Final four chasing Sir Walter Scott prize

The judges of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction have announced a shortlist of four books going forward for the £25,000 award. The shortlist is: Rose Nicolson, by Andrew Greig; News of the Dead, by James Robertson; Fortune, by Amanda Smyth ; and The Magician, by Colm Tóibín. The winner will be announced at a special event at the Borders Book Festival on Friday 17 June. Settings include the violent Scotland of the 1570s; a fictitious Highland glen through three different eras; the Caribbean oil rush of the 1920s; and twentieth-century Europe, seen through the eyes of celebrated writer Thomas Mann. www.walterscottprize.co.uk