of […]
Marianne by Alice McVeigh
When Marianne – still beautiful, still impulsive and not yet twenty-one – returns to London, she is rich, with a house in Mayfair and an estate in Dorsetshire. Despite her resolve to remain single, she finds herself besieged with admirers, including the dangerously attractive Willoughby and the charming and irreverent Crawford. Then Marianne’s younger sister, […]
The curious allure of Miss Mary Bennet
Poor Mary Bennet. The plain, bookish one in Pride and Prejudice, delighting us long enough. But, as Alice McVeigh reflects, the many reimaginings of Mary’s story demonstrate the curious allure she holds for so many of us. The late, great Hilary Mantel was already scribbling her own Mary Bennet novel when she died. Janice Hadlow’s […]
Clairmont by Lesley McDowell
It’s 1816, and a massive volcanic eruption has caused the worst storms that Europe has seen in decades, yet Percy and Mary Shelley have chosen to visit the infamous Lord Byron at his villa on Lake Geneva. It wasn’t their idea: Mary’s 18-year-old step-sister, Claire Clairmont, insisted. But the reason for Claire’s visit is more […]
Female sexuality in historical fiction
Lesley McDowell wanted to show all the consequences of women’s sexuality in her novel, Clairmont — the tragic and the happy. There was plenty of both in the Shelley-Godwin-Byron circle that shaped her protagonist Claire Clairmont’s life. And female sexual desire needs to be reflected in historical fiction, Lesley says. In a letter to her […]
Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman
London, 1799. Dora Blake lives with her uncle in what used to be her parents’ famed shop of antiquities. When a mysterious Greek vase is delivered, Dora is intrigued by her uncle’s suspicious behaviour and enlists the help of Edward Lawrence, a young antiquarian scholar. For Edward, the ancient vase is the key to unlocking […]
Christmas reading 2022 – our pick of top historical books
We asked nine well-loved authors to each recommend two historical books for Christmas 2022 to give, receive, or treat yourself with. These include many of the most absorbing books, fiction and non-fiction, published recently. We hope these suggestions inspire you. DV Bishop The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzola. A winter’s tale full of mystery and […]