The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction is a British literary award founded in 2010.Walter Scott Prize , bordersbookfestival.org. Retrieved April 2012. At , it is one of the largest literary awards in the UK."Historic fiction award honours Sir Walter Scott", BBC, 27 January 2010 The award was created by the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, whose ancestors were closely linked to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott, who is generally considered the originator of historical fiction with the novel Waverley in 1814."New Walter Scott prize to honour historical novels", The Guardian, 2 February 2010
Eligible books must have been first published in the UK, Ireland or Commonwealth in the preceding year. For the purpose of the award, historical fiction is defined as being that where the main events take place more than 60 years ago, i.e. outside of any mature personal experience of the author. The winner is announced each June at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose.
Recipients YearAuthorTitleStory and settingResult2010Wolf Hall1490s–1532 England following Thomas CromwellWinnerHodd1300s (approximately) following Robin HoodShortlistLustrum106 BC-43 BC Italy following CiceroSacred Hearts1500s Italy in a conventStone's Fall1900s (early), a mystery / thrillerThe Glass Room1930s CzechThe Quickening Maze1800s (early) High Beach, England following John Clare in a mental asylum and Alfred Tennyson2011The Long Song1830s JamaicaWinnerC1910s EuropeShortlistGhost Light1900s England and IrelandHeartstone1545 during summer in EnglandThe Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet1799 through early or mid 1800s JapanTo Kill a Tsar1910s St. Petersburg, Russia2012On Canaan's Side1900s Ireland and ChicagoWinnerHalf-Blood Blues1939 Berlin, Germany and 1992 Paris, FranceShortlistPure1786 Paris, FranceThe Quality of Mercy1767 in a coastal mining village in County Durham, EnglandThe Sisters Brothers1851 Oregon and California following a gold rushThe Stranger's Child1913 - 1980s or '90s Europe2013Tan Twan EngThe Garden of Evening Mists1940s and '50s MalayaWinnerBring Up the Bodies1532–1536 England following Thomas CromwellShortlistMerivel: A Man of His Time1600s England, France, and SwitzerlandThe Daughters of Mars1910s EuropeThe Streets1880s LondonToby's Room1912 and 1917 London, England2014An Officer and a Spy1896 - 1906 France following the Dreyfus affairWinnerFair Helen1590s in the Borderland of Scotland and EnglandShortlistHarvest1700s rural England following the Inclosure actsLife After Life1910 - 1960s or later England and GermanyThe Luminaries1866 Hokitika, New Zealand following a gold rushThe Promise1900 Galveston hurricane2015The Ten Thousand Things1300s ChinaWinnerA God in Every Stone1910s IndiaShortlistArctic Summer1900s (early) IndiaIn the Wolf's Mouth1930s and / or '40s ItalyThe Lie1910s EnglandThe Zone of Interest1940s Germany in AuschwitzViper Wine1600s England2016Tightrope1940s FranceWinnerA Place Called Winter1900s (early) SaskatchewanShortlistEnd Games in Bordeaux1940s FranceMrs Engels1800s EnglandSalt Creek1800s (mid) AustraliaSweet Caress1910s - 1970s England, Germany, United States, France, Vietnam, and Scotland2017Days Without End1860s United States (mostly)WinnerA Country Road, a Tree1940s FranceShortlistGolden Hill1746-1813 New York, United StatesMothering Sunday1924 BritainThe Good People1825 County Kerry, IrelandThe Gustav Sonata1937 - 2002 SwitzerlandThe Vanishing Futurist1900s (early) Russia (when it was part of the Soviet Union)2018The Gallows Pole1700s Yorkshire, EnglandWinnerGrace1800s IrelandShortlistManhattan Beach1930s and '40s Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York and San Francisco, CaliforniaMiss Boston and Miss Hargreaves1940 - 1960 or later Manchester, EnglandSugar Money1760s Martinique and GrenadaThe Wardrobe Mistress1940s London2019The Long Take 1940s and later New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, all cities in the United States. Told in poetry and following a Canadian American World War II veteran.WinnerA Long Way From Home1950s AustraliaShortlistAfter the Party1938 EnglandNow We Shall Be Entirely Free1809 SpainThe Western Wind1491 Somerset, EnglandWarlight1945 and '59 London, England2020The Narrow Land1950s Cape CodWinnerA Sin of Omission1800s (late) South Africa and EnglandShortlistShadowplay1878 London, EnglandThe Parisian1900s (approximately) Europe and PalestineThe Redeemed1910s West Country, EnglandTo Calais, in Ordinary Time1300s England2021The Mirror & the Light1536–1540 England following Thomas CromwellWinnerA Room Made of Leaves1780s and later AustraliaShortlistHamnet1500s Stratford-upon-Avon, EnglandThe Dictionary of Lost Words1880s–1920s Oxford, EnglandThe Tolstoy Estate1812 and 1941 Russia2022News of the DeadDifferent eras in fictitious glen in the HighlandsWinnerRose Nicholson1570s ScotlandShortlistFortune1920s Caribbean following an oil rushThe Magician 1900s Europe following Thomas Mann2023 These Days1940s Northern Ireland following the Belfast BlitzWinnerThe Geometer Lobochevsky 1800s rural IrelandShortlist Act of Oblivion1600s EnglandThe Chosen 1800s England following Thomas HardyThe Sun Walks Down 1800s South AustraliaAncestry 1850s Crimea and EnglandI Am Not Your Eve1800s Tahiti following Paul Gauguin2024Hungry Ghosts1940s Trinidad; an epic storyWinnerThe New Life1890s London, England following the gay communityShortlist My Father's House1930s and / or '40s Rome, Italy following Jews and POWs who escape from the GestapoIn the Upper Country1800s Ontario, Canada following refugees from the Underground Railroad who resettle thereAbsolutely and Forever1960s London, England and Paris, France following broken relationshipsTan Twan EngThe House of Doors1900s Penang, Malaysia following a murder mystery2025The Land in Winter1962 and '63 Britain following the Big FreezeWinnerThe Heart in Winter1890s Montana, United States following a mining communityShortlistThe Mare 1930s or later Germany following the Nazi war criminal Hermine Braunsteiner The Book of Days1540s or later Britain following the end of the reign of Henry VIIIGlorious Exploits 430s BC or later Sicily during the Peloponnesian War The Safekeep1961 Netherland 2026The Matchbox Girl1930s or '40s Austria following a nonverbal girl during Nazi ruleWinnerBenbecula1857 Benbecula, an island on the west coast of Scotland, following a triple murderShortlistOnce the Deed Is Done1940s or later following aftermath of WWIIThe Pretender1480s England (during the transition from Richard III to Henry VII) Seascraper1960s in Longferry, a fictionalized coastal town based on Southport, in Northwest England
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External links Walter Scott Prize "Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction: The new time-travellers", Scotsman.com, 19 June 2010 – examines a rising interest in historical fiction in relation to the new prize.