Tag: historical fiction

5 Books Shortlisted for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction @waltscottprize

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Submissions from publishers for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2024 opened on 24th August. I’ve read many of the longlisted and shortlisted books over the years – you can see my dedicated page here – and it’s fair to say I wouldn’t have read many of them, or even heard of them in some cases, if it hadn’t been for the Walter Scott Prize. I’ve selected five shortlisted books I thoroughly enjoyed, even if they didn’t go on to win. Links from each title will take you to my review.

The Wardrobe Mistress by Patrick McGrath (shortlisted in 2018) – ‘January 1947. London is in ruins, there’s nothing to eat, and it’s the coldest winter in living memory. To make matters worse, Charlie Grice, one of the great stage actors of the day, has suddenly died. His widow Joan, the wardrobe mistress, is beside herself with grief. Then one night she discovers Gricey’s secret. Plunged into a dark new world, she realises that the war isn’t over after all.’

Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller (shortlisted in 2019) – ‘One rain-swept February night in 1809, an unconscious man is carried into a house in Somerset. He is Captain John Lacroix, home from Britain’s disastrous campaign against Napoleon’s forces in Spain.’

Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor (shortlisted in 2020) – ‘1878, The Lyceum Theatre, London. Three extraordinary people begin their life together: Henry Irving is the volcanic leading man and impresario; Ellen Terry is the most lauded and desired actress of her generation, outspoken and generous of heart; and ever following along behind them in the shadows is the unremarkable theatre manager, Bram Stoker.’

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (shortlisted in 2021) – ‘In 1901, the word ‘bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.’

Fortune by Amanda Smyth (shorlisted in 2022) – ‘1920s Trinidad. Eddie Wade’s truck breaks down and he’s offered a ride by businessman, Tito Fernandez. So begins a novel based on a real-life event about love, money, greed and ambition.’

#BookReview Night Train to Marrakech by Dinah Jefferies

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About the Book

Marrakech 1966. Vicky Baudin steps onto a train winding through Morocco, looking for the grandmother she has never met.

It’s an epic journey that’ll take her to the edge of the Atlas Mountains – and closer to the answers she’s been craving all her life.

But dark secrets whisper amongst the dunes. And in unlocking the mystery of Clemence’s past, Vicky will unearth great danger too…

Format: Paperback (464 pages) Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: 14th September 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find Night Train to Marrakech on Goodreads

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My Review

Night Train to Marrakech is the third and final book in the author’s Daughters of War series. I’ve only read the first book, Daughters of War, and not the second, The Hidden Palace. Although Night Train to Marrakech can be read as a standalone, a number of characters from previous books (especially the first book) reappear, there are frequent references to events in the earlier books and some storylines reach their conclusion in this one. For all these reasons, I would recommend reading the series from the beginning.

It soon becomes apparent that Vicky’s family is one riven with secrets, past tragedies and estrangements. And through a series of chance encounters and coincidences, she is soon embroiled in melodrama of her own owing to the arrival of an enemy from Clemence’s past and the legacy of Morocco’s political history. It puts both herself, Clemence and others in danger.

I admired Clemence as a character, particularly her dedication to caring for her mother, Madeleine, whose mental decline is not only a result of age but of the cruelty she suffered at the hands of Clemence’s father, the full details of which gradually emerge. I felt happy for Clemence when it appears she may have a second chance of happiness, something she had lost hope of many years before.

I’m afraid I found Vicky less easy to warm to although I admired her bravery in travelling to a new country. At times I felt she acted more like an overgrown schoolgirl than a mature young woman who desires to be taken seriously as a fashion designer, leaping into situations without really thinking them through and becoming frantic when things go wrong. As she admits at one point, ‘She had prided herself on never being a crybaby. Now look at her. Edgy and anxious. Close to tears almost all the time’.

By the way, if you’re expecting (as I was) to be spending time aboard the train mentioned in the title, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed because it features only very briefly at the beginning of the book. However, if you enjoy a story that involves family secrets, an element of romance and the opportunity to bask in the sights, sounds and smells of an exotic location, you will not be disappointed by Night Train to Marrakech.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Harper Collins and Readers First.

In three words: Emotional, dramatic, atmospheric

Try something similar: The Black Crescent by Jane Johnson

About the Author

Dinah Jefferies began her career with The Separation, followed by the No.1 Sunday Times and Richard and Judy bestseller, The Tea-Planter’s Wife. Born in Malaysia, she moved to England at the age of nine, and went on to study fashion design in London, work in Tuscany as an au pair for an Italian countess, and live with a rock band in a commune in Suffolk.

A personal tragedy in her past changed her life, and she now draws on the experience in her page-turning novels of love, dark family secrets and mystery set in stunning locations, worlds where readers can escape and lose themselves. She is published in 29 languages in over 30 countries and lives in Gloucestershire.

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