The longlist for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2025 was announced earlier today. Congratulations to all the authors and publishers of the books on the longlist. It’s particularly great to see so many independent publishers represented.
As usual, the longlist provided some surprises with only three books I’ve read (all of which I tipped to appear on the list) and another in my TBR pile. I’ve heard of a couple of the others but haven’t got round to reading them. The rest are completely new to me – the authors and/or the books.
I’ve divided the twelve novels into three parts: those I’ve read and reviewed, those I own but have yet to read, and those that are now on my wishlist (if they weren’t already). Links from the titles will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.
Read and reviewed
The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry (Canongate)
Clear by Carys Davies (Granta)
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller (Sceptre)
Waiting to be read
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Viking)
Now on my wishlist
The Catchers by Xan Brooks (Salt)
Mother Naked by Glen James Brown (Peninsula Press)
The Mare: A Novel by Angharad Hampshire (Northodox Press)
The Book of Days by Francesca Kay (Swift Press)
The First Friend by Malcolm Knox (Allen & Unwin)
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (Fig Tree)
A Sign of Her Own by Sarah Marsh (Tinder Press)
Munichs by David Peace (Faber)
I usually say I’ll try to read all the longlisted books before the shortlist is announced in April. I think that’s going to be a tall order this year so I may have to prioritise some of the shorter ones.
Have you read any of the books on the list? Are there any you’re planning to read?
What Cathy Read Next... 
Well done for correctly predicting three of these! I haven’t read any of them yet so there’s no way I’ll be able to read them all before the shortlist announcement, but I hope to have time for at least a few.
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I haven’t read any but A Sign of Her Own, The Book of Days and The Safe Keep appeal.
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Yes, those appeal to me too but the longlist always throws up surprises.
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I haven’t read any this year but have heard many people enthusing about Clear so I quite fancy reading that one.
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If you only read one that would be a good choice. Quite short too.
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First Friend is the only one I’ve heard of. I may read it. The political scene in the US right now makes such reading difficult.
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That is one of the books I’d not heard of before now, probably because it’s not published in the UK yet.
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