We’re thrilled to share another of Elyse Hoffman’s genre-blurring and thought-provoking stories. This one is called Adiel and the Führer and it’s now available!
Adiel and the Führer: A Thought-Provoking Tale of Alternate History
Publication Date: April 20, 2024
Gere: Historical Fantasy
A chance to prevent the rise of Hitler… but at what cost?
Adiel Goldstein has a good life. Despite the anti-Semitism he faces as a German Jew, he has everything he wants. A dream job as an art professor, good friends, a loving father, and a precious nine-year-old daughter, Kaia. But his life is about to be upended. An old comrade from his time fighting in the Great War is gaining power: a man named Hitler. Adiel’s father insists that they need to leave the country before Hitler becomes the leader of Germany.
Adiel and his family plan to move to America, but before they can even pack their bags, he and Kaia make a shocking discovery. Adiel’s father, Natan Goldstein, is from the future. A Holocaust survivor who lost his family to unspeakable tragedy, Natan was given the chance to go back in time and take the life of Adolf Hitler. But when Natan failed to kill the future Führer, he devoted himself to his new family and awaited the inevitable.
Natan can’t face the Holocaust again, but Adiel’s unique connection to Hitler means he might be able to succeed where his father failed. Adiel now has a choice: escape as planned and let history repeat itself, or sacrifice everything to stop the Holocaust before it can begin.
Award winning author Elyse Hoffman has crafted a thought-provoking and daring work of historical fiction which will tug at your heartstrings.
Elyse Hoffman is an award-winning author who strives to tell historical tales with new twists. She loves to meld WWII and Jewish history with fantasy, folklore, and the paranormal. She has written six works of Holocaust historical fiction: The Barracks of the Holocaust five-book series and The Book of Uriel. Elyse’s books are the way to go if you love history and want to read some unique stories.
“A Prayer for Junie is a compelling and atmospheric story about friendship, love and the lengths people will go to in order to save those they care about.” Caroline Bishop, The Other Daughter, The Lost Chapter
Newly married Junie has found love but she has no idea who her husband really is. When her life is in danger, there is only one way this relationship can end.
Philomena has known Junie’s abusive husband, Gregory, since they were children and has grown to fear him. Set apart from the rest of the village community on a secluded plain, the women develop a strong bond. While Philomena plots to run away with her, Junie hopes the child she is carrying will change her husband’s violent behaviour.
When Philomena’s friendship is put to the test, she soon discovers how far she will go to protect her friend. Now a death on the plain and Junie’s disappearance has the whole village talking.
Can Philomena live with what she has done and will she ever let go of Junie’s memory?
In this powerful novel of lies, love and compassion a mystery unravels.
Fran Clark writes Women’s Fiction, both contemporary and historical. Her first novel was published by Indigo Dreams in 2014. In the same year she achieved a Distinction in her Creative Writing MA from Brunel University. In 2016 she was shortlisted for the SI Leeds Literary Prize. In February 2024, her Island Secrets Book Series will be published, starting with Holding Paradise Book 1.
Originally from London, Fran moved to the English countryside with her musician husband. A musician herself, Fran teaches vocals and leads a local choir. She has two sons.
Fran also writes under the pseudonym, Rosa Temple, writing contemporary fiction and published by HQ Digital and Simon & Schuster UK
My thoughts: set in 1950s Dominica, this is a love story, a story about survival, about a crime and about finding a way out.
When Philomena meets Junie, brought to her village by the glowering boy next door, Gregory, a man who has never cared for his neighbours, there’s an instant connection between the two women. But Gregory, violent, drunk and insanely jealous doesn’t like the friendship between them and uses his fists to control his wife.
Philomena is determined to save her friend, to help her get away from the abuse and fear she lives in. Her own life, marriage to her colleague at the school and plans to move to New York, offer a possible way out for Junie.
As Gregory seems to get worse, becoming more aggressive and controlling, landing Junie in the hospital, Philomena realises her feelings are deeper than friendship for Junie, and that she would do almost anything for her.
Things take a darker turn and Junie vanishes, leaving Philomena frantic. But she’s due to leave for the US and can’t find her friend anywhere. She may never know what happened to Junie.
Moving, intelligent writing with compelling and interesting characters, A Prayer for Junie is timeless and powerful story telling.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people accused of witchcraft. Seven condemned to death. Six strangled and burned at the stake. All accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw.
Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending every waking hour perfecting the thread bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. If only she can make it white enough, perhaps her past sins will be purified too. But dark forces are at work. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the witch burnings approaches, ravens circle Bargarran House, their wild cries stirring memories and triggering visions.
As Christian’s mind begins to unravel, her states of delusion threaten the safety of all those who cross her path. In the end she must make a terrible choice: her mind or her soul? Poverty and madness, or a devil’s bargain for the bleaching process that will make her the most successful businesswoman Paisley has ever seen?
Her fate hangs by a thread. Which will she choose?
An eerie tale of lies, deception and the supernatural from award-winning author Victoria Williamson.
My thoughts: inspired by a true case in 17th century Scotland, Red Runs the Witch’s Thread follows Christian Shaw as she attempts to set up a business in Paisley, her father and brothers are dead and as the eldest, she is trying to revive her family’s fortunes and provide for her mother and sisters.
Her family is looked on with suspicion because as a child Christian claimed to be cursed by witches and accused 35 people of witchcraft, leading some to be burnt at the stake (which only happened in Scotland, in England they were hung).
Christian is having flashbacks to that time and the events that led to so many deaths by her hands, albeit indirectly. It’s causing her to hallucinate and act very strangely, frightening not only herself but her family and servants. She’s also becoming increasingly obsessive over the bleaching process for the thread her livelihood depends on. As she unravels, her past revisited, she starts to realise the truth of whose influence she has really been under.
Christian isn’t a hugely sympathetic character, her single mindedness and high handed way of talking to everyone – servant and family members isn’t very pleasant and it’s no surprise her sisters aren’t that fond of her. But her clearly troubled mind and conscience, are no surprise either. Eleven year olds tell lies, but the fact that so many adults, including supposedly educated ones, believed the terrible things she said is shocking.
There is an ongoing movement in Scotland to have the victims of the witch trials, Christian really did exist and really did have 35 people condemned to death, pardoned by the state and removed from the lists of convicted and executed criminals. Most of the “witches” were guilty only of poverty and of their circumstances. I would probably be among their number if I was in the 16th and 27th centuries so I have a lot of empathy for these men and women.
Victoria Williamson brings that era of superstition and suspicion vividly to life in Red Runs the Witch’s Thread as Christian attempts to rebuild her family fortune and her reputation.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re celebrating the release of Empire of Shadows this week and if you love swashbuckling adventure stories packed with slow burn witty banter, flesh-eating beetles, and real history, this is a MUST READ!
Empire of Shadows (Raiders of the Arcana Book 1)
Publication Date: April 2, 2024
Genre: Historical Fantasy/ Gaslamp Fantasy
Nice Victorian ladies don’t run off to find legendary lost cities.
One trifling little arrest shouldn’t have cost Ellie Mallory her job, but it’s only the latest in a line of injustices facing any educated woman with archaeological ambitions.
When Ellie stumbles across the map to a mysterious ancient city, she knows she’s holding her chance to revolutionize Pre-Colombian history. There’s just one teensy complication. A ruthless villain wants it, and Ellie is all that stands in his way.
To race him to the ruins—and avoid being violently disposed of—she needs the help of maverick surveyor Adam Bates, a snake-wrangling rogue who can’t seem to keep his dratted shirt on.
But there’s more than Ellie’s scholarly reputation (and life) on the line. Her enemies aren’t just looters. They’re after an arcane secret rumored to lie in the heart of the ruins, a mythical artifact with a power that could shake the world.
Between stealing trousers, plummeting over waterfalls, and trying not to fall in love with her machete-wielding partner, will Ellie be able to stop the oracle of a lost empire from falling into the wrong hands?
Empire of Shadows is the first book in Jacquelyn Benson’s smart, swashbuckling Raiders of the Arcana series. Read it now and dive into a rip-roaring historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Romancing the Stone and The Mummy.
Jacquelyn Benson writes smart historical fantasy where strong women confront the stranger things that occupy the borders of our world.
She once lived in a museum, wrote a master’s thesis on the cultural anthropology of paranormal investigation, and received a gold medal for being clever. She owes a great deal to her elementary school librarian for sagely choosing to acquire the entire Time-Life Mysteries of the Unknown series.
When not writing, she enjoys the company of a tall, dark, and handsome English teacher and practices unintentional magic.
My thoughts: this was so much fun, a bit The Mummy (the Brendan Fraser one), a bit Indiana Jones but with a brilliant female protagonist set in an era when women were expected to get married and have children and be satisfied with their lot.
Ellie is a historian, archivist and budding archaeologist, if society would just let her. When she finds a mysterious map showing what she thinks is a Mayan secret city in British Honduras (modern day Belize), and is followed by a scary figure who seems to be after the map, she immediately books passage on the first ship across the Atlantic.
Once there she meets Adam Bates, the deputy surveyor and recruits him to help her find the city. Only she’s using a fake name, he went to Cambridge with her brother, and they’re being followed by the same sinister man she saw in London.
He’s got a whole crew of miscreants with him, and is searching for a magical item hidden in the city. Luckily some of his crew know Bates and with their help, and that of a local native priest, they just might escape in one piece.
I loved Ellie and Adam, they spend all their time bickering and falling in love, while on the adventure of a lifetime, full of terrifying moments and heart stopping risk. It’s absolutely marvellous. I cannot wait for the next one!
Tour Organized By: @rrbooktours
X: @rrbooktours1 #rrbooktours
IG: @jbensonink @rrbooktours
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own
It’s 1911 and, against her mother’s wishes, quiet New Yorker Emma dreams of winning the right to vote. She is sent away by her parents in the hope distance will curb her desire to be involved with the growing suffrage movement and told to spend time learning about where her grandparents came from.
Across the Atlantic – Queenstown, southern Ireland – hotelier Thomas dreams of being loved, even noticed, by his actress wife, Alice. On their wedding day, Alice’s father had assured him that adoration comes with time. It’s been eight years. But Alice has plans of her own and they certainly don’t include the fight for equality or her dull husband.
Emma’s arrival in Ireland leads her to discover family secrets and become involved in the Irish Women’s Suffrage Society in Cork. However, Emma’s path to suffrage was never meant to lead to a forbidden love affair…
Maid of Steel is Kate’s first full length novel to be published. She also writes short stories and is presently drafting a second novel. She writes at a desk covered in to-do lists and lights candles in the hope the lists disappear in the shadows. She lives in East Anglia in the UK with her husband where they attempt to look after farmland for generations to come. A small, very small, dog can be frequently found on Kate’s lap. Otis is her first miniature dachshund.
My thoughts: I loved Emma, she has suffered a terrible loss with the death of her brother and then after the factory where she works catches fire, in a manner similar to the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, she loses her best friend too.
Sent to Ireland, where her grandparents emigrated from, to recover from her grief, she looks into her grandmother’s stories and becomes involved in the suffrage movement, as she was in New York.
I didn’t really warm to Alice, she’s cruel and capricious and treats Thomas appallingly, while there are reasons to some of her behaviour, it’s not enough. Although she thankfully redeems herself somewhat later on.
Both women’s lives intertwine as they live in Alice and Thomas’ hotel and as Emma extends her stay, having made new friends and become very involved in the fight for the right to vote. There are some sad moments and some shocking twists too, as both women try to live their lives on their own terms in a time when stepping outside of convention could be almost impossible.
Giveaway to Win a signed copy of Maid of Steel, candle and lipsil (Open to UK Only)
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own
***Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared withthird parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize. ***
From the author of A Most English Princess comes a rich novel about young Princess Alix of Hesse — the future Alexandra, last Empress of Imperial Russia— and her sister, Princess Ella.
Their decision to marry into the Romanov royal family changed history. They were granddaughters of Queen Victoria and two of the most beautiful princesses in Europe. Princesses Alix and Ella were destined to wed well and wisely. But while their grandmother wants to join them to the English and German royal families, the sisters fall in love with Russia—and the Romanovs. Defying the Queen’s dire warnings, Ella weds the tsar’s brother, Grand Duke Serge. Cultivated, aloof, and proud, Serge places his young wife on a pedestal for all to admire. Behind palace gates, Ella struggles to secure private happiness. Alix, whisked away to Russia for Ella’s wedding, meets and captivates Nicky—heir apparent to the Russian throne. While loving him deeply, Alix hears a call of conscience, urging her to walk away. Their fateful decisions to marry will lead to tragic consequences for not only themselves and their families, but for millions in Russia and around the globe.
The Romanov Brides is a moving and fascinating portrait of two bold and spirited royal sisters, and brings to vivid life imperial Russia—a dazzling, decadent world on the brink of disappearing forever.
Clare McHugh is the author of A Most English Princess, a historical novel about the family of Queen Victoria, and The Romanov Brides. A former newspaper reporter and magazine editor, McHugh graduated from Harvard College with a degree in European history. She currently lives in London and in Amagansett, NY.
My thoughts: I am endlessly fascinated by the history of Russia, ruled for almost a thousand years by the same family, the Romanovs, until their terrible end in 1918 at the hands of a firing squad, although other members of the family met even more horrific endings – like Ella, one of the main characters in this book.
But before the Revolution of 1917 and the downfall of the autocratic, and tyrannical Romanovs (Britain ended feudalism in the 1600s for comparison), and I am fully aware of how much damage the family did over the centuries, there is a beautiful love story between the daughters of the royal house of Hesse, grand-daughters of Queen Victoria, and two of the princes of Russia – Grand Duke Serge and Nicky, the future Tsar.
Hesse in Germany is where the story begins, Ludwig the Grand Duke is married to Princess Alice of Britain, daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, their nine children married into the Royal families of Europe, forming ties across the continent.
The daughters of Hesse are beautiful, intelligent and well connected. They have suffered tragedy with the early deaths of some of their siblings and their mother.
When some of their Russian relatives visit, Ella finds herself falling for Grand Duke Serge, brother of the Tsar Alexander (known as Sasha). The family are against this match, especially her grandmother who had anti-Russian beliefs. In part due to religious differences – between the German Protestant Lutheran church and the Russian Orthodox, the two churches have very different beliefs and practices.
However Ella refuses to give up on love and eventually overcomes her family’s concerns to marry Serge. Sadly it isn’t the most wonderful marriage that she imagined, but they find a way to live together.
On a family visit to Russia, to see her sister, Alix (Alexandra, known as Alicky or Sunny to her family) meets the tsarevich (prince) Nicky, the future Nicholas II. He’s exciting and charming, handsome and devoted to her. But once again the royal family is against the match, for political and religious reasons. Queen Victoria tries to pair Alix with her grandson Eddy, even though first cousins marrying is a bad idea, something that is only just being recognised.
Alix doesn’t care for Eddy, she cannot get Nicky out of her head or heart. But refuses him as she feels her father needs her.
These star crossed lovers do eventually marry and despite the timing of their wedding, it is a grand spectacle that is attended by Bertie, future King of England as well as members of the royal families of Europe.
The book is beautifully written and captivating, knowing how it all ends in tragedy doesn’t detract from reading about the joy of being young and falling in love. My favourite character was the tiny and cranky Queen Victoria, trying to get her large family to fall in line and struggling with her strong willed grandchildren (can’t work out where they got that from!) I also loved Ernie, the sole boy in the Hesse family, who always has his sisters’ backs and loves them.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Journey into the heart of 20th Century Russia in this fun and funny historical mystery, perfect for fans of Verity Bright and Helena Dixon.
1918 Moscow
Will following her heart mean losing her head? It could mean losing her job. Fiona Figg trails her nemesis Fredrick Fredricks to Moscow. But when she arrives at the grand Metropol Hotel, the bounder has vanished. After Fiona doesn’t show up for work at the War Office, Kitty Lane raises a red flag and tracks her to Russia. Seeking haven at the British Embassy, Kitty and Fiona become embroiled in a plot to overthrow the Bolshevik government. But the plot turns deadly when Fiona goes undercover as a governess in the household of Iron Viktor, the Bolsheviks’ Head of Secret Police. And when Viktor turns up dead in his study, Fiona finds herself wanted for murder and on the lam. Can Fiona and Kitty find the real killer and escape the Kremlin before it’s too late? Or will this dangerous game of Russian roulette be their last?
My thoughts: we’re back with the intrepid spies Fiona Flagg, Kitty Lane and Poppy the Pekingese. Fiona has taken off to Russia after Frederick Fredericks, which of course turns into disaster in the middle of the First World War. The Bolsheviks have removed the Romanovs from the throne and are planning to withdraw from the war.
Fiona ends up locked up by the Cheka and then undercover in the home of the boss of the secret police. How does she keep getting into these scrapes? I went to Moscow and didn’t get arrested, OK it was the early 00s not 1917 but still.
Luckily Kitty, Poppy and Co are on the way, and there’s a plot to foil, with Archie’s safety on the line. Fiona needs to decide whether her heart belongs to the British spy or the dashing German Fredericks.
I really love this series, it’s clever and funny, filled with real people and events, as well as the brilliant Fiona and Kitty. Once again Poppy comes through with her exceptional scent tracking skills and Clifford manages to tell a few of his long winded stories too.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own
It’s 1923 and in a decade that promises excitement and liberation, Pearl Glenham and her father are invited to a mysterious country house party on the Dorset coast by a total stranger.
Her father claims not to have any prior association with Highcliffe House, but upon arrival, it is apparent that he has a shared history with several of the guests, although he won’t admit it. Belatedly discovering that her father was blackmailed into attending, Pearl’s worries are compounded when their host fails to arrive…
Intimidated by everyone at the party, she escapes to the nearby cove and stumbles upon a mysterious mercury clock hidden in a cave. This strange encounter sets in motion a series of events that will culminate in an horrific house fire, claiming the lives of all the guests, including Pearl herself.
But then Pearl wakes up back in the cave, seemingly destined never to live past midnight. She can repeat the day. But can she change its outcome?
Jenni Keer is a history graduate who lives in the Suffolk countryside. Her lifelong passion for reading became a passion for writing and she had two contemporary romance novels published in 2019. She has now embraced her love of the past to write twisty, turny historicals, and The Legacy of Halesham Hall was shortlisted for the Romantic Historical Novel of the Year in 2023.
My thoughts: this was a really fun, clever and entertaining mystery novel. Forced to relive the same day over and over, Pearl and her new friend Ellery first have fun with this strange new reality and then decide that they need to investigate the disappearance of the house’s owners the Brockhursts and the other guests connection to the couple, though they all deny knowing them.
As Pearl unravels the terrible secrets being kept and attempts to stop having to die every night and reset the timeline, she learns some shocking things, things that change everything she thought she knew.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own
The Civil War is over and Charles II, the ‘Merry Monarch’, is revelling in the throne of his murdered father and all the privileges and power that comes with it. Sharing the spoils is his favourite companion, the celebrated beauty, actress Nell Gwyn. Beloved of the English people, Nell has come a long way from selling oranges and a childhood in a brothel, but as her fortunes have turned, her sister Rose has taken a different path. Marriage to a feckless highwayman has left Rose in the grim Marshalsea prison and now she needs her sister’s mercy to help get her out. But Nell needs Rose too. A plot to steal the Crown Jewels has gone tragically wrong, and Nell’s future with her protector King is at risk. If Rose can’t solve the riddle of the jewels both Gwyn sisters will head straight to the Tower.
Present Day
Librarian and history enthusiast Jess Yates has hit rock bottom. With her ex behind bars for fraud, Jess needs to lay low – easier said than done with a celebrity sister. But Tavy has her uses. Her latest TV project involves renovating Fortune Hall, and she needs a house sitter while she’s jetting around the world. The opportunity is too good to miss, especially when Jess discovers that Fortune Hall has links to the infamous Nell Gwyn.
Slowly the house begins to reveal its mysteries, and secrets that have laid buried for centuries can no longer be ignored. Jess hears echoes from a tragic past and as she struggles to understand her sister, Jess feels ever closer to Rose Gwyn, the sister forgotten by history but who had the fate of her family in her hands.
Bestselling author Nicola Cornick is back with a captivating, gripping, unforgettable tale of treachery and treason, love and loyalty, perfect for fans of Barbara Erskine, Elena Collins and Christina Courtenay.
Nicola Cornick is a historian and author who works as a researcher and guide for the National Trust in one of the most beautiful 17th century houses in England. She writes dual time novels that illustrate her love of history, mystery and the supernatural, and focus on women from the footnotes of history. Her books have appeared in over twenty five languages, sold over half a million copies worldwide and been described as “perfect for Outlander fans.” Nicola also gives writing and history talks, works as a consultant for TV and radio, and is a trustee of the Wantage Literary Festival and the Friends of Lydiard Park.
My thoughts: This is my sort of historical fiction, fleshing out the stories of women, real ones and fictional ones, giving them a voice and a life that feels real and rich.
Rose Gwyn was a real person, sister of the famous Nell – mistress of Charles II and supposedly the reason women were finally allowed to act on stage. But Rose is overshadowed by her sister, both in records and in her life. Nell was beautiful and has gone down in history. Rose didn’t want the limelight and chose a different path.
Nicola Cornick has given Rose her own story, of theft and an unhappy marriage, then royal pardon and joy in her second marriage with Sir Guy Forster. A country life and probably trips to London for the theatre and to see Nell. It might seem like a quiet one, but I can imagine it was happy.
Rose’s story is revealed by Jess, herself the sister of a celebrity, in reality star Tavy, and with a rotter of a partner, jailed for fraud. She’s down on her luck and staying in her sister’s house, one that might have a link to the Gwyn sisters, if she can find it. A librarian by training, she’s the perfect person to rummage through the records and find out which of the Gwyn girls lived in Becote House. She also meets the charming Ethan Forster, whose family once owned the house, could he be a descendant of Rose and Guy?
With two delightful romances, intrigue, scandal and wonderful characters brought vividly to life, this is a treat to read.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Historical fiction meets crime fiction in The Djinn’s Apple, an award-winning YA murder mystery set in the Abbasid period—the golden age of Baghdad.
A ruthless murder. A magical herb. A mysterious manuscript.
When Nardeen’s home is stormed by angry men frantically in search of something—or someone—she is the only one who manages to escape. And after the rest of her family is left behind and murdered, Nardeen sets out on an unyielding mission to bring her family’s killers to justice, regardless of the cost…
Full of mystery and mayhem, The Djinn’s Apple is perfect for fans of Arabian Nights, City of Brass, and The Wrath and the Dawn.
Djamila Morani is an Algerian novelist and an Arabic language professor. Her first novel, released in 2015 and titled Taj el-Khatiaa, is set in the Abbasid period (like The Djinn’s Apple), but in Kazakh- stan. All of her works are fast-paced historical fiction pieces. She is yet to have a full-length work translated into English. Djamila lives in Relizane, in the west of Algeria.
You can find Djamila on Twitter @DjamilaMorani and Insta @morani_djamila
You can find Sawad on Twitter @sawadhussain and Insta @sawad18
My thoughts: this was a really sad and moving story of love and revenge, scholarship and the dangers of too much knowledge.
Nardeen’s family are brutally murdered, she swears she will avenge them. Taken in by the doctor Muallim Ishaq, she trains to be a doctor in the Bimaristan (hospital) in Baghdad, then a shining example of hygiene and medicine.
This brings her into contact with the man she believes is behind her family’s deaths. But her mentor is hiding secrets. When she learns what the Djinn’s Apple is and how far some will go to get it, she starts to understand exactly what her father, also a doctor, was caught up in.
A clever and intense, enjoyable mystery with a smart and rather brilliant young woman as its protagonist. A glimpse into a past much of the world is rather ignorant about.
The historical notes at the end provide context and firmly plant Nardeen in the Baghdad of its past, when it was a shining example of multi-cultural life and education, bringing it into the present and to life once more. A delight.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own
ramblingmads 