Historical Drama Fiction

England in the 14th Century. Twelve-year-old Robin’s world is turned upside down when his father, the Earl of Waringham, dies in disgrace. His inheritance lost and his family name dishonoured, the penniless Robin must begin a new life as a peasant on his own estate. He soon makes an enemy in Mortimer, the spoiled young son of the new Earl. As the years pass and the boys enter adulthood, Robin flees Waringham to seek his fortune abroad.

Survival means fighting back. Set across Sunderland and New York in the late 19th century, A Woman of Courage is a heartwarming saga by Rita Bradshaw, author of the bestselling Believing in Tomorrow. It's 1890, and Josie Gray is an innocent and beautiful fifteen-year old when Adam McGuigan, the...

Brought to you by Penguin. From the Sunday Times bestselling author Nancy Revell. When Lucy’s estranged mother dies unexpectedly, her grief is overwhelming. Lucy was disowned when she married penniless horse-trainer Danny for love, leaving her blue-blooded family’s fortune in tatters. But...

Believing in Tomorrow is the new sweeping family saga from the top ten bestselling author of One Snowy Night, Rita Bradshaw. Molly McKenzie is only eleven years old when her abusive father beats her to within an inch of her life. Escaping from the hovel she calls home, Molly is found by kind...

Read by Fenella Woolgar, known for her role as Sister Hilda in BBC series Call the Midwife. Three women united by their love of books. One library that has the power to change lives, even in wartime . . . When Juliet begins work ats Bethnal Green Library, she discovers it is far from the...

Brought to you by Penguin. The brand-new novel from the author of the bestselling Shipyard Girls series. 1949, County Durham. From the Shipyards of Sunderland to Lady of the Manor . . . When Angie marries her sweetheart Quentin and moves into Cuthford Manor to begin their new life together, she...

An enthralling historical fiction from the bestselling author of the Guinness Girls series Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy, a recent arrival to England from Massachusetts, is already a huge hit in 1930s London society. Her status as the daughter of an ambassador puts her at the centre of the most elite...

At the age of 30, Robin is an Earl at last - but not the Earl of Waringham, the ancestral title that he still hopes to win back one day from the evil Mortimer. England has seen other changes too: Edward III is dead and his successor, the boy king Richard II, is at odds with his uncle, the Duke of Lancaster. The introduction of a hated new poll tax brings about one of the most dangerous episodes in English history and Robin finds himself embroiled in the Peasants’ Revolt.

Robin has made a powerful ally in the Duke of Lancaster. But he has made powerful enemies too: not only his childhood adversary Mortimer, but the sadistic knight Peter de Gray. Returning to England, he is awarded the fiefdom of Fernbrook in Lancashire, where he meets the beautiful noblewoman Joanna. But the wheel of fortune keeps turning and as the years pass Robin and his friends must face trials and tragedies: plague, war and political intrigue are never far away.

New York Times bestselling author Lynda Mullaly Hunt's moving story of a boy struggling to rebuild his life after a family tragedy and his own big mistakes Peter blames himself for not saving his brother, Russ. After all, if the roles had been reversed, Russ would have figured out a way to keep...

Read by the author, Eliza Morton. Full of nostalgia and set against a backdrop of the Festival of Britain and the aftermath of the Second World War, The Children Left Behind is a gritty, emotional, heartwarming and uplifting saga. 1940, Liverpool When Alice Lacey was seven, she and her two best...

Brought to you by Penguin. A page-turning historical fiction novel of family, loss and survival. Perfect for fans of Evie Woods, Rachel Burton, and Daisy Wood. A hidden past. A devastating choice. A heartbreaking truth. After a terrible injustice forces Mary Tanswell from her position in service...

A vintage eight-part radio serial based on the true story of the infamous outlaw and his Kelly gang Ned Kelly’s name has gone down in history as Australia’s greatest folk hero. A legendary bushranger and bank robber, he is lauded by many as a Robin Hood-style rebel – and reviled by others...

Murder Among the Spires, a new HQ Digital book, full description to follow when available...

Deborah Swift Book 6, a new HQ Digital book, full description to follow when available...

Brought to you by Penguin. This is The Scandal of the Century, the true story of the author Aphra Behn, who used a shocking love affair to create the first English novel . . . London, 1682. When Lady Henrietta Berkeley elopes with her sister’s husband, her subsequent capture and the lawsuit...

Legendary writer Trevanian brings readers his most personal novel yet: a funny, deeply felt, often touching coming-of-age novel set in 1930s America. Six-year-old Jean-Luc LaPointe, his little sister, and his spirited but vulnerable young mother have been abandoned—again—by his father, a...

The 12th installment in the Aubrey/ Maturin series. The time is the early 1800s, and the British Navy stands as the only bulwark against the militant fanaticism of Napoleonic France. Jack Aubrey, a brilliant and experienced officer, has been struck off the list of post-captains for a crime his...

A young woman runs away from home and finds love in the most unexpected place In Meg Rosoff's fourth novel, a young woman in 1850s rural England runs away from home on horseback the day she's to marry her childhood sweetheart. Pell is from a poor preacher's family and she's watched her mother...

What made Masada qualitatively different from most of the battles Rome fought was not just the difficulty the Legions had in retaking control of it with incredibly disproportionate military equipment and numbers, but also the actions of the Judean defenders. In the final hours of the battle, just as the Romans were about to breach the walls of the city, the defenders gathered together and committed mass suicide, rather than being killed or taken captive by the Romans.