Historical fiction
Showing 1–16 of 270 results
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A Corruption of Blood
£9.99A Corruption of Blood
Dr Will Raven is a man seldom shocked by human remains, but even he is disturbed by the contents of a package washed up at the Port of Leith. Stranger still, a man Raven has long detested is pleading for his help to escape the hangman. Back in the townhouse of Dr James Simpson, Sarah Fisher has set her sights on learning to practise medicine. Almost everyone seems intent on dissuading her from this ambition, but when word reaches her that a woman has recently obtained a medical degree despite her gender, Sarah decides to seek her out. Raven’s efforts to prove his former adversary’s innocence are failing and he desperately needs Sarah’s help. Putting their feelings for one another aside, their investigations take them to both extremes of Edinburgh’s social divide, where they discover that wealth and status cannot alter a fate written in the blood.
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A Hundred Years to Arras
£9.99A Hundred Years to Arras
From a Somerset farm to the trenches of France: one man’s coming of age through land, love and blood
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A marriage of fortune
£8.99A marriage of fortune
England, 1469. As the War of the Roses rages on, Margaret Paston knows that there is only one way to survive the loss of the Paston’s family seat, Caister Castle: a fortunate marriage for one of her unruly daughters. A favourable match will change the future of her family overnight but a scandal will ruin the Paston name forever.
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A Marriage of Lions
£20.00A Marriage of Lions
England, 1238. Raised at the court of King Henry III as a chamber lady to the queen, young Joanna of Swanscombe’s life changes forever when she comes into an inheritance far above all expectations, including her own. Now a wealthy heiress, Joanna’s arranged marriage to the King’s charming, tournament-loving half-brother William de Valence immediately stokes the flames of political unrest as more established courtiers object to the privileges bestowed on newcomers. As Joanna and William strive to build a life together, England descends into a bitter civil war. In mortal danger, William is forced to run for his life, and Joanna is left with only her wit and courage to outfox their enemies and prevent them from destroying her husband, her family, and their fortunes.
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A Nation in Ruins
£12.99A Nation in Ruins
In the seventeenth century, Sir John and Lady Mary Bankes, the well-respected Royalist owners of Corffe Castell in Dorsetshire, face the horrific prospect of civil war, instigated by Parliamentarian opponents of Charles I, who has angered his subjects by dissolving the government with the aim of ruling ‘by decree’. The nation is divided and friends turn against friends in the growing threat of deadly conflict. Lady Bankes, a remarkable woman of fortitude, beauty and intelligence, defends her beloved home with the (mostly) loyal backing of the household workers and villagers and with particular support from a retired cavalry captain. Will the Castell and its inhabitants survive the onslaught and to what end?
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A Passage to India
£9.99A Passage to India
What really happened to Miss Quested in the Marabar Caves? This tantalising question provides the intense drama of racial tension at the centre of Forster’s last and greatest novel.
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A ripple of darkness
£9.99A ripple of darkness
Born into a poor household in 1860’s London, George experiences a terrible trauma as a thirteen year old when he believes his friend has drowned in the Thames. George blames himself and it haunts and shapes his life, with the incident constantly replayed and changed in his memory.
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A terrible kindness
£8.99A terrible kindness
It is October 1966 and William Lavery is having the night of his life at his first black-tie do. But, as the evening unfolds, news hits of a landslide at a coal mine. It has buried a school – Aberfan. William decides he must act, so he stands and volunteers to attend. It will be his first job as an embalmer, and it will be one he never forgets. His work that night will force him to think about the little boy he was, and the losses he has worked so hard to forget. But compassion can have surprising consequences, because – as William discovers – giving so much to others can sometimes help us heal ourselves.
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A Woman Made of Snow
£8.99A Woman Made of Snow
Scotland, 1949: Caroline Gillan and her new husband Alasdair have moved back to Kelly Castle, his dilapidated family estate in the middle of nowhere. Stuck caring for their tiny baby, and trying to find her way with an opinionated mother-in-law, Caroline feels adrift, alone and unwelcome. But when she is tasked with sorting out the family archives, Caroline discovers a century-old mystery that sparks her back to life. There is one Gillan bride who is completely unknown – no photos exist, no records have been kept – the only thing that is certain is that she had a legitimate child. Alasdair’s grandmother. As Caroline uncovers a strange story that stretches as far as the Arctic circle, her desire to find the truth turns obsessive. And when a body is found in the grounds of the castle, her hunt becomes more than just a case of curiosity. What happened all those years ago? Who was the bride?
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A Wreath for Udomo
£9.99A Wreath for Udomo
Those men who are history now; did they feel like this? A 1950s Hampstead pub; a freezing night. Lois can’t tear her eyes away from the haunted, restless African man in the corner. Over brandy and stew, she discovers he is in awe of her friend, Panafrica’s greatest political writer and fighter. Their meeting inducts this stranger, Udomo, into London’s revolutionary community of exiled African activists: the start of a life-changing journey. Amidst the internal politics and love affairs, Udomo is inspired by other leaders’ independence uprisings; but when he returns to his native land to overthrow the colonial oppressors, his idealism is put to the ultimate test. Inspired by Peter Abrahams’ befriending of future African heads of state in mid-century London, ‘A Wreath for Udomo’ (1956) is a radical lost classic, unforgettably exploring the nature of freedom, power, leadership, and love.
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Adama
£20.00Adama
There is no adama without dam. In 1946, a young Ruth begins building a new life in Palestine, haunted by the death of her family in Europe and driven by youthful ideals in a land hostile to her presence. Her sister, Shoshana, survives in the Displaced Persons camps of Germany and joins her in Palestine, but dreams of escaping to distant America. Her lovers, Dov and Israel, die in war, and her children try to serve the land Ruth bled for, only to find their own tragic ends or means of escape. As one generation begets another, their lives become entwined into a dark tapestry of secrets and lies, of revenge, forbidden love and murder. A sweeping historical epic following four generations of a single family as they struggle to hold on to their land and each other.
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All the broken places
£8.99All the broken places
91-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same mansion block in London for decades. She leads a comfortable, quiet life, despite her dark and disturbing past. She doesn’t talk about her escape from Germany over 70 years before. She doesn’t talk about the post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn’t talk about her father, the commandant of one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps. Then, a young family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can’t help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget. One night, she witnesses a violent argument between Henry’s mother and his domineering father, one that threatens Gretel’s hard-won, self-contained existence. Gretel is faced with a chance to expiate her guilt, grief and remorse and act to save a young boy.
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All the light we cannot see
£20.00All the light we cannot see
SOON A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES – from director Shawn Levy, starring Louis Hofmann, Lars Eidinger and Marion Bailey, with Hugh Laurie and Mark Ruffalo, and introducing Aria Mia Loberti.
WINNER OF THE 2015 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR FICTION£20.00 -
All the Pretty Horses
£9.99