All Souls: Between the Stacks

A reader’s companion for those who never quite left the world of All Souls.

I started All Souls: Between the Stacks because I couldn’t quite leave the world Deborah Harkness created.

Some stories stay with you. This one doesn’t just stay, it expands. The more you think about it, the more you begin to see what is underneath. The history, the manuscripts, the science, the objects, and the choices the characters make and carry forward.

A reader’s companion to the world of Deborah Harkness’s All Souls series.

If you found your way here, there’s a good chance you love these books as much as I do.

Part of what makes this world feel so real is that it is grounded in real history.

Deborah Harkness is a historian, and the series draws on traditions like alchemy, early science, manuscript culture, and the long history of scholarship that shaped places like Oxford.

All Souls: Between the Stacks grew from the joy of exploring those connections.

How it works

Each week, there is one main article built around a single question.
A moment, a character, a piece of history, or a detail that feels worth following more closely.

Alongside that, there is a shorter piece that looks at a place, an object, or something from the world of the books that adds another layer to the same idea.

Nothing here is rushed.

These are books that reward slowing down, noticing more, and returning to what you thought you already understood.

If you’ve ever wanted to stay a little longer in this world, you’re very welcome here.

Subscribe to follow along each week.