Clik here to view.
HARVEST by Jim Crace: to be discussed! by Sue Purkiss
Harvest, which I've just finished reading, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize last year. So it's well-regarded, a serious contender. The prose is beautiful - here are the first few lines:'Two...
View ArticleClik here to view.
AN ARCHER AT THE ARMOURIES by Penny Dolan
I’ve always hankered after a job in a Museum: one specific and rather showing-off sort of job. I’ve told stories in a couple of historical settings myself so I am fascinated by the people who step into...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Women's Work - Celia Rees
As all followers of the History Girls will know, we will soon be publishing an anthology of stories: Daughters of Time. It comes out in March, so excitement is mounting. My story, Return to Victoria,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
School Days, School Books
Theresa BreslinNoticing a flurry of unusual early morning activity at my local primary school I realised that it’s about now that children are being registered to begin school in autumn of this year. I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
'Zulu - the Greatest Historical Novel that Never Was' by A L Berridge
Last month saw an important historical anniversary. 22nd January 2014 was celebrated with features on the BBC and in every national newspaper, and marked in special blogs and posts on internet sites...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stained glass, black dogs and music halls by Imogen Robertson
I often get asked why I choose to write historical fiction and usually the question leaves me floundering. I think this is because it implies I had some sort of choice in the matter, whereas, to tell...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fragrant Harbour by Kate Lord Brown
Man Mo Temple - and the god of LiteratureTEN VIRTUES OF INCENSEIt brings communication with the transcendent.It refreshes mind and body.It removes impurity.It brings alertness. It is a companion in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
RAGS BONES AND OTHER TREASURES PART TWO, by Leslie Wilson
Last month I posted about the chiffonniers, the rag-pickers (or informal recyclers) of Paris and their lives: this month I am going to describe some of the processes by which the waste materials they...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SHELLS AND KERNELS: The knowledge and the deep knowledge by Elizabeth Chadwick
I admit to being a research nerd. For the characters to feel real to me, I need their stage to be authentic and the characters themselves to possess believable mindsets and attitudes. As I have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ELECTRIC HISTORY by Eleanor Updale
In the orgy of television programmes about the First World War, one of the best things has been the archive film footage, some of which has never been seen before. Now that digital technology allows...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FAIR PHOENIX BRIDE… ELIZABETH STUART – Dianne Hofmeyr
© National Portrait Gallery, LondonElizabeth, Queen of Bohemiaby Unknown artistoil on panel, 161330 7/8 in. x 24 1/2 in. (784 mm x 622 mm)Purchased, 1982Primary CollectionNPG 5529What a painting – the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brown Girls Collective, by Louisa Young
Today I am shamelessly promoting and thieving. Thieving to promote. I have discovered this lovely page, Brown Girls' Collective, which is full of History Girls from the Black/Brown/African-American/...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jan Karski, messenger from the past, by Clare Mulley
When we think about the Holocaust today, we mostly remember the victims, perpetrators, bystanders and collaborators. We should also think about those who risked their lives to protect individuals,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cranky Ladies of History
Sometimes we have a theme running through our posts for a month. Since this March, International Women's History Month celebrates Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment, and March 8th,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Georgians Revealed at the British Library - Lucy Inglis
Today I do the last of my walking tours for the British Library's Georgians Revealed exhibition, which examines eighteenth century print culture, from high life to low life. It contains so many things...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Good German? by Eve Edwards
For me, part of being a historical novelist is challenging myself with the question: in this era, what kind of person would I have been? On what side would I have fought? Roundhead or cavalier? Whig...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In a Country Churchyard - by Katherine Langrish
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea, The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me. Now fades...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mary Anning in My Mind - Joan Lennon
Mary Anning (1799-1847) was a fossil finder along England's Jurassic Coast, during the earliest days of the new science of paleontology. The theme on History Girls this month is Cranky Ladies in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Time and Boudica's Daughters - Katherine Roberts
Tomorrow, Templar will publish our very first History Girls anthology Daughters of Time, edited by Mary Hoffman, with short stories from authors of this blog who write for young readers:My story is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FIFTY YEARS ON: The Hang Down your Head and Die Reunion. by Adèle Geras
Back in September 2013, I promised that I'd write about the major theatrical event of my time at Oxford. I had a stroke of luck in my first week and it changed the whole of my time at University. I...
View Article