Summer, for me, has always been the best possible excuse to disappear into a book.

There is something about longer days and slower mornings that makes historical fiction feel even more transporting than usual.

Whether you are in a garden, beside a pool, or stubbornly optimistic on a British beach, there is nothing quite like a novel that pulls you so completely into another world that you forget where you are entirely.

Here are ten historical novels I think deserve a place in your summer reading pile.

1. The Tea Planter's Wife — Dinah Jefferies

   
   

Dinah Jefferies does heat and atmosphere like nobody else. Nineteen-year-old Gwen arrives in Ceylon full of optimism, only to discover that her new husband is not the man she thought she had married. This is one of those books that stays with you long after the last page.

2. The Seven Sisters — Lucinda Riley

   
   

If you have not yet discovered the D'Aplièse sisters, this is a wonderful summer to begin. Maia's story takes her from a spectacular Swiss lakeside castle to the streets of Rio de Janeiro in search of her origins. Epic in every sense of the word.

3. The Pearl of Penang — Clare Flynn

   
   

I may be biased, but I could not write a summer reading list without including this one. Evie arrives in 1939 Malaya to marry a man she barely knows, and what follows is a story of sweltering heat, secrets, and a love that refuses to be straightforward. Readers have told me they needed a fan just to cope with the heat coming off the pages. Rather perfect for summer, I think.

4. Salt of the Earth — JJ Marsh

   
   

A quieter, more intimate story set in an Alpine village in 1917, where the war feels distant but the personal battles are very close to home. Two young people whose paths cross in turbulent times. I found this one genuinely moved me.

5. The Storyteller of Casablanca— Fiona Valpy

   
   

Morocco, 1941. A city buzzing with refugees and secrets, and an atmosphere that gets completely under your skin. Two timelines, two women, one extraordinary city. Fiona Valpy at her very best.

6. The Star of Ceylon — Clare Flynn

   
   

The first book in my Ceylon series is one very close to my heart. Stella arrives in Colombo in 1906 as her father's research assistant, defying every expectation placed upon her as a woman. It is a story about love, yes, but also about the quiet and not-so-quiet courage it takes to become the author of your own life.

7. The Bookseller's Wife — Jane Davis

   
   

London, 1775. Books as refuge, books as salvation. Dorcas is resourceful, brilliant, and forced by circumstance to become even more so. A wonderful novel for anyone who has ever found their way through difficulty by turning to a story.

8. The Emerald Affair — Janet MacLeod Trotter

   
   

India between the wars, two couples living wildly different lives on the subcontinent, and a friendship tested to its very limits. A rich, immersive read with a cast of characters you will not want to leave behind.

9. Song at Dawn — Jean Gill

   
   

Medieval Provence, 1150. Eleanor of Aquitaine, troubadours, the Church, and two people whose feelings for each other could get them both killed. Jean Gill has been described as Game of Thrones with real history, and I think that is exactly right. One of those books that reminds you why you fell in love with historical fiction in the first place.

10. The Orphan House — Ann Bennett

    
    

A dual timeline mystery set partly in a 1930s orphanage and partly in the present day, with secrets that have been kept for decades finally beginning to surface. Completely gripping and full of unexpected turns.

There we have it. Ten novels, ten worlds to disappear into. I hope at least one of them becomes your summer companion.

Happy reading, Clare x