The North(ish) Lass

Explore the North.

Tag: book recommendations

  • Five Great Books Set In Northumberland

    Five Great Books Set In Northumberland

    1. Holy Island, L. J. Ross (DCI RYAN SERIES)

    Perhaps the most famous literary export from Northumberland, L.J. Ross currently lives and writes out of the market town of Hexham, and the DCI Ryan Series (beginning with Holy Island) is her most well known series. There are twenty-two currently in the series and more are planned for later in 2026. All the novels have titles of local places or historical sites; Sycamore Gap, Penshaw, Cragside etc.

    I notice there is also a book entitled Reivers, and it just says “coming soon” – I wonder whether that’s going to be about Border Reivers/Jacobites etc. If it is, that’s right up my street! I love historical fiction and would devour that in an instant.

    2. Guns In The North, P. F. Chisholm (ROBERT CAREY MYSTERIES)

    Okay, so this one is a bit of a cheat. This book is set in Northumberland and Cumbria. When Robert Carey, grandson of Mary Boleyn and therefore a cousin to Queen Elizabeth I, embarrasses himself at court, he is sent to the edge of England to work in a job no-one really wants, and regain the favour of his cousin and Queen. Stationed in Carlisle, in what he assumes are the culture-less and lawless border regions (only one of those is partially true!) Carey soon becomes embroiled in a murder mystery that quickly blossoms into a plot around clan and family loyalties, and even treason against the crown itself.

    Guns In the North is the name of the first compendium that was released, containing the first three novels; A Famine of Horses, A Season of Knives, and A Surfeit of Guns.

    It’s honestly one of my favourite trilogies I’ve read, and I devoured this first compendium in the space of less than a week. As it stands, there are currently nine or ten books in the series, and it is unfinished… hopefully we’ll get the ending soon!

    3. The Crow Trap, Ann Cleeves (VERA STANHOPE SERIES)

    Played by the indomitable Brenda Blethyn in the ITV Adaptation of the well known novels, the Vera series puts the rough-edged detective up against the wilds of Northumberland as she seeks to solve crimes. There are eleven novels in the Vera series, with other short stories and novellas available as well. Ann has said the latest novel will be the last in the Vera series, with Brenda Blethyn also retiring from playing the titular character on television. Despite updates to the series coming to a close, the legacy of Vera will live on for many new readers to explore and enjoy for years to come!

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    4. Vindolanda, Adrian Goldsworthy

    Set in AD 98, twenty years before Hadrian begins to build his wall, and Vindolanda is on the edge of the empire, in a constant struggle to maintain control against the native tribes of Britain. It falls to Flavius Ferox, a Briton and Roman centurion, to attempt to keep the peace.

    Adrian Goldsworthy is a Roman historian, working at various universities after graduating from the University of Oxford, before turning to writing and publishing full time. He has written several books, both fiction and nonfiction, about Roman Britain.

    Vindolanda from above
    5. The Secrets of the Rose, Nicola Cornick

    Another historical fiction novel (of sorts), this one is set in the Coastal town of Bamburgh, where a present day author is writing the story of Grace Darling, but instead finds herself drawn to the story of another local woman, Dorothy Forster, who’s story emerges at the time of the first Jacobite Rebellion in 1715. Dorothy is caught up in the drama of the rebellion when she learns her two brothers are involved, and her family might be the holders of a talisman the Rose, which both sides believe could be the key to winning the conflict.

    Definitely another one for my reading list!

  • Five Amazing Authors From Lancashire

    Five Amazing Authors From Lancashire

    Seeing as Autumn is the perfect time for curling up with a good book by the fire, as the longer nights have drawn in, I decided to take a look at some of the homegrown literary talent from the North. So, if you want to read some Lancastrian voices, check out the authors I’ve highlighted below – some are modern, others very much not, and there’s quite the range of genres represented, so whatever floats your literary boat, there should be something for you to enjoy!

    (Some of these authors were born in areas that are now outside of Lancashire due to new county creations in the 1970s, but they were Lancashire when they were born, so I’m counting it!).

    Note – if you choose to purchase anything by these authors, could I please request that you try and support either local and independent bookshops, or high street retailers, rather than that online behemoth that shall not be named. Let’s try and keep the British bookshop alive!

    Joe Abercrombie

    Joe Abercrombie is a bestselling author of fantasy books and was born in Lancaster. His first trilogy The First Law is an introduction to an epic fantasy world on the brink of an Industrial Revolution, but also a world at war. The world created by Abercrombie is full of magic, lore, demons, and incredible adventure. There are nine novels set in The First Law universe (split into two trilogies and one omnibus of three standalone novels), with more purported to be on the way. Definitely one I’m going to be adding to my reading list!

    The Blade Itself, the first novel in The First Law trilogy

    Josephine Cox

    Josephine Cox was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, and published novels under her full name, Jo Cox, and also the name of her mother Jane Brindle. She is often listed in the top three “most borrowed” books by the UK Public Lending Rights figures (i.e. when people go to libraries, they’re often picking Jo Cox, which is pretty cool!).

    Often set in the Northern towns and areas in which she grew up, Jo’s books are full of Northern warmth and humour, as well as reflecting some of the struggles that these industrial towns have experienced throughout the twentieth/twenty-first century. Her books have human stories at the heart, with romance, family dynamics, and friendship woven throughout. A few of her most popular titles are Don’t Cry Alone, A Daughter’s Return, and More Than Riches. Jo published over 50 books in her lifetime, before passing away at the age of 82 in 2020.

    Willy Russell

    Yes, that Willy Russell. Famous playwright and author, Willy Russell was born in Whiston, Lancashire. I’ve actually acted in a Russell play before, Our Day Out, and thought he was a fantastic playwright with a wonderful grip on language and the theatre space.

    His works, including Educating Rita and Blood Brothers, are firmly lodged in the canon of “need-to-know” plays. Educating Rita was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1980 and starred Julie Walters and Mark Kingston. It went on to be made into a beloved film in 1983 with Julie Walters and Michael Caine in the lead roles.

    Willy Russell (who also writes music!)

    Jeanette Winterson

    Jeanette Winterson was born in Manchester in 1959. Probably most well known for her semi-autobiographical novel Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit of growing up as Lesbian in a Pentecostal community, and rebelling against the conventions that she had been told to live by. By 16 Winterson had left home, and applied to work at Pandora Press, a feminist imprint that published Oranges Are…, which went on to win the Whitbread Prize for debut novel.

    Alongside many other works, she has also written a short story The Daylight Gate, published in 2012, about the Pendle Witch Trials which took place in Lancaster. The novella was published to coincide with the four hundredth anniversary of the trials.

    Elizabeth Gaskell

    Okay, this one is a bit of a curve ball – Elizabeth Gaskell wasn’t born in Lancashire, shock horror! – the reason she is included in this list is that she wrote several of her extremely well known novels whilst residing in the village of Silverdale, Lancashire. She stayed in a tower folly that I have actually stayed in for a short break (you used to be able to find the tower for holiday rent, as it has since changed owners, I don’t know if this possible anymore). If you would like to see where she wrote North and South and parts of Cranford, just take a wander down towards Jack Scout in Silverdale, past the Wolf House Gallery, and you will see what looks like a medieval tower in a private garden. It’s not medieval, and was built in the early Victorian period, but was utilised by Gaskell when she wrote. It’s in a beautiful situation, and you can climb to the top and onto the terrace, for panoramic views across Morecambe Bay and towards the Lake District. You can see why Gaskell chose it as a bolthole to write!

    The novels themselves are an intimate look at “ordinary” life during the Victorian period, with a lot of focus on family dynamics, the struggles/lives of women in a world dominated by men, as well as stark looks at poverty and the lives of those who lived it during the nineteenth century.

    Several of her novels including Wives and Daughters, Cranford, and North and South, have been adapted for television by the BBC.

    I’ll be checking out authors from the other Northern counties I like to explore in posts yet to come!