2020 longlist for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction awards is given away for writings of exceptional quality set in the past. Named after the founding father Sir Walter Scott, it is an annual award that was founded in 2009. They have shared their longlist for the year 2020 and it becomes an interesting list of historical fiction you can add to your personal library.
The judges this year are Elizabeth, Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry, James Holloway, Elizabeth Laird, James Naughtie and Kirsty Wark chaired by Katie Grant. They said, “In its eleventh year, with more submissions than ever before, the 2020 Walter Scott Prize longlist reflects the energy and dynamism of modern historical fiction, a genre presenting authors with very particular challenges and delights. As always with our longlist, readers will find themselves in all kinds of places in all kinds of centuries, both in the company of familiar authors and hearing newer voices. It’s a privilege to bring these books to wider attention through the prize. So much to savour, so much to think about and, most importantly, so much to enjoy.”
The Narrow Land by Christine Dwyer Hickey
Set in 1950s Cape Cod, the book tells about the marriage of Jo and Edward Hopper, the renowned American painter.
Photo: Atlantic Books
The Parisian by Isabella Hammad
Set in in the first half of the 20th century and spanning across Palestine, France and Egypt, this love story has themes of identity, family, war, love and betrayal.
Photo: Jonathan Cape
How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee
This book tells the true tale of Singapore’s ‘comfort women’. With two timelines in a cleverly written tale, we find out what really happened during the Japanese occupation in the 1940s.
Photo: OneWorld
To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek
Set in England in 1348, we follow a gentlewoman fleeing her arranged marriage, a Scots Proctor who has set out for Avignon and a young man on his way to volunteer with a company of archers who's paths cross.
Photo: Canongate Books
The Offing by Benjamin Myers
Set in the aftermath of the Second World War, we follow the odd friendship between an old lady and a young man who works for her. It's a coming of age tale which shows how relationships can improve people.
Photo: Bloomsbury
The Warlow Experiment by Alix Nathan
This book tells of an experiment that seems to go too far. Herbert Powyss wants to contribute to the field of science and decides to conduct an experiment in which he isolates a man for seven years.
Photo: Serpent's Tail
Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor
This novel would be a pleasure to read for any literature lover. We follow Bram Stoker and his relationships with actors Henry Irving and Ellen Terry while living in London in the times of Jack the Ripper.
Photo: Random House UK
The Redeemed by Tim Pears
This book is the last part of the West Country Trilogy. Set in 1916, we see how the First World War changes the lives of all the familiar characters in Devon.
Photo: Bloomsbury
A Sin of Omission by Marguerite Poland
Set in 1850's South Africa, this book shows the cruelty of colonialism through the tale of an African boy adopted by the church. He was raised to become a British-educated Anglican minister in the eastern Cape.
Photo: Penguin South Africa
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
Set during the urgent scientific curiosity of the Darwinian age, this tale is a layered mystery. At an inn by the River Thames, a man rushes in with a girl who seems fatally injured. However, she breathes again and three families are claiming her.
Photo: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
This is a coming-of-age tale is set during the electrification of rural Ireland. This tale beautifully portrays how communities function and respond to change.
Photo: Bloomsbury Publishing
The Hiding Game by Naomi Wood
A tense tale of obsession set in the politically charged backdrop of the Bauhaus art school in Germany in the early 1900's.
Photo: Picador
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