Author of Historical Fiction and Mysteries
An elegant retelling of the legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Spellbook of Katrina van Tassel is an enjoyable read, especially as the autumn draws near and we enter the Halloween season. The novel recreates the whirlwind courtship of wealthy heiress of Dutch descent Katrina van Tassel and Ichabod Crane, a newly arrived schoolteacher in reduced circumstances. Fearing... Continue Reading →
Among the slew of Tudor-era historical fiction novels The Locksmith's Daughter stands out with an interesting premise: its protagonist is a female whose primary identity is not that of someone's wife or mistress. On the contrary, Mallory Bright has a trade - of sorts. She can pick any lock. This being the 16th century, Mallory... Continue Reading →
I have been on a historical mystery binge lately, though with this latest novel I shifted gears in terms of time and place. Murder in the Oval Library by C.M. Gleason is set in Washington, DC during the first days of the Civil War. The day after the news reaches the US capital of the fall of... Continue Reading →
The massacre of mill workers that occurred on 16 August 1819 in Manchester, England - and resulted in 18 deaths and hundreds of injuries - is not one of those immediately recognizable, watershed moments in history. To be honest I had never heard of it until I read The Song of Peterloo, and I have been... Continue Reading →
In the 1750s London, Genevieve Planché - a young Huguenot (descendant of French Protestants who had been forced into exile) - dreams of becoming a painter. But hers is not an era conducive to such female ambition. The most Genevieve can hope for is a job as a decorator at a porcelain factory in Derby,... Continue Reading →
So many historical novels set in the 16th century focus on Tudor England (and sometimes also France, with a smattering of Italy) that I get very excited whenever a story is set in other parts of Europe. C.P. Lesley is on one of the few historical fiction authors that I know of whose work brings... Continue Reading →
Given the subject matter of Kate Quinn's latest novel The Huntress, it is difficult to use terms like "enjoyment" and "fun" to describe the reading experience. So I will limit myself to saying that it is among the best historical fiction I have read in a long, long time. The novel opens with a scene at... Continue Reading →
Artist Sandro Botticelli's painting Primavera is one of the most celebrated artworks of the Italian Renaissance. Breaking with many conventions of the past, it askewed religious imagery in favor of a secular theme of spring awakening. As such it garnered a great deal of criticism from Church authorities when it was painted in the late... Continue Reading →
When I read a well-executed historical novel, it typically sends me on a mini research bender where I try to read up on the era or the event as much as I can. I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon is one of those novels. The historical event it's woven around is the Russian Revolution - actually, two... Continue Reading →
