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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!
The Imperial Banner (Agent of Rome) by Nick Brown. UK release June 7, 2012; US release August 1, 2012.
It's 272 AD and the Roman Emperor Aurelian has defeated Queen Zenobia and crushed the Palmyran revolt, but now dark forces threaten a fragile peace. Faridun's Banner, hallowed battle standard of the Persian Empire, has fallen into Roman hands and is to be returned to the Persians as part of a historic peace treaty. But on the eve of the signing the banner goes missing. Recalled to Syria, imperial agent Cassius Corbulo is charged with recovering the flag. Accompanied by his faithful servant Simo and ex-gladiator bodyguard Indavara, Cassius must journey across the dangerous wastes of Syria to the equally perilous streets of Antioch. He and his companions face ruthless brigands, mysterious cults, merciless assassins, and intrigue at every turn.
Richard I (1157-99) was king of England from 1189 until his death, but he is best known as a soldier, not a monarch. He earned his moniker Richard the Lionheart as a knight and military leader, and his revolt against his father Henry II and his conquest of Cyprus as part of the Crusades helped to solidify his historical legend. In "Lionheart", Norwegian author Thorvald Steen, celebrated for his historical novels, brings his characteristic accuracy and artistic vision to the life of Richard I.
"Lionheart" is the story of a man living in the shadow of his own myth, also a fanatic general who wants to conquer the world's greatest sanctum and a king who is suddenly vulnerable. At the age of fifteen he leads an army against his father. Fourteen years later he is the Pope's obvious choice to lead the third Crusade. But the Richard of Steen's novel is less sure of himself and his role - is it true that he is God's chosen one, like his mother says? Drawing on extensive research, Steen paints a dark and conflicted, yet credible and convincing, portrait of a man who has engrossed historians, poets, novelists, and readers for centuries.
Victoria Rebels by Carolyn Meyer. Young Adult. US and UK release June 26, 2012.
Queen Victoria’s personal journals inform this captivating first-person account of one of history’s most prominent female leaders. Queen Victoria most certainly left a legacy—under her rule as the longest reigning female monarch in history, the British Empire was greatly expanded and significant industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military changes occurred within the United Kingdom. To be a young woman in a time when few other females held positions of power was to lead in a remarkable age—and because Queen Victoria kept personal journals, this historical novel from award-winning author Carolyn Meyer shares authentic emotional insight along with accurate information, weaving a true story of intrigue and romance.
In 1812 Britain is at war with the United States. Matthew Hawkwood, former soldier and spy, has arrived in America. He plans to head for Canada and the British lines but when he gets to Albany, headquarters of the American Northern Army, he spots a familiar face within a consignment of British prisoners – Major William Lawrence.
As Hawkwood and Lawrence make their bid for freedom, they uncover a plan by the Americans to launch an invasion against Canada. If Montreal and Quebec fall into American hands, they will gain the entire continent. Hawkwood and Lawrence must pass the information to the British before it’s too late but first they must cross the Adirondack mountains, known as the Mohawk’s ‘Hunting Grounds’. Luckily, deep in Hawkwood’s past is an old alliance, one which could save both their lives and Canada from American rule.
A retelling of RUMPELSTILTSKIN in a brilliant new setting. It is 1880. Bertie has recently emigrated to New York from Ireland. Struggling to make ends meet and care for her younger siblings, Bertie finds work as a seamstress for textile tycoon, J.P. Wellington. When the Wellington family fortune is threatened, Bertie's father boasts that she can save the business. She can "practically spi straw into gold" Amazingly, overnight Bertie creates exquisite evening gowns - but only with the help of a mysterious man who uses an old spinnin wheel. With dazzling crimson thread, he makes the dresses look like they are laced with real gold. Bertie would do anything to pay this man back for his help. When he asks for her firstborn child, Bertie agrees, never dreaming that he is serious...
A chasm lies between Rahab and her beloved Sala that can never be crossed.
Though Sala rescues young Rahab from slave bandits, he knows he can never fall in love with a Canaanite. His belief in the One True God prevents them from a future together. Rahab's beauty gains royal notice, and she is selected to entice the King during the annual sacred marriage reenactment praising their pagan god, Baal.
But when the King suffers a heart attack and dies, Rahab is saved from the humiliating act. Her despair drives her curiosity about Sala's One True God. Could He accept her . . . even love her?
Deceit and pride stand in the way of Rahab's happy ending. Only God can use these events to tell the larger story of forgiveness and redemption.
Saxon: The Book of Dreams by Tim Severin. UK release August 2, 2012.
Frankia 780AD: Sigwulf, a minor Saxon prince, is saved from execution after his family is slaughtered by the ruthless King Offa of Mercia. Thanks to his Devil's Mark – his eyes of different colours – Sigwulf is exiled to the Frankish court of King Carolus, the future Charlemagne. There Sigwulf survives on his wits while at the same time trying to come to terms with disturbingly prophetic dreams. He gains the friendship of some – Count Hroudland, Carolus's powerful and ambitious nephew but – mysteriously – several attempts are made on Sigwulf’s life. When he obtains a Book of Dreams by chance, a rare text giving understanding to their meaning, he attracts the attention of Carolus himself. But the Book proves to be a slippery guide in a world of treachery and double dealing. Carolus sends Sigwulf and his slave Osric into Spain to spy on the Saracens ahead of a planned Frankish invasion. There, Sigwulf becomes caught between loyalties; either he honours his debt to new friends among the Saracens, or he serves his patron Count Hroudland in his quest for glory, gold and even the Grail itself. One after another Sigwulf's predictions come true, but often not as expected, and he finds himself swept forward into a final great battle that reveals who his enemies are . .
Princess Elizabeth’s Spy: A Maggie Hope Novel by Susan Elia MacNeal. US and UK release August 28, 2012. (Second in series)
Susan Elia MacNeal introduced the remarkable Maggie Hope in her acclaimed debut, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary. Now Maggie returns to protect Britain’s beloved royals against an international plot—one that could change the course of history.
As World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against German attack, Maggie Hope, former secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, completes her training to become a spy for MI-5. Spirited, strong-willed, and possessing one of the sharpest minds in government for mathematics and code-breaking, she fully expects to be sent abroad to gather intelligence for the British front. Instead, to her great disappointment, she is dispatched to go undercover at Windsor Castle, where she will tutor the young Princess Elizabeth in math. Yet castle life quickly proves more dangerous—and deadly—than Maggie ever expected. The upstairs-downstairs world at Windsor is thrown into disarray by a shocking murder, which draws Maggie into a vast conspiracy that places the entire royal family in peril. And as she races to save England from a most disturbing fate, Maggie realizes that a quick wit is her best defense, and that the smallest clues can unravel the biggest secrets, even within her own family.
The Romanovs: The Final Chapter by Robert Massie. Non-fiction. US reissue September 18, 2012.
In July 1991, nine skeletons were exhumed from a shallow mass grave near Ekaterinburg, Siberia, a few miles from the infamous cellar room where the last tsar and his family had been murdered seventy-three years before. But were these the bones of the Romanovs? And if these were their remains, where were the bones of the two younger Romanovs supposedly murdered with the rest of the family? Was Anna Anderson, celebrated for more than sixty years in newspapers, books, and film, really Grand Duchess Anastasia? The Romanovs provides the answers, describing in suspenseful detail the dramatic efforts to discover the truth. Pulitzer Prize winner Robert K. Massie presents a colorful panorama of contemporary characters, illuminating the major scientific dispute between Russian experts and a team of Americans, whose findings, along with those of DNA scientists from Russia, America, and Great Britain, all contributed to solving one of the great mysteries of the twentieth century.
Illuminations chronicles the life of Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179), who was tithed to the church at the age of eight and expected to live out her days in silent submission as the handmaiden of a renowned but disturbed young nun, Jutta von Sponheim. Instead, Hildegard rejected Jutta’s masochistic piety and found comfort and grace in studying books, growing herbs, and rejoicing in her own secret visions of the divine. When Jutta died some three decades later, Hildegard broke out of her prison with the heavenly calling to speak and write about her visions and to liberate her sisters and herself from the soul-destroying anchorage.
Like Anita Diamant’s portrayal of Dinah in The Red Tent, Mary Sharratt interweaves historical research with psychological insight and vivid imagination to write an engaging and triumphant portrait of a courageous and remarkably resilient woman and the life she might have lived. Deeply affecting, Illuminations is a testament to the power of faith, love, and self-creation.
All of these books look really great! I'm definitely interested in "The Blooding"--even though I'm a proud American I appreciate a good story no matter who tells it. There doesn't seem to be much historical fiction about Canada out there, and I'd like to see more from all periods. And fiction based around the British/Loyalist view sounds interesting as well.
February 2, 2012 12:58 PM