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Every week Tanzanite features upcoming historical fiction and history related non-fiction books that have come to her attention and may be of interest to others. Since she has an out of control TBR pile, so should everyone else!
Henry VIII: The Tudor Tyrant by Richard Rex. Non-fiction. UK release October 31, 2009.
An accessible biography of Henry VIII by one of the country's leading Tudor experts. The future Henry VIII was born on 29 June 1491, the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. This talented, athletic and temperamental man might have proved something of a handful to his elder brother, Prince Arthur, the firstborn, had he survived to wear the crown. But Henry's life was changed forever when Arthur died in 1502 and the course of English history took a very unexpected turn.
An accessible biography of Henry VIII by one of the country's leading Tudor experts. The future Henry VIII was born on 29 June 1491, the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. This talented, athletic and temperamental man might have proved something of a handful to his elder brother, Prince Arthur, the firstborn, had he survived to wear the crown. But Henry's life was changed forever when Arthur died in 1502 and the course of English history took a very unexpected turn.
Walking to Gatlinburg by Howard Frank Mosher. US and UK release March 2, 2010. Set during the Civil War- a story of brotherhood and survival, action and wilderness adventure in an unforgettable and mythic trek into an American heart of darkness as a boy searches for the brother he’s lost.Seventeen year old Morgan Kinneson is protecting the old man he is helping to freedom in Canada. But the chance to kill a moose deer that would feed his family for the winter lures Morgan away, and on his return someone who wanted that old man – or what he carried – has murdered him. Too ashamed to return to his parents after this tragedy, Morgan decides to travel from northern Vermont south through war-torn America to the Great Smoky Mountains, searching for his older brother who is missing from the Union Army. Morgan is determined to locate the brother he idolizes and reclaim what little family and honor he feels he has left. However, Morgan learns that the old man’s killers are on his tail and that he unknowingly possesses something of dear value. As he dodges surprise attacks, his trek to Gatlinburg becomes a journey of intense survival.
The Prophetess by Mary Rourke. US and UK release March 2, 2010.
By the author of Two Women of Galilee, The Prophetess is the story of the wife of the prophet Isaiah. In the Old Testaments there is a passing mention that he was married to the prophetess, a woman who gave him two sons. In this novel, the prophetess has a name and a voice.
By the author of Two Women of Galilee, The Prophetess is the story of the wife of the prophet Isaiah. In the Old Testaments there is a passing mention that he was married to the prophetess, a woman who gave him two sons. In this novel, the prophetess has a name and a voice.
Pearl of China by Anchee Min. US and UK release March 30, 2010.From the bestselling author of Red Azalea and Empress Orchid comes the powerful story of the friendship of a lifetime, based on the life of Pearl S. Buck.
In the small southern town of Chin-kiang, in the last days of the nineteenth century, two young girls bump heads and become thick as thieves. Willow is the only child of a destitute family, Pearl the headstrong daughter of zealous Christian missionaries. She will ultimately become the internationally renowned author Pearl S Buck, but for now she is just a girl embarrassed by her blonde hair and enchanted by her new Chinese friend. The two embark on a friendship that will sustain both of them through one of the most tumultuous periods in Chinese history.
Moving out into the world together, the two enter the intellectual fray of the times, share love interests and survive early marriages gone bad. Their shared upbringing inspires Pearl’s novels, which celebrate the life of the Chinese peasant and will eventually earn her both a Pulitzer and a Nobel Prize. But when a civil war erupts between the Nationalists and Communists, Pearl is forced to flee the country just ahead of angry mobs. Willow, despite close ties to Mao’s inner circle, is punished for loyalty to her “cultural imperialist” friend. And yet, through love and loss, heartbreak and joy, exile and imprisonment, the two women remain intimately entwined.
In this ambitious new novel, Anchee Min brings to life a courageous and passionate woman who is now hailed in China as a modern heroine. Like nothing before it, Pearl of China tells the story of one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers, from the perspective of the people she loved and of the land she called home.
Elizabeth of York: Queenship and Power by Arlene Okerlund. Non-fiction. US release September 29, 2009; UK release October 2, 2009. This one’s a little pricey at almost $75!
This book tells the story of the queen whose marriage to King Henry VII ended England’s Wars of the Roses and inaugurated the 118-year Tudor dynasty. Best known as the mother of Henry VIII and grandmother of Elizabeth I, this Queen Elizabeth contributed far beyond the act of giving birth to future monarchs. Her marriage to Henry VII unified the feuding houses of Lancaster and York, and her popularity with the people helped her husband survive rebellions that plagued his first decade of rule. Queen Elizabeth’s gracious manners and large family created a warm, convivial Court marked by a rather exceptional fondness between the royal couple. Her love for music, literature, and architecture also helped inspire England’s Renaissance.
Rome: The Emperor's Spy by Manda Scott. UK release January 1, 2010; US release February 23, 2010.
AD 34: Sebastos Pantera is twelve. Training for the time when he too will be a soldier of Rome, he follows his father to a garden tomb on the outskirts of Jerusalem where he watches him greet two men and a heavily pregnant woman. In a moment that changes his life forever, he sees a wounded revolutionary being brought out of the tomb alive . . .Twenty years later, Pantera returns from five years undercover in Britannia as assassin and spy for the Legions. He is sick of spying, but a deadly combination of old loyalties and a sense of unfinished business combine to lure him homeward to the city of Rome where, his former mentor and spymaster, the Machiavellian Seneca the Younger, charges him with rooting out the revolutionaries responsible for the city’s seething unrest. Pantera discovers that the main troublemaker is none other than his closest friend, Saulos, a recent convert to the new religion of Christianity, and Saulos is planning the biggest single act of terrorism the Roman Empire has known.
Those books all look interesting. Thanks for the updates.
oh and I see you are reading Leonie Frieda's book on Catherine de Medici. That book is one of my favorites! I can't wait until her next book is released.
August 27, 2009 at 8:11 AM
The Prophetess by Mary Rourke sounds pretty good!
September 2, 2009 at 1:01 PM