Lucinda Byatt
The Concubine’s Daughter
The wealth of detail about Chinese history and culture gives this book an edge over other stories that tell a…
Bluestockings: The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education
This remarkable story is about opportunities that the developed world generally now takes for granted. It serves as a timely…
Elizabeth’s Women: The Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen
Elizabeth I knew well the challenges facing her as a woman in a man’s world, yet her genius lay…
Secretum
The sequel to Imprimatur, a novel that outraged the Vatican and is still banned in Italy, sees the return of…
Paths of Exile
Editors' choice
Paths of Exile is a wonderful story, one that conjures up this long-gone age in extraordinary detail and reveals a…
Ask Alice
From the windswept prairies of Kansas to downtown Chicago, and from rural Norfolk to the rarefied atmosphere of Chelsea and…
An Incomplete Revenge
As a Maisie Dobbs newcomer, for me this book was a revelation. It is fresh, unpretentious, and totally gripping. Unlike…
Marie-Therese: The Fate of Marie Antoinette’s Daughter
Marie-Therese was the sole member of the Bourbon royal family to survive the French Revolution. She was just seventeen in…
A Mercy
In the late 17th century, slavery was in its infancy, as was the sugarcane industry. Morrison’s prose is confident…
Bomb, Book & Compass: Joseph Needham and the Great Secrets of China
Many — from Napoleon onwards — can lay claim to forecasting the greatness of China, but few dedicated their lives…
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.
