Showing titles in Historical Fiction

Marnie and Raver are each set apart from their community: Marnie because she is a newcomer brought to the village by her much older husband, and Raver because he is the village lunatic. The villagers are suspicious of any newcomer and they are especially wary of Marnie when her husband dies suddenly. She causes more consternation when she befriends Raver, but Marnie discovers that he is not mad: he is deaf. She develops a rudimentary sign language to communicate with the young man. The villagers see Raver responding calmly to her hand gestures, and they try Marnie for witchcraft.

It is 1916, and Europe is at war: Jimmy Conway’s father is fighting for the British Army in France. Jimmy dreams of becoming a soldier and winning glory on the battlefield. Then rebellion breaks out in Dublin and Jimmy witnesses the taking of the General Post Office. Soon buildings are destroyed and people are killed. His uncle Mick is among the rebels. Where do Jimmy’s loyalties lie now? In an attempt to find food for his family, Jimmy crosses the battle-scarred city, weaving through army patrols and dodging shooting.

Brought to you by Penguin. Moa is fourteen. The only life he has ever known is toiling on the Frontier sugar cane plantation for endless hot days, fearing the vicious whips of the overseers. Then one night he learns of an uprising, led by the charismatic Tacky. Moa is to be a cane warrior, and...

Cristian has lived his entire life in the grip of a repressive dictatorship. The country is governed by fear. When the secret police blackmail him, Cristian has an impossible choice. Save the life of his sick grandfather by informing on his family, or risk his life—and all of theirs—by resisting? At 17, Cristian dreams of being free but doesn't know where to turn. In this climate of constant suspicion, can he trust his best friend, his girlfriend or even his family? 

It is hard enough being a teenager in London during the Blitz, finding yourself in love and wondering every night whether you will survive the bombs. But it is even harder for Anna, who is still officially classified as an 'enemy alien'. Those bombs are coming from Germany – the country that was once her own. If Hitler invades, can she and her beloved refugee family possibly survive?

Winner of the Branford Boase award, Fly By Night is the stunning YA fantasy novel from Frances Hardinge, author of the Costa Award winning The Lie Tree. As the realm struggles to maintain an uneasy peace after years of civil war and tyranny, a twelve-year-old orphan called Mosca Mye and her...

The #1 bestselling series that started with Stalking Jack the Ripper and Hunting Prince Dracula continues its streak in this third bloody installment . . . Audrey Rose and Thomas Cresswell find themselves aboard a luxurious ocean liner that becomes a floating prison of horror when passengers are...

Brought to you by Penguin. The third book in the Sally Lockhart Quartet, narrated by Adjoa Andoh. Sally is 25, and somebody wants to destroy her. She receives divorce papers from a man she has never met, let alone married - yet this trap is so well laid that she is powerless to prove otherwise...

Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year 2017. 'A Skinful of Shadows confirms Hardinge's status as one of our finest storytellers. It's rare to find a book which is every bit as intelligent and stylish as it is riveting - I was enthralled' - Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent. Frances...

This #1 New York Times bestseller and deliciously creepy horror novel has a storyline inspired by the Ripper murders and an unexpected, blood-chilling conclusion. Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her...

Mercenary Casia Greythorne cares about two things: completing whatever her latest job is and earning enough coin to buy the expensive medicine that's keeping her mentor alive. So when the king himself offers her a job, she can't resist the massive reward he offers - even if it means working with Captain Elander, the arrogant, mysterious right-hand to that king. Her partner may be infuriating, but at least their mission seems simple and quick enough: investigate the origins of the strange plague that's been ravaging their empire, help find a cure, and then call it a day.

Francis Joseph Cassavant is eighteen. He has just returned home from the Second World War, and he has no face. He does have a gun and a mission: to murder his childhood hero. Francis lost most of his face when he fell on a grenade in France. He received the Silver Star for bravery, but was it really an act of heroism? Now, having survived, he is looking for a man he once admired and respected, a man adored by many people, a man who also received a Silver Star for bravery. A man who destroyed Francis's life.

REBELLION HAPPENS IN THE SHADOWS Vivien Featherswallow has uncovered the secret language of dragons. Now can she use it to end a war? The extraordinary sequel to the instant #1 Sunday Times Bestseller, A Language of Dragons "A delicious mix of rebellion, romance and complex female characters...

Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge, the Costa Award-winning author of The Lie Tree, is a fantastically eerie and beautifully written novel, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal. The first things to shift were the doll's eyes, the beautiful grey-green glass eyes. Slowly they...

Roland Inness desperately needs meat for his starving family, but he takes the wrong deer on the wrong nobleman's land. Worse yet, he uses his longbow, a weapon outlawed and suppressed by the Norman overlords of England. Now they are coming for him. With one shot the 14 year old peasant boy is launched on a desperate flight that takes him from the mountains of Derbyshire to the wild frontier of Wales and on to the court of Richard the Lionheart.

His academy razed to the ground, Arik barely survives a deathly fall out of a cliffside window and a vicious attack by winged wolves. Imprisoned by slave traders, battered and bruised, Arik decides to fight back or die trying. He escapes and joins forces with an irritable water spirit, one who can guide him through new lands. Together, they head to the realm of the enemy in search of answers and revenge. But Arik will need more than a powerful companion to stop the advance of the nefarious Crimson Realm.

Every time a lad came fowling on the St Kilda stacs, he went home less of a boy and more of a man. If he went home at all, that is.... In the summer of 1727, a group of men and boys are put ashore on a remote sea stac to harvest birds for food. No-one returns to collect them. Why? Surely nothing but the end of the world can explain why they have been abandoned to endure storms, starvation and terror. And how can they survive, housed in stone and imprisoned on every side by the ocean?

Winner of the Carnegie Medal, Tamar is Mal Peet's astonishing novel about love, lies and secrets in a time of war. When her grandfather dies, Tamar inherits a box containing a series of clues and coded messages. Out of the past, another Tamar emerges, a man involved in the terrifying world of resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Holland half a century earlier. His story is one of passionate love, jealousy and tragedy set against the daily fear and casual horror of the Second World War. Unravelling it will transform the younger Tamar's life....

1758, Joseon. There are few options available to illegitimate daughters in the capital city, but through hard work and study, eighteen-year-old Hyeon has earned a position as a palace nurse. All she wants is to keep her head down, do a good job, and perhaps finally win her estranged father's approval. But Hyeon is suddenly thrust into the dark and dangerous world of court politics when someone murders four women in a single night, and the prime suspect is Hyeon's closest friend and mentor. Determined to prove her beloved teacher's innocence, Hyeon launches her own secret investigation.

A grand house at war. A quest for revenge. And this time, there’s nowhere to hide. Sophie’s back in Shorten, fighting to protect her family, her friends, and her remarkable dog. But now Sophie has a price on her head that will destroy the Manor and everyone in it. One man’s centuries-old secret could have changed their fate, but he’s gone, murdered. Can a dead man’s whisper still save them?