The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2026 Longlist

Posted on by whatcathyreadnext
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The longlist for the The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2026 was announced yesterday. As a huge fan of historical fiction, this is always an exciting moment, seeing books I’ve loved appear on the list or discovering new titles.

This year I’ve read eight of the twelve books on the list. One (The Artist) is in my TBR pile and the remaining three (Boundary Waters, Edenglassie and Once the Deed Is Done) have gone straight on my wishlist.

Here are the twelve books on the longlist. Links from the titles will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.

As in previous years, I’ll attempt to read all the longlisted novels I haven’t already before the shortlist is announced in April.

Have any of your favourites made the longlist? 

13 thoughts on “The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2026 Longlist”

    1. I don’t think I’ll venture a prediction at this stage! Four of the books – The Two Roberts, Helm, Seascraper and The Pretender – are also on the shortlist for the Winston Graham Historical Prize. They do say great minds think alike. As one of the judges I’ll be rereading all four this month. Seascraper is short and very atmospheric, Helm is inventive and playful if you can get past a wind being its narrator. The Pretender is strong on historical detail. I enjoyed Venetian Vespers, sinister but not full-on scary. The Matchbox Girl has really dark subject matter but is brilliantly written. I didn’t get on with Eden’s Shore, I had no idea what was going on by the end! Of the ones I haven’t read, Boundary Waters attracts me. Sorry, long answer!

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    1. I haven’t read Edenglassie but probably will. What did you think of it? The Matchbox Girl was very good, although the subject matter is dark. I didn’t get on with Eden’s Shore at all. By the end I had no idea what was going on. Probably now I’ve said that it will win!

      Four of the books – Seascraper, Helm, The Two Roberts and The Pretender – are also on the shortlist for the Winston Graham Historical Prize. I’m a member of the judging panel for that so will be rereading them all this month. Difficult to choose between them at the moment, although obviously I’ll have to before the judges’ meeting in early March!

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      1. I loved Edenglassie – it was one of my favourite reads of 2023 (it was published here before the UK). I loved the time frames for different reasons. The historical one was from the First Nations perspective which we still don’t get to read enough about and I really enjoyed the snappy dialogue in the contemporary sections.

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  5. You’ve done very well to have read so many of these books already! I notice there’s a lot of overlap with the Winston Graham Prize, though, which is obviously a help. I’ve only read Venetian Vespers and Seascraper so far, but will try to read some of the others as well.

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