The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2025 – Second-guessing the judges

whatcathyreadnext6 Comments

WalterScottPrizeIt’s just over a month until the longlist for the  The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2025 is announced.

The prize is open to novels written in English and first published in 2024 in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth. Also eligible are novels written in English by authors of British nationality first published outside the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth in 2024 but also published in the UK in 2024. (Sadly that rules out James by Percival Everett, By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult and Burma Sahib by Paul Theroux as they are all American, and The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden as she is Dutch. Josie Ferguson, author of The Silence in Between may be ineligible as well having been born in Sweden.)

The majority of the storyline, i.e. over 50%, must take place at least 60 years ago. The judges are looking for ‘ambition, innovation and enduring appeal, with quality of writing as the deciding factor’. Sounds good to me.

As in previous years, I’ll attempt to read all the longlisted novels I haven’t already read before the shortlist is announced on 15th April. Wish me luck with that as I rarely manage it.

So, time to speculate… Some of the books in my list I haven’t yet read but I’ve picked them based on reviews they’ve received. Links from the titles will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.

Check back when the longlist is announced to see if any of my picks match the judges’ choices.

Are any of your favourites on my list?  Which other historical fiction novels published in 2024 do you think deserve a place on the longlist?

#WWWWednesday – 15th January 2025

whatcathyreadnext5 Comments

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

Currently reading

Front cover of The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Secret History by Donna Tartt (Penguin)

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and for ever.

Front cover of The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan

The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan (eARC, Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

THE SETTING
The body of a bookseller is discovered, lying in a pool of blood in his Bristol bookshop. Police have one question: how did the man meet such a violent, murderous end in this peaceful place?

THE CONFLICT
DS Cross’s ability to dismiss red herrings is challenged by a worrying development in his personal life. Hopelessly distracted, he needs to rely on those around him in a way he has never been comfortable doing before.

THE MURDER PLOT
It may be a quiet profession, but it’s full of passionate, ambitious characters who know the value of a rare book. Their extensive reading means they also know how to get away with murder.

But is that enough to fool the tenacious DS George Cross?

Recently finished

Homeseeking by Karissa Chen (Sceptre)

Start a Religion, Stay Out of Jail and Other Absurd Tales by Logan Medland (Raw Earth Ink)

Pets: do they secretly hate us? Could starting a religion allow one to live one’s entire life as a tax write-off and are the cost-to-benefit ratios worth it? What if the donut shop around the corner stays open all through the sleepless nights and its only patrons were every person you’ve ever known? Could this indeed be heaven?

What happens when the delivery driver falls in love with one of his customers? Is there redemption for the students who planned and executed their teacher’s demise, just to get out of doing their homework?

Would you survive the apocalypse if you built the world’s most well-planned bomb shelter? Is simply surviving enough, or would you need trustworthy companionship as well? Is cheese the most perfect food? Find out answers to these questions and so much more… (Review to follow)

Another Man in the Street by Caryl Phillips (Bloomsbury)

What Cathy Will Read Next

Front cover of The Ghosts of Paris by Tara Moss

The Ghosts of Paris (Billie Walker Mystery #2) by Tara Moss (Verve Books) 

It’s 1947. The world continues to grapple with the fallout of the Second World War, and former war reporter Billie Walker is finding her feet as an investigator.

When a wealthy client hires Billie and her assistant Sam to track down her missing husband, the trail leads Billie back to London and Paris, where Billie’s own painful memories also lurk. Jack Rake, Billie’s wartime lover and, briefly, husband, is just one of the millions of people who went missing in Europe during the war. What was his fate after they left Paris together?

As Billie’s search for her client’s husband takes her to both the swanky bars at Paris’s famous Ritz hotel and to the dank basements of the infamous Paris morgue, she’ll need to keep her gun at the ready, because something even more terrible than a few painful memories might be following her around the City of Lights…