Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

The Mirrored World by Debra Dean.  US and UK release August 28, 2012.


The bestselling author of The Madonnas of Leningrad returns with a breathtaking novel of love, madness, and devotion set against the extravagant royal court of eighteenth-century St. Petersburg.

Born to a Russian family of lower nobility, Xenia, an eccentric dreamer who cares little for social conventions, falls in love with Andrei, a charismatic soldier and singer in the Empress's Imperial choir. Though husband and wife adore each other, their happiness is overshadowed by the absurd demands of life at the royal court and by Xenia's growing obsession with having a child—a desperate need that is at last fulfilled with the birth of her daughter. But then a tragic vision comes true, and a shattered Xenia descends into grief, undergoing a profound transformation that alters the course of her life. Turning away from family and friends, she begins giving all her money and possessions to the poor. Then, one day, she mysteriously vanishes.

Years later, dressed in the tatters of her husband's military uniform and answering only to his name, Xenia is discovered tending the paupers of St. Petersburg's slums. Revered as a soothsayer and a blessed healer to the downtrodden, she is feared by the royal court and its new Empress, Catherine, who perceives her deeds as a rebuke to their lavish excesses. In this evocative and elegantly written tale, Dean reimagines the intriguing life of Xenia of St. Petersburg, a patron saint of her city and one of Russia's most mysterious and beloved holy figures. This is an exploration of the blessings of loyal friendship, the limits of reason, and the true costs of loving deeply.


Renegade by Robyn Young.  US and UK release August 30, 2012.


What if the only hope you had of defeating your greatest enemy was to bend your knee and swear allegiance to him - then join his fight against your own people?

King Edward of England marches on Scotland, his campaign to unite the British Isles under one crown inspired by an Arthurian prophecy. He has already crushed Wales; now he needs only to find the Staff of St Malachy, symbol of Irish nationhood, to achieve his implacable desire.

One man alone can thwart Edward's plan. Leaving his war-torn home, Robert Bruce has sailed to Ireland, determined to find the Staff and keep it out of Edward's hands. His veins run with the blood of kings and his destiny to fulfil his family's claim to the throne of Scotland burns his mind.

But on the run through the wild country, hunted by a relentless assassin, Robert seems a long way from achieving his ambition. And there are other eyes on Scotland's crown, old enemies gathering against him.

This is a game of conquest, power and treachery, and Robert finds that to survive he must first abandon everything he holds dear. He was always prepared to die on the battlefield - but what else must he sacrifice to keep his hopes alive?

BORN TO A LINE OF KINGS, HE WILL NOT BOW TO A CONQUEROR

RENEGADE is a dazzling story of conspiracy and divided loyalties, battle and betrayal, and a superb portrait of the medieval world.



Time's Echo by Pamela Hartshorne.  UK release August 30, 2012.

York , 1577: Hawise Aske smiles at a stranger in the market, and sets in train a story of obsession and sibling jealousy, of love and hate and warped desire. Drowned as a witch, Hawise pays a high price for that smile, but for a girl like her in Elizabethan York, there is nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. Four and a half centuries later, Grace Trewe, who has travelled the world, is trying to outrun the memories of being caught up in the Boxing Day tsunami. Her stay in York is meant to be a brief one. But in York Grace discovers that time can twist and turn in ways she never imagined. Drawn inexorably into Hawise’s life, Grace finds that this time she cannot move on. Will she too be engulfed in the power of the past?




The King's Revenge:  Charles II and the Greatest Manhunt in British History by Don Jordan and Michael Walsh.  Non-fiction.  UK release August 28, 2012.


When Charles I was executed, his son Charles II made it his mission to search out retribution, producing the biggest manhunt Britain had ever seen, one that would span Europe and America and would last for thirty years.

Men who had once been among the most powerful figures in England ended up on the scaffold, on the run, or in fear of the assassin's bullet. History has painted the regicides and their supporters as fanatical Puritans, but among them were remarkable men, including John Milton and Oliver Cromwell. Don Jordan and Michael Walsh bring these remarkable figures and this astonishing story vividly to life in an engrossing, bloody tale of plots, spies, betrayal, fear and ambition.


A Placed Called Armageddon:  Constantinople 1453 by C.C. Humphreys.  US release September 1, 2012 (was released in the UK in March 2012).


Constantinople. For a thousand years, the city was the heart of the vast Byzantine empire. Beloved of Greeks. Coveted by Turks.

1453. The empire has shrunk to what lies within its no-longer magnificent walls. Yet for one man, Constantinople is the stepping stone to destiny. Mehmet 11, just twenty when he is anointed Sultan, brings an army of one hundred thousand, outnumbering the defenders ten to one, and the most deadly threat the city has ever faced - the largest cannon in the world.

But a city is more than stone, its fate inseparable from its citizens'. Like Gregoras, mercenary and exile, returning to the hated place he once loved. Theon, his twin - and betrayer. Sofia, loved by two brothers, forced to choose between them. And Leilah, mystic and assassin, seeking her own destiny in the flames...


The First English Revolution:  Simon de Monfort, Henry III and The Baron's War by Adrian Jobson.  Non-fiction.  I had this with a UK release date of August 28, 2012, but looks like they released it a week early.  It will be released in the US in October 2012.

Simon de Montfort, the leader of the English barons, was the first leader of a political movement to seize power from a reigning monarch. The charismatic de Montfort and his forces had captured most of south-eastern England by 1263 and at the battle of Lewes in 1264 King Henry III was defeated and taken prisoner. De Montfort became de facto ruler of England and the short period which followed was the closest England was to come to complete abolition of the monarchy until Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth. The Parliament of 1265 - known as De Montfort's Parliament - was the first English parliament to have elected representatives. Only fifteen months later de Montfort's gains were reversed when Prince Edward escaped captivity and defeated the rebels at the Battle of Evesham. Simon de Montfort was killed. Following this victory savage retribution was exacted on the rebels and authority was restored to Henry III. Adrian Jobson captures the intensity of de Montfort's radical crusade through these most revolutionary years in English history in this spirited and dramatic narrative.