20th Century
Darkness Rising
If we talked about historical novels like a pâtissier then amongst the rich and deeply satisfying tortes would be the…
Rommel and the Rebel/Rommel’s Peace
Erwin Rommel occupies a special place in the historical and fictional accounts of World War II. The praise awarded him…
Thornyhold
A welcome reissue of Mary Stewart’s novella, this story is set in 1940s England, and features Gilly Ramsey, a young…
A Good Woman
In 1912, nineteen-year-old Annabelle Worthington’s privileged world is shattered forever when the sinking of the Titanic destroys her family. Her…
Sweeping Up Glass
After reading Carolyn Wall’s debut novel, I literally could not move. With its haunting images of racial bias from the…
The Lie
Neither the nondescript title, nor the bleak cover, does justice to this outstanding wartime saga, a charming family story with…
A Matter of Justice
When a mystery series gets into the double digits, I grow concerned that the plot and character development become rote,…
Black Orchids
The first ninety pages and the last thirty of this profound novel are arresting, sensual, initially in 1946 Ceylon, later…
Down Sand Mountain
It’s the 1960s and Dewey Turner is twelve years old, growing up in a small town called Sand Mountain in…
Serendipity
Serendipity is an intergenerational coming-of-age story set in the present day. The main heroine is Carrie Manning who has just…
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.
