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Every Sunday Tanzanite highlights books that will be released during the upcoming week. She hopes you will find something you will enjoy!
In a gripping historical novel of suspense and romance from the national bestselling author of The Queen's Governess, two women fight to defeat the enemies of the precarious Tudor monarchy by uncovering the secrets of the dead...
London, 1501. In a time of political unrest, Varina Westcott, a young widow and candle maker for court and church, agrees to perform a clandestine service for Queen Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry VII--carve wax figures of four dead children, two of her offspring lost in infancy and her two brothers, the Princes of the Tower, whose mysterious disappearance years ago has never been solved. Having lost a child herself, Varina feels a sympathetic bond with the queen. And as she works under the watchful eye of handsome Nicholas Sutton, an ambitious assistant to the royals, she develops feelings of quite a different nature...
Then news comes from Wales of the unexpected death of newly married Prince Arthur, the queen’s eldest child and heir to the throne. Deeply grieving, Elizabeth suspects that Arthur did not die of a sudden illness, as reported, but was actually murdered by her husband’s enemies. This time her task for Varina and Nicholas is of vital importance--travel into the Welsh wilderness to investigate the prince’s death. But as the couple unearths one unsettling clue after another, they begin to fear that the conspiracy they’re confronting is far more ambitious and treacherous than even the queen imagined. And it aims to utterly destroy the Tudor dynasty.
Fourteen-year-old Catherine de’ Medici arrives in Marseilles to marry Henry, Duke of Orleans, second son of the King of France. The brokenhearted Catherine has left her true love in Italy, forced into trading her future happiness for marriage into the French royal family.
Amid the glittering fêtes and banquets of the most immoral court in sixteenth-century Europe, the reluctant bride becomes a passionate but unwanted wife. Humiliated and unloved, Catherine spies on Henry and his lover, the infamous Diane de Poitiers. Tortured by what she sees, Catherine becomes consumed by a ruthless ambition destined to make her the most despised woman in France: the dream that one day the French crown will be worn by a Medici heir. . . .
The complete history of every Imperial Roman legion and what it achieved as a fighting force, by an award-winning historian
In this landmark publication, Stephen Dando-Collins does what no other author has ever attempted to do: provide a complete history of every Imperial Roman legion. Based on thirty years of meticulous research, he covers every legion of Rome in rich detail. In the first part of the book, the author provides a detailed account of what the legionaries wore and ate, what camp life was like, what they were paid, and how they were motivated and punished. Part two examines the histories of all the legions that served Rome for three hundred years starting in 30 BC. The book's final section is a sweeping chronological survey of the campaigns in which the armies were involved, told from the point of view of the legions. Featuring more than 150 maps, photographs, diagrams and battle plans, Legions of Rome is an essential read for ancient history enthusiasts, military history experts and general readers alike.
Empress Josephine's family has been called to Napoleon's court for the terrible news that he intends to divorce his barren wife of thirteen years and take a younger bride, the Austrian Princess Marie-Louise. For Josephine's daughter, Hortense, this means she is free to leave her husband, Napoleon's brother, having given the Bonapartes three heirs. As she looks for love, she must support her mother through the terrible grief of Napoleon's betrayal. For his new wife, it is a terrible duty she must take on in her father's name. She has nothing in common with the strange, older man she has married and can find little in her life to enjoy. But an unlikely friendship with Hortense will bring her much comfort, especially as she must fight for her own happiness. For Napoleon's sister, Pauline Bonaparte, it is yet another woman stealing her brother's attention and affection. Having spent years attempting to control his power and his influence, she must fight harder and dirtier if she is to win...
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...
Once, Theodora was little more than a slave, the daughter of a bear-keeper, running barefoot through the streets of Constantinople. Now she is Theou doron, 'the Gift of God', Empress of Byzantine Rome and the most powerful woman in the world.
In Stella Duffy's compelling new novel, the beguiling and extraordinary Empress Theodora emerges from the shadow of history into brilliant light. Clever, courageous and ruthless when betrayed, Theodora rules alongside her husband, the Emperor Justinian - a true love match in a world of political marriages.
While wars rage on the borders of the Empire, Theodora discovers that the greatest danger to her reign - and her life - lies much closer to home. From the catastrophic and terrifying riots that burn through the city; to vengeful enemies at the palace who will never accept 'Theodora-from-the-brothel'; to plagues and plots and murder, Theodora learns what it truly means to be Empress.
Spanning over twenty dramatic years of Theodora's reign, The Purple Shroud is a vivid portrait of a charismatic, exceptional woman and a fascinating exploration of both the pleasures and the burdens of power.
In the fifth novel in Harry Sidebottom's acclaimed and bestselling Warrior of Rome historical fiction series, Ballista returns in Warrior of Rome: The Wolves of the North to undertake yet another epic mission - while the Roman Empire reels in chaos around him.
AD 263 - the Roman Empire is close to turmoil, violent uprising threatening to shatter the fragile balance of power.
In the north, the tribes are increasingly bold in their raids on the Imperium - their savagery unlike anything Rome has known before. Ballista must undertake his most treacherous journey yet - a covert attempt to turn the barbarians against each other. He must face the Heruli - the Eaters of Flesh, the Wolves of the North - the most brutal tribe of them all. As Ballista and his retinue make their journey, someone - or something - is hunting them, picking them off one by one, and leaving a trail of mutilated corpses and terror.
Ballista is in a strange land, among strange people, but is it possible that the greatest threat may come from within his own familia?
Harry Sidebottom's Warrior of Rome: The Wolves of the North is a nail-biting, action packed epic tale of rebellion and terror set in the Roman Empire.
From the bestselling author of Time,s Legacy and Lady of Hay comes a thrilling new novel, River of Destiny, whose epic story spans Anglo Saxon Britain, Victorian Suffolk and the present day. An Anglo Saxon burial ground that must not be disturbed. A Victorian tragedy of forbidden love. And an ancient curse whose power grows ever stronger...
On the banks of the River Deben lies a set of barns dating back to the Anglo Saxons, and within their walls secrets have laid buried for centuries. Zoe and Ken have just moved into one of the barns, ready to start a new life away from the hustle and bustle of the city. To the outside world they seem like an ordinary couple, but underneath they are growing ever more distant by the day. And the strange presence Zoe feels within their home, and the shapes she sees through the cloying mists on the river are getting harder to ignore. Whilst farmers are ploughing the land surrounding them, human bones are found and when the police arrive it becomes clear that the remains are much older than first suspected...
Are they linked to a Victorian tragedy the locals whisper about? And what should they make of the grassy mound which has remained untouched across many centuries, but has now been disturbed with seemingly devastating consequences?
Britain has not been successfully invaded since 1066; nor, in nearly 1,000 years, has it known a true revolution - one that brings radical, systemic and enduring change. The contrast with her European neighbours - with France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece and Russia - is dramatic. All have been convulsed by external warfare, revolution and civil war - all have experienced fundamental change to their ruling elites or their social and economic structures.
In The Road Not Taken Frank McLynn investigates the seven occasions when England came closest to revolution: the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, the Jack Cade rising of 1450, the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536, the English Civil War of the 1640s, the Jacobite Rising of 1745-6, the Chartist Movement of 1838-48 and the General Strike of 1926.
Why, at these dramatic turning-points, did history finally fail to turn? The actions of individuals at key moments had a huge influence, as he shows, but were there underlying currents in our history which have allowed Britain to evade the revolutions which engulfed its neighbours? This is the deeper question which Frank McLynn explores in this fascinating book.
Can't wait to read Mistress of Mourning :)
July 1, 2012 at 6:48 PM
I had no idea the Michelle Moran was out early in the UK. I am looking forward to reading it.
July 4, 2012 at 6:01 PM