Historical fiction

1966: In London, Jackie Collins's racy 'The World is Full of Married Men' hits bookshops and launches her career. In New York, Jacqueline Susann's debut novel 'Valley of the Dolls' is published, and she's desperate for it to be a bestseller. But neither author is prepared for the price they will ...

Bella is born into a life of comfort and privilege, with parents who adore her. They encourage her to travel and to speak her mind. But when she falls in love it reveals a long-buried secret at the very centre of her family. The layers of deception lead to tragedy, destroying all she holds so dea...

It's 1961 and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filled, buildings reconstructed, and the war is well and truly over. Living alone in her late mother's country home, Isabel's life is as it should be: led by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her b...

1338: England has declared war on France, and Jeanette of Kent, cousin to King Edward III, says goodbye to her family and travels overseas with the royal court for the first time. Once in Antwerp, she is captivated by talented household knight Thomas Holland, just as he in turn is powerfully draw...

Shakespeare fed us the myth of the Macbeths as murderous conspirators. But now Val McDermid drags the truth out of the shadows, exposing the patriarchal prejudices of history. Expect the unexpected. A thousand years ago in an ancient Scottish landscape, a woman is on the run with her three compan...

Summer 1914. A world on the brink of catastrophe. In London, 26-year-old Venetia Stanley - aristocratic, clever, bored, reckless - is having a love affair with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, a man more than twice her age. He writes to her obsessively, sharing the most sensitive matters of sta...

Enter a world of prostitutes and samurais in 12th century Japan. Kozaisho, the fifth-daughter of a lowly farmer, feels her world shattering when she is sold by her father in exchange for land. Heartbroken, her one ray of light comes when a series of auspicious omens allows her to be trained as a ...

Lagos, 1939. With the announcement of World War Two and a change that sends shockwaves through her family, Kehinde is forced to put aside her dreams of writing and become the third wife of Mr Ogunjobi. Kehinde makes her peace by selling snacks at a small market. When she gets the chance to assist...

Almeyda, born on a Brazilian slave plantation, is seven when Father Tollinaire teaches her to read - though only the books that he allows, and only in the pronunciation he dictates. Like her mother, she becomes a house servant, spared the labour of the fields. But when the master offers the young...

Early 1952. As a telephonist in the Royal Household, Helen Hill hears many private conversations on a daily basis. And whilst the sad death of King George preoccupies the minds of those around her, Helen is battling with some difficult family news alone. When she meets Jake, a dashing journalist,...