Deborah Swift Books in Order
I’ve heard that sound near every night for twenty-odd years and never heeded it. How much she does, I mean. But this last week I’ve sat here and heard the sound of her; the sound of her chopping up food, the posher banging in the wash tub, the oven door opening and closing. She never stops. I hear it now. The sound of her loving.”
― Davina Blake, Past Encounters
Westmorland
- The Lady’s Slipper (2010)
- The Gilded Lily (2012)
World War Two Sagas
- Past Encounters (2014) (As Davina Blake)
- The Occupation (2019)
- The Lifeline (2021)
The Highway Trilogy
- Shadow on the Highway (2014)
- Spirit of the Highway (2015)
- Lady of the Highway (2016)
Mr Pepys Trilogy
- Pleasing Mr Pepys (2017)
- A Plague on Mr Pepys (2018)
- Entertaining Mr Pepys (2019)
Tofana
- 1.The Poison Keeper (2021)
- The Silkworm Keeper (2021)
- The Fortune Keeper (2022)
WW2 Secret Agent
- The Silk Code (2023)
- The Shadow Network (Exp. 2024)
Standalones
- A Divided Inheritance (2013)
- Last Train Home (2017) (Davina Blake)
- His Last Letter (2017) (Davina Blake)
Who is Deborah Swift?
Deborah Swift is an English teacher and writer of historical fiction, who has also been published under her pen name Davina Blake. Before she was an author, Swift worked as a set and costume designer for various theatres and TV.
Currently living in the Lake District in England as a full-time writer and blogger on her website.
The Order
While Deborah Swift has written quite a few different series, most of them finished, they don’t intertwine between each other like a few other authors. So there is no particular order to read them in. But if we were to recommend a particular order for reading them all, we would probably say to read the series as a whole, and go in the publication order of the first book. This is because we like to see the author’s skills and style develop with the more books they write.
And now let us go into more detail about all her books in the order we just mentioned.
WARNING: There may be spoilers for some of the books mentioned. These are taken from the official descriptions but can sometimes spoil parts of previous books. So please be careful!
Westmorland
The Lady’s Slipper (2010)
Westmorland #1
110,310 words, 436 pages, 7hrs 20mins to read.
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin
3.78 out of 5 on Goodreads
Set in 1660, the king has returned from exile, King Charles II and the wounds from the English Civil War are still sore. The peace that holds them all together is fragile, as the differences in religion and old scores to settle threaten to break it.
The Gilded Lily (2012)
Westmorland #2
119,165 words, 471 pages, 8hrs to read
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin
3.96 out of 5 on Goodreads
Set in London, 1660, Ella Appleby escapes to London, escaping her drunken father and stealing her previous employer’s valuables after his sudden death. She seeks a chance for better things, things she feels that she is destined for.
World War Two Sagas
Past Encounters (2014)
As Davina Blake
World War Two Sagas #1
110,815 words, 438 pages, 7hrs 25mins to read.
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin
4.10 out of 5 on Goodreads
Before the outbreak of the Second World War, in 1939, Rhoda and Peter were young sweethearts. But then, as the war begins, they are torn apart. Peter is soon captured in France and sent off to a German POW camp and Rhoda fears the worst. A film crew arrives to film the iconic scenes for David Lean’s Brief Encounter, and Rhoda finds herself caught up in a love affair of her own.
The War ends and Peter returns home, can they go back to where they once were before the war?
The Occupation (2019)
World War Two Sagas #2
85,515 words, 338 pages, 5hrs 45mins to read
Published by Sapere Books
4.45 out of 5 on Goodreads
Set on Jersey is the English Channel Islands, the Nazi forces have occupied the little island. Céline Huber is married to a German and she is in a difficult situation, facing a challenge to where her loyalties lie, between the love for her island and fear for her friend Rachel, a Jew.
The Lifeline (2021)
World War Two Sagas #3
86,780 words, 343 pages, 5hrs 50mins to read
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin
4.47 out of 5 on Goodreads
1942 in Nazi-occupied Norway, we find Astrid, a schoolteacher. Up until now, she has always done her best to stay out of trouble But when she is told what she has to teach for the Nazi curriculum, she refuses. She is arrested and forced into hiding. Her boyfriend, Jørgen, has fled to Shetland after his cover was blown in the Norwegian Resistance. When he learns of Astrid’s fate he goes to make the perilous journey back to Norway.
The Highway Trilogy
Shadow on the Highway (2014)
The Highway Trilogy #1
74,385 words, 294 pages, 5hrs to read.
Published by CreateSpace
3.90 out of 5 on Goodreads
Based on the life and legend of Katherine Fanshawe, Abigail Chaplin has always struggled to find work because she is deaf. But in spite of this, the Fanshawes of Markyate Manor are eager to employ her.
Spirit of the Highway (2015)
The Highway Trilogy #2
73,880 words, 292 pages, 4hrs 55mins to read
Published by Endeavour Press
4.06 out of 5 on Goodreads
It’s 1651 and England has been stuck in a Civil War for almost ten long years. Ralph Chaplin is a Roundhead soldier, son of a farmer, and eager for peace. He has fallen for Kate, a Royalist lady, whom he longs to secure a future with, to find a different way of living. It is not long that Ralph finds himself a deadly enemy.
Lady of the Highway (2016)
The Highway Trilogy #3
52,625 words, 208 pages, 3hrs 30mins to read
Published by CreateSpace
4.21 out of 5 on Goodreads
The English Civil War has come to an end in England 1651. Lady Katherine Fanshawe is trying her best to save her manor house from Cromwell. She invites her rebel friends to live and work at the manor, but when her stepfather returns all that is thrown into chaos. He throws them out, and her friends turn onto Katherine. She has to pay them back, and the only way she can think of doing this is by turning to highway robbery, where she gains her notorious name ‘The Wicked Lady’.
Mr Pepys Trilogy
Pleasing Mr Pepys (2017)
Mr Pepys Trilogy #1
125,490 words, 496 pages, 8hrs 20mins to read.
Published by Accent Press
4.06 out of 5 on Goodreads
London is in ruins from the Great Fire and Charles II has been restored to the throne, a war with the Dutch is looming. Samuel Pepys has a key influence in Restoration London, and because of this the Dutch are keen to learn his secrets. Deb Willet has recently been employed as a companion to Elisabeth Pepys, Samuel’s wife, in a way of escaping her aunt. She soon is caught up in Mr Pepys’ world of murder, espionage and blackmail.
A Plague on Mr Pepys (2019)
Mr Pepys Trilogy #2
73,880 words, 292 pages, 4hrs 55mins to read
Published by Accent Press
4.06 out of 5 on Goodreads
The Great Plague is wreaking havoc in London, with the summer heat rising so does the number of red crosses on people’s doors. Bess Bagwell is married to a carpenter, Will, and she is sure he can make a name for himself if he just gets in with Samuel Pepys. They soon find themselves stuck deep in debt with the disease coming ever closer to their own doorstep.
Entertaining Mr Pepys (2016)
The Highway Trilogy #3
91,590 words, 362 pages, 6hrs 5mins to read
Published by Accent Press
4.19 out of 5 on Goodreads
Singing and music is Elizabeth ‘Bird’ Carpenter’s biggest passion in life. And in 1666, her father managed to persuade her to marry Christopher Knepp, a horse-dealer. Bird is sure she has married beneath her, and it isn’t long until she realises that Knepp only has one passion in his life, his horses. And he won’t allow Bird a life of her own.
Tofana
The Poison Keeper (2021)
Tofana #1
96,700 words, 408 pages, 6hrs 30mins to read
Published by Quire Books
4.06 out of 5 on Goodreads
Based around the life of Giulia Tofana, set in Naples 1633. Giulia wants to have more responsibility working at her mothers apothecary shop. But when her mum is arrested for the poisoning of Duke de Verdi, she must run for her life and escapes to Naples, to her aunt Isabetta. There she learns the fate of her mother, and she swears vengeance.
The Silkworm Keeper (2021)
Tofana #2
104,745 words, 414 pages, 7hrs to read
Published by Quire Books
4.36 out of 5 on Goodreads
5 years have passed, and Giulia Tofana is in Rome, becoming a nun to atone for her past sins. But when an unexpected disaster closes the convent, Giulia turns to her old friend Fabio Pasello, an old flame that had never quite gone out. Still seen as a poisoner, she is soon mixed up in a plot against Fabio’s patron, Pope Urban VIII.
The Fortune Keeper (2022)
Tofana #3
97,660 words, 386 pages, 6hrs 30mins to read
Published by Quire Books
4.36 out of 5 on Goodreads
Mia Caiozzi is wanting to study astronomy and discover her destiny, but her stepmother Giulia forbids it. She fears only trouble lies ahead as the ideas of Galileo are banned by the Inquisition. Giulia wants Mia to live out of the public view, not draw attention to them as more trouble could be gained when secrets are revealed.
WW2 Secret Agent
The Silk Code (2023)
WW2 Secret Agent #1
112,375 words, 352 pages, 7hrs and 30mins to read.
Published by HQ Fiction GB
4.45 out of 5 on Goodreads
Nancy Callaghan needs to leave Scotland after a broken engagement. She goes to live and work with her brother, joining the Special Operations Executive, where she joins the team to solve the ‘indecipherables’ – the coded messages from the agents in the field. Nancy is soon thrown into the world of espionage, adventure and deceit.
You can read our review for this book here!
The Shadow Network (Exp. 2024)
WW2 Secret Agent #2
Published by HQ Digital
0.00 out of 5 on Goodreads
Lilli Bergen had to flee Germany after her father was captured by the Germans, now in England in 1942, Lilli is desperate to help out the Allied war effort. She is recruited as a singer for a radio station broadcasting propaganda to German soldiers – a shadow network. But when Bren, an ex-boyfriend, and the man she believes turned her father over to the Nazi’s, turns up at her work everything is turned upside down.
Standalones
A Divided Inheritance (2013)
137,635 words, 544 pages, 9hrs 10mins to read.
Published by Pan MacMillan
4.14 out of 5 on Goodreads
Set in the bustling courtyards of London, 1609, not long after the Gunpowder Plot, we meet Elspet Leviston. Her aim in life is to take over her father’s lace business, but when her cousin Zachary turns up out of nowhere all this is thrown into jeopardy as he has his own ideas for the business.
Last Train Home (2017)
As Davina Blake
6,835 words, 27 pages, 30mins to read.
Published by Quire Books
3.50 out of 5 on Goodreads
Maisie Harris only has a lonely Christmas to look forward to, trapped in her signal box, watching the trains pass her by, as the world nears the end of the Second World War in 1945.
You can read this for free by subscribing to her website!
His Last Letter (2017)
As Davina Blake
9,365 words, 37 pages, 40mins to read.
Published by Quire Books
4.05 out of 5 on Goodreads
The Second World War is in full swing, and Marion hasn’t enjoyed a Christmas since when she was a nurse in France during the First World War, just over twenty years ago. Betty, has a secret, twenty-one years ago she had a letter that she was meant to send on to Marion and their paths are set to cross again.
Overall
Deborah Swift has quite a few different series to dive right into, the mix of real and fabrication is so intertwined that it is sometimes hard to tell what actually happened and what was merely Swift’s flair for storytelling. Compelling characters and great storylines, there is something there for everyone to enjoy.
If you have enjoyed any of Deborah Swift’s work and want to learn more about her or any other of her work, then feel free to check out her website. And don’t forget, you can give her a follow on her twitter and Instagram.
Which one is your favourite or most looking forward to picking up next?
Let us know!
Happy reading!
Total Word Count of Deborah Swift’s Work and More!
Westmorland Word Count
- Total words: 229,475 words
- Total pages: 907 pages
- Total reading time: 15hrs 20mins
World War Two Sagas Word Count
- Total words: 283,110 words
- Total pages: 1,119 pages
- Total reading time: 18hrs 55mins
The Highway Trilogy Word Count
- Total words: 200,890 words
- Total pages: 794 pages
- Total reading time: 13hrs 25mins
Mr Pepys Trilogy Word Count
- Total words: 290,960 words
- Total pages: 1,150 pages
- Total reading time: 19hrs 25mins
Tofana Word Count
- Total words: 299,105 words
- Total pages: 1,208 pages
- Total reading time: 20hrs
Altogether Word Count
- Total words: 1,569,750 words
- Total pages: 6,138 pages
- Total reading time: 104hrs 40mins
More of the same, but different:
For More of Anything:
Things to Note:
- Word count is an approximation.
- Amount of pages may differ due to different publications, font style and/or size etc.
- Time spent reading is generally an approximation based on the word count and the average reading time. The average reader will read 250 WPM (Words Per Minute).
- This is the original publisher of the books.
- The current Goodreads score at the time of writing.
- For more information on word lengths and what they mean, check out our handy guide here.
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