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  • Experts

Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Laird

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - Rose Nicolson: A Novel by Andrew Greig

    1

    Rose Nicolson: A Novel
    by Andrew Greig

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - News of the Dead by James Robertson

    2

    News of the Dead
    by James Robertson

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - Fortune by Amanda Smyth

    3

    Fortune
    by Amanda Smyth

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - The Magician by Colm Tóibín

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    The Magician
    by Colm Tóibín

The Best Historical Fiction: The 2022 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Elizabeth Laird

Every year, the Walter Scott Prize highlights the best new historical novels. In 2022, the shortlist comprises four fantastic works of historical fiction that immerse the reader in the past—from 16th-century Scotland to 1920s Trinidad—while confronting universal human dramas we still struggle with today. Elizabeth Laird, one of the judges, talks us through their choices this year.

    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2021 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Katharine Grant

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2021 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

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    Hamnet
    by Maggie O'Farrell

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2021 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

    2

    The Mirror and the Light
    by Hilary Mantel

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2021 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

    3

    The Dictionary of Lost Words
    by Pip Williams

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2021 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville

    4

    A Room Made of Leaves
    by Kate Grenville

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2021 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte

    5

    The Tolstoy Estate
    by Steven Conte

The Best Historical Fiction: The 2021 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Katharine Grant

The Walter Scott Prize seeks to highlight the very best of historical fiction—and in 2021, we find the shortlist dominated by Australian writers. Katharine Grant, the acclaimed novelist and chair of the judges, returns to Five Books to discuss the cream of this year’s crop, and the art of transforming the historical record into a creative exercise.

    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2020 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Katharine Grant

  • Read
    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2020 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - The Narrow Land by Christine Dwyer Hickey

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    The Narrow Land
    by Christine Dwyer Hickey

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2020 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - The Parisian by Isabella Hammad

    2

    The Parisian
    by Isabella Hammad

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2020 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek

    3

    To Calais, In Ordinary Time
    by James Meek

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2020 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - Shadowplay by Joseph O'Conner

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    Shadowplay
    by Joseph O'Conner

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2020 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - The Redeemed by Tim Pears

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    The Redeemed
    by Tim Pears

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    The Best Historical Fiction: The 2020 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - A Sin of Omission by Marguerite Poland

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    A Sin of Omission
    by Marguerite Poland

The Best Historical Fiction: The 2020 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Katharine Grant

Historical fiction is experiencing something of a golden age at present: there’s never been a better time to immerse oneself in the past. The acclaimed novelist Katharine Grant—chair of the judges for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction—talks us through their 2020 shortlist.

    The Best of Historical Fiction: The 2019 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Katharine Grant

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    The Best of Historical Fiction: The 2019 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - The Long Take by Robin Robertson

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    The Long Take
    by Robin Robertson

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    The Best of Historical Fiction: The 2019 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - A Long Way from Home: A novel by Peter Carey

    2

    A Long Way from Home: A novel
    by Peter Carey

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    The Best of Historical Fiction: The 2019 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - After the Party by Cressida Connolly

    3

    After the Party
    by Cressida Connolly

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    The Best of Historical Fiction: The 2019 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - The Western Wind: A Novel by Samantha Harvey

    4

    The Western Wind: A Novel
    by Samantha Harvey

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    The Best of Historical Fiction: The 2019 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller

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    Now We Shall Be Entirely Free
    by Andrew Miller

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    The Best of Historical Fiction: The 2019 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist - Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

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    Warlight
    by Michael Ondaatje

The Best of Historical Fiction: The 2019 Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, recommended by Katharine Grant

The best historical novels are those so immersive and natural in tone that their period setting is a ‘by-the-way,’ says Katharine Grant, the novelist and judge for the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction. Here she discusses the six brilliant books that made the 2019 shortlist.

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