Category: Historical fiction

The Portrait Girl by Nicole Swengley

The Portrait Girl thrusts its bereaved and beleaguered heroine, jewellery designer Freya Wetherby, into an astonishing world of re-enacted Victorian art salons and the devious machinations of modern art theft.Seeking the identity of a miniature portrait found in her late mother’s belongings, Freya becomes enraptured not only by this mysterious young woman but also by the hypnotic personality of art collector Ralph Merrick and … Read More The Portrait Girl by Nicole Swengley

My 4 Favourite Audiobooks of 2024 – Part Three

Here are my favourite audiobooks of the year Part Three. We Begin At The End by Chris Whitaker There are thousands of ratings and reviews of this book, so I’m not going to try and precis it. It’s been done so many times already and there is nothing I can add. But as for my feelings – well there were so many moments when … Read More My 4 Favourite Audiobooks of 2024 – Part Three

The Skeleton Army Oxford Mysteries #2 by Alis Hawkins

Why should the devil have all the best tunes? The Salvation Army has come prancing and singing from the slums of London to the poorest quarters of Oxford, but along with its red hot gospel preaching and music hall songs it brings a prohibition message which sparks immediate opposition and violence. An Army soldier – an ex-drunk – is brutally killed and a note … Read More The Skeleton Army Oxford Mysteries #2 by Alis Hawkins

My Top 10 Books of 2024 – Part Three

Here are my favourite ten books of 2024 Part Three, not counting audiobooks. Quite a disparate selection for a change. Audiobooks to follow. Gallows Wood by Louisa Scarr I read this in ten staves with the Pigeonhole online book club. It was almost unbearable waiting for the next instalment. The book was so exciting, the suspense nail-biting. While this is the first in a … Read More My Top 10 Books of 2024 – Part Three

The Story Collector by Evie Gaughan

In a quiet village in Ireland, a mysterious local myth is about to change everything… One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life. In … Read More The Story Collector by Evie Gaughan

The Rescue Sisters by Elaine Whiteford 

Stirling and Quebec, 1900 A tale of blackmail, kidnap and terrible secrets. Of children being sent abroad, and of women trying to do the right thing at a time when they were second class citizens. How far will Jane Knight and Eliza Frew go to protect the ones they love … and save themselves? Child rescue and migration are the backdrops to this historical … Read More The Rescue Sisters by Elaine Whiteford 

The Rescue Sisters by Elaine Whiteford Out Now

Stirling and Quebec, 1900 A tale of blackmail, kidnap and terrible secrets. Of children being sent abroad, and of women trying to do the right thing at a time when they were second class citizens. How far will Jane Knight and Eliza Frew go to protect the ones they love … and save themselves? Child rescue and migration are the backdrops to this historical … Read More The Rescue Sisters by Elaine Whiteford Out Now

The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory, The Burial Plot is an unstoppable historical thriller about murder, manipulation, and a young woman trying to wrestle power from the hands of a dangerous man. But he’s always one step ahead . . . London, 1839. Where the cemeteries are full and there is money to be made in death, Bonnie and Crawford … Read More The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal

The House of Hope by Joanne Clague

In the dead of night, a young woman is found on the doorstep of the House of Help for Friendless Girls… Winter 1885. Matron Hetty Barlow suspects Hope is lying when she claims to be suffering from amnesia. The girl is taken in, but it isn’t long before her pregnancy is discovered, which could put the future of the house – a new experiment in dealing … Read More The House of Hope by Joanne Clague

The Rescue Sisters by Elaine Whiteford Cover Reveal

Stirling and Quebec, 1900 A tale of blackmail, kidnap and terrible secrets. Of children being sent abroad, and of women trying to do the right thing at a time when they were second class citizens. How far will Jane Knight and Eliza Frew go to protect the ones they love … and save themselves? Child rescue and migration are the backdrops to this historical … Read More The Rescue Sisters by Elaine Whiteford Cover Reveal

The Paintress by Jane Anderson

Dual timeline around the life of a forgotten artist. The joys and traumas of love, ambition, and motherhood. Anna grew up hearing stories from her grandmother of an ancestor artist’s adventures in St. Petersburg. Now, in the, adult Anna stands in front of Christina Robertson’s gorgeous life-sized portraits of the Romanovs and she hopes the legend is true. Her research into the painter becomes a … Read More The Paintress by Jane Anderson

The Walk by Emma Marns 

‘The two girls sat in the back of the car, their destination unknown and their crimes worse than murder.’ In November 1979, Ailbe and Maire disappear from their rural village in Ireland, never to return. Pregnant out of wedlock, they are now outcasts from society. Genre: Historical fiction / Literary fiction / ContemporaryPublisher: ‎ Cranthorpe Millner Publishers Believing they will at least have each other, the girls … Read More The Walk by Emma Marns