Artsy Traveler

Read novels set in England to get you excited about your trip or, even better, to read while you’re there. Numerous authors have been inspired to set novels in England, particularly novels inspired by England’s rich literary heritage from Shakespeare to Jane Austen to Oscar Wilde to Agatha Christie.

And yes, one of the novels set in England is mine! The Muse of Fire is my third novel, and it’s set in early 19th Century London and inspired by real events.

The Wildes by Louis Bayard

Oscar Wilde’s wife and two sons come out from the shadows of history in this emotional journey of a family moving from the Italian countryside to the trenches of WWI as they grapple with their famous father’s legacy.  

From the Ground Up by Katherine J. Scott

Listed in the Architecture category on Art In Fiction, From the Ground Up takes place in Elizabethan England and is Katherine J. Scott’s first Robert Smythson Mystery.
 
 

The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron

From deep in the trenches of the Great War to the storied English countryside and the devastating Coventry Blitz of World War II, The British Booksellers explores the unbreakable bonds that unite us through love, loss, and the enduring solace that can be found between the pages of a book.

The Ghost Theatre by Mat Osman

This wild and hallucinatory reimagining of Elizabethan London is listed in the Theater category on Art In Fiction and is a fever-dream full of prophecy and anarchy, gutter rats and bird gods that takes the reader on a wild ride from the rooftops of Elizabethan London to its dark underbelly.     

Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner

This compelling and heartwarming story is set in post-war London and revolves around three women working at Bloomsbury Books, an old-fashioned new and rare bookstore that has persisted and resisted change for a hundred years. As the women interact with various literary figures of the time–Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and others–they plot out a future that is richer and more rewarding than anything society will allow.

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

Set in London in 1930, the five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy–the Queens of Crime.

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox

Set in the 1920s, The Last Heir to Blackwood Library is described as a love letter to books. It’s a compelling rags-to-riches tale laced with betrayal and intrigue with a magnificent library and an enigmatic manuscript at its center. 

The Muse of Fire by Carol M. Cram

Set in London in 1808-09, The Muse of Fire takes readers behind the scenes at Covent Garden theater where the intrigue, romance, and betrayal offstage rivals the drama in the plays performed onstage.

Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O’Farrell

This telling of the little-known story behind Shakespeare’s most enigmatic play is a luminous portrait of a marriage and the devastating loss of a beloved child.

Want more novels set in England? You’ll find many more on Art In Fiction, the website I created to showcase novels inspired by the arts.