Showing titles in Biographical Fiction

The air is the first thing. For a solitary archivist on the fourth floor of a vast library, the world is not measured in sight or sound, but in scent. This is a life lived in the stacks, a world contained by the fire door and the heavy, metal-plated threshold. Inside, the air is honest. It is the dry, stable smell of paper fibers, acidic ink, and the sweet, vanilla-like decay of lignin. It is the smell of preservation, of time held still.

Rome, 63 BC. In a city on the brink of acquiring a vast empire, seven men are struggling for power. Cicero is consul, Caesar his ruthless young rival, Pompey the republic's greatest general, Crassus its richest man, Cato a political fanatic, Catilina a psychopath, Clodius an ambitious playboy...

Brought to you by Penguin. The throne is never safe ... especially in Rome AD 60. Rome stands at the height of its power – glittering with wealth, drowning in intrigue. On Palatine Hill, Nero Claudius Caesar rules as Emperor, a young man adored for his beauty and brilliance, feared for his...

In the heat and dust of 18th-century India, the young British officer William Culpepper faces his first true test of command. When a Company supply convoy vanishes into the thorn-choked hills beyond Madras, it sparks a chain of events that will plunge Culpepper into the brutal heart of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. In this conflict, courage, discipline, and fate collide beneath an unforgiving sun. As Mysorean cavalry prowl the jungles, William must lead his men through ambush, intrigue, and betrayal.

Alison Weir, historian and author of the Sunday Times bestsellers Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen and Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession, draws a finely detailed and enthralling portrait of Jane Seymour, Henry VIII's third queen. Essential reading for fans of Philippa Gregory and Elizabeth...

'Harris's novels about the Roman statesman Cicero, are perfect audiobook material.' 50 best audiobooks, Daily Mail 'Masterful' Sunday Times 'Gripping and accomplished' Guardian 'Truly gifted, razor-sharp' Daily Telegraph Ancient Rome teems with ambitious and ruthless men. None is more brilliant...

'Confirms Harris's undisputed place as our leading master of both the historical and contemporary thriller' Daily Mail LAWS ARE SILENT IN TIMES OF WAR. There was a time when Cicero held Caesar's life in the palm of his hand. But now Caesar is the dominant figure and Cicero's life is in ruins...

**LISTEN TO HAMNET STAR JESSIE BUCKLEY'S UNFORGETTABLE NEW RECORDING BEFORE YOU SEE THE FILM** 'Richly sensuous... something special' The Sunday Times 'A thing of shimmering wonder' David Mitchell TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART...

'This six-book series looks likely to become a landmark in historical fiction' The Times Alison Weir, historian and author of the Sunday Times-bestselling Six Tudor Queens series, relates one of the most tragic stories in English history: Katheryn Howard, Henry VIII's fifth queen. 'With...

'One of the greatest storytellers of our time' Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska-a place of...

She ​rose as a favourite. Will she fall as a traitor? In the dazzling, dangerous world of the Tudor Court, nothing is more powerful than a secret – or more deadly. Jane Boleyn has mastered many masks: loving wife, devoted sister, and obedient spy. But as the King's rule advances into tyranny...

Brought to you by Penguin. THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2022 SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2022 From one of our greatest living writers comes a sweeping novel of unrequited love and exile, war and family. The Magician...

Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen by bestselling historian Alison Weir, author of The Lost Tudor Princess, is the first in a spellbinding six novel series about Henry VIII's Queens. Alison takes you on an engrossing journey at Katherine's side and shows her extraordinary strength of character...

Brought to you by Penguin. Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize 2025 The knock on the door changed everything. Until then, we were happy; we knew who we were. ‘You’ve got the wrong person,’ I told him. ‘My wife is gentle and kind. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.’ In 1939, when she was...

No.1 bestselling author Gill Sims is back with her eagerly awaited fourth and final Why Mummy novel. I just wanted them to stop wittering at me, eat vegetables without complaining, let me go to the loo in peace and learn to make a decent gin and tonic. Mummy has been a wife and mother for so...

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Kirsty Besterman, an experienced TV and theatre actress known for her leading role as Lady Macbeth in the National Theatre Tour, as well as a number of roles with Shakespeare's Globe and the RSC. 'January 22nd - Robert startles me...

Based on a true story, Queenie of Norwich is the compelling tale of one remarkable girl's journey to womanhood. Spanning the first half of the 20th century, Queenie's story is one of heartbreak and triumph, love and loss, and the power of family. It is a story of redemption, and how, with grit and determination, anything is possible.

A tour-de-force of historical imagination, this is the story of three young men at the dawn of the French Revolution. Georges-Jacques Danton: zealous, energetic, debt-ridden. Maximilien Robespierre: small, diligent, and terrified of violence. And Camille Desmoulins: a genius of rhetoric, charming, handsome, but erratic and untrustworthy. As these key figures of the French Revolution taste the addictive delights of power, they must also come to face the horror that follows.

Jewish refugee Felix Wolff believes he has found safety in England, but he is arrested and thrown into a British internment camp as a suspected Nazi spy. To clear his name and join the fight against Hitler, he must break free of a system that mistakes him for the very evil he fled. Fresh off his ruthless campaign in Poland, Sicherheitsdienst agent Karl Vogt is sent on a chilling mission: to devise a system for controlling the growing Jewish population within the Reich. His cold efficiency lays the groundwork for a coming horror the world has yet to comprehend.