The following is a guest post by Judy Alter, author of The Gilded Cage. I sort of slid sideways into a career as a writer. In college, I had no thought of a career—I was going to get married and some man would support me, while I read Silver Screen and ate bonbons—or maybe while I read To Kill a Mockingbird and ate raw veggies. It was the typical late ‘50s…
Tag: historical fiction
Jeannette de Beauvoir
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Deadly Jewels by Jeannette de Beauvoir
Martine LeDuc is a publicity director for the city of Montreal. When Patricia Mason, a doctoral student at McGill University, tells her that the British crown jewels were stored in the Sun Life building in Montreal during World War II, and that some of the gems might have been stolen, Martine has no choice but to investigate to avoid a PR disaster. Soon they find a skeleton and 3 jewels in…
Review
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The Rivals of Versailles by Sally Christie
As a child, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson meets a gypsy that tells her she will one day be the king’s mistress and a very powerful woman. As she belongs to a modest bourgeois family, this prediction seems very outlandish, but her mother believes it and makes sure Jeanne gets the proper education of a lady. With a little help from her godfather’s connections at court, Jeanne manages to meet Louis XV, and they start a…
Liza Perrat
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Spirit of Lost Angels by Liza Perrat
Victoire Charpentier is a young woman living in Lucie-sur-Vionne, France, at the end of the 18th century. When her father dies in a coach accident and her mother is drowned for witchcraft, she has no choice but to go to Paris to work as a scullery maid for a noble family. Overwhelmed by the big city and abused by the Marquis who employs her, life doesn’t get any easier for…
Alexander Chee
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The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
Lilliet Berne is a famous opera singer in 1882 Paris when an author approaches her to ask her to star in an opera he has just finished writing. When she reads it, she realizes that the story relates her own secret past. As she tries to discover the person who betrayed her confidence, she remembers her humble beginnings as an orphan from Ohio, her travels in Europe with a circus and her…
Liza Perrat
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Wolfsangel by Liza Perrat
The novel starts in 1943, when the German army is occupying France. In Lucie-sur-Vionne, a small village near Lyon, the enemy has requisitioned everything that can be of use or that can make a profit. Because her father has been sent to a work camp in Germany, Céleste Roussel wants to be more involved in the Resistance, especially as her sister, her brother and his best friend are active members….
Review
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The Sisters of Versailles by Sally Christie
The five Mailly-Nesle sisters lived in early 18th century France. After their mother passed away, the sisters were separated. Louise, the eldest had just gotten married and was a lady-in-waiting to the queen. Pauline and Diane had been sent to a convent, but they dreamt of living in Versailles. Hortense and Marie-Anne stayed with their aunt in a pious and quiet environment. Eventually, four of the five sisters would successively…
Michael Schmicker
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The Witch of Napoli by Michael Schmicker
Tomaso Labella is a young photographer working for a local paper in Naples, Italy, when he takes a picture that makes his career: Alessandra Poverelli levitating a table during a private seance. For almost 20 years, Tomaso follows the medium as she travels around Europe while scientists study her. One man in particular is interested in Alessandra’s unusual abilities: Dr. Camillo Lombardi, a professor in abnormal psychiatry at the University of…
David Lawrence-Young
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Mary Norton: Soldier Girl by D. Lawrence-Young
The following is a guest post by D. Lawrence-Young, author of Mary Norton: Soldier Girl. If you would like to write a guest post on my blog, please send me an e-mail at contact@cecilesune.com. About the Book Mary Norton is a 17th-century young woman who runs away from home in Bristol to escape from her violent and abusive father. Uneducated and unwilling to become just another servant or someone’s whore she…
Emma Donoghue
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Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
It is the end of summer 1876, and San Francisco has been struck by a heat wave and a smallpox epidemic. Jenny Bonnet, a frog-hunting woman dressed in men’s clothes, is riding her bicycle when she collides with Blanche Beunon, a burlesque dancer and prostitute. This is the start of an unexpected friendship that will end a month later when Jenny is shot dead in a saloon at San Miguel Station. Blanche is…