The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction was founded in 2010 by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Alistair Moffat, the Chair of Judges. The Duke and Duchess wanted to mark the very great achievements of their distant kinsman, Sir Walter Scott, and celebrate the resurgence of the genre he created.

Past winners of the prize include Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel in 2010, The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng in 2013 and An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris in 2014.  More information about the prize can be found here.

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The 2026 Prize – Longlist

Venetian Vespers by John Banville (Faber & Faber) Read and reviewed
The Two Roberts by Damian Barr (Canongate) Read and reviewed
Eden’s Shore by Oisín Fagan (John Murray Press) Read and reviewed
Helm by Sarah Hall (Faber & Faber) Read – not yet reviewed
The Pretender by Jo Harkin (Bloomsbury) Read – not yet reviewed
Boundary Waters by Tristan Hughes (Parthian Books)
The Matchbox Girl by Alice Jolly (Bloomsbury) Read and reviewed
Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko (Oneworld Publications)
Benbecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Polygon) Read and reviewed
Once the Deed is Done by Rachel Seiffert (Virago)
The Artist by Lucy Steeds (John Murray Press)
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood (Viking) Read – not yet reviewed

The shortlist will be announced in April and the winner at the Borders Book Festival on 11th June 2026.

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The 2025 Prize – Shortlist

The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry (Canongate) Read and reviewed
The Mare: A Novel by Angharad Hampshire (Northodox Press) Read and reviewed
The Book of Days by Francesca Kay (Swift Press) Read and reviewed
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (Fig Tree) Read and reviewed
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller (Sceptre) Read and reviewed
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Viking) Read and reviewed

View the longlist here.

The winner was announced at the Borders Book Festival on 12th June – The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller.

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The 2024 Prize – Shortlist

• The New Life by Tom Crewe Read and reviewed
• Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein Read and reviewed
• My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor Read and reviewed
• The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng Read and reviewed
• In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas
• Absolutely & Forever by Rose Tremain Read and reviewed

View the longlist here.

The winner was announced on Thursday 13th June 2024 – Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein

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The 2023 Prize – Shortlist

These Days by Lucy Caldwell (Faber) Read and reviewed
Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris (Hutchinson Heinemann)
The Chosen by Elizabeth Lowry (Riverrun) Read and reviewed
Ancestry by Simon Mawer (Little, Brown) Read and reviewed
The Geometer Lobachevsky by Adrian Duncan (Tuskar Rock Press) Read and reviewed
The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane (Allen & Unwin, Australia)
I Am Not Your Eve by Devika Ponnambalam (Bluemoose) Read and reviewed

View the longlist here.

The winner was announced on Thursday 15th June 2023 – These Days by Lucy Caldwell

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The 2022 Prize – Shortlist

Rose Nicholson by Andrew Greig (Riverrun)
The Magician by Colm Tóibín (Viking)
News of the Dead by James Robertson (Hamish Hamilton) Read and reviewed
Fortune by Amanda Smyth (Peepal Tree Press) Read and reviewed

View the longlist here

The winner was announced on Friday 17th June 2022 – News of the Dead by James Robertson

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The 2021 Prize – Shortlist

1. The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte
2. A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville Read and reviewed
3. The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel Read and reviewed
4. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell Read and reviewed
5. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams Read and reviewed

View the longlist here

The winner was announced on Thursday 17th June 2021 – The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel

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The 2020 Prize – Shortlist

1. The Narrow Land by Christine Dwyer Hickey Read and reviewed
2. The Parisian by Isabella Hammad
3. To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek
4. Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor Read and reviewed
5. The Redeemed by Tim Pears Read and reviewed
6. A Sin of Omission by Marguerite Poland

View the longlist here

The winner was announced on Friday 12th June 2020 – The Narrow Land by Christine Dwyer Hickey

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The 2019 Prize – Shortlist

1. A Long Way From Home by Peter Carey (Faber) – Read and reviewed
2. After The Party by Cressida Connolly (Viking) – Read and reviewed
3. The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey (Jonathan Cape) – Read and reviewed
4. Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller (Sceptre) Read and reviewed
5. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje (Jonathan Cape) – Read and reviewed
6. The Long Take by Robin Robertson  (Picador) – Read and reviewed

View the longlist here.

The winner was announced at The Baillie Gifford Borders Book Festival – The Long Take by Robin Robertson 

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The 2018 Prize – Shortlist

1. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
2. Sugar Money by Jane Harris Read and reviewed
3. Grace by Paul Lynch Read and reviewed
4. Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves by Rachel Malik Read and reviewed
5. The Wardrobe Mistress by Patrick McGrath     Read and reviewed
6. The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers         Read and reviewed

View the longlist here.

The winner was announced on 16th June 2018 – The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers 

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The 2017 Prize – Shortlist

1. A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker Read and reviewed
2. Days Without End by Sebastian Barry Read and reviewed
3. The Vanishing Futurist by Charlotte Hobson Read and reviewed
4. The Good People by Hannah Kent Read and reviewed
5. Golden Hill by Francis Spufford Read and reviewed
6. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift Read and reviewed
7. The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain Read and reviewed

View the longlist here.

The winner of the 2017 prize was announced on 17^th June – Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

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