Historical fiction

As the Folio Society publishes a new edition of Venetia, the actor and broadcaster reflects on what makes an excellent Regency romance

I've written two published novels set in the past, and have several more abandoned manuscripts. Dangerous Remedy and Monstrous Design are both set in the dying days of the French Revolution, and the politics and science of the historical period are central to both.

I was reading a great interview on CrimeReads.com the other day-Paraic O'Donnell talking to Lee Child, genius author of the Jack Reacher novels-and they has this wonderful debate about the unreality of fiction. When I say it out loud, it sounds obvious, but it came up twice. And Lee said: ‘The only two real people in the transaction are the author and the reader.'  Read more

The British Civil Wars of the mid-17th century are my passion. This extraordinary period has everything: epic battles, espionage and adventure, the only trial and execution of a monarch, and radical constitutional experiments, all documented by newspapers and pamphlets in the "first age of journalism".  Read more

Nicola Upson is the critically acclaimed author of the Josephine Tey historical crime fiction series - praised as ‘historical crime fiction at its very best' (Sunday Times). Since the publication of her debut in 2008, Nicola has gone on to release eight more novels to widespread acclaim.  Read more