The longlist for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2022 was revealed on 7th February. As an avid reader of historical fiction I like to think I have my finger on the pulse when it comes to books likely to appear on the list but, as usual, it provided some surprises. You can read more about the longlisted books here. Congratulations to all the authors and publishers of the books on the longlist.
I’ve divided the thirteen novels on the list into three parts: those I’ve read and reviewed, those I own but have yet to read, and those that are completely new to me and, I suspect, many other readers.
Read and reviewed
Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks (Hutchinson Heinemann)
Mrs England by Stacey Halls (Manilla Press)
The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed (Viking)
Waiting to be read
Rose Nicholson by Andrew Greig (Riverrun)
China Room by Sunjeev Sahota (Harvill Secker)
Learwife by J.R Thorp (Canongate)
The Magician by Colm Tóibín (Viking)
Still Life by Sarah Winman (Fourth Estate)
New to me
Blue Postcards by Douglas Bruton (Fairlight Books)
The Ballad of Lord Edward and Citizen Small by Neil Jordan (Lilliput Press)
The Sunken Road by Ciaràn McMenamin (Harvill Secker)
News of the Dead by James Robertson (Hamish Hamilton)
Fortune by Amanda Smyth (Peepal Tree Press)
The shortlist will be announced in April by which time I hope to have read a few more of the longlisted books and perhaps be in a position to make a few predictions. Have you read any of the books on the list? Are there any you’re planning to read?
What Cathy Read Next... 
I’m clearly reading the wrong books. I’ve read one (Mrs England).
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The Walter Scott longlist always throws up some surprises, often books I think nearly no-one has heard of let alone read!
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Those same five books are new to me too! It always surprises me that there are so many books on these longlists I’ve never even heard of. I enjoyed Rose Nicolson and Still Life and am looking forward to reading some of the others.
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Still Life seems to have a lot of fans although The Fortune Men made it to the Booker Prize shortlist so must be a strong bet. I really enjoyed it. There are a couple in that “unknown five” that sound interesting but whether I get around to reading them is another matter. I might if any of them make it to the shortlist.
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This tells me how out of touch I am! Thanks for sharing the list.
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Join the club!
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The Magician and Still Life were two of my favourite reads last year. This is a quality list!
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Great, looking forward to reading those.
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As I think you know, I read Lear Wife and The Magician. They were both very good. Enjoy!
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