A thriller inspired by the true story of Nancy Wake, whose husband was kidnapped by the Nazis and who became the most decorated servicewoman of the Second World War. To the Allies she was a fearless freedom fighter, special operations super spy, a woman ahead of her time. To the Gestapo she was a ghost, […]
The Child On Platform One by Gill Thompson
Prague 1939. Young mother Eva has a secret from her past. When the Nazis invade, Eva knows the only way to keep her daughter Miriam safe is to send her away – even if it means never seeing her again. But when Eva is taken to a concentration camp, her secret is at risk of being […]
The Forbidden Promise by Lorna Cook
Scotland, 1940. War rages across Europe, but Invermoray House is at peace – until the night of Constance’s 21st birthday, when she’s the only person to see a Spitfire crash into the loch. Rescuing the pilot and vowing to keep him hidden, Constance finds herself torn between duty to her family and keeping a promise […]
Watercolour research: a historical writer’s technique
For Jean Moran, author of Tears of the Dragon and Summer of the Three Pagodas, research is a thing to be applied lightly, like watercolour, not thickly, like oil paint, as she tells Historia. The titles I wrote as Lizzie Lane centred on the early 20th century, and World War Two in particular, and as […]
Two strands of lost history from Scotland
Elisabeth Gifford weaves together two strands of ‘lost’ Scottish history – the last days of the inhabitants of Hirta (St Kilda) and the men of the 51st Highland Division who were left behind in France after Dunkirk – into a richly-textured story of lost love and hope, The Lost Lights of St Kilda. She tells […]
Review: D-Day: The Last Heroes
Best-selling author AL Berridge reviews D-Day: The Last Heroes, shown on BBC One on Saturday, 8 June, 2019
The Good Doctor of Warsaw by Elisabeth Gifford
Elizabeth Gifford’s debut novel, Secrets of the Sea House, was a sweeping, beautiful work, imbued with myth and mystery; it was shortlisted for the HWA Debut Crown award in 2014 and was one of my personal favourites that year. Gifford is a talented writer with the ability to create satisfying stories and haunting atmosphere from […]