19th Century
Diamond
1890s, England. Eight-year-old Ellen-Jane Potts’ family is very poor. It’s a struggle to make ends meet, particularly as her father…
Glamour in Glass
Newly married glamourists Jane and David Vincent have just completed their most prestigious commission yet for the Prince Regent. But…
Fiendish Schemes
In 1987, K.W. Jeter coined the term “steam-punks” to refer to the cyberpunk variant of literature that he, and others,…
Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl
Fiction meets history, meets steampunk, meets gothic horror in David Barnett’s page-turning romp though a Victorian world where the British…
My Ghosts
It might be said that Canadian author Mary Swan’s latest novel, My Ghosts, isn’t for everyone. Readers, for example, who…
The Secrets of Armstrong House
The Secrets of Armstrong House is about, in the main, Charles Armstrong, a flighty, difficult, unreliable sort of fellow –…
Secrets of the Sea House
Editors' choice
A young couple moves into an old house and uncovers a dreadful secret. This sounds like the beginning of a…
Under the Wide and Starry Sky
As in Loving Frank, Horan has again re-imagined life with a famous man through his love interest. American Fanny Osbourne…
American Saint: The Life of Elizabeth Seton
American Saint is the biography of Elizabeth Bayley Seton, the first American citizen to be canonized in the Roman Catholic…
Josephine: Desire, Ambition, Napoleon
The endpapers of Kate Williams’ new biography of the Empress Josephine are decorated with cartoons in the style of Gilray…
About our Reviews
Over the last 20 years The Historical Novels Review (the society’s print magazine for our members) has published reviews of some 15,000 historical fiction books.