2017 longlist announced

22nd February, 2017

The longlist of thirteen for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2017 is announced!

The Walter Scott Prize Longlist 2017

Jo Baker A Country Road, A Tree (Doubleday)

Julian Barnes The Noise of Time (Jonathan Cape)

Sebastian Barry Days Without End (Faber)

Richard Francis Crane Pond (Europa)

Linda Grant The Dark Circle (Virago)

Charlotte Hobson The Vanishing Futurist (Faber)

Hannah Kent The Good People (Picador Australia)

Ed O’Loughlin Minds of Winter (riverrun)

Sarah Perry The Essex Serpent (Profile)

Dominic Smith The Last Painting of Sara de Vos (Allen & Unwin Australia)

Francis Spufford Golden Hill (Faber)

Graham Swift Mothering Sunday (Scribner)

Rose Tremain The Gustav Sonata (Chatto & Windus)

The Judges commented:

“This has been an extraordinary year for historical fiction.  We were knocked out by the quality and variety of the entries this year, but we have finally arrived at a longlist of astonishing depth and richness.  We look forward to the challenging task of narrowing such a great longlist down to a shortlist.

We would like to thank our new Academy for helping us reach the longlist, and for bringing to our attention gems from further afield. Together with the Academy, we can now shine a broader light on good books set in the past.  The Walter Scott Prize is now a showcase for some of the best fiction in English, reaching into our past with freshness and vigour.”

For the first time this year, the Prize is publishing a further list of 20 books recommended by the Walter Scott Prize Academy, comprising new historical novels from Australia, Canada and Africa as well as some unmissable books published in the UK.

We will be exploring deeper into these books on our website and social media feeds over the coming weeks.  Come with us on a fantastic journey across time and continents!