Tag: historical fiction

Guest Post: “Snippet from ‘A Matter of Time’ by Judith Arnopp”

On By hmalagisiIn guest post2 Comments

A Matter of Time Tour BannerI am pleased to welcome Judith Arnopp back to my blog to share a snippet from her latest novel. “A Matter of Time.” I would like to thank Judith Arnopp and The Coffee Pot Book Club for allowing me to be part of this blog tour.

June 1541 Henry and Katherine Howard on royal progress

Brandon is not with us this night, having ridden ahead to make preparation for our stay with him at Grimsthorpe, but I am content with Katherine beside me, a few musicians, and her favourite ladies and my closest gentlemen. We grow merry, the youngest members of the party dancing into the early hours. The music rises and falls, the fire crackles, while I sit and eat and watch, with my foot resting on a stool. 

When they form up for the next dance, Katherine is partnered by Culpepper, and they make an elegant pairing. I look on enviously as the steps of the dance take them close together. Their elbows hook, and then they part again, Katherine’s hand reluctantly extended toward him as the dance dictates. Surrounded by the gaiety of the company, yet not part of it, I grow bored, longing for my bed. I’ve admitted to nobody how the journey is taking its toll, on both my health and my spirits. I close my eyes, rest my head on the back of my chair and thank God for the good company. The words of a song I wrote long ago jangle in my mind.

Pastime with good company

I love and shall until I die;

A Matter of Time CoverBlurb:

With youth now far behind him, King Henry VIII has only produced one infant son and two bastard daughters. More sons are essential to secure the Tudor line and with his third wife, Jane Seymour dead, Henry hunts for a suitable replacement.

After the break from Rome, trouble is brewing with France and Scotland. Thomas Cromwell arranges a diplomatic marriage with the sister of the Duke of Cleves but when it comes to women, Henry is fastidious, and the new bride does not please him. The increasingly unpredictable king sets his sights instead upon Katherine Howard and instructs Cromwell to free him from the match with Cleves.

Failure to rid the king of his unloved wife could cost Cromwell his head.

Henry, now ailing and aging, is invigorated by his flighty new bride but despite the favours he heaps upon her, he cannot win Katherine’s heart. A little over a year later, broken by her infidelity, she becomes the second of his wives to die on the scaffold, leaving Henry friendless and alone.

But his stout heart will not surrender and leaving his sixth wife, Katheryn Parr, installed as regent over England, Henry embarks on a final war to win back territories lost to the French more than a century before. Hungry for glory, the king is determined that the name Henry VIII will shine brighter and longer than that of his hero, Henry V.

Told from the king’s perspective, A Matter of Time: Henry VIII: the Dying of the Light shines a torch into the heart and mind of England’s most tyrannical king.

Buy Links:

Universal Buy Links to the three titles in the series:

 A Matter of Conscience: https://mybook.to/amoc

A Matter of Faith: https://mybook.to/amofaith 

A Matter of Time: https://mybook.to/amot

Judith Arnopp PembrokeAuthor Bio:

A lifelong history enthusiast and avid reader, Judith holds a BA in English/Creative writing and an MA in Medieval Studies. She lives on the coast of West Wales where she writes both fiction and non-fiction. She is best known for her novels set in the Medieval and Tudor period, focusing on the perspective of historical women but recently she has been writing from the perspective of Henry VIII himself.

Judith is also a founder member of a re-enactment group called The Fyne Companye of Cambria which is when she began to experiment with sewing historical garments. She now makes clothes and accessories both for the group and others. She is not a professionally trained sewer but through trial, error and determination has learned how to make authentic-looking, if not strictly historically accurate clothing. Her non-fiction book, How to Dress like a Tudor was published by Pen and Sword in 2023.

Her novels include:

A Song of Sixpence: The Story of Elizabeth of York

The Beaufort Chronicle: The Life of Lady Margaret Beaufort (three-book series)

A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, the Aragon Years (Book One of The Henrician Chronicle)

A Matter of Faith: Henry VIII, the Days of the Phoenix (Book Two of The Henrician Chronicle)

A Matter of Time: Henry VIII, the Dying of the Light (Book Three, Coming soon)

The Kiss of the Concubine: A Story of Anne Boleyn

The Winchester Goose: at the court of Henry VIII

Intractable Heart: The Story of Katheryn Parr

Sisters of Arden: on the Pilgrimage of Grace

The Heretic Wind: The Life of Mary Tudor, Queen of England

Peaceweaver

The Forest Dwellers

The Song of Heledd

Previously published under the pen name – J M Ruddock.

The Book of Thornhold

A Daughter of Warwick: The Story of Anne Neville, Queen of Richard III

Author Links:

Website: www.judithmarnopp.com

Blog: http://www.juditharnoppnovelist.blogspot.co.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JudithArnopp

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetudorworldofjuditharnopp

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/judith-arnopp-ba999025

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tudor_juditharnopp/

Threads: tudor_juditharnopp@threads.net

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jarnopp.bsky.social

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jarnopp/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/judith-arnopp

Amazon Author Page: https://author.to/juditharnoppbooks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4088659.Judith_Arnopp

Book Review: “Disobedient” by Elizabeth Fremantle

On By hmalagisiIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

Disobedient“I’ll show you what a woman can do.”

A young Renaissance woman artist is attacked by her art teacher. He claimed that she was lying. For most, this would be the end of a career and a black mark left on their reputation for the rest of their lives. Not in this case. Artemisia Gentileschi is not a woman who will stand by and let men control her or her art. In the 21st century, she is seen as an artistic genius, but in her time, she was seen as an odd woman who refused to follow the rules. Artemisia’s harrowing tale of turning tragedy into inspiration for her art, showing what a woman could do, is masterfully told in Elizabeth Fremantle’s latest novel, “Disobedient.”

This is the second novel that I have read by Elizabeth Fremantle, the first being “Queen’s Gambit.” I was thoroughly enthralled by “Queen’s Gambit,” so when I heard she wrote a new novel about Artemisia Gentileschi, I knew I wanted to read it. Before I read this novel, I did not know much about Artemisia’s story, so I was excited to learn about her struggles and triumphs.

Rome in 1611 was not a kind place for a female artist. Artemisia is the eldest daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, an artist himself. Her mother died when she was but a child and after her death, her father has become an abusive drunkard. He controls his family through fear, but Artemisia is not afraid to stand up for her siblings and her artworks, no matter the consequences. To keep his headstrong daughter in line, Orazio turns to Zita to watch over her, but Zita is not the virtuous woman that Orazio believes she is as she is a thief. Artemisia has only one friend in the world who seems to understand her, the apprentice Piero, someone who truly cares for her and wants to see her talents develop, but it is conflicted when it comes to his feelings towards other men. Finally, there is the art teacher, Tassi, who may seem like a kind soul who simply wants to teach Artemisia how to paint, but he has darker plans in mind.

Everything takes a dramatic turn for the worse when Zita leaves Artemisia alone with Tassi and he attacks her. Instead of becoming timid and accepting the marriage proposal, Tassi presents her soon after the incident, Artemisia digs into her art and paints her hatred and pain into her most famous work, Judith Slaying Holofernes. The piece is full of emotions in a bloody scene that seems rather inappropriate for a woman artist during the Renaissance, but Artemisia does not care about the criticism. She is showing the world exactly what a woman can do, and her next step, taking Tassi to court, will define her strength and determination to fight for what she believes is right. Artemisia is a survivor who thrived under unimaginable circumstances.

This book left such an impact on me. I was heartbroken, angry, and devastated for Artemisia as the events unfolded. By the end, I had to catch my breath and realize that it was a fictional retelling of her life. It is a story that will stay with me for a long time and it makes me want to study Artemisia’s life and times. If you want a heartbreaking tale full of sorrow and strength set during the Italian Renaissance, you must check out “Disobedient” by Elizabeth Fremantle.

Book Review: “The Other Gwyn Girl” by Nicola Cornick

On By hmalagisiIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

the other gwyn girlThe year is 1671 and England is slowly recovering from the horrors of the English Civil War. King Charles II lives lavishly with his many mistresses, including the famous beauty Nell Gwyn. On the other side of London, Nell’s eldest sister Rose Gwyn is caught in the middle of a high-profile robbery that could cost her her life. In the present day, Jess Yates, a librarian and history lover, is dealing with her family’s struggles. When Jess enters Fortune Hall to help her sister Tavy, with a project, Jess begins to follow the clues to discover the connection between the great house and the Gwyn sisters. What secrets does this great hall hold and can the reputation of the Gwyn family be saved in time? The mystery of the past and the present collide in Nicola Cornick’s latest novel, “The Other Gwyn Girl.”

I would like to thank Boldwood Books and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this novel. I have read two other novels by Cornick, “The Forgotten Sister” and “The Last Daughter of York,” and I thoroughly enjoyed both dual-timeline novels. When I heard about this novel, it was a compelling premise to me as I know very little about Nell and Rose Gwyn.

Nell and Rose Gwyn were the daughters of Captain Thomas Gwyn and Helena Smith Gwyn. When their father died, Helena had to raise her daughters to survive the cruel world, but we soon find out that Helena’s favorite is her youngest daughter Nell. The sisters may have started as simple orange sellers, but Nell’s star was on the rise as she became an actress and then the favorite mistress of King Charles II. Rose was less fortunate as she married John Cassells and now finds herself in prison for a third time, this time for the theft of the Crown Jewels, a scheme orchestrated by Colonel Thomas Blood. Now, Rose must team up with the officer who arrested her, Guy Forster, to clear her name and save her sister Nell’s reputation by finding the Crown Jewels before it is too late.

The lives of the Yates sisters mirror that of the Gwyn sisters. Jess is down on her luck after her ex-boyfriend ends up in prison and the whole scandal is splashed on every newspaper and tabloid due to her sister’s fame. Jess thinks that she is going to Fortune Hall for a reunion of sorts with her mother and sister, but that is not the case at all. Tavy, the younger sister, is a style influencer/ TV star who needs her nerdy older sister’s help with a project. Tavy has agreed to renovate Fortune Hall because of its alleged connections to Nell Gwyn and she has asked her sister Jess for help. As Jess hunts down clues to the history of Fortune Hall, alongside Ethan Sterling whose family has a connection to the home, she discovers shocking truths about the Gwyn sisters.

This novel was such a wild ride from the start and I could not put it down. The English Civil War is not usually an area of study for me, but there was just something about the way Cornick wrote this novel that I want to learn more about Nell and Rose Gwyn as well as King Charles II and his many mistresses. If you are a fan of dual-timeline novels or Nell Gwyn, you must check out, “The Other Gwyn Girl” by Nicola Cornick.

Book Review: “The Summer Queen” by Elizabeth Chadwick

On By hmalagisiIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

The Summer QueenA legendary Queen of both France and England. A wife who went on the Crusades with her first husband and chose her second husband. A fierce mother who defended her Plantagenet children no matter the cost. Eleanor of Aquitaine has been revered and reviled for centuries, some saying she was a powerful woman ahead of her time while others considered her someone who could manipulate those around her by having affairs, including supposedly with her uncle in Antioch. Her story has been told in numerous ways through different mediums throughout the centuries, but now Elizabeth Chadwick has decided to write her interpretation of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life in a trilogy of historical fiction novels. The first in the series, “The Summer Queen,” explores Eleanor’s early years, her marriage to a young French king, and the man destined to become King of England.

I have always been drawn to Eleanor of Aquitaine’s story since I first learned about her and the origins of the Plantagenet dynasty. I remember watching “The Lion in Winter” in college and I enjoyed the film, so I decided to study more about Eleanor and Henry II. When I heard that Elizabeth Chadwick had written a trilogy about the legendary queen, I knew I wanted to read it to see how she felt about Eleanor.

We begin our journey into the past when Eleanor (in this novel, Alienor) and her sister Petronella are getting ready to bid their father, William X Duke of Aquitaine, is about to set off on a pilgrimage, leaving the control of the duchy to Eleanor as his heiress. Her father’s final wish for his heiress was that she would marry the heir to the French throne, the soon-to-be King Louis VII. Eleanor reluctantly agrees and at first, the marriage seems to be successful, but after a miscarriage of a boy, Louis’ extreme piety, and his meddling mother Adelaide of Maurienne, Eleanor is at her wits end.

After giving birth to a daughter named Marie, Louis has decided to join the Crusades and Eleanor must tag along, although she would rather have an annulment. The journey that the two embark on drives even more of a wedge between the couple as it is rumored that she was close to her uncle Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch and one Geoffrey de Rancon. In 1152, Louis and Eleanor receive their divorce; Eleanor may return to Aquitaine and remarry, but she must leave her two daughters, Marie and Alix, with their father in France. Eleanor does not stay single for long as Geoffrey of Anjou convinces the former queen to marry his young, hotheaded, handsome son who would become King Henry II of England by birthright thanks to his mother Empress Matilda.

I have read both historical fiction and nonfiction accounts of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life, but this novel truly made her feel alive, as well as the men and women that surrounded her at court. Even though I knew what was going to happen, it was still thrilling to read the story from multiple perspectives. I cannot wait to read the rest of this trilogy to see the birth of the Plantagenet dynasty. If you are a fan of the life and times of Eleanor of Aquitaine, you must check out, “The Summer Queen” by Elizabeth Chadwick.

Book Review: “Queen, King, Ace” by Olivia Hayfield

On By hmalagisiIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

Queen King AceEngland is in desperate need of a hero. After the Covid pandemic and the Brexit debacle, England is in despair, and only one man can save the day. He does not wield a sword, but a tennis racket and his fair maiden is the badass CEO of the Rose Corp. Ace Penhelagon and Eliza Rose seem like a picture-perfect pair, but every rose has thorns that protect it from a dark past. What dark secrets do these two hide away from the flashes of the paparazzi and can love endure over fate? Olivia Hayfield’s latest novel, “Queen, King, Ace,” is a modern love story that combines the elements of the Arthurian myths with the Tudor dynasty to answer the question of what might King Arthur and Queen Elizabeth be like in the 21st century.

I would like to thank Sue Copsey/ Olivia Hayfield for sending me a copy of this novel. I have seen Hayfield’s previous modern historical retellings, “Notorious”, “Wife After Wife,” and “Sister to Sister” online on social media, and they have looked intriguing, but I have yet to read one. When I heard the premise of this novel, it intrigued me as I was not sure how a modern story with the Tudors and the court of King Arthur would work out.

We begin our modern Tudor/ Arthurian adventure with Eliza Rose, the new CEO of Rose Corp, discussing with Terri Robbins-More about a new tennis phenom named Ace Penhelagon and their planned interview with him for their magazine, The Rack. Eliza agrees to the interview and asks her right-hand man, best friend, and writer extraordinaire, Will Bardington, to write the article. A chance encounter blossoms into a romance between Eliza and Ace, but obstacles get in the way.

Eliza is dealing with the aftermath of the murder of someone whom she considered a soul mate, Kit Marley, who was also very close to Will. Ace is on track to complete the Golden Slam, which is when a tennis player wins the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Olympic gold medal, which is a tall order for any athlete. From the meddling press to stalkers and parents questioning their intentions, it seems like fate is throwing everything it has at this young couple. The final twist in this tale was something I was not expecting and kept me on the edge of my seat. When I finished reading this novel, I wanted to read Hayfield’s other modern historical retellings.

This book may have not been a book that I thought I would enjoy in the concept alone, being a modern retelling of the Tudors and the Arthurian myths, but by the end, I was engrossed in the tale and a bit sad that it ended. I am a fan of modern tales from time to time, but the fact that Hayfield added a Tudor/Arthurian twist was a bit of fun searching for those little Easter eggs. If you are a fan of contemporary fiction, the Tudors, and the Arthurian legend, you should check out, “Queen, King, Ace” by Olivia Hayfield.

Guest Post: “Snippet from ‘Imperatrix’ by S.P. Somtow”

On By hmalagisiIn guest post1 Comment

Imperatrix Tour BannerI am pleased to welcome S.P. Somtow to my blog today to share a snippet from his latest novel, “Imperatix.” I would like to thank S.P. Somtow and The Coffee Pot Book Club for allowing me to be part of this blog tour. 

Have another brain,” said the Emperor, feeding me Himself.

“Divinitas,” I said, “how many peacocks does it take to make such a platter?”

“Wonderful!” said Himself.  “Poppaea never takes an interest in how the world runs.  For her, the brains just appear by magic.  The answer to question is — why — we have our own, private little — to coin a word — pavonarium.  Would you like to see peacocks — a veritable ocean of peacocks — more bird-brains than even in the Senate?”  He clapped his hands, dropping a brain onto the grass, though Hercules quickly disposed of it.  “Come!”

He took me by the hand and started to pull me in toward the far side of the garden, where there was a fountain cunningly designed like a pair of dolphins.  I turned to look at the Lady Poppaea, terrified that I would soon be alone with the God.

“This could be your fortune,” she said to me.  “You’ve insulted, you’ve appeased.  Now, Sporus, you must seduce.”

Imperatrix CoverBlurb:

Captured by pirates and sold to a Roman aristocrat as a sex slave, Sporus attracted the attention of no less a personage than the Emperor Nero, ruler of the known world. Would-be poet, patron of the arts, aesthete, and brutal autocrat, the Divine Nero saw in the boy a startling resemblance to the Empress Poppaea – and made him an empress as well.

Suetonius, Tacitus, and other Roman historians have given tantalizing glimpses into the incredible life story of the boy who became twice an empress to two emperors and was condemned to die in the arena by a third.

In this meticulously researched trilogy, World Fantasy Award-winning author S.P. Somtow lays bare the darkest secrets of Imperial Rome – its triumphs and its nadirs, its beauty and its cruelty. Through this chaos, a contorted mirror of our contemporary world, this figure of Sporus moves, all too knowing yet all too innocent, providing a worm’s eye view of one of the wildest periods in ancient history.

Imperatrix, the second volume of the tale, takes us into the heart of the Imperial palace with all its intrigue, depravity, and splendor.

Buy Links:

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mV2EaJ

S.P. Somtow authorAuthor Bio:

Once referred to by the International Herald Tribune as ‘the most well-known expatriate Thai in the world,’ Somtow Sucharitkul is no longer an expatriate since he has returned to Thailand after five decades of wandering the world. He is best known as an award-winning novelist and a composer of operas.

Born in Bangkok, Somtow grew up in Europe and was educated at Eton and Cambridge. His first career was in music and in the 1970s, his first return to Asia, he acquired a reputation as a revolutionary composer, the first to combine Thai and Western instruments in radical new sonorities. Conditions in the arts in the region at the time proved so traumatic for the young composer that he suffered a major burnout, emigrated to the United States, and reinvented himself as a novelist.

His earliest novels were in the science fiction field and he soon won the John W. Campbell for Best New Writer as well as being nominated for and winning numerous other awards in the field. But science fiction was not able to contain him and he began to cross into other genres. In his 1984 novel Vampire Junction, he injected a new literary inventiveness into the horror genre, in the words of Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, ‘skillfully combining the styles of Stephen King, William Burroughs, and the author of the Revelation to John.’ Vampire Junction was voted one of the forty all-time greatest horror books by the Horror Writers’ Association.

In the 1990s Somtow became increasingly identified as a uniquely Asian writer with novels such as the semi-autobiographical Jasmine Nights and a series of stories noted for a peculiarly Asian brand of magic realism, such as Dragon’s Fin Soup, which is currently being made into a film directed by Takashi Miike. He recently won the World Fantasy Award, the highest accolade given in the world of fantastic literature, for his novella The Bird Catcher.

Returning to Thailand in 2001, he became artistic director of Opera Siam and has had more than a dozen operas produced around the world including The Snow Dragon and The Silent Prince, which premiered in the United States, Helena Citronova, an opera set during the Holocaust, and the ten-part DasJati: Ten Lives of the Buddha.

In the last few years, he has made a return to writing novels with the Nero and Sporus trilogy and the young adult series, Club X.

In 2021 the film he produced and wrote, The Maestro: Symphony of Terror received over forty awards at international festivals, and in 2023 the Thai government officially elevated him to the status of National Artist.

Read S.P. Somtow’s interview on Literary Titan about Imperatrix at https://literarytitan.com/2024/01/21/the-core-of-innocence/.

Author Links:

Website: www.somtow.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/somtow

Facebook: www.facebook.com/somtow

Instagram: www.instagram.com/somtow

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/s-p-somtow

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B000APBJXC

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/81037.S_P_Somtow

Guest Post: “Snippet from ‘Signatures in Stone’ by Linda Lappin

On By hmalagisiIn guest post1 Comment

Signatures in Stone Tour BannerToday, I am pleased to welcome Linda Lappin to my blog to share a snippet from her novel, “Signatures in Stone.”I would like to thank The Coffee Pot Book Club and Linda Lappin for allowing me to be part of this blog tour.

Without inspiration, I could not write. What I needed was a new batch of
signatures, those curious messages our waking life sends us from our own unconscious, which I have come to see as promptings from the muse, and even as a spiritual guide for my own existence.

We are constantly immersed in a network of signs and symbols, whose meaning eludes us, but which, if only we could read them, would reveal every detail of our past and even predict our future.

The mind talks to itself not with words, but with scrambled symbols, pictures, fragments, often severed from any literal meaning. If we wish to learn to read them, we must abandon the rational links of words to thoughts. Signatures are always there waiting for us, like unopened letters slid beneath the front door, accumulating after a long absence, written in a hieroglyphic alphabet we have forgotten.

Signatures in Stone coverBlurb:

Captivating critics and readers, SIGNATURES IN STONE, was the OVERALL WINNER in the DAPHNE DU MAURIER AWARDS for Excellence in Mystery and Suspense Writing -Best Mystery of 2013

Rome, Italy – November 2023 – Pleasure Boat Studio is thrilled to announce the release of the second edition of Linda Lappin’s celebrated novel, SIGNATURES IN STONE: A BOMARZO MYSTERY. This captivating suspense tale takes readers on a thrilling journey through the enigmatic Monster Park of Bomarzo, also known as the Sacred Wood, an extraordinary Baroque sculpture garden in Italy. With the 500th anniversary of the park’s creation, this edition is accompanied by a magnificent new cover and a series of Tarot card illustrations by Santa Fe artist Carolyn Florek.

In SIGNATURES IN STONE, readers are transported to the atmospheric setting of the Monster Park of Bomarzo, a sixteenth-century garden adorned with mythical creatures believed to represent a terrifying journey into the realm of nightmares. Against this backdrop, four travelers find themselves intertwined in a fate-driven Italian holiday. Daphne, a British writer of occult mysteries, her down-on-his-luck aristocratic publisher Nigel, the aspiring artist and American gigolo Clive, and the art historian Professor Finestone, all converge in a dilapidated villa near the park. They are attended by rustic servants who harbor secrets of their own.

Professor Finestone has made a groundbreaking discovery, revealing that the garden was designed by one of Italy’s greatest artists as a transformative experience that delves into the shadow side of life. Over the centuries, the park’s meanders continue to influence the minds and destinies of those who venture within. As the group explores their heart’s desires amidst the haunting sculptures, they become entangled in a web of intrigue and danger. When Daphne, renowned for writing cozy murder tales, becomes the prime suspect in a shocking homicide, she must confront her own darkness and rely on her sleuthing skills to uncover the terrifying truth.

Linda Lappin’s gripping tale presents an intriguing exploration of gardens in Renaissance Italy, where they were regarded as tools for altering consciousness and changing destiny. The Monster Park of Bomarzo becomes the backdrop for a “Gothic-in-Wonderland” phantasmagoria, immersing readers in a suspenseful and thrilling journey.

New Edition of Linda Lappin’s Award-Winning SIGNATURES IN STONE: A BOMARZO MYSTERY Commemorates the 500th Anniversary of the Monster Park.

Praise:

“Layers of mystery are woven into Linda Lappin’s beautifully written and atmospheric historical novel set in Bomarzo, Italy’s enigmatic park of stone monsters.”
~ Gigi Pandian, author of The Accidental Alchemist.

“Deftly mixing fascinating art history and murder with an exotic atmospheric setting (the Bomarzo garden actually exists), dramatic historical period (1928 fascist Italy), and fully fleshed characters, Lappin (The Etruscan) has written a hallucinatory gothic mystery in which no one is as they appear. Daphne is a most memorable, if a bit unreliable narrator. Readers looking for an intelligent summer mystery will find much to savor here.”
~ Wilda Williams, Library Journal

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mYDWvd

Linda LappinAuthor Bio:

Linda Lappin, poet, translator, novelist, and travel writer is the prize-winning author of four novels: The Etruscan (Wynkin deWorde, 2004); Katherine’s Wish (Wordcraft, 2008), dealing with the last five years of Katherine Mansfield’s life; Signatures in Stone: A Bomarzo Mystery (Pleasureboat Studio, 2013,2023), overall winner of the Daphne Du Maurier award for best mystery novel of 2013; and Loving Modigliani: The Afterlife of Jeanne Hébuterne (Serving House Books, 2020), 2021 Daphne Du Maurier award finalist and shortlisted for the 2021 Montaigne Medal for Books of Distinction.

She is also the author of The Soul of Place: Ideas and Exercises for Conjuring the Genius Loci, (Travelers Tales, 2015), winner of a Nautilus Award in the category of creativity in 2015.

A former Fulbright scholar to Italy, she has lived mainly in Rome for over thirty years. She is at work on a second Daphne Dublanc mystery novel, Melusine, set in Bolsena. The second edition of Signatures in Stone (2023) has been issued to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Monster Park.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.lindalappin.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaLappin1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaLappinAuthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/linda_lappin_author/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@linda_lappin_author
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/lindalappin.bsky.social
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/linda-lappin
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/lindalappin
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1157178.Linda_Lappin

Book Review: “The Twilight Queen” by Teri Westerson

On By hmalagisiIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

The Twilight QueenGreenwich Palace is a Tudor palace full of glamour, intrigue, and murder. A musician has been found murdered in the chambers of the current wife of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn. Only one person can solve this crime while protecting the royal family. No, he is not a knight or a lawyer, but a fool. No, an actual fool or jester of the court of Henry VIII, Will Somers. A man who is loyal to his king Henry VIII, but can he save his second wife from the murderer lurking in the shadows? Jeri Westerson’s Will Somers follows the clues to uncover the truth to protect those who are the most important to him in book two of A King’s Fool Mystery series, “The Twilight Queen.”

I would like to thank Severn House and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this novel. I have not read any of Jeri Westerson’s previous novels, including the first book of the A King’s Fool Mystery series, so I was going into this one completely blind. What caught my eye about this book was the concept that Will Somers, a character who is not featured much in Tudor novels, acts as an armchair detective trying to protect Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

This mystery takes place in April 1536, when Anne Boleyn is nervous that her husband has lost interest in her and has chosen his next bride. To make matters worse, she comes back from a night of revelry to find a dead body in her chambers. What can a queen do but call on a man who recently solved a murder mystery, Will Somers, her husband’s fool.

Will Somers is a complex character. He tries to balance keeping his monarch entertained while speaking his mind about those closest to the king, especially Thomas Cromwell and Anne Boleyn. Will is married to Marion Greene, the illegitimate daughter of the Yeoman of the Records, Lord Robert Heyward, whom he loves, but Somers has his affairs with men at court, like his lover in this book, Nicholas Pachett.

While I did enjoy the characters of Will, Marion, and Nicholas, I felt that the whole love triangle situation distracted me from the actual mystery. I feel like you can do a love story and a mystery together in the same novel, but in this instance, it felt a bit too much. There were a lot of good ideas, but it felt a bit rushed in a 250-page novel. Some elements made it feel a bit too modern than Tudor for my taste. Overall, I think some elements could be better, but I did feel attached to the main characters of Will, Marion, and Nicholas.

I think as my first dive into Westerson’s Tudor world, it was a bit rushed with compelling characters, but I do want to go back and read the first book in this series as well as see what kind of mystery Westerson will come up with next for Somers to solve. I think if you want an unconventional Tudor mystery that has an unlikely sleuth as the protagonist, you should check out “The Twilight Queen” and A King’s Fool mystery series by Jeri Westerson.

Guest Post: “What is an Angel?” by Justin Newland

On By hmalagisiIn guest post2 Comments

The Mark of the Salamander Tour Banner 1I am pleased to welcome Justin Newland to my blog today to discuss his latest book, “The Mark of the Salamander.” I would like to thank The Coffee Pot Book Club and Justin Newland for allowing me to be part of this blog tour. 

My latest historical fiction novel, The Mark of the Salamander, has just been published. It’s the first title in a two-book series, The Island of Angels, which tells the epic story and secret history of England’s coming of age during the Elizabethan era.

While The Island of Angels is an intriguing title, this blog explores the question: ‘What is an angel?’ This is the definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary: 

‘A spiritual being serving as a divine messenger and intermediary and often as a special protector of an individual or nation.’

This suggests that any nation has a spiritual protector or guardian. If so, where would these angels live? In the ground, or in places like the lakes, forests, and mountain ranges? Many monasteries, temples, and holy places are located on mountaintops and in remote places like deserts in the expectation that the angelic beings would rise out of the ground and grace their occupants with their presence. 

The definition also mentions the spiritual beings – the angels – as divine messengers. The angels of a nation are then custodial of the divine intention for that land and its people. The angels’ function then becomes to guide the people towards the fulfillment of that intention. 

Then how would the people of a nation know if what they were doing was aligned or natural to that divine intention? 

Well, if they were, the angels would supercharge what they were doing. For example, they would prompt them to greater exploits, exceptional discoveries, and the creation of finer art. They would urge the people to do things and perceive things, that were above and beyond what the people previously thought possible. Angels add charisma and most importantly, they yield a vision of the future. They add grace and offer healing to old wounds and new possibilities. Their presence would feel like a person had a hose pipe of water gushing into their back.  

Francis-Drake-oil-panel-engraving-Jodocus-HondiusIn 1578, Francis Drake set out from Plymouth with five ships to sail around the world. Until that point in history, England was a small, misty isle on the edge of continental Europe. Through Drake’s efforts, in that single voyage, he hauled England out of the dark ages and into a future in which England would become the hub of a new world of trade & communication. He single-handedly changed England’s self-view. 

How was this momentous event achieved? Was it with the added assistance of the Angels of the Island? Where would you look for evidence of angels in the history of a nation? Well, perhaps you’d start with the symbols of the land that have persisted through the ages, their myths and legends, and their constitutional elements, like the color and formation of its flag. In Elizabethan England, the flag was still a red cross on a white background (Scotland had yet to contribute the blue saltire to the Union Jack). 

Then there’s the heraldry of the nation. England’s royal coat of arms features its MedievalTudor Coat of Arms Semper Eadem Always the Same chivalric Order of the Garter. Established by King Edward III in 1348, the motto of the Most Noble Order is, ‘Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense,’ which means, ‘Evil be to he who thinks evil (of me).’

This is a huge clue to the nature and character of the land of England and its angels. It’s a powerful statement of defiance. The motto says that anything that comes into the land, that is not fitting, or of a lower order than the angels of the land, will get sent back to where it came from. In other words, repulse. In modern terms – return to sender. 

The Mark of the Salamander by Justin Newland - Front CoverBlurb:

1575.

Nelan Michaels is a young Flemish man fleeing religious persecution in the Spanish Netherlands. Settling in Mortlake outside London, he studies under Queen Elizabeth’s court astrologer, conjuring a bright future – until he’s wrongly accused of murder. 

Forced into the life of a fugitive, Nelan hides in London, before he is dramatically pressed into the crew of the Golden Hind.

Thrust into a strange new world on board Francis Drake’s vessel, Nelan sails the seas on a voyage to discover discovery itself. Encountering mutiny, ancient tribes, and hordes of treasure, Nelan must explore and master his own mystical powers – including the Mark of the Salamander, the mysterious spirit of fire. 

THE MARK OF THE SALAMANDER is the first in The Island of Angels series: a two-book saga that tells the epic story and secret history of England’s coming of age during the Elizabethan era. 

Buy Links:

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/38Yxzr 

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-mark-of-the-salamander-justin-newland/1144122989?ean=2940186006305 

Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-mark-of-the-salamander/justin-newland/9781915853271 

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-mark-of-the-salamander 

WH Smith: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/the-mark-of-the-salamander-the-island-of-angels/justin-newland/paperback/9781915853271.html 

Saxo DK: https://www.saxo.com/dk/the-mark-of-the-salamander_bog_9781915853271 

UK Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-mark-of-the-salamander-justin-newland/7448127?ean=9781915853271 

Wordery: https://wordery.com/mark-of-the-salamander-justin-newland-9781915853271?cTrk=MjAxNjg3MzE1fDY1NDE4MzM0N2QzYzA6MTo1OjY1NDE4MzE0ZGFjNTA4LjEwMTkzMjgzOjYxZWVjMzJj

Blackwells: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Mark-of-the-Salamander-by-Justin-Newland/9781915853271 

Foyles: https://www.foyles.co.uk/book/the-mark-of-the-salamander/justin-newland/9781915853271 

Justin Newland 1Author Bio:

JUSTIN NEWLAND’s novels represent an innovative blend of genres from historical adventure to supernatural thrillers and magical realism. His stories explore the themes of war and religion and speculate on the human’s spiritual place in the universe.

Undeterred by the award of a Doctorate in Mathematics from Imperial College, London, he conceived his debut novel, The Genes of Isis (Matador, 2018), an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies. 

The historical thriller, The Old Dragon’s Head (Matador, 2018), is set in Ming Dynasty China in the shadows of the Great Wall. 

The Coronation (Matador, 2019) was another historical adventure and speculates on the genesis of the most important event in the modern world – the Industrial Revolution. 

The Abdication (Matador, 2021) is a mystery thriller in which a young woman confronts her faith in a higher purpose and what it means to abdicate that faith.

The Mark of the Salamander (Book Guild, 2023) is the first in a two-book series, The Island of Angels. Set in the Elizabethan era, it’s an epic tale of England’s coming of age. 

His work in progress is the second in the series, The Midnight of Eights, charting the uncanny coincidences that led to the repulse of the Spanish Armada. 

Author, speaker, and broadcaster, Justin appears on LitFest panels, talks to historical associations and libraries, and enjoys giving radio interviews and making podcasts. 

Born three days before the end of 1953, he lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.justinnewland.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JustinNewland53 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justin.newland.author/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-newland-b393aa28/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjustinnewland/  

Book Bub: https://partners.bookbub.com/authors/4862998/edit 

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Justin-Newland/author/B06WRQVLT8 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jnewland

Guest Post: Spotlight for “Historical Stories of Exile”

On By hmalagisiIn guest post3 Comments

IG banner Exile partyI am pleased to welcome the authors of the latest anthology, “Historical Stories of Exile” to my blog today on a spotlight tour. I would like to thank The Coffee Pot Book Club and the authors of this anthology for allowing me to be part of this blog tour. 

EXILE-Cover-flatBlurb:

Exile: a risky defiance, a perilous journey, a family’s tragic choice – or an individual’s final gamble to live. Exile: voluntary or enforced, a falling-out between friends, a lost first love, a prejudiced betrayal – or the only way to survive persecution?

In this historical fiction anthology, thirteen authors (they are not superstitious!) have written exclusive short stories on the theme of exile. Some are based on true history, others are speculative fiction. All mine the depths of human emotions: fear, hope, love, and the fortitude to survive.

Join an inspiring Anglo-Saxon queen of Wales, a courageous Norwegian falconer, and a family fleeing back in time to escape the prospect of a ruthless future. Oppose the law with the legendary Doones of Exmoor, or defy the odds with two brave WWII exiles. Meet a Roman apprehensively planning exile to preserve the ‘old ways’, and a real Swedish prince forcibly expelled in heart-wrenching circumstances. Thrill to a story based on the legend of Robin Hood, sail with a queen of Cyprus determined to regain her rightful throne; escape religious persecution, discover the heart-rending truth behind the settlement of Massachusetts, and experience the early years that would, eventually, lead to the founding of Normandy. Experience the stirring of first love, and as an exclusive treat special guest author, Elizabeth Chadwick reveals a tale about the 12th-century heiress, Isabelle de Clare, and the Greatest Knight of all time – William Marshal.

With an introduction by multi-award-winning author Deborah Swift, enjoy these tales of exile across the ages. Some are hopeful, some sad, some romantic, some tragic, but all explore the indomitable spirit of resolute, unforgettable characters.

Buy Links: 

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited

Universal Link: https://mybook.to/StoriesOfExile 

ALISON MORTON writes award-winning thrillers featuring tough but compassionate heroines. Her ten-book Roma Nova series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the ancient Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women who face conspiracy, revolution, and heartache but use a sharp lines in dialogue. Several of her novels have hit  #1 in Amazon US, UK, Canada and Australia. The latest, Julia Prima, plunges us back to AD 370 when the founders of Roma Nova met.

She blends her fascination for Ancient Rome with six years of military service and a life of reading crime, historical, and thriller fiction. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA in history.

Alison now lives in Poitou in France, the home of Mélisende, the heroine of her two contemporary thrillers, Double Identity and Double Pursuit. Oh, and she’s writing the next Roma Nova story.

Website: https://www.alison-morton.com

AMY MARONEY studied English Literature at Boston University and worked for many years as a writer and editor of nonfiction. She lives in Oregon, U.S.A. with her family. When she’s not diving down research rabbit holes, she enjoys hiking, dancing, traveling, and reading. Amy is the author of The Miramonde Series, a bestselling historical mystery trilogy about a Renaissance-era female artist and the modern-day scholar on her trail. Amy’s award-winning historical adventure/romance series, Sea and Stone Chronicles, is set in medieval Rhodes and Cyprus.

An enthusiastic advocate for independent publishing, Amy is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors and the Historical Novel Society.

Website: https://www.amymaroney.com/

ANNA BELFRAGE Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time traveler. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with three absorbing interests: history, romance, and writing. Anna always writes about love and has authored the acclaimed time-traveling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th-century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th century England. Anna is presently hard at work with her other medieval series, The Castilian Saga, which is set against the conquest of Wales. The third installment, Her Castilian Heart, was published in 2022, and the fourth and final one will be out in 2024. She has recently released Times of Turmoil, a sequel to her time travel romance, The Whirlpools of Time.

Website, http://www.annabelfrage.com 

ANNIE WHITEHEAD is an author, historian, and elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and has written four award-winning novels set in Anglo-Saxon England. She has contributed to fiction and nonfiction anthologies and written for various magazines, has twice been a prize winner in the Mail on Sunday Novel Writing Competition, and won First Prize in the 2012 New Writer Magazine’s Prose and Poetry Competition. She was a finalist in the 2015 Tom Howard Prize for Nonfiction and was shortlisted for the Exeter Story Prize/Trisha Ashley Award 2021. 

She was the winner of the inaugural Historical Writers’ Association/Dorothy Dunnett Prize 2017 and is now a judge for that same competition. She has also been a judge for the HNS (Historical Novel Society) Short Story Competition.

Her nonfiction books are Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom (Amberley Books) and Women of Power in Anglo-Saxon England (Pen & Sword). She has contributed to a new history of English Monarchs, Kings, and Queens: 1200 Years of English and British Monarchs (Hodder & Stoughton) and has signed a contract to write her third nonfiction book, to be published by Amberley Books in 2024.

Website: https://anniewhiteheadauthor.co.uk/

CATHIE DUNN writes historical fiction, mystery, and romance. The focus of her novels is on strong women through time. She has garnered awards and praise from reviewers and readers for her authentic description of the past. A keen Medievalist, she enjoys visiting castles and ruins, and reading about battles and political shenanigans of the times.

Cathie is a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and the Alliance of Independent Authors. She also now runs The Coffee Pot Book Club, promoting historical fiction authors and their books.

Website: https://www.cathiedunn.com 

CHARLENE NEWCOMB writes historical fiction and science fiction. Her award-winning Battle Scars trilogy is set in the 12th century during the reign of Richard the Lionheart. Her writing roots are in the Star Wars Expanded Universe (aka Legends) where she published 10 short stories in the Star Wars Adventure Journal. Sci-fi space opera fans should check out Echoes of the Storm, her original novel published in 2020. She returned to medieval times with her novel Rogue in 2023. 

Website: https://charlenenewcomb.com

CRYSSA BAZOS is an award-winning historical fiction author and a 17th-century enthusiast. Her debut novel, Traitor’s Knot is the Medalist winner of the 2017 New Apple Award for Historical Fiction and a finalist for the 2018 EPIC eBook Awards for Historical Romance. Her second novel,  Severed Knot is a B.R.A.G Medallion Honoree and a finalist for the 2019 Chaucer Award. Rebel’s Knot, the third installment of the standalone series, Quest for the Three Kingdoms, is a B.R.A.G Medallion Honoree and 2021 Discovering Diamonds Book of the Year.

Website:  https://cryssabazos.com

DEBORAH SWIFT is a delver into archives, drinks too much tea, and loves antiques and old buildings. Her sturdy, stone-built house used to be the village primary school, and from her window, she has a view of a few 17th-century cottages, and behind those, green fields dotted with grazing sheep.

Historical fiction was a natural choice for Deborah as a writer because she always enjoyed the research aspect of design – poking about in archives and museums, not to mention the attraction of boned bodices and the excuse to visit old and interesting buildings.

She used to work as a set and costume designer for theatre and TV, so enjoys the research aspect of creating historical fiction. She likes to write about extraordinary characters set against the background of real historical events. In her books, Deborah likes to write about extraordinary characters set against the background of real historical events. Her first novel was The Lady’s Slipper which was shortlisted for the Impress Prize, and her book  The Poison Keeper, about the Renaissance poisoner Giulia Tofana, won the BookViral Millennium Award. She has written eighteen novels to date including two series set in WWII – her latest, The Shadow Network is due for release in early 2024.

Deborah lives in North Lancashire on the edge of the Lake District and divides her time between teaching and writing.

Website: https://deborahswift.com/

ELIZABETH CHADWICK New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Chadwick lives in a cottage in the Vale of Belvoir in Nottinghamshire with her husband and their four terriers, Pip, Jack, Billy, and Little Ted. Her first novel, The Wild Hunt, won a Betty Trask Award and To Defy a King won the RNA’s 2011 Historical Novel Prize. She was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Award in 1998 for The Champion, in 2001 for Lords of the White Castle, in 2002 for The Winter Mantle, and in 2003 for The Falcons of Montabard. Her sixteenth novel, The Scarlet Lion, was nominated by Richard Lee, founder of the Historical Novel Society, as one of the top ten historical novels of the last decade. She often lectures at conferences and historical venues, has been consulted for television documentaries, and is a member of the Royal Historical Society.

Website: https://elizabethchadwick.com/

ELIZABETH ST.JOHN’s critically acclaimed historical fiction novels tell the stories of her ancestors: extraordinary women whose intriguing kinship with England’s kings and queens brings an intimately unique perspective to Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times.

Inspired by family archives and residences from Lydiard Park to the Tower of London, Elizabeth spends much of her time exploring ancestral portraits, diaries, and lost gardens. And encountering the occasional ghost. But that’s another story.

Living between California, England, and the past, Elizabeth is the International Ambassador for The Friends of Lydiard Park, an English charity dedicated to conserving and enhancing this beautiful centuries-old country house and park. As a curator for The Lydiard Archives, she is constantly looking for an undiscovered treasure to inspire her next novel.

Elizabeth’s books include her trilogy, The Lydiard Chronicles, set in 17th Century England during the Civil War, and her medieval novel, The Godmother’s Secret, which explores the mystery of the missing Princes in the Tower of London.

Website: http://www.elizabethjstjohn.com/

HELEN HOLLICK and her husband and adult daughter moved from north-east London in January 2013 after finding an eighteenth-century North Devon farmhouse through being a ‘victim’ on BBC TV’s popular Escape to The Country show. The thirteen-acre property was the first one she was shown – and it was love at first sight. She enjoys her new rural life, and has a variety of animals on the farm, including Exmoor ponies, dogs, cats, hens, ducks, and geese, and her daughter’s string of show jumpers.

First accepted for publication by William Heinemann in 1993 – a week after her fortieth birthday – Helen then became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The Forever Queen (titled A Hollow Crown in the UK) with the sequel, Harold the King (US: I Am the Chosen King), novels that explore the events that led to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Her Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy is a fifth-century version of the Arthurian legend, and she also writes a pirate-based nautical adventure/fantasy series, The Sea Witch Voyages, where you can read more about Jesamiah Acorne, son of Charles St Croix – and the Doones.

Despite being impaired by the visual disorder of Glaucoma, she is also branching out into the quick read novella, ‘Cosy Mystery’ genre with the Jan Christopher Mysteries, set in the 1970s, with the first in the series, A Mirror Murder incorporating her, often hilarious, memories of working for thirteen years as a library assistant.

Her non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and Tales and Life of a Smuggler. She also runs a news and events blog and a Facebook page for her village supports her daughter’s passion for horses and showjumping – and occasionally gets time to write… 

Website: https://helenhollick.net

J.G. HARLOND Secret agents, skulduggery, and crime that crosses continents.

British author of historical crime fiction, J.G. (Jane) Harlond writes award-winning, page-turning novels set in the mid-17th and mid-20th centuries. Each story weaves fictional characters into real events. She describes her WWII Bob Robbins Home Front Mysteries as a ‘cozy crime with a sinister twist’. Prior to becoming a full-time author, Jane taught English and World Literature in international colleges. She also wrote school textbooks for many years using her married name. 

Jane is married to a retired Spanish naval officer and they have a large, grown-up family living in various parts of Europe and the USA. After traveling widely (she has lived in or visited most of the places that feature in her novels) they are now settled near Málaga in Spain.

J.G. Harlond is a member of the British Crime Writers Association and the Dorothy Dunnett Society.

Website: http://author.to/JGHarlond

LORETTA LIVINGSTONE had no intention of writing anything but short stories or poetry, and especially not historical fiction. She stated it quite clearly on social media, only to suddenly find herself writing … historical fiction. Her debut novel, Out Of Time, set in the mythical Sparnstow Abbey, was shortlisted for the Historical Novel Society Indie Award in 2016, which stunned and elated her in equal measures.

It was supposed to be a one-off. It wasn’t. She went on to write two more stand-alone novels in the series; A Promise to Keep and Blossom on the Thorn. She had plans for more but has had ME for many years, and ill health has temporarily reined in her gallop. However, she intends to write again soon… 

Her other books include short story collections and poetry and can be found on Amazon.

Loretta is on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/217686418294125

MARIAN L. THORPE Taught to read at the age of three, words have been central to Marian’s life for as long as she can remember. A novelist, poet, and essayist, Marian has several degrees, none of which are related to writing. After two careers as a research scientist and an educator, she retired from salaried work and returned to writing things that weren’t research papers or reports.

Marian’s first published work was poetry, in small journals; her first novel was released in 2015. Her award-winning Empire’s Legacy series is historical fiction of another world, based to some extent on northern Europe after the decline of Rome.

In addition to her novels, Marian has read poetry, short stories, and nonfiction work at writers’ festivals and other juried venues.

Her other two passions in life are birding and landscape history, both of which are reflected in her books. Birding has taken her and her husband to all seven continents, but these days she’s mostly content to move between Canada and the UK.

Website: https://marianlthorpe.com/