Tag: historical fiction

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Blog Tour: The House of Light and Shadows – Lauren Westwood

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An atmospheric and captivating old-house mystery, layered with romance and secrets.

Secrets lurk in the shadows at Rookswood House…

When Kate goes to look after her estranged sister’s children in their creepy old house, she takes a photo of what seems to be a ghost. Frightened yet intrigued, Kate undertakes to uncover the secrets
of the house and the two mysterious sisters who lived there over a hundred years before.

But like the illusions of light and shadow in the sisters’ strange and disturbing Victorian post-mortem photography, Kate discovers that all is not what it seems. Someone – or something – has their own
plans for Rookswood House – and for Kate.

With a potential developer circling around, her teenage niece in danger from an unseen force, and new love on the horizon, Kate must unravel the secrets and lies of her own and Rookswood’s past
before she loses everything she holds dear.

If you like historical mysteries by Eve Chase, Rachel Burton and Harriet Evans, you’ll love Lauren Westwood.

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Lauren Westwood is an author of emotional women’s fiction and intelligent romance novels.

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Twitter: @lwestwoodwriter
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My thoughts: I liked Kate, I felt awful bit sorry for her, estranged from her only family, but I know that sisters can be very hard work (personal experience has taught me that!) and that things are not always as they appear. When she steps in to take care of her niblings, while her sister gets better, she’s not entirely sure how to deal with teenagers.

Their dishy headteacher on the other hand, she’s intrigued by. And the crumbling old house her sister bought is also fascinating. Rookswood House was home to an earlier pair of sisters – one of whom was a photographer and worked with early special effects to create some unusual images. Victorians did some pretty weird things – like taking photos with their recently deceased loved ones as though they were still alive, but this early science and imagination also created some incredible things.

Ada might be dead, but part of her remains trapped in her home, unable to move on without her sister, lost to her years ago. Kate picks up on this energy and wants to help Ada move on, so Rookswood can too. Luckily headteacher, photographer and amateur historian Matthew does too. As the pair search for answers, they grow closer. Then Kate’s sister comes home and a few secrets and home truths need to be shared.

Pairing Kate’s story with Ada’s is interesting, the different relationships they have with their younger sisters, the struggles they both share as women who haven’t followed the expected paths in life (both unmarried, both working women) despite their different centuries. I really liked that aspect of the story – things don’t change as much as we sometimes would like.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: The Case of the Christie Conspiracy – Kelly Oliver

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Agatha Christie is about to embark on a new, gripping murder case. But this time, she’s not the author – she’s a suspect…

1926 – Christie is a darling of the literary circuit and the most desired guest in London’s glittering social scene. She can often be found at meetings of the Detection Club – where mystery writers
come together to share ideas, swap secrets and drink copiously. But then a fellow author’s initiation ceremony takes a gruesome turn, and one of the group ends up dead. Now, Agatha is no longer just
the creator of great mystery plots – she’s a player in one.

And when Agatha disappears the day after the murder, she’s widely assumed to be guilty. Only Eliza Baker, assistant to the Club’s enigmatic secretary, Dorothy Sayers, is interested in investigating the case. But in a world where murder is the ultimate plot device, can Eliza piece together the evidence and find the killer before it’s too late?

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Kelly Oliver is the award-winning, bestselling author of three mysteries series: The Jessica James Mysteries, The Pet Detective Mysteries, and the historical cozies The Fiona Figg Mysteries, set in
WW1. She is also the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She is bringing new titles in the Fiona Figg series to Boldwood, the first of
which, Chaos in Carnegie Hall, will be published in November 2022.

Facebook: @KellyOliverAuthor
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My thoughts: Blending fact and fiction, this is a fun historical crime caper. Agatha Christie was indeed a member of the Detection Club, a group of the top crime writers of the era, and she did disappear for a while in 1926, turning up in Harrogate with apparent temporary amnesia. This is usually attributed to the fact that her husband had asked for a divorce so he could marry his secretary. Agatha never revealed anything about this episode and after some time refused to discuss it at all.

But here an alternative theory is proposed, following the murder of a fellow crime writer, one of which she is accused of doing, she flees in fear. Although shooting someone in the dark isn’t very Christie – a former pharmacist she knew her poisons very well and many of her books feature death by deadly dose.

Luckily for her, Dorothy Sayers, the club’s secretary is on the case (Sayers and Arthur Conan Doyle did really look for her when she went missing) and so is her assistant Eliza Baker (sadly, fictional), who has some experience in these matters after working at Scotland Yard during the war.

I really liked Eliza, she was smart, resourceful and a lot more intuitive than the police, solving both the murder and Mrs Christie’s disappearance with apparent ease and playing a lot of chess along the way. I hope this is the start of a cracking series featuring the Detection Club and Eliza, who is a better detective than the creators of some of the most famous. She also has a faithful canine companion, and as you probably know by now, an animal detective is always a bonus in my book.

And don’t worry about Agatha, as well as being one of the most successful writers of all time, she also found love again with archaeologist Max Mallowen, and even went on digs with him, which inspired some of her more far flung books like Death on the Nile. Yes, I am a huge fan and a total nerd, why thank you.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: The Rune Stone – Julia Ibbotson

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When Dr Viv DuLac, medievalist and academic, finds a mysterious runic inscription on a Rune Stone in the graveyard of her husband’s village church, she unwittingly sets off a chain of circumstances that disturb their quiet lives in ways she never expected. 

She, once again, feels the echoes of the past resonate through time and into the present. 

Can she unlock the secrets of the runes in the life of the 6th century Lady Vivianne and in Viv’s own life? 

Again, lives of the past and present intertwine alarmingly as Viv desperately tries to save them both, without changing the course of history.

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Dr Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of resonances across time. She sees her author brand as a historical fiction writer of romantic mysteries that are character-driven, well-paced, evocative of time and place, well-researched and uplifting page-turners. 

Her current series focuses on early medieval dual-time/time-slip mysteries. 

Julia read English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language/ literature/ history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. After a turbulent time in Ghana, West Africa, she became a school teacher, then a university academic and researcher. 

Her break as an author came soon after she joined the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme in 2015, with a three-book deal from Lume Books for a trilogy (Drumbeats) set in Ghana in the 1960s. She has also indie-published three other books, including A Shape on the Air, an Anglo-Saxon timeslip mystery, and its two sequels The Dragon Tree and The Rune Stone. Her latest, Daughter of Mercia, is the first of a new series of Anglo-Saxon dual time mystery/romances where echoes of the past resonate across the centuries. 

Her books will appeal to fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, and Christina Courtenay. Her readers say: ‘compelling character-driven novels’, ‘a skilled story-teller’, ‘evocative and well-paced storylines’, ‘incredible writing style’, ‘intricately written’, ‘absorbing and captivating’, and ‘an absolute gem of a trilogy’

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My thoughts: and so we come to the last book in this series, The Rune Stone. Viv and Rory are back from Madeira and adjusting to life in their Derbyshire village when an unusual discovery in the churchyard sets off Viv’s time travelling adventures once more. This time Lady Vivianne is in trouble, faced with invaders, an advanced pregnancy and war rumoured to be coming from all directions, she reaches through the centuries to her descendant for strength. And despite the worry she might drop the baby while having one of her turns, Viv answers. The carved stone in the churchyard might just refer to Lady Vivianne. But what does eccentric Ivy have to do with it all and can Viv stop a predatory parishioner stealing her husband at the same time?

I really enjoyed this series, the blend of historical fiction and modern day Time Team style investigations – especially once Tilly gets involved. I liked the linking of ancient traditions with more modern ones and the need to put things back where they belong so the dead can rest easy.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: The Confessions of a Lady – Darcy McGuire

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Dare she risk her secrets?

In the world of upstairs/downstairs, Housemaid Penny Smith anticipates her employer’s needs and blends into the background making her the perfect spy for the prime minister against a suspected
member of the Devil’s Sons. There’s only one problem. When she meets the guilty marquess, his actions don’t match the evidence against him. Lord William Renquist defies her every expectation
and sets her traitorous heart racing.

Lord William Renquist, Marquess of Stoneway and secret spy to Queen Victoria, must infiltrate the Devil’s Sons, tearing the brotherhood apart from the inside. His mission – to bring evil men to justice
while atoning for the sins of his family, proving honour is stronger than tainted blood. There’s only one problem. A canny maid who is always in the right place at the wrong time and who deliciously
challenges his every order.

Liam and Penny are unknowingly playing a dangerous game from opposite sides of justice. And at a masked ball, forbidden attraction burns into something far more complex as their secrets spin into
daring confessions. This battle against their enemy will only be won if Penny and Liam can work together. But can a maid from downstairs ever trust an upstairs marquess?

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Darcy McGuire is an award-winning New Zealand-born writer now living in the Pacific Northwest.
She will write a five-part Victorian romance series for Boldwood, focused on a group of ‘Deadly Damsels’.

Facebook: AuthorDarcyMcGuire
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My thoughts: Queen Victoria’s Deadly Damsels are back, although Penny doesn’t start out as one. She’s genuinely a maid, from London’s tough streets, who gives as good as it gets, determined to get her mother out of debtors’ prison by exposing the Devil’s Sons, especially the Marquess of Stoneway, her current employer, and claim the reward money her police contact has promised her.

That’s before she meets the new Marquess. His father might have been rotten to the core, his brother heading the same way before his death, but Liam is not quite what Penny expected.

There’s an instant spark between them, but would it be right to take advantage of that? A lord seducing his maid would be as Penny expects, and might get her the information she needs, but what if it’s more? Can a Marquess marry a girl who grew up with nothing?

There’s lots of misunderstandings, double crossings, outright interference from familiar faces to fans of this series, a horrible butler, a secretly rather nice housekeeper, and Penny might just be my favourite.  She’s streetwise and brave, taking on potential rapists with a set of brass knuckles and her wits, thankfully Liam is pretty charming and a better man than she first believes.

And with some new friends, Penny might just be able to bring the Devil’s Sons and their kidnapping ways to an end.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: The House of Echoes – Alexandra Walsh

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‘The Brandon blood is dark with lies and treachery and as it flows through my heart, my vow is this: they will all pay.’

Hampton Court Palace 1530s

Anne Brandon has always understood the power of a king’s patronage and, though the court of Henry VIII is a dangerous place for women, as the daughter of the king’s best friend, Anne feels safer than most. But Anne’s husband Lord Powis is tiring of her childlessness and when Henry VIII begins plotting to rid himself of a queen in his quest for an heir, suddenly Anne’s life is in danger. And as whispers of the name of her friend Anne Boleyn get ever louder, there is peril in every loose word, every forbidden conversation.

Pembrokshire Present Day

Caroline Harvey has spent years helping her grandfather, the reclusive bestselling novelist Dexter Blake, hide from his legions of fans in his home on the Pembrokshire coast. After his death, the
vultures begin to circle Dexter’s fortune. When Caroline’s ownership of the house she has inherited is called into question, her research into its history reveals it was once owned by Anne Brandon who had sought refuge there. Intrigued, Caroline is determined to discover why Anne fled the court of Henry VIII.

Two women divided by centuries but joined by secrets and courage. And when a twist in their histories threatens them both with the same fate – losing the man they love – their revenge will be the same too. Because there’s no one mightier than a woman underestimated or more powerful
than the need to save those they love.

Bestseller Alexandra Walsh is back with a compelling, captivating insight into the Tudor court through the eyes of a woman who had only her guile to keep her alive. Perfect for all fans of Barbara Erskine, Philippa Gregory, Anne O’Brien and Elena Collins.

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Alexandra Walsh is the bestselling author of dual timeline historical mysteries, previously published by Sapere. Her books range from the fifteenth century to the Victorian era and are inspired by the hidden voices of women that have been lost over the centuries. Formerly a journalist, writing for national newspapers, magazines and TV, her first book for Boldwood will be published in Spring 2023.

Facebook: @themarquesshousetrilogy
Twitter: @purplemermaid25
Instagram: @purplemermaid25

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My thoughts: I really like these dual narrative stories, especially when they bring a forgotten woman in history back to life. Anne Brandon was the daughter of Henry VIII’s best friend and stepdaughter to his sister, the Dowager Queen of France, she lived a life of privilege but in a time where daughters were traded in marriage to ensure fortunes and land, favours and heirs.

Married to a cold hearted man, who cares only about his legacy, unable to give him children, she is in love with another, and considering the emphasis placed on marriage, is somehow able to live with her lover, far from court, while her estranged husband openly takes his mistress with him.

She was also a contemporary and possibly a friend of Anne Boleyn – Henry’s ill-fated second wife, so would have seen the huge upheaval and turmoil during her life.

What links her story to our modern day heroine is a plot of woodland on the Pembrokshire coast. Here reclusive writer Dexter Blake created his incredible sci-fi series that became a worldwide sensation, and here his granddaughter Caroline has made her home. She has a lot of secrets, and with Blake’s death, she’s finally coming clean, at least to her oldest friends, Ben and Gideon.

As she researches the land her home stands on, she learns about Anne Brandon and her bravery in defying the norm and living with the man she loved, rather than the husband she had been made to marry. In finding her own safe and beloved home, she lived a quiet but safe life. Aunt to the tragic Lady Jane Grey, she could have been right at the heart of Tudor court life, and had been as a younger woman, but in choosing her own path, she is instead an inspiration and one who should not have been forgotten.

Caroline’s story weaves around Anne’s and as her secrets come to light, can she find a way back to her true love, just as Anne did?

Clever, enjoyable, moving and enthralling.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: The Book and the Knife – Paul Cobb

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In 1031, an Arab scientist, a Jewish astronomer and a Christian monk gather under the dome of an observatory in Spain.

A foretelling written on the blade of a knife tells of a new ruler, whose power will come from the knowledge in a centuries old book. As its guardians begin to covet this knowledge for themselves, the book is drawn into the conflict between the houses of Wessex and Godwin, and England’s destiny. It will carry a secret at the heart of the succession to the English throne. But the book is in danger, from those who will use it for the wealth and power it can bring — or who want to destroy it.

From Spain to Normandy and England, The Book and the Knife: Thegn of Berewic is the story of the power of knowledge, of a generation—spanning blood feud, and of the struggle for control of England before the Norman invasion of 1066. A story of loyalty and treachery, love and hate.

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Paul Cobb was born into a Yorkshire farming family and lives in Kent. A conservationist by profession and a historian by interest, he has lived and worked his whole life in the landscapes he writes about, and loves weaving his fictional characters around these as much as around the real figures from history. 

Paul has also published poetry and is a former magazine columnist. 

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My thoughts: set before the Norman Conquest in 1066, which is a period I’m a bit hazy on history wise (at school it went Alfred the Great….Norman Conquest, which isn’t very helpful) during a time of struggle for the English throne between powerful families, this chronicles the events that lead to William, Duke of Normandy deciding to take the throne he was supposedly promised by force.

The characters know William, they’re in his orbit and some even serve him, but the power struggle for the seat of Berewic is beneath his notice, even though it’s important in how the future will play out, two young men’s destinies are tied to it.

The sacred book passes through several hands, some who would use its knowledge for their own gain, and some who would safeguard it for the future. It’s a bit like the Holy Grail or the Philosopher’s Stone (which is even in the book), powerful, dangerous and desired by many.

This is the first in a series and does a lot of world building, taking us back more than 900 years to a time when Westminster Cathedral is being built, when the Britain we live in today was very, very different. From Spain to France to England, the journey the book and it’s secrets go on leads to power and conflict.

Interesting and clearly well researched, with lots of detail to bring the period and the figures, real and imagined, to life.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: A Council of Dolls – Mona Susan Power

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The long-awaited, profoundly moving, and unforgettable new novel from PEN Award–winning Native American author Mona Susan Power, spanning three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th century to the present day.

From the mid-century metropolis of Chicago to the windswept ancestral lands of the Dakota people, to the bleak and brutal Indian boarding schools, A Council of Dolls is the story of three women, told in part through the stories of the dolls they carried….

Sissy, born 1961: Sissy’s relationship with her beautiful and volatile mother is difficult, even dangerous, but her life is also filled with beautiful things, including a new Christmas present, a doll called Ethel. Ethel whispers advice and kindness in Sissy’s ear, and in one especially terrifying moment, maybe even saves Sissy’s life.

Lillian, born 1925: Born in her ancestral lands in a time of terrible change, Lillian clings to her sister, Blanche, and her doll, Mae. When the sisters are forced to attend an “Indian school” far from their home, Blanche refuses to be cowed by the school’s abusive nuns. But when tragedy strikes the sisters, the doll Mae finds her way to defend the girls.  

Cora, born 1888: Though she was born into the brutal legacy of the “Indian Wars,” Cora isn’t afraid of the white men who remove her to a school across the country to be “civilized.” When teachers burn her beloved buckskin and beaded doll Winona, Cora discovers that the spirit of Winona may not be entirely lost…

A modern masterpiece, A Council of Dolls is gorgeous, quietly devastating, and ultimately hopeful, shining a light on the echoing damage wrought by Indian boarding schools, and the historical massacres of Indigenous people. With stunning prose, Mona Susan Power weaves a spell of love and healing that comes alive on the page.

Mona Susan Power (Standing Rock Dakota, born 1961) is an Native American author based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her debut novel, The Grass Dancer (1994), received the 1995 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for Best First Fiction.

My thoughts: This was a fascinating and engaging read, being British, I know very little about the dark and tragic history of the Native American tribes, apart from that what has been done to them over the centuries is cruel and unnecessary. This book brings that terrible history to life through three generations of girls and their dolls.

Charting the racism, institutionalised brutality of the industrial schools and Catholic church, the insistence that they speak only English and reject their inheritance and birth right, becoming more like the white invaders who took their land and killed their people.

Somehow despite the violence and horror, these three young women survive, grow and thrive, clinging on to their identities as proud members of their tribe and family. Scanning over 100 years, these connected stories, told from first their perspective and then from that of their beloved dolls, who have been there through it all, weave a gentle magic, even in the midst of their darkest moments, there is a kind of beauty about the resilience and courage they show.

And it does get very dark, Power does not shy away from the effects the past has on the present, the mental illness, poverty, addiction issues, domestic violence and heartbreak, even murder, that her people have endured, as parts of this are based on members of her own family, are ever present.

It’s a powerful reminder that the past is always with us, we cannot out run or ignore it, the Dakota people have to live with it every day (as I’m sure many others do too) and it is only by confronting it and dealing with it, that you move beyond it.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: An Italian Island Secret – Victoria Springfield

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Escape to a beautiful Italian island with this wonderfully romantic story, threaded with secrets and intrigue.

It’s time to return to Ischia…

Alessia knows her grandmother grew up on the beautiful Italian island off the coast from Naples. But Ornella seldom talks about her life there – or why she never went back.

So Alessia is amazed when Ornella reveals that, in the months before she left Ischia, she had worked on the set of a famous 1950s movie filmed on the island. Is there a link between the film set and the tragic death of Ornella’s teenage sister?
Ornella has kept her past – and the heart-wrenching promise she made – a secret for over sixty years. She has tried not to think about the love she gave up. But now, perhaps the truth should
finally be revealed…

Travelling to Ischia together, Alessia falls in love with the utterly captivating island. Meeting handsome journalist Roberto helps her dig deeper into her family’s past, too. Just what happened to Ornella’s sister? What heart-wrenching secret is her grandmother hiding?

This summer, can Alessia and Ornella put the past to rest and find the happy ending they both deserve?

A wonderfully escapist, romantic and compelling story of secrets and sacrifice, love and loyalty, that is perfect for fans of Karen Swan, Louise Douglas and Rosanna Ley.

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Victoria Springfield writes contemporary ‘wish you were here’ evocative women’s fiction set in Italy.
Her feel-good books follow unforgettable characters of all ages as they deal with love, loss, friendship and family secrets. Readers can feel the sunshine!

Facebook: VictoriaSpringfieldAuthor

Twitter: @VictoriaSwrites

Instagram: @victoriaswrites

My thoughts: This was a lovely, sun drenched read, perfect for chilly January, although it would work pretty much any time!

Ornella never talks about her past, or why she and her husband left Ischia to move to the UK when they did, so her apparently sudden decision to open up and then to return takes granddaughter Alessia by surprise. Triggered by the death of an Italian film star, Ornella’s story takes us back to the 1950s full of glamour and tragedy.

In the present day Alessia and journalist Roberto delve into the events of that past, searching for answers, the stories don’t add up and there has to be more to it. A tragic event throws their investigation into  relief as history seems to be repeating itself, but can something good come from so much sadness?

Romantic and sweeping, with the Mediterranean glistening in the background, this little island has a story to tell. Inspired by the truly glamorous film stars who once graced Italy’s southern coast and its unique history, this transported me to the warm glow of an Italian summer. Marvellous.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: The Quick and the Dead – Emma Hinds

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It is 1597 and Kit Skevy and Mariner Elgin have just robbed the wrong grave.

They are young criminals in the pocket of a gang Lord named Will Twentyman, the Grave Eorl of Southwark. Mariner is the best cutpurse around, a strange Calvinist girl who dresses like a boy and is partner in crime to Kit Skevy, Southwark’s best brawler who carries a secret: he cannot feel pain.

When caught out in their unfortunate larceny, Kit is kidnapped by the menacing alchemist Lord Isherwood (a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his hopes for the Red Lion elixir) and his studious son, Lazarus Isherwood, with whom Kit develops a complicated intrigue. When Mariner enlists the help of a competing French alchemist, Lady Elody Blackwater, Mariner and Kit are thrust into the shadowed, political world of Tudor alchemy, testing both their friendship and their lives.

It matters not who you are born to… but where you are made!

Emma Hinds has a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of St Andrews and has settled in Manchester, where she is a Queer playwright and Novelist. Her work focuses on telling untold feminist narratives. Her latest play, PURE, was featured in Turn On festival at Hope Mill Theatre Manchester in 2021 and she was the recipient of the Artist Development grant 2021 at Hope Mill Theatre. Emma’s debut novel, The Knowing (Bedford Square) was published January 2024 and is an exploration of female trauma in the vivid and cruel world of the Victorian freak show. This thrilling historical fiction title swiftly became a Sunday Times Historical Fiction Book of The Month. She has written a few previous non-fiction books in her capacity as an academic (in another life she was a theologian) with an essay published, Tarantino and Theology; with Gray Matter Books and her book, Ineffable Love: Christian Themes in Good Omens; published by Darton Longman Todd.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this historical fiction adventure set in Elizabethan England (the first Queen Lizzy, not the more recent one!), mostly in the wild and infamous Liberty of Southwark, where theatres, inns, bear pits and brothels flourished away from the rules and influence of the City and the court.

Kit and Mariner work for the rather nasty Twentyman, a crime lord of sorts, and have been sent to dig up a corpse for a mysterious alchemist, then all Hell breaks loose in the graveyard and Kit is kidnapped.

Both young and more or less alone in the world, Kit and Mariner are not as they first appear, beneath their clothes are secrets, Mariner may look like a boy, dress like one too, but is in fact female, although she was raised as a boy by her uncle aboard ship. Kit is slightly more complicated and that’s the reason he’s been taken. Mariner determines to rescue him and the two are drawn into dark plots and schemes by a pair of dangerous nobles.

I loved Mariner, her boldness, her courage, her fierce love of Kit, even in the face of being forced to work in the brothel, although the woman who runs it for Twentyman doesn’t want her as one of her girls – too boyish.

Kit was fascinating as well, and somewhat more fantastical, as the story unfolds. Rescued from a past he can’t remember, raised by the gentle Griffin, who produces special effects for the theatres, and his sister Squire Kay, he might not be able to grow a beard yet, but he is impulsive, bold, clever and extraordinary.

Their adventures lead them close to death at times and into the finest houses and palaces in the land, not bad for two scruffy thieves from Southwark. They both get their hearts broken and fall apart, but finding their way back to each other, to the bond they share, offers hope of a better life, a life they dreamt of. Marvellous stuff.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: Anastasia’s Midnight Song – M. Laszlo

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French Huguenot Anastasia believes working in one of Sinai’s mirror factories will allow her to trap the imaginary Arctic fox which lives in her womb.

Whilst Jack escapes from London to Sinai to avoid being conscripted to fight in the trenches with strange imaginings that do little to alleviate his feelings of cowardice. Jack is captivated by Anastasia, seized with a fierce desire to possess her from the first second, and nothing can diminish his obsessive urge to be noticed by her, not even her obvious disgust in the face of his crude advances.

Their journeys twist together like a fugue, filled with phantasmagorical delays, as they both fail to accomplish what they set out to do. Unable to escape the consequences of their false beliefs, relentlessly they approach the brink, and eventual schizophrenia, on a quest for moral truths.

This book is a revelatory, hallucinatory account of the growing insanity of two young people who happen to be in the same place at the same time.

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M Laszlo lives as a recluse in Bath, Ohio. Rumour holds that he derived his pseudonym from the Victor Laszlo character in the classic film Casablanca. M Laszlo’s works are written in strict form but contain a great deal of symbolism and/or objective correlative. This is because each work is intended to illustrate the eternal or Socratic truths that make up the human experience.

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My thoughts: There is a trippy, dream-like quality to this book, which reflects the way Jack and Anastasia’s minds weave their reality around their imaginings. Anastasia is mourning her mother, her loneliness and grief bringing a childhood phantom – the Arctic fox spirit she believes lives inside her – back. Jack has been sent away by his father to escape conscription. It is 1917, and the First World War rages across Europe.

In Sinai, Egypt, both troubled young people meet amidst a clash of cultures and religions, reeling from the strangeness of the time and place. Jack composes music in his head, strange discordant pieces that reflect his loose grip on reality. Anastasia seeks relief from the cruel fox within her, desperate to force it out and away from her.

As they travel and attempt to work out their troubling mental health crises, they cross paths with others and each other but can not help one another as they can not truly help themselves. A strange journey into the desert and to England, seeking always answers to soothe their troubled minds.

Not always the easiest book to read and hard to place yourself in the shoes of the protagonists in a time before mental illness and grief were better understood (though it’s still not perfect), this odyssey that Jack and Anastasia undertake is moving and tragic, the help they both seek is not within reach.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.