16th Century
The Puzzle Ring
The Puzzle Ring is a fantasy adventure with an almost Blytonesque feel. It involves a curse, a prophecy, a puzzle…
Twilight of a Queen
The titular queen in the fifth novel in Carroll’s 16th-century saga is Catherine de Medici, dowager queen of France, whose…
Tomato Rhapsody
Set in 16th-century Italy, this first novel by Adam Schell is advertised as “a fable of love, lust and forbidden…
Hue and Cry
St. Andrews, Scotland, 1579. A young lawyer, Hew Cullen, returns home from France. His welcome home is lukewarm even from…
The Queen’s Mistake: In the Court of Henry Vlll
Catherine Howard is living as a poor relation in her grandmother’s house, passing the dull days in dalliance with Francis…
The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots
Historian and novelist Carolly Erickson takes another foray into fiction and delivers a sweeping tale spanning the life of Mary…
Royal Blood
Arriving at the court of King Henry VIII in the spring of 1518, within days of one another, in fact,…
The Devil’s Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici
Catherine de Medici is perhaps one of the most maligned women in history. It appears, however, in Kalogridis’s deft interpretation…
The Sting of Justice
Editors' choice
Mara, the Brehon judge, attends the funeral of a local priest little expecting that his will not be the only…
The Virgin’s Daughters
Editors' choice
It seems as though everything that could be written about the Tudors has been done in recent years, with a…
About our Reviews
Over the last 15 years The Historical Novels Review (the society’s print magazine for our members) has published reviews of some 12,000 historical fiction books. We plan to upload them all and make them searchable here.
