Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

Selene has grown up in a palace on the Nile with her parents, Cleopatra & Mark Antony--the most brilliant, powerful rulers on earth. But the jealous Roman Emperor Octavianus wants Egypt for himself, & when war finally comes, Selene faces the loss of all she's ever loved. Forced to build a new life in Octavianus's household in Rome, she finds herself torn between two young men and two possible destinies--until she reaches out to claim her own.

This stunning novel brings to life the personalities & passions of one of the greatest dramas in history, & offers a wonderful new heroine in Selene.



April Queen:  Eleanor of Aquitaine by Douglas Boyd.  Non-fiction.  US release August 1, 2011; released in the UK in April 2011.
Eleanor of Aquitaine was the only person ever to sit on the thrones of both France and England. This account of the adventures of the extraordinary mother of Richard the Lionheart and King John takes us into the heart and mind of the woman who changed the shape of Europe for 300 years by marrying Henry of Anjou, making him England’s Henry II. Eleanor was a European with a continent-wide vision and a woman who rejected the subordinate female role decreed by the Church. Brought up in the comfort- and culture-loving Mediterranean civilization of southern France, she also refused to be a consenting victim of ethnic cleansing. Using French, Old French, Latin, and Occitan sources, this biography lays bare as never before Eleanor’s relationships and vividly brings to life the world she knew.



 
 
King's Gold by Michael Jecks.  US release August 1, 2011; released in the UK in May 2011.

The 30th outing in the acclaimed series from medieval crime master Jecks


As the year 1326 draws to a close, London is in flames. King Edward II is a prisoner, and the forces of his vengeful queen, Isabella, and her lover Sir Roger Mortimer, are in the ascendant. The Bardi family, bankers who have funded the King, must look to their future with the Queen, steering a careful course between rival factions—if, that is, they can keep themselves alive. Others, too, find their loyalties torn. Guarding the deposed King on behalf of Mortimer, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill and bailiff Simon Puttock find themselves entangled in a tightening net of conspiracy, greed, betrayal, and murder.





Holy Warrior:  A Novel of Robin Hood by Angus Donald.  US release August 2, 2011; released in the UK in 2010.

After the events of Outlaw, Robin of Locksley—and his sidekick and narrator, Alan Dale—finds himself in a very different England and a very changed world.


In 1190 A.D. Richard the Lionheart, the new King of England, has launched his epic crusade to seize Jerusalem from the Saracens. Marching with the vast royal army is Britain’s most famous, most feared, most ferocious warrior: the Outlaw of Nottingham, the Earl of Locksley—Robin Hood himself. With his band of loyal men at his side, Robin cuts a bloody swath on the brutal journey east. Daring and dangerous, he can outwit and outlast any foe—but the battlefields of the Holy Land are the ultimate proving ground. And within Robin’s camp lurks a traitor—a hidden enemy determined to assassinate England’s most dangerous rogue.

Richly imagined and furiously paced, featuring a cast of unforgettable characters, Holy Warrior is adventure, history and legend at its finest.



Three Maids for a Crown by Ella March Chase.  US and UK release August 2, 2011.

In the second novel from Ella March Chase, we meet sixteen-year-old Jane Grey, a quiet and obedient young lady destined to become the shortest reigning English monarch. Her beautiful middle sister Katherine Grey charms all the right people--until loyalties shift. And finally Lady Mary Grey, a dwarf with a twisted spine whose goal is simply to protect people she loves--but at a terrible cost.


In an age in which begetting sons was all that mattered and queens rose and fell on the sex of their child, these three girls with royal Tudor blood lived under the dangerous whims of parents with a passion for gambling. The stakes they would wager: their daughters' lives against rampant ambition.




In A Treacherous Court by Michelle Diener.  US and UK release August 2, 2011.

An unconventional woman. A deadly enemy. A clash of intrigue, deception, and desire. . . . 1525: Artist Susanna Horenbout is sent from Belgium to be Henry VIII’s personal illuminator inside the royal palace. But her new homeland greets her with an attempt on her life, and the King’s most lethal courtier, John Parker, is charged with keeping her safe. As further attacks are made, Susanna and Parker realize that she unknowingly carries the key to a bloody plot against the throne. For while Richard de la Pole amasses troops in France for a Yorkist invasion, a traitor prepares to trample the kingdom from within.Who is the mastermind? Why are men vying to kill the woman Parker protects with his life? With a motley gang of urchins, Susanna’s wits, and Parker’s fierce instincts, honed on the streets and in palace chambers, the two slash through deadly layers of deceit in a race against time. For in the court of Henry VIII, secrets are the last to die. . . .Brilliantly revealing a little-known historical figure who lived among the Tudors, Michelle Diener makes a smashing historical fiction debut.

 
 
Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto.  US and UK release August 2, 2011.

Three years after her husband Max's death, Shelley feels no more adjusted to being a widow than she did that first terrible day. That is, until the doorbell rings. Standing on her front step is a young man who looks so much like Max–same smile, same eyes, same age, same adorable bump in his nose–he could be Max's long-lost relation. He introduces himself as Paolo, an Italian editor of American coffee table books, and shows Shelley some childhood photos. Paolo tells her that the man in the photos, the bearded man who Paolo says is his grandfather though he never seems to age, is Max. Her Max. And he is alive and well.


As outrageous as Paolo's claims seem–how could her husband be alive? And if he is, why hasn't he looked her up? – Shelley desperately wants to know the truth. She and Paolo jet across the globe to track Max down–if it is really Max– and along the way, Shelley recounts the European package tour where they had met. As she relives Max's stories of bloody Parisian barricades, medieval Austrian kitchens, and buried Roman boathouses, Shelley begins to piece together the story of who her husband was and what these new revelations mean for her "happily ever after." And as she and Paolo get closer to the truth, Shelley discovers that not all stories end where they are supposed to.



Reign of Madness by Lynn Cullen.  US and UK release August 4, 2011.

From the author of The Creation of Eve comes a tale of love and madness, royal intrigue and marital betrayal, set during the Golden Age of Spain.


Juana of Castile, third child of the Spanish monarchs Isabel and Fernando, grows up with no hope of inheriting her parents' crowns, but as a princess knows her duty: to further her family's ambitions through marriage. Yet stories of courtly love, and of her parents' own legendary romance, surround her. When she weds the Duke of Burgundy, a young man so beautiful that he is known as Philippe the Handsome, she dares to hope that she might have both love and crowns. He is caring, charming, and attracted to her-seemingly a perfect husband.

But what begins like a fairy tale ends quite differently.

When Queen Isabel dies, the crowns of Spain unexpectedly pass down to Juana, leaving her husband and her father hungering for the throne. Rumors fly that the young Queen has gone mad, driven insane by possessiveness. Who is to be believed? The King, beloved by his subjects? Or the Queen, unseen and unknown by her people?

One of the greatest cautionary tales in Spanish history comes to life as Lynn Cullen explores the controversial reign of Juana of Castile-also known as Juana the Mad. Sweeping, page-turning, and wholly entertaining, Reign of Madness is historical fiction at its richly satisfying best.



Crucible of Secrets by Shona MacLean.  UK release August 4, 2011.
It is Midsummer, 1631. While Alexander Seaton and his fellow masters enjoy the holiday with their students, Robert Sim, librarian of Marischal College, is murdered in a dark alleyway in town. While the university and town authorities investigate the murder, Seaton is asked by the college principal to look into Sim's private life. In the course of an investigation in which his personal feelings threaten to cloud his judgement and endanger his young marriage to Sarah, he discovers a side to the librarian he could never have guessed at. It is only when a second, apparently unrelated murder comes to light that Seaton begins to piece together the connections between a young weaver, a consignment of books, and events in a college in the Low Countries in order to unmask the perpetrator of the years'-old deception that led to the two deaths.





Sworn Sword by James Aitcheson.  UK release August 4, 2011.

January 1069. Less than three years have passed since Hastings and the death of the usurper, Harold Godwineson. In the depths of winter, two thousand Normans march to subdue the troublesome province of Northumbria. Tancred a Dinant, an ambitious and oath-sworn knight and a proud leader of men, is among them, hungry for battle, for silver and for land.


But at Durham the Normans are ambushed in the streets by English rebels. In the battle that ensues, their army is slaughtered almost to a man. Badly wounded, Tancred barely escapes with his life. His lord is among those slain.

Soon the enemy are on the march, led by the dispossessed prince Eadgar, the last of the ancient Saxon line, who is determined to seize the realm he believes is his. Yet even as Tancred seeks vengeance for his lord’s murder, he finds himself caught up in secret dealings between a powerful Norman magnate and a shadow from the past.

As the Norman and English armies prepare to clash, Tancred begins to uncover a plot which harks back to the day of Hastings itself. A plot which, if allowed to succeed, threatens to undermine the entire Conquest. The fate of the Kingdom hangs in the balance …

Edinburgh Castle (from October 2010)

Nine months after I started my own version of one of The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, here is where I'm at:


I still have a lot to do...

The winners of For the King by Catherine Delors are:

On this date in 1554, Mary I of England married Prince Philip of Spain (painting by Hans Eworth).

One year after her mother’s suicide and just one day after her father’s brokenhearted demise, twelve-year-old Berthe Bovary is sent to live on her grandmother’s impoverished farm. Amid the beauty of the French countryside, Berthe models for the painter Jean-François Millet, but fate has more in store for her than a quiet life of simple pleasures. Berthe’s determination to rise above her mother’s scandalous past will take her from the dangerous cotton mills of Lille to a convent in Rouen to the wealth and glamour of nineteenth-century Paris. There, as an apprentice to famed fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth, Berthe is ushered into the high society of which she once only dreamed. But even as the praise for her couture gowns steadily rises, she still yearns for the one thing her mother never had: the love of someone she loves in return.

Brilliantly integrating one of classic literature’s fictional creations with real historical figures, Madame Bovary’s Daughter is an uncommon coming-of-age tale, a splendid excursionn through the rags and the riches of French fashion, and a sweeping novel of poverty and wealth, passion and revenge.



The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin.  US and UK release July 26, 2011.


In her national bestseller Alice I Have Been, Melanie Benjamin imagined the life of the woman who inspired Alice in Wonderland. Now, in this jubilant new novel, Benjamin shines a dazzling spotlight on another fascinating female figure whose story has never fully been told: a woman who became a nineteenth century icon and inspiration—and whose most daunting limitation became her greatest strength.


“Never would I allow my size to define me. Instead, I would define it.”

She was only two-foot eight-inches tall, but her legend reaches out to us more than a century later. As a child, Mercy Lavinia “Vinnie” Bump was encouraged to live a life hidden away from the public. Instead, she reached out to the immortal impresario P. T. Barnum, married the tiny superstar General Tom Thumb in the wedding of the century, and transformed into the world’s most unexpected celebrity.

Here, in Vinnie’s singular and spirited voice, is her amazing adventure—from a showboat “freak” revue where she endured jeering mobs to her fateful meeting with the two men who would change her life: P. T. Barnum and Charles Stratton, AKA Tom Thumb. Their wedding would captivate the nation, preempt coverage of the Civil War, and usher them into the White House and the company of presidents and queens. But Vinnie’s fame would also endanger the person she prized most: her similarly-sized sister, Minnie, a gentle soul unable to escape the glare of Vinnie’s spotlight.

A barnstorming novel of the Gilded Age, and of a woman’s public triumphs and personal tragedies, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb is the irresistible epic of a heroine who conquered the country with a heart as big as her dreams—and whose story will surely win over yours.

Photo Friday is back and soon I'll be including pictures from my trip earlier this month to Paris/London. 

For now, here are a couple shots from our visit to Hever Castle last fall. 





I was really surprised at how extensive the gardens at the property were - they are really beautiful!

On the continent bloody religious wars rage, but England stands apart, her surrounding seas keeping her safe from the land armies of her would-be enemies. Only at sea do the English show their teeth. Sea captains and adventurers, hungry for the spoils of trade from the Spanish Main, regularly attack the gold-laden galleons of Catholic Spain.  They are terriers nipping at the feet of war-horses but their victories disrupt the treasury of Spain, England’s greatest threat, and Elizabeth’s refusal to rein in her sea-captains further antagonises Philip II.

Thomas Varian is a captain in Drake’s formidable navy, rising quickly through the ranks. But he guards a secret – one for which he would pay with his life if discovered: he is a Catholic. He is about to find his conflicting loyalty to his religion, to his Queen, and to his country tested under the most formidable of circumstances: facing the mighty Armada. Unknown to Varian, he will also be facing his long-estranged father, who is fighting on the side of the Spanish enemy…



A Man in Uniform by Kate Taylor.  US and UK release January 17, 2012. (This was released early this year in hardback, but I hadn't heard of it before so thought I would include it.)

At the height of the Belle Epoque, François Dubon leads a well-ordered life in the bourgeois quarters of Paris’ eighth arrondissement. When not busy with his prosperous legal practice, he enjoys both a contented marriage to his aristocratic wife, Geneviève, and satisfying afternoon encounters with his mistress, Madeleine. He is never late for those five o’clock appointments nor for family dinner at seven—until a mysterious widow comes to his office with an unusual request.


The lady insists that only Dubon can save her innocent friend, an Army captain named Dreyfus who was convicted of spying and exiled to Devil’s Island two years earlier. Not wishing to disappoint the alluring widow, the gallant Dubon makes some perfunctory inquiries. But when he discovers the existence of a secret military file withheld from the defense during the trial, he embarks on an obsessive pursuit of justice that upends his complacent life.

Donning a borrowed military uniform, Dubon goes undercover into the murky world of counterespionage, where his erratic hours alarm his forbidding wife and make his mistress increasingly aloof. As the layers of deceit and double crosses mount, Dubon’s quixotic quest leads him into the heart of a dark conspiracy—one that endangers his own life and threatens to throw France herself into turmoil.

Based on the infamous Dreyfus Affair and enriched with a generous dose of classic noir, A Man in Uniform is a gripping and seductive mystery set against the gilded years of late nineteenth-century Paris.



Alix and Nicky by Virginia Rounding.  Non-fiction.  US and UK release January 17, 2012.

For the first time since Robert Massie’s classic Nicholas and Alexandra, comes a penetrating and deeply personal study of the lives of the last Russian Tsar and


Tsarina that gives profound psychological insight into their marriage and how it shaped the events that engulfed them

Few characters in history are as fascinating or controversial as Nicholas and Alexandra. From their passionate love to their horrifying execution, they are alternately viewed as innocent victims of Bolshevik assassins or blamed for causing the Revolution themselves.

Much has already been written about their lives. But acting as a curator of the many conflicting histories, acclaimed author Virginia Rounding offers a different kind of biography, with an intimate look that probes the souls of these unforgettable figures, and tells the story of their passion and its consequences for Russia. Through newly revealed letters and diaries, Rounding explores the Empress’s ill health, examines the enigmatic triangular relationship between Nicky, Alix and her confidante Ania Vyrubova, and looks anew at the reasons behind their reliance on the infamous Rasputin. Her conclusions are surprising. With eloquence and compassion, Rounding makes these characters come alive, presenting them in all their complexity and ardor, guiding the reader into their vanished world.


 
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen.  Young Adult.  US and UK release February 14, 2012.






Sacrilege by S.J. Parris.  UK release February 21, 2012.

London, summer of 1584: Radical philosopher, ex-monk, and spy Giordano Bruno suspects he is being followed by an old enemy. He is shocked to discover that his pursuer is in fact Sophia Underhill, a young woman with whom he was once in love. When Bruno learns that Sophia has been accused of murdering her husband, a prominent magistrate in Canterbury, he agrees to do anything he can to help clear her name.


In the city that was once England's greatest center of pilgrimage, Bruno begins to uncover unsuspected secrets that point to the dead man being part of a larger and more dangerous plot in the making. He must turn his detective's eye on history—on Saint Thomas Becket, the twelfth-century archbishop murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, and on the legend surrounding the disappearance of his body—in order to solve the crime.

As Bruno's feelings for Sophia grow more intense, so does his fear that another murder is about to take place—perhaps his own. But more than Bruno's life is at stake in this vividly rendered, impeccably researched, and addictively page-turning whodunit—the stability of the kingdom hangs in the balance as Bruno hunts down a brutal murderer in the shadows of England's most ancient cathedral.




The Plantagenets by Dan Jones.  Non-fiction.  UK release March 1, 2012.

A rich, sprawling cast of characters, the Plantagenets were both gifted and cursed by an inherited trait that made some brilliant rulers and statesmen, and others cowards, bullies and tyrants. They fought holy Crusades and bitter feuds with Rome. At times their subjects enjoyed national glory and vast wealth; at others they suffered plagues, famines and ignominious defeat at the hands of their enemies. The Plantagenets were by turns beautiful and cruel, judicious and insanely paranoid, brilliant and a tragically flawed family.


This brilliant new book explores the lives of eight generations of England’s kings and queens in a historical epic of the sort that has not been written of British history for nearly a century. Here are such fascinating characters as

Count Goeffrey V of Anjou, the first Plantagenet; Richard the Lionheart and his less famous older brother Henry; Edward the Black Prince; and the stunning and influential princess Joan of Kent. In a book of dazzling scope and ambition, Dan Jones paints a psychological family portrait of the royal house of Plantagenet, creating a mesmerising new history of Britain before the Tudors.


 
The Girl in the Mask by Marie-Louise Jensen.  Young Adult.  UK release March 1, 2012.

Set in Georgian England, fifteen-year-old Sophia is trapped by the limitations of living in a man's world. Forced by her father to give up everything she loves, Sophia is ordered to make a new life in Bath. By day, she is trapped in the social whirl of balls and masquerades. By night, she secretly swaps her ball gowns for breeches, and turns to highway robbery to get her revenge . . . When one man begins to take a keen interest in her, Sophia must keep her distance, or risk unmasking her secret life.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
That Woman:  The Duchess of Windsor and the Scandal that Brought Down a King by Anna Sebba.  Non-fiction.   US release March 13, 2012.
 
The first full scale biography of Wallis Simpson to be written by a woman, exploring the mind of one of the most glamorous and reviled figures of the Twentieth Century, a character who played prominently in the blockbuster film The King’s Speech


This is the story of the American divorceé notorious for allegedly seducing a British king off his throne. “That woman,” so called by Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, was born Bessie Wallis Warfield in 1896 in Baltimore. Neither beautiful nor brilliant, she endured an impoverished childhood, which fostered in her a burning desire to rise above her circumstances.

Acclaimed biographer Anne Sebba offers an eye-opening account of one of the most talked about women of her generation. It explores the obsessive nature of Simpson’s relationship with Prince Edward, the suggestion that she may have had a Disorder of Sexual Development, and new evidence showing she may never have wanted to marry Edward at all.



Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Saladin's closest friend, the former crusader John of Tatewic, has been branded traitor. Spared execution on condition that he serves King Amalric, he soon finds himself embroiled in court intrigue. Dark forces within Jerusalem conspire to seize the throne. As John confronts them, his loyalty to Amalric, and to his old friend Saladin, is put to the test.


Katherine by Alison Weir.  UK release March 29, 2012.

From Weir’s website: The Tower of London, 1562. Queen Elizabeth I sits insecurely on the English throne. The Queen's cousin, a young woman of twenty-two has just been arrested. Will Elizabeth demand the full penalty for treason?


This young woman is Lady Katherine Grey, and in her short life she has already suffered more than her fair share of tragedy. Eight years before, her older sister, Lady Jane Grey, was beheaded for treasonously, if unwillingly, accepting the English crown and reigning unlawfully for nine days. Katherine was a victim of Jane`s fall, for her happy first marriage, to Harry Herbert, son of the Earl of Pembroke, was one of its first casualties.

Katherine felt the loss of her husband keenly, and for a long time she hoped that they might be reunited, but it was not to be. Now she has met Edward Seymour, nephew of Queen Jane Seymour, and fallen in love headily - and disastrously. For many regard Katherine as the rightful heir to Elizabeth`s throne, and the Queen is jealous: she will not tolerate a rival, or allow Katherine to marry. But Katherine has defied her, and now she is a prisoner in the Tower.

Alone in her chamber at night, she begins to hear the voices of children in distress. Her days are a torment too, with her future in such jeopardy; but distraction is at hand. Katherine has brought with her a few treasured belongings: love letters, jewels and a bundle of old papers tied up with frayed ribbon. Desperate for something to take her mind off her frightening situation, she starts to decipher these old papers, and soon comes to realise that they have been written by a king's daughter, and that they concern the mysterious fate of the Princes in the Tower, who disappeared eighty years before. There are frightening parallels between their story and Katherine's, for those innocents too suffered because of their royal blood, and all the world now believes that they were secretly murdered by their wicked uncle, Richard III. Katherine is chilled to think that she too poses a threat to a crown, that of Queen Elizabeth, whom she has mightily offended…

Trying to solve the mystery of the Princes is what enables Katherine to live through her anxious days. And then her sympathetic gaoler, who has himself always been intrigued by the fate of the Princes, begins to do a little delving of his own, and on her behalf, aided by the clues in the papers.

Intertwined with Katherine's story is that of another Herbert bride, Kate Plantagenet, the bastard daughter of King Richard III. In 1483, Kate is brought to London for the coronation of King Edward V, the elder of the two lost princes, and her world changes dramatically.

Kate loves her father, and she has been well-treated by his wife, Anne Neville, in whose household she has been reared with her two half-brothers. But all is not well at court, and soon after her arrival, Kate senses sinister undercurrents. Her father gains a crown by deposing the young King Edward V, and before long, Kate hears terrible rumours that he has had the two Princes in the Tower murdered. This throws her into turmoil, since she cannot believe that her father would do such a thing. But power is changing him. He has become distant from her, more ruthless and increasingly suspicious. There are risings and rebellions against him, secret intrigues and plots. Soon, Kate is told that she is to be married to the influential William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon. The King believes that this alliance will cement William`s loyalty.

But this is no marriage made in heaven, for Kate is in love with another. Increasingly distressed by the growing swell of rumours about the fate of the Princes, she tries to find out the truth, one way or another – hoping that she will be able to reassure herself by proving that her father has not shed the blood of innocents. And so she embarks on what will ultimately prove to be a dangerous quest, covertly seeking for information that can throw light on this disturbing mystery. But time is not on Kate`s side.

Katherine, meanwhile, is missing her husband grievously, and to her joy their sympathetic gaoler permits her beloved Edward to visit her secretly - with disastrous results. Time is not on Katherine's side either. 
Like Katherine Grey, Kate Plantagenet finds out that incurring the wrath of princes is a dangerous game, and that being near in blood to the throne is a curse rather than a blessing. Both young women will risk much to uncover the truth about the Princes in the Tower - and both will endure a tragic fate.


The Lion at Bay by Robert Low.  UK release April 2012.



Parliament itself is deeply divided with those demanding a strict Puritan regime pitted against more liberal Independents like Cromwell. King Charles, under house arrest, tries to exploit the divisions between them. When Richard arrives from France with a commission from the Queen to snatch the King from Parliamentary hands, he and Tom are set on a collision course. Caught between his love for his wife Anne and their young son, and his loyalty to the new regime, Tom must struggle to save both his family and the estate.

The Price is the dramatic story of Tom Neave’s fight for the principles which he holds so dear – democracy, freedom and honour – and his young family, set against the backdrop of the violent conflict of the English Civil War.


The Academie by Susanne Dunlap.  Young Adult.  US and UK release April 10, 2012.

Eliza Monroe-daughter of the future president of the United States-is devastated when her mother decides to send her to boarding school outside of Paris. But the young American teen is quickly reconciled to the idea when-ooh, la-la!-she discovers who her fellow pupils will be: Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine Bonaparte; and Caroline Bonaparte, youngest sister of the famous French general. It doesn't take long for Eliza to figure out that the two French girls are mortal enemies-and that she's about to get caught in the middle of their schemes.


Loosely drawn from history, Eliza Monroe's imagined coming of age provides a scintillating glimpse into the lives, loves, and hopes of three young women during one of the most volatile periods in French history.

Although the Tudor book market is becoming increasingly saturated, it is still possible to find a slightly different approach to their well-known stories. Brandy Purdy’s latest release, The Tudor Throne (published in the UK as Mary and Elizabeth by Emily Purdy) focuses on the complex and difficult relationship of half sisters , Mary and Elizabeth Tudor. Each born a princess and subsequently branded a bastard by their father, Mary and Elizabeth both faced their own private demons when it came to their relationship with each other and with men.


The alternating first person narrative works fairly well since this is less a history of the times and more of an attempt to get inside the head of each woman. In telling their story there is obviously some history involved; but information dumps are infrequent and the book assumes at least a general knowledge of the Tudors. I thought Mary and Elizabeth each had a distinct voice and they seemed believable and in keeping with what we think we know about their personality.  At times the writing suffers from extremely long run on sentences (and this coming from someone who is no stranger to run on…) and although they were rather bothersome in the beginning, there were times (especially with Mary) that they seemed totally in character and more stream of consciousness excitement in telling the story.

The book does contain some sex early on and historical purists and fans of Elizabeth may not appreciate the nature of her relationship with Thomas Seymour. The fact that Purdy goes in this direction didn’t necessarily bother me since it does work in the context of explaining some of Elizabeth’s later decisions, but as in The Boleyn Wife (a/k/a Vengeance is Mine), some of the details are a little much. The advanced reading copy that I received does not include any sort of author’s note to explain where Purdy may have strayed from or embellished history, but I hope the finished edition does.

Overall, I enjoyed The Tudor Throne and the ups and downs of the sisterly relationship. Although their early years together are mentioned, it is brief and I would have liked to have seen more of that time which would have made the deterioration of the later years even more poignant.
They don't call it labor for nothing:  “It’s like shitting a pumpkin out of your cunny instead of your arse, your Majesty.” One of the midwives to Mary as she prepares for the birth of her “child”.

On love:  “[T]hose who love and long to be loved are not always loved in return, that the warm love that fills a human heart is sometimes left to curdle and dry up or turn bitter and sour for lack of anyone to give it to, or else it is lavished in vain upon someone who does not want or even deserve it.” Elizabeth contemplating the tragedy of love.

On love 2:  “[L]ove makes slaves and fools of women, and we are, in truth, better off without it and the meanness of men and the misery it brings.” Elizabeth thinking about the mistakes she and Mary have made involving men.

A man's ego:  “Philip had been gone from her for six months and as impressively large as he thought his c*ck was, it was not long enough to stretch across the Channel and impregnate his wife."  Elizabeth on Mary's second "pregnancy".



In case the FTC asks: I was sent a copy by the author.

Albert:  A Life by Jules Stewart.  Non-fiction.  UK release September 30, 2011; US release December 20, 2011.

Albert, prince consort to Queen Victoria and social and cultural visionary in his own right, defined the culture and direction of nineteenth century Britain--a superpower at the zenith of its influence--more than any other British royal or politician. Although he pleaded with his wife that no monument to his memory should be left (a plea that was to go unheeded by his grieving widow), the role he played in shaping Victorian culture stands today as indisputable proof of the enduring legacy of a man who spent just two decades of his short life in England.


Though overshadowed in history by his adoring wife and at times even mocked by her subjects, it was arguably Albert who gave form and substance to the Victorian Age. From the outset, he strove to win "the respect, the love and the confidence of the Queen and of the nation," pursuing an extraordinary social and cultural crusade that has become his greatest legacy. From the Great Exhibition and the construction of many of London's great museums to his social campaigns against slavery and the Corn Laws, Albert's achievements were truly remarkable--in fact, very few have made such a permanent mark on British society.



A Parliament of Spies by Cassandra Clark.  US and UK release January 31, 2012.

All the danger and intrigue of 14th-century England spring to life in this “compelling” (Publishers Weekly) series about the Abbess of Meaux.

This is the fourth novel in her acclaimed series featuring Abbess Hildegard. Abbess Hildegard may consider herself “just a nun with no useful skills or connections,” yet her loyalty and intelligence have brought her to the attention of King Richard II himself—not the safest place to be, when the king has enemies on all sides. As Hildegard wrestles with her role as a spy in the parliament that is hastily gathering at Westminister, Cassandra Clark shows us the human side of history, giving readers new reason to follow Publishers Weekly’s rallying cry: “Medievalists rejoice!”





The Forest Laird by Jack Whyte.  US and UK release February 14, 2012.

The Forest Laird is the first novel in Whyte’s trilogy, The Guardians, tales of the men who fought and died to help Scotland gain freedom


In the pre-dawn hours of August 24, 1305, in London’s Smithfield Prison, the outlaw William Wallace—hero of all the Scots and deadly enemy of King Edward of England—sits awaiting the dawn, when he is to be hanged and then drawn and quartered. This brutal sundering of his body is the revenge of the English. Wallace is visited by a Scottish priest who has come to hear his last confession, a priest who knows Wallace like a brother. Wallace’s confession—the tale that follows—is all the more remarkable because it comes from real life.

We follow Wallace through his many lives—as outlaw and fugitive, hero and patriot, rebel and kingmaker. His exploits and escapades, desperate struggles and victorious campaigns are all here, as are the high ideals and fierce patriotism that drove him to abandon the people he loved to save his country.


William Wallace is the first heroic figure of the Scottish Wars of Independence, a man whose fame reached far beyond his homeland. Wallace served as the subject for the Academy Award–winning film Braveheart. In The Forest Laird, Jack Whyte’s masterful storytelling breathes life into Wallace’s tale, giving readers an amazing character study of the man who helped shape Scotland’s future.



The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott.  US release February 21, 2012.

Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a vivid, romantic, and relentlessly compelling historical novel about a spirited young seamstress who survives the disaster only to find herself deeply torn between two men and embroiled in the media frenzy left in the wake of the tragedy.


Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she's had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men, one a rugged but sensitive sailor and the other a mysterious Chicago millionaire. All survive the sinking, but Lady Duff Gordon's actions during the disaster make her the subject of media scorn and later the hearings on the Titanic. Torn between admiration for the designer and dismay at her behavior, and between two very different suitors, Tess must navigate the complex waters of life and love. Set against a historical tragedy but told from a completely fresh angle, The Dressmaker is an atmospheric delight filled with all the period's glitz and glamour as well as all the thrilling excitement of young love.



Cain at Gettysburg by Ralph Peters.  US release February 28, 2012.

New York Times bestselling author Ralph Peters returns to the gripping combat fiction he does peerlessly.

Two mighty armies blunder toward each other, one led by confident, beloved Robert E. Lee and the other by dour George Meade. They’ll meet in a Pennsylvania crossroads town where no one planned to fight.

In this sweeping, savagely realistic novel, the greatest battle ever fought on American soil explodes into life at Gettysburg. As generals squabble, staffs err. Tragedy unfolds for immigrants in blue and barefoot Rebels alike. The fate of the nation will be decided in a few square miles of fields.

There are no marble statues here, only men of flesh and blood, imperfect and courageous. Following a tough Confederate sergeant from the Blue Ridge, a bitter Irish survivor of the Great Famine, a German political refugee, and gun crews in blue and gray, Cain at Gettysburg, from New York Times bestselling author and former U.S. Army officer Ralph Peters, is bound to become a classic of men at war.



If Walls Could Talk:  An Intimate History of the Home by Lucy Worsley.  Non-fiction.  US release February 28, 2012; released in the UK in April 2011.

Why did the flushing toilet take two centuries to catch on? Why did Samuel Pepys never give his mistresses an orgasm? Why did medieval people sleep sitting up? When were the two “dirty centuries”? Why did gas lighting cause Victorian ladies to faint? Why, for centuries, did people fear fruit? All these questions will be answered in this juicy, smelly, and truly intimate history of home life. Lucy Worsley takes us through the bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen, covering the architectural history of each room, but concentrating on what people actually did in bed, in the bath, at the table, and at the stove. From sauce-stirring to breast-feeding, getting dressed to getting married, this book will make you see your home with new eyes.





The Venetian Contract by Maria Fiorato.  UK release March 1, 2012.

Venice, 1580. Legendary architect Andrea Palladio is dying. His last act is to hide the Quattro Libri, four books written in his own hand, which not only codify his architectural genius, but also contain a dangerous secret.


Venice, 2010. Architect Andrea di Pietro is lecturing at the Unviersity of Venice when she is sent a mysterious book. When she returns it to the Library of San Marco she is arrested, for the book is one of the stolen Quattro Libri. With the help of art fraud officer Marcantonio Rezzonico, Andrea goes on a quest for the remaining three books, a search which takes her all the way from the great villas of the Veneto to the basilicas of Istanbul.


But there are ostacles along the way; what are the motives of the urbane mayor of Venice, who raises vast sums of money against the threat of Venice sinking? And who is the mysterious Mehmet Comnenus, a Turkish shipping magnate as rich as he is powerful, whose charm seems to mask a grudge as old as the Republic?

On her journey Andrea not only discovers her true love of architecture, but also the story of Palladio and the four extraordinary men who helped him hide the Quattro Libri. She begins to realise that the secret they kept could be the salvation of Venice herself.



When Maidens Mourn by C.S. Harris.  UK release March 6, 2012.

Not a lot of information available except for this small blurb:

The seventh book in the series was inspired by the famous poem, The Lady of Shalott, by Lord  Tennyson, who is a missing three year old boy in this novel.













The Stolen Bride by Tony Hays.  US and UK release April 10, 2012.

A murdered king, his young and defenseless widow, and the fate of all of Britain are in the hands of a one-armed scribe.


Malgwyn ap Cuneglas is counselor to Arthur, High King of the Britons. When he accompanies his liege to the West to broker a deal between warring tribes, they come across a scene of utmost depravity and murder to sicken even the most battle-hardened warrior. Things don’t get any better when they finally arrive at their destination to discover that King Dogel is fighting to keep his kingdom safe from both Saxons from abroad and younger nobles vying for power. Dogel loses that fight when shortly after Arthur and his counselor arrive, he is murdered. His young wife, defenseless and alone, appeals to Arthur to find her husband’s killer. Arthur agrees and Malgwyn is given this almost impossible task.



Spirit's Princess by Esther Friesner.  Young Adult.  US release Arpil 24, 2012.

Pampered princess. Chieftain's daughter. Secret shaman. Warrior.


Himiko the beloved daughter of a chieftain in third century Japan has always been special. The day she was born there was a devastating earthquake, and the tribe's shamaness had an amazing vision revealing the young girl's future—one day this privledged child will be the spiritual and tribal leader over all of the tribes. Book One revolves around the events of Himiko's early teen years—her shaman lessons, friendships, contact with other tribes, and journey to save her family after a series of tragic events. Once again, Esther Friesner masterfully weaves together history, myth, and mysticism in a tale of a princess whose path is far from traditional.

In honor of hubby's (and mine for trhe next few weeks) new home in Charlotte, North Carolina, Monday Mosaic is back with a mosaic of England's Queen Charlotte, consort of George III.  Charlotte and the county its in (Mecklenburg) was named for the Queen who married King George the year before the city was founded.  While driving around yesterday, I noticed little crowns on many of the street signs - how cute!


Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (a small duchy in Germany)  was born in 1744 and at age 17 she married the King of England.  She gave birth to fifteen children and was a great patron of the arts.  She died in 1818 and is the second longest serving consort in British history  (after the present day Duke of Edinburgh).

(Despite several attempts, I couldn't get the mouth to come out right - it looks a little funky...).

Rome has ruled Syria for over three centuries. But now the weakened empire faces a desperate threat: Queen Zenobia of Palmyra has turned her Roman-trained army against her former masters and the once invincible legions have been crushed. Arabia, Palestine and Egypt have fallen and now Antioch, Syria's capital, stands exposed.

Cassius Corbulo is a young intelligence agent fresh from officer training. He has been assigned the menial task of rounding up wounded legionaries but then urgent new orders arrive. He is the only ranking Roman officer left in the line of the Palmyran advance. He must take command of the fort of Alauran, the last stronghold still in Roman hands, and hold it against the enemy until reinforcements arrive.

What Cassius finds at Alauran would daunt the most seasoned veteran, let alone a nineteen year old with no experience of war. A mere scattering of divided and demoralised legionaries remain, backed up by some fractious Syrian auxiliaries and a drunken Praetorian Guardsman. With the Palmyrans just days away, Cassius must somehow find the discipline, resourcefulness and courage to organise the garrison, save Alauran and secure Rome's eastern frontier...



King's Man by Angus Donald.  UK release July 21, 2011.


THE THIRD CRUSADE IS OVER Richard the Lionheart is bound for England. But with all the princes of Europe united against him ...can the greatest warrior in Christendom make it safely home? THE LION IS CHAINED Captured. Betrayed. Imprisoned. King Richard's slim hope of salvation rests on one man - a former outlaw, a vengeful earl, a man who scoffs at Holy Mother Church: ROBIN HOOD The mission is deadly, the enemy all-powerful, but for King and country Robin and his loyal lieutenant Alan Dale will risk all - from blood-soaked battlefields to deadly assassins - to see the Lionheart restored to his rightful throne.








The King's Diamond by Will Whitaker.  UK release July 21, 2011.

A vivid, evocative, page-turning read that leaps off the page, with a dazzling recreation of the Renaissance diamond and gem trade.


As the chaos of war spreads out across Europe, Charles V extends his empire in a series of ruthless and aggressive moves. The Medici Pope has formed an alliance to drive Charles out of Italy for good.

Only England holds aloof from the great struggle that is to come. The 36-year-old Henry VIII presides over an opulent and glamorous court, thinking only of the woman with whom he has fallen in love.

In the midst of this politically sensitive and dangerous world, steps Richard Dansey, a young and ambitious jewel merchant, determined to break his mother’s stranglehold on the family firm after his father’s early death.

Richard’s reckless pursuit of jewels worthy of Henry’s wooing of Anne Boleyn, lead him across Europe to Venice and Rome. Obsessed with one diamond, but dangerously distracted by love, Richard finds himself thrust into the heart of the murderous politics of the Tudor court.

‘The King’s Diamond’ is a story of obsession and love, in a world of political conniving and treachery, that grips from the first page.



A Place Called Armageddon by C.C. Humphreys.  UK release July 21, 2011.

To the Greeks who love it, it is Constantinople. To the Turks who covet it, the Red Apple. Safe behind its magnificent walls, the city was once the heart of the vast Byzantine empire. 1453. The empire has shrunk to what lies within those now-crumbling walls. A relic. Yet for one man, Constantinople is the stepping stone to destiny. Mehmet II is twenty when he is annointed Sultan. Now, seeking Allah's will and Man's glory, he brings an army of one hundred thousand, outnumbering the defenders ten to one. He has also brings something new to the city - the most deadly threat the ancient walls have ever faced. And yet, through seven weeks of sea battles, night battles, by tunnel and tower, the defence holds, and will until the final assault and a single bullet that will change history.

But a city is more than stone, its fate inseparable from that of its people. Men like Gregoras, a mercenary and exile, returning to the hated place he once loved. Like his twin and betrayer, the subtle diplomat, Theon. Like Sofia, loved by two brothers but forced to make a desperate choice between them. And Leilah, a powerful mystic and assassin, seeking her own destiny in the flames. This is the tale of one of history's greatest battles for one of the world's most extraordinary places. This is the story of people, from peasant to emperor - with the city's fate, and theirs, undecided... until the moment the Red Apple falls.