Indies on shortlist for first HWA Goldsboro Prize for debut historical fiction

The shortlist is split evenly between indie and mainstream on the new award for first-time historical novelists, worth £2,000

The books are: Partitions, Amit Majmudar (Oneworld); The Emperor's Gold, Robert Wilton (Corvis); Mistress of My Fate, Hallie Rubenhold (Doubleday), and The Transformation of Batholomew Fortuno, Ellen Bryson (Picador).

Mand Scott, the HWA chair, said: 'These four stood out as being exceptional – any author would have been proud to write any of them at any point in his or her career, but to have written them as a first novel is exceptional.  Picking a winner will be immensely difficult, but before we do, I want to encourage everyone to read all of these: they hail from widely differing eras  and locations and are written in utterly different styles, but each one is magnificent.'

The winner will be announced at History in the Court on 20 September.

Website: www.thehwa.co.uk