Annie Garthwaite grew up in a working-class community in the north-east of England. She studied English at the University of Wales before embarking on a thirty-year international business career. In 2017 she returned to her first love, books, and set out to write the story of a woman she had always felt drawn to: Cecily Neville. This became her debut novel, Cecily.
Doom Painting (2026) A K Blakemore "Exquisite and urgent, Doom Painting is so much more than historical fiction. It captures within its pages both the rebelliousness of the fourteenth century and the urgent spirit of our Age... An exceptional work that everyone should read, no matter whether they consider themselves more entranced by England's past or ambitious for its future."
Mere (2025) Danielle Giles "This is an artful and atmospheric novel that reveals uncomfortable truths about the way we lived then and, for the thoughtful, the way we live now."
A Little Trickerie (2024) Rosanna Pike "Rosanna Pike is a bright and bold new voice in historical fiction and has created a heart-catching character in bad girl trickster, Tibb."
The Instrumentalist (2024) Harriet Constable "With a heroine at once so very fierce and yet so vulnerable, The Instrumentalist is an insightful study of female talent and ambition - and how easily they can be hi-jacked or undermined by men."
The Bone Hunters (2024) Joanne Burn "In Ada, Joanne Burn has given us a singular and astonishing heroine: a woman of strength, intelligence, resilience and resource; a woman who sees the restrictions the world would impose upon her and has the moral courage to step beyond them. Every young woman of ambition - any young woman who feels her ambition impeded either by her gender or class - should read her. I've never met a character in literature quite like Ada - or one I admired more. And it goes without saying that Joanne's writing, her use of language and skilful world-building, go from strength to glorious strength."
The Illusions (2023) Liz Hyder "With clever storytelling and a magpie's eye for shine and enchantment, Hyder takes us to a world where magic, moving pictures and illusion mix - and where all are made better by human kindness."
This Family (2023) Kate Sawyer "Brilliantly plotted, deftly written and oozing with sophisticated style... It's what everyone will be reading this summer."
The Spirit Engineer (2021) A J West "It's clever, it's quirky, highly entertaining, but carries a chill as cold as the grave."
Cunning Women (2021) Elizabeth Lee "The pleasure of the novel lies in the tension between the familiar story of patriarchal injustice and a more complex investigation of supernatural belief and disbelief. It's a thrilling read. But, beyond the thrill, is the beauty of the language. Lancashire dialect and vocabulary are used to immense poetic affect, disarmingly evocative of time and place. The characters too, are well drawn and multi-faceted and its closure is both deeply satisfying and truly sad. A pleasure to read - with an undercurrent of genuine fear."
