The 2023 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction was announced on June, 15th. The prize went to Lucy Caldwell for her novel THESE DAYS set in WWII Belfast.
I’ve scoured the Longlist for this year’s contest. Of twelve books, I find the following set outside of the UK or US:
- two set in 19th century Australia: THE SUN WALKS DOWN (Fiona McFarlane), and THE SETTLEMENT (Jock Serong)
- one shifts between London and the Crimea: ANCESTRY (Simon Mawer)
- and THE SECOND SIGHT OF ZACHARY CLOUDESLEY (Sean Lusk) moves from London to Ottoman Constantinople in the 18th century
These three are the most firmly in the Long Ago & Far Away category.
The entire Longlist can be found here.
Every one of the writers is to be commended for their work, but I crave more novels set off the beaten path.
How about you? Have you read any of these? Do they spark your interest?
Oh marvellous!
I haven’t read any of these books. I tend to be more of the long ago
and a little more recently type, so I think I might prefer THESE DAYS.