historical fiction

Uprising – a novel set in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest

Today, I am shining the light on Paul Bernardi’s book, Uprising,  as part of his Coffee Pot Book Club tour,. Think 1067, think humiliated AngloSaxons in a country taken over by Normans. This is merely the background to Ms Bernrdi’s book featuring Oslac and his Danish antagonist Gundulf. Uprising, Rebellion, Book #2 Summer 1067. Northumbria.

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Falling Pomegranate Seeds – Ms Dunne’s fabulous retelling of Katherine of Aragon’s story

The first book I ever read by Wendy J Dunne was The Light in the Labyrinth. “Oh, God,” I muttered as I opened it. “Another Anne Boleyn story.” I probably pulled a face, because, yes, I do feel the Anne – Henry VIII story is overly exploited in historical fiction. But this version blew my

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The Ballad of Mary Kearney – an Irish story as told by Katherine Mezzacappa

Today, I am happy to shed some light on a book I recently read and very, very much liked. It is sort of fortunate Ms Mezzacappa is presently on tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club, thereby giving me the opportunity to share my review of her book, The Ballad of Mary Kearney.  Blurb:  ‘I

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Marching on – Alison Morton on women making history as we speak

We are reaching the end of an entire month focused on the women of the past and I hope you have enjoyed the eclectic selection of “heroines” as presented by all my lovely guests. But history is not done–it is written every day as exemplified by Alison Morton in her post below. And the events

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And on we March – today with Clare Flynn’s fascinating post about Philippa Fawcett

I am a big, big fan of Clare Flynn. Her books are the kind of books I read in one sitting with a major “DO NOT DISTURB” sign over my head. Clare blends effortless prose with historical tidbits, casually inserted facts that transport her readers to her chosen period, so yes, I am looking forward

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Marching through history – meet the sculptor Amelia!

Today, Nancy Jardine is back. Remember Nancy? She kicked off this month of female history with a post about Cartimandua, ancient British queen. Today, she has frog-leaped forward to the 19th century, with a post about a woman I had never heard about. But Nancy, I promise: next time I am in Edinburgh, I will

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Marching through history – a dark, dark stain

As long as human civilisation has existed, a dark stain has existed right alongside: slavery. Sophisticated cultures have arisen and functioned based on slavery. Ancient empires, the predecessors of most countries that are still around—once, slaves was an integral part of the economy. In early medieval times, the Slavic tribes were repeatedly raided for new

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Marching through history – the innocents: of the persecution of witches

There’s a huge, huge blot on the history of Europe. It starts spreading in the late 15th century and stains the years all the way up to the early 18th century. Years and years of women being persecuted, tortured and often executed-for being a witch. We, in this day and age, know there are no

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Marching through history – Elizabeth St. John on women as healers in the 17th century

In 2024, Liz St.John’s latest’s book, The King’s Intelligencer, was selected as Book of the Year by the Coffee Pot Book Club. So well-deserved! It was one of my top three reads in 2024, and it is set in the late 17th century, seguing on to Liz’s excellent series of books portraying her St. John

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Marching through history – diving into Elizabethan times with Tony Riches

The first book I ever read by Tony was about Owen Tudor, the man who married Henry V’s widow. Since then, I have read all his books, enjoying how he has worked his way through the Tudor timeline. Along the way, he has produced some intriguing portraits of various women, women like Charles Brandon’s fourth

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