Read an extract from The Butterfly Cabinet, by Bernie McGill

An unforgettable story of two women linked by their roles in a tragedy at the end of the Victorian era, The Butterfly Cabinet is published this month by Headline.

Watch The Maid trailer

The girl who led an army.
The peasant who crowned a king.
The maid who became a legend.
The legend that was Joan of Arc.

Read an extract from Far to Go, by Alison Pick

A powerful and profoundly moving story about one family’s epic journey to flee the Nazi occupation of their homeland in 1939, and above all to save the life of a six-year-old boy…

Watch an interview with Kerry Young

I was just a boy when I come to Jamaica.

Kerry Young, author of Pao, published next month through Bloomsbury, discussed the inspirations behind her novel – her father, and the country of Jamaica.

Armand Cabasson interviewed by Scott Pack

Armand Cabasson is a prize-winning author and psychiatrist who lives in the north of France. He is a member of the French Napoleonic Society and has used his extensive research to create The Napoleonic Murders series. Featuring Quentin Margont, these novels create a vivid portrait of the Napoleonic campaigns.

The Monsieur Montespan Reading Guide

If you need ideas for what your reading group should tackle next, look no further than Bookhugger’s reading guide to Jean Teulé’s humourous historical revenge drama.

The Pindar Diamond Reading Guide

These discussion questions are designed to enhance your group’s conversation about The Pindar Diamond, a novel of fortune and romance set in Venice at the turn of the seventeenth century.

Win copies of Sacred Treason, by James Forrester [closed]

Win one of five copies of this gripping historical thriller full of compelling detail and narrative twists that received blanket rave reviews in hardcover, out in paperback this month, courtesy of Headline.

Read an extract from Sacred Treason, by James Forrester

Download the extract from this gripping historical thriller full of compelling detail and narrative twists in the vein of C. J. Sansom, that received blanket rave reviews in hardcover, out in paperback this month. Watch for a competition to win copies of Sacred Treason on Bookhugger next week!

Win a bumper bundle of fiction! [closed]

As the spring sun clears the clouds of winter, Bookhugger is proud to present the second of three great give-aways from Headline for three lucky readers across our network of websites in March…

Discover The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas

Michael David Lukas’ first novel is a magical historical title about an astonishing eight-year-old girl in the last days of the Ottoman Empire.

Q&A with Mick Jackson

Bookhugger catches up with Mick Jackson, whose The Widow’s Tale is the long-awaited third novel from the Booker Prize shortlisted author of Five Boys and The Underground Man. Mick answers questions about his latest novel, the art of writing, and his favourite books among other topics.

An interview with Fabrice Bourland

Author of The Baker Street Phantom, forthcoming in early 2011, interviewed for Bookhugger by Anna Brown

Hilary Mantel, revisited

A transcript of an interview which George Miller conducted earlier this year with 2009 Booker prize-winner Hilary Mantel. In her novel, Wolf Hall, she charts the rise of Thomas Cromwell from abject beginnings to Henry VIII’s right-hand man.

Win proof copies of Monsieur Montespan [closed]

Courtesy of Gallic Books, we have three proof copies of Jean Teulé’s forthcoming novel – the hilarious, bawdy and touching story of a good man who loved too well and dared challenge the absolute power of the Sun King himself.

An interview with Jean Teulé

We talk to Jean Teulé about his forthcoming novel, Monsieur de Montespan. Look for a competition to win proof copies here on Bookhugger soon.

An extract from Monsieur de Montespan

Jean Teulé’s forthcoming novel tells the hilarious, bawdy and touching story of a good man who loved too well and dared challenge the absolute power of the Sun King himself.

Maria McCann on The Wilding

A short interview with novelist Maria McCann in which she tells george Miller about her latest book, The Wilding, a Richard and Judy Bookclub choice this month, set during the Restoration, a period when the deeds they committed during the Civil War return to haunt some of her characters.

Read an extract from The Lost Kings

Download an extensive six chapter sampler from the first exciting novel by Bruno Hare, published yesterday.

Bruno Hare on The Lost Kings

The Lost Kings is a rollicking tale of adventure and derring-do set on the far frontiers of Empire in the best tradition of Kipling and Rider Haggard. Author Bruno Hare introduces his first action-packed novel.

Read an extract from The Saint-Florentin Murders by Jean-François Parot

The fifth exciting adventure for Nicolas Le Floch, to be published in October, has it all: serial crimes and a bizarre murder weapon, as well as debauchery, espionage, and the follies of a young court where ancient rivalries and grudges still linger. Read the prologue and first chapter exclusively here on Bookhugger…

Genre roundup: Historical fiction and non-fiction

Bookhugger’s publishers present a broad-range of fiction and non-fiction, from a lesser-known Conan Doyle hero, a study of Russia’s ravaged history, visiting the ladies and gentlemen of the court of Kensington Palace during the reign of George II, to the ultimate question in English literature: who did write Shakespeare’s plays?