The best historical fiction audiobooks to listen to

One of the Guardian's 'Best Books of 2019’, this historical fiction audiobook tells the story of the Trojan War from the perspective of the women, girls and goddesses whose voices have for so long been silent. The devastating consequences of the war fall on the women embroiled in the conflict and its aftermath in this powerful retelling of Greek myth. 

This intoxicating story follows Iris Whittle, an aspiring artist, as she pursues a new life of freedom. When Pre-Raphaelite artist, Louis Frost, asks her to model for him she agrees, on the condition that he will teach her to paint in return. But as her world opens up, another chance encounter with Silas, a collector of the strange and beautiful, may destroy her world forever. The Doll Factory is one of the most thrilling historical fiction audiobooks of recent years. 

Despite his father’s wish that he become a barrister, William Warwick decides to follow his dream of becoming a Detective with the Metropolitan Police Force. Nothing Ventured, the first book in this new series, sees William take on his first case with Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiquities Squad. Can Wiliam solve the mystery of the missing masterpiece? And what will happen when he falls in love with research assistant Beth, who has secrets to guard? This gripping historical fiction audiobook is a must-listen for Jeffrey Archer fans.

Set in sixteenth century Languedoc, The Burning Chambers is the first in a new series from Kate Mosse.  This historical fiction audiobook immerses readers in France in the year 1562, where a mysterious conspiracy is afoot, and nineteen-year-old Minou Joubert receives an anonymous letter and meets a young Huguenot convert who will change her life forever. Love, loyalty, and the truth battle it out in this epic 16th century adventure.

Christmas 1558, and young Ned Willard returns home to Kingsbridge to find his world has changed.

The ancient stones of Kingsbridge Cathedral look down on a city torn by religious hatred. Europe is in turmoil as high principles clash bloodily with friendship, loyalty and love, and Ned soon finds himself on the opposite side from the girl he longs to marry, Margery Fitzgerald.

Then Elizabeth Tudor becomes queen and all of Europe turns against England. The shrewd, determined young monarch immediately sets up the country’s first secret service to give her early warning of assassination plots, rebellions and invasion plans.

As Henry VIII sends a team of commissioners throughout the country to investigate the monasteries, a commissioner is found dead at the Scarnsea monastery. Lawyer Dr Matthew Shardlake is sent to investigate, and his investigations soon force him to question everything he thought he believed in. 

 Dissolution is the first in the phenomenal Shardlake series, and features mystery, murder and political wrangling all set against the backdrop of the glamorous Tudor court. 

Discover all the books in the Shardlake series.

In this thrilling episodic saga of love, loss, betrayal and ambition, you will be taken on an exhilarating journey from the back alleys of Bristol to the teeming streets of New York City and the gulags of Stalinist Russia. Its memorable cast of characters has captured the imaginations of readers across the globe.

Discover all the books in the Clifton Chronicles. 

Burial Rites is based on the true story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last person to be executed in Iceland. The landscape of Agnes’s final days seems a character in its own right – like the novel as a whole, Iceland is by turns isolating and enabling, tragic and majestic.

Audiobook is the perfect way to experience Ken Follett’s mammoth bestseller. Set in the turbulent times of 12th century England where civil war, famine, religious strife and battles over royal succession tore lives and families apart, The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of the building of a magnificent cathedral.

A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling canvas of medieval England, this is Ken Follett's classic historical masterpiece.

Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany after Dunkirk. As the long German war against Russia rages on in the east, the British people find themselves under dark authoritarian rule. There are terrible rumours too about what is happening in the basement of the German Embassy at Senate House.

At once a vivid, haunting reimagining of 1950s Britain, a gripping, humane spy thriller and a poignant love story, with Dominion C. J. Sansom once again asserts himself as the master of the historical novel.

This historical fiction audiobook is set in Spitalfiends in 1760. Anna Butterfield’s life is about to change forever, as she moves from her idyllic Suffolk home to be introduced into London society. A chance encounter with a French silk weaver, Henri, draws her in to the volatile world of the city’s burgeoning silk trade.

As their lives become ever more intertwined, Henri realises that Anna’s designs could give them both an opportunity for freedom. But his world becomes more dangerous by the day, as riots threaten to tear them apart forever . . .

Margaret Pemberton’s A Season of Secrets is the perfect antidote to all of your Downton Abbey pangs with it’s incredibly comforting Yorkshire set Upstairs/Downstairs plot. Sweeping from the Great War, through the Jazz Age to the 1940s, this unforgettable tale follows the entwined lives of the Fentons, an aristocratic family from Gorton Hall in Yorkshire.