The longlist for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2023 was announced on 14th February 2023. Congratulations to all the authors and publishers of the books on the longlist.
As an avid reader of historical fiction I like to think I have my finger on the pulse but, as usual, the longlist provided some surprises with books I’d not only not read, but never even come across. And my attempt to predict the books that might appear on the longlist was pretty much a failure – I only got three right.
I’ve divided the twelve novels on the list into three parts: those I’ve read and reviewed, those I own but have yet to read, and those that are completely new to me and, I suspect, many other readers. Links from the titles will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.
Read and reviewed
These Days by Lucy Caldwell (Faber)
The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson Joseph (Dialogue Books)
Waiting to be read
The Romantic by William Boyd (Viking)
Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris (Hutchinson Heinemann)
The Chosen by Elizabeth Lowry (Riverrun)
The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk (Doubleday)
Ancestry by Simon Mawer (Little, Brown)
New to me
My Name is Yip by Paddy Crewe (Doubleday)
The Geometer Lobachevsky by Adrian Duncan (Tuskar Rock Press)
The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane (Allen & Unwin, Australia)
I Am Not Your Eve by Devika Ponnambalam (Bluemoose)
The Settlement by Jock Serong (Text Publishing, Australia)
The shortlist will be announced in April by which time I hope to have read a few more of the longlisted books and be in a position to make a few predictions. Have you read any of the books on the list? Are there any you’re planning to read?
What Cathy Read Next... 
I’ve only read Charles Ignatius Sancho from the longlist but have borrowed Ancestry and These Days from the library so will be reading those soon.
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I’ve just ordered Ancestry from Waterstones as I’ve read previous books of his and enjoyed them.
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The Romantic was one of my favourite books of 2022, so I’m hoping it wins. I also enjoyed Act of Oblivion and Zachary Cloudesley and am halfway through These Days at the moment. I hadn’t heard of the same five as you – these longlists always include a lot of surprises!
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They do don’t they? Waterstones always do well out of this list. I’ve just ordered four from it, including Zachary Cloudesley.
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Without having read a single one of the others – yet – I’d be happy to see the William Boyd win. Quite simply a good, satisfyingly meaty saga, well told.
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That’s two votes for The Romantic now.
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I haven’t read ANY of them and I only know of the Boyd novel. Wow… am I behind or what????
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I wouldn’t worry, at least half were new to me – authors and books.
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