Literary
Book of Colours
Editors' choice
In the year 1320, in anticipation of a major family inheritance, Lady Mathilda commissions a book of hours: an exquisite…
Shadow Child
Lillie and her daughters Hana and Kei have spent their entire lives trying to rise above disaster. Their story begins…
The Dead
This is a dark, atmospheric novel, set at the end of the Weimar Republic in both Europe and Japan. Emil…
Monsieur Ka
London in the bitterly cold post-war winter of 1947. Albert & Albertine Whitelaw are a recently married couple. Albert was…
Country Dark
Editors' choice
It’s been almost twenty years since Offutt’s last work of fiction, but the wait has been worth it. In Country…
Slave Old Man
This novel begins: “In slavery times in the sugar isles,” which we later deduce to be Martinique. It’s an arresting…
What Should Be Wild
What Should Be Wild intertwines stories of several women, spanning millennia, all part of the Blakeley family—women connected by tragic…
We Shall Not All Sleep
Off the coast of the main in Estep Nagy’s debut novel lies Seven Island. The Hillsinger and the Quick families…
The Gallows Pole
Editors' choice
George III notwithstanding, there’s only one king in West Yorkshire: “King” David Hartley, leader of a local gang of “coiners.”…
The Mercy Seat
Louisiana, 1943. An 18-year-old African American man sits alone in his cell awaiting his execution. His crime is the alleged…
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.
