The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville

First settlement in New South Wales

Born in 1767 England, Daniel Rooke was a boy of great intelligence. He was exceptional with numbers and has a keen sense of curiosity about where numbers could lead him. Even though he had this intelligence or in part because of it he had trouble forming friendships with his peers.

Daniel was accepted to At Portsmouth Naval College on scholarship and became quite interested in astronomy. He becomes a Lieutenant in the Navy and goes on a mission to take convicts to New South Wales. On the ship he took on the role of navigator and once in Australia, that of Astronomer. Part of the mission was to get to know the natives and try to befriend them so that the convicts and others could live in safety.

As Astronomer, Rooke was given permission to build an observatory away from the camp to live and work in. After a time some of the natives started visiting him there and he built up a friendship with a young girl named Tagaran. She teaches him the native language and he keeps meticulous records about their conversations and the language. However, soon the relationship between the natives and soldiers deteriorates and Rooke has to choose between his friendship with the natives and duty.

I loved Kate Grenville's The Secret River (see my review) and was highly anticipating her next book. While I quite enjoyed it, I didn't love it like The Secret River. It took a long time for me to warm up to the character of Daniel Rooke . Once her started his relationship with the natives, I did warm up to him and loved reading about his special friendship with Tagaran. The problem is that it took well over 100 pages to lead up to this and it didn't last very long. I would have like to explore the relationship further. Also, in the last chapter when find out the Rooke had been married but nothing about the relationship. We are never introduced to his wife.

That said, I did enjoy The Lieutenant and would recommend it, especially to those interested in the first settlement in New South Wales.

3.5/5

Silk by Alessandro Baricco

In 1861, Herve Joncour has to leave his doting wife and his comfortable home in the small French town of Lavilledieu and travel across Siberia as far as Japan, in order to obtain uncontaminated silkworm eggs for breeding. There he meets a local baron's concubine and falls in love.

Alessandro Baricco’s Silk is a small story set in 1861’s France and Japan. With the silk industry developing rapidly, Hervé Joncourt is sent to Japan in search of silkworms for breeding. Japan is by that time closed to the world and the success of his enterprise is not guaranteed. But on his first voyage, Joncourt meets a local rich man, Hara Kei and a woman who is apparently his mistress, a woman with the face of a girl and who does not have oriental shaped eyes.

Joncourt and the woman will start a strange relationship where they don’t speak and hardly touch but that will lead Joncourt to travel three more times to Japan just to see her again. Baricco’s writing is lyrical and poetic as he describes the gazes exchanged by the star crossed lovers. There’s such longing in those descriptions and it is so well written that it is not difficult to imagine them.

While they are destined never to be as the woman belongs to Hara Kei and Joncourt is married to Hélène, his obsession with the woman will rule a big part of his life. Even if he is apparently happy with Hélène and she always receives him warmly when he arrives. But the power of love and desire will not affect only him as it will be apparent in the end.

There’s not much information about the other characters besides Joncourt, not even about the woman. But I found the information about the silk trade, silkworms and the Japanese culture very interesting. I wondered how Barricco could insert so many things in such a short story and one that is apparently much more dedicated to love, desire, lust and longing.

I am now very curious about the movie and to see if they did capture the dreamlike quality of the book.

Grade: 4/5

HT News

If you missed out on the giveaway that we held here recently, then there is another chance to win a copy of Christine Blevins' The Tory Widow over at Passages to the Past, along with a guest post from Christine.

Dovegreyreader is giving away three copies of Jude Morgan's book on the Brontes, The Taste of Sorrow.

Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O'Brien is being given away over at Historical-fiction.com.

Trish of Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? is giving away The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. Enter by May 31st, here.

Carey of The Tome Traveller's Weblog is giving away Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier. Enter by May 31st, here.

Dar of Peeking Between the Pages is giving away Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier. Enter by May 30, here.

Wendy of Musings of a Bookish Kitty is giving away Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Enter by May 30th, here.

Jessica of The Blue Stocking Society is giving away her gently used copy of The Last Queen by C. W. Gortner. Enter by May 24th, here.

Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit is giving away a signed copy of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo. Enter by May 30, here.

Books Love Jessica Marie is giving away Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland. Enter by May 27th, here.

Hasty Death by Marion Chesney

Eager to join the working classes, Lady Rose Summer has abandoned the comforts of her parents' home to become self-supporting. But life as a working woman isn't quite what Rose had imagined---long hours as a typist and nights spent in a dreary women's hostel are not very empowering when you're poor, cold, and tired. Luckily for Rose, her drudgery comes to a merciful end when she learns of
the untimely death of an acquaintance.Freddy Pomfret, a silly and vacuous young man, was almost certainly up to no good before he was shot dead in his London flat. When Rose discovers incriminating evidence pointing to several members of her class, she returns to London high society in order to investigate properly.
With the help of Captain Harry Cathcart and Superintendent Kerridge of Scotland
Yard, Rose prepares to do the social rounds---uncovering a devious blackmail
plot and an unexpected killer.

Another Edwardian murder mystery this is the second instalment in the series about the adventures of Lady Rose Summer and Captain Harry Cathcart.

After the end of book one where we met them and they solved a murder, it seems Lady Rose has some tender feelings for Captain Harry and wouldn’t be averse to a match between them. Unfortunately Captain Harry seems clueless and is ready to go on as a private investigator without Lady Rose.

Lady Rose is your usually spoiled debutante but you can’t help finding her funny and her attempts to lead a normal life. She decides to be a working girl, and, with some discreet help from Harry, manages to find employment in a bank with her companion and friend Daisy. One can’t help but shudder at the difficult like working women faced at the time having to live in hotels and in deficient conditions. Not what Lady Rose is used to so she quickly goes back to her parents and continues to drive them mad with not wanting to marry.

The mystery plot is not very strong and maybe that’s why I was more interested in Rose and Harry’s adventures than in finding out who murder a young gentleman who could have been blackmailing a number of people. But Rose and Harry soon turn their attentions to catching the killer and I followed along with them.

Parts of the book are actually quite funny, with Rose realising that working girls didn’t have an easier life as she thought or with Harry’s secretary falling for him, so that actually compensated for the fact that I wasn’t that interested in the mystery. By the end of the book Rose is nowhere near marriage but she and Harry devise a plan when her parents threaten to take her to India in search of a husband. They’ll pretend they’re engaged and that will leave Rose with more freedom for a while till they decide to part ways and she jilts him. I can’t wait for the next book to see how they are going to pull that one off.

Although the characters are very atypical I think Chesney can give a decent enough feel of the period in a light charming way.


Grade: 4/5

Winner Announcement!

When Christine Blevins recently guest posted for us on the theme of Why I Love Revolutions, she was gracious enough to include a giveaway of her latest release The Tory Widow. Today, we announce the winner of the giveaway. First, here's the book blurb from Amazon.

On a bright May day in New York City, Anne Peabody receives an unexpected kiss from a stranger. Bringing news of the repeal of the Stamp Act, Jack Hampton, a member of the Sons of Liberty, abruptly sweeps Anne into his arms, kisses her—and then leaves her to her fate of an arranged marriage…

1775: Nearly ten years have passed and Anne, now the Widow Merrick, continues her late husband’s business printing Tory propaganda, not because she believes in the cause, but because she needs the money to survive. When her shop is ransacked by the Sons of Liberty, Anne once again comes face to face with Jack and finds herself drawn to the ardent patriot and his rebel cause.

As shots ring out at Lexington and war erupts, Anne is faced with a life-altering decision: sit back and watch her world torn apart, or stand and fight for both her country’s independence and her own.

Without further ado, I am pleased to announce that the winner of this book and a Revolutionary America survival kit (lavender water and a hankie)is:

Ladydoc from Tilting at Windmills

Congrats to you Ladydoc. If you could please contact us via email to historical.tapestry @ gmail.com with your mailing address details.

HT News

One of my favourite HF reads this year was Jules Watson's excellent book, The Swan Maiden. Amy and I are on the same page about this book, and so I am delighted to give some linky love to Amy's interview with Jules Watson about it!

Danielle from A Work in Progress has unearthed a video of Sarah Waters talking about her work, including her latest novel, The Little Stranger. Sarah Waters is one of those authors I have been intending to read for years! Maybe one day soon.

After being a little quiet for a while Kelly from Loaded Questions is back with an interview with Lauren Willig, author of The Pink Carnation series, and also a giveaway of the latest book in that series, The Temptation of the Night Jasmine. As part of the interview Lauren gives us the book title of the next book and a little bit of detail about it!

The Sheriff of Nottingham by Richard Kluger

A revisionist version of the Robin Hood legend portrays Philip Mark, a poor Frenchman commissioned as Sheriff of Nottingham, who is caught between his high ideals and the tyrannical whims of King John.

There are many books around about Robin Hood and its time, it’s not so often that we find a book about the infamous Sheriff of Nottingham and when I found this one I just couldn’t resist picking it up.

It is very different from the sheriff of the legend though. Kluger decided to tell the story of the real Sheriff of Nottingham, Phillip Mark, a French man who rises to power under Kind John. Although the book is historical fiction and Kluger has real and fictional events and people in the story I think what is most interesting is the way he approaches the politics of the time. What exactly were the place and the power of the sheriff, where did the money come from and all the social structure that existed in Nottingham. Also the king’s foreign policies and long feud with the Pope are mentioned and explained. I found it an enlightening read for that period.

However the characters aren’t particularly attractive and as a novel I think it ends up being a bit dry. But if you’re interested in that period, like me, you will certainly find it appealing.

Grade: 4/5

HT News

There are a few giveaways around blogland at the moment of Daphne du Maurier novels. We have already mentioned one at Passages to the Past, but there are also giveaways at Literate Housewife, and at Peeking Through the Pages. Luckily they are not all the same book!

On her blog, Deanna Raybourn shared a good story on how a book trailer came into being for Silent on the Moor, and the trailer is good too.

Time for another author interview over at Michelle Moran's History Buff blog. This time she is interviewing Karen Cushman.

Good news for anyone who enjoyed Catherine Delors debut novel. She has just finished edits and sent the manuscript off to her agent, which means that For the King is one step closer to publication!

Finally, under the category of 101 more ways to waste time, Carolyn Crane from The Thrillionth Page has been having a little fun with LOLCat Builder and a certain book, that is a favourite of a lot of HF readers!

The Help By Kathryn Stockett

Amazing Journey

Skeeter Phelan just graduated college and is trying to go about her day to day living like a good white Southern woman should. She is a active member in the Junior league, she plays Bridge with her friends, and even goes out on a date that her best friend Hilly set her up with. Her over bearing mother wants nothing more for her daughter than to marry, live in a nice house, and have a black maid. So what' s wrong with her? Why isn't this enough?

Skeeter has her own aspirations and dreams big for a southern white woman. She wants to actually make use of her college degree and become a writer. She sends her resume to Harper and Row in New York City. Amazingly she actually hears back from the editor. Not with a job but with some sound advice. Skeeter quietly follows it.

On her path to becoming a writer, Skeeter starts to question the norms of the southern society she lives in. This is when she forges an unlikely friendship with two black maids. The book is narrated in turn by Skeeter and the two maids, Aibileen and Minny.

This is an amazing book about race relations in the south during the Civil Rights era. Reading this book was like Kathryn Stockett put me in a rocket and transported me back in time to the 1960's south! I lost hours of sleep and had a hard time prying the book out of my hands.

The character and plot development were stellar, that of a seasoned writer. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this is Stockett's first novel! I rarely read a book more than once because there are so many that I want to read however, this book is worth a return visit! I see quite a promising writing career ahead for Kathryn Stockett and cannot recommend this book highly enough!

5/5

HT News

Do you like your historical fiction with a naval or military flavour? If so, you might be interested in checking out the 2009 Historical Fiction catalogue from McBooks Press. A quick look through the catalogue had me reaching for my TBR list as there were several historical mysteries in there - definitely not only naval and military books, but there were lots of those types of books that I hadn't really heard of before.

Over at Historical-fiction.com Arleigh is giving away 3 copies of Rona Sharon's Royal Blood.

Amy of Passages to the Past is giving away Royal Blood by Rona Sharon. She is also giving away The Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier.

Jeri Westerson from Getting Medieval has her first guest blogger appearing on her blog. Author Vicki Delany writes a mystery series set in the 1890's Canadian gold rush which is a pretty interesting and unusual setting.

With kudos to Ash from Historicalfictiononline.com, there is great news about Legacy by Susan Kay. Legacy is quite often quoted as one of the best books around on Elizabeth I but it is incredibly difficult to locate, and quite often very expensive to buy! Next year though, it will be easier, as the book is being rereleased by Sourcebooks! I, for one, cannot wait to get my hands on it!

Mr Darcy's Dream by Elizabeth Aston

When Phoebe, a young niece of Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Darcy, is shattered by an unhappy romance, she retreats to Pemberley and is joined by kind-hearted Louisa Bingley, unmarried after three London seasons. Once the young ladies are situated in the house, several handsome strangers also arrive -- all hopeful of winning the girls' hearts. As preparations for the ball which Mr. and Mrs. Darcy
are to give at Pemberley gain momentum, mischief and love triangles abound, making life as difficult as possible for anyone connected with the Darcy family.

There seems to be many Austen sequels around lately and I haven't read that many. A few years ago I read Elizabeth's Aston Mr Darcy's Daughters and had a nice memory of it so when I won this one at Jane Austen's Today I decided to give it a go. Mr Darcy's Dream is book 6 in a series that Aston wrote about Austen P&P characters. Although it's not mandatory to read the others before this one I think it would actually improve the reading if you did because the Darcy's and the Bingley's have so many daughters that it is a bit difficult to locate everyone at first. The book can be read as a standalone though.

It tells the story of Georgiana Darcy's, now Lady Hawkins, daughter Phoebe. Phoebe has fallen in love with a young man called Arthur Stanhope. Mr Stanhope loves in return but unfortunately he doesn't belong to the same political party as Phoebe's father and he does have a bit of a rakish reputation so Sir Giles Hawkins denies them permission to marry and makes Phoebe promise she won’t see him again. While upset at first Phoebe readily agrees after she sees him with the woman she believes to be his mistress.

Out of sorts and unhappy Phoebe is sent to Pemberley for the summer. The Darcy's are away but are planning a ball for their return and Mr Darcy leaves Phoebe to do all the organising. To keep her company she has Louisa Bingley, Jane Bennet and Mr Bingley's daughter, who after 3 seasons in London still hasn't found a man who interests her. In the house is also Mr Drummond, the man who is redesigning Mr Darcy's gardens, he is a close friend of Mr Stanhope who in turn comes to Derbyshire ostensibly to visit his sister but in fact to speak to Phoebe. Stanhope pursues Phoebe who tries to avoid him and Miss Bingley and Mr Drummond develop a fondness for each other while talking about plants and plotting to bring their friends together.

While I felt there was great potential in the book I think most of the tension is nonexistent due to the fact that there is never a confrontation between Phoebe and Stanhope about their feelings. Phoebe never explains to him that it is the fact that she saw him with another woman that disappointed her and not just her father’s orders. Since there was no real conflict it is just the story of his pursuit of her. I would have liked to see a bit more of Louisa Bingley's romance too as she was such a nice secondary character. The same goes for Stanhope's sister, I was glad that her problems were at an end but I would have liked to see a bit more of her and her thoughts.

Grade: 4/5

HT News

I took a couple of days away from blogland, and have come back to a profusion of interesting posts, news and giveaways! I am still very behind on all my feeds so there may well be more that I haven't managed to read yet!

Over at Literate Housewife author Phillip Baruth has contributed a guest post about the inspiration behind his new novel. The Brothers Boswell which is set in the 18th century and features Samuel Johnson and James Boswell

Rona Sharon, author of Royal Blood, has guest posted at J. Kaye's Book Blog about researching for historical novels.

Arleigh from Historical-fiction.com is hosting another giveaway! This time it is your choice of one of three Philippa Gregory novels. Have a look at what books are on offer by clicking here.

I have really enjoyed the Deanna Raybourn novels I have read so far, and I love reading her blog. Now there's a chance to get to know her a little better as she is interviewed over at News and Random Musings about Historical Novels.

I was very happy to see that Susan from Reading the Past has her Visual Preview of the Fall Season up! I inevitably add multiple books to my already impossibly long TBR list, but it is worth taking the time to see what some of the books we may be raving about in a few months time are!

Elizabeth Chadwick has unveiled the cover of her upcoming Sourcebooks release, The Greatest Knight, along with news of the next Sourcebooks release. What does this mean? Well, it means that a previously hard to get author in the US will now be more readily available! As a big fan of Elizabeth Chadwick's writing, I definitely think this is a good thing!

Congrats to all the historical mystery novelists who were nominated for a Macavity award in the Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery category:

• Rhys Bowen: A Royal Pain (Berkley)
• Ward Larsen: Stealing Trinity (Oceanview)
• David Liss: The Whiskey Rebels (Thorndike/ Random House UK)
• Jeri Westerson: Veil of Lies (Minotaur)
• Karen Maitland: Company of Liars (Michael Joseph/ Delacorte)
• Kelli Stanley: Nox Dormienda (Five Star)

Breaking News

Our very own Teddy Rose has an interview with Robin Maxwell, as well as a giveaway of her book Signora da Vinci.

(Hint: Tell Teddy you found out about it here at HT and get an extra entry for the giveaway.)

The Last Queen by C W Gortner

Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country’s throne, is an enigmatic figure, shrouded in lurid myth. Was she the bereft widow of legend who was driven mad by her loss, or has history misjudged a woman who was ahead of her time? In his stunning new novel, C.W. Gortner challenges centuries of myths about Queen Juana, unraveling the mystery surrounding her to reveal a brave, determined woman we can only now begin to fully understand.

The third child of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand of Spain, Juana is born amidst her parents’ ruthless unification of their kingdom, bearing witness to the fall of Granada and Columbus’s discoveries. At the age of sixteen, she is sent to wed Philip, the Archduke of Flanders, as part of her parents’ strategy to strengthen Spain, just as her youngest sister, Catherine of Aragon, is sent to England to become the first wife of Henry VIII.

Juana finds unexpected love and passion with her handsome young husband, the sole heir to the Hapsburg Empire. At first she is content with her children and her life in Flanders. But when tragedy strikes and she inherits the Spanish throne, Juana finds herself plunged into a struggle for power against her husband that grows to involve the major monarchs of Europe. Besieged by foes on all sides, her intelligence and pride used as weapons against her, Juana vows to win her crown and save Spain from ruin, even if it could cost her everything . . . .

With brilliant, lyrical prose, author and historian C. W. Gortner conjures Juana through her own words, taking the reader from the somber majesty of Spain to the glittering and lethal courts of Flanders, France, and Tudor England. The Last Queen brings to life all the grandeur and drama of an incomparable era; and the singular humanity of this courageous, passionate princess whose fight to claim her birthright captivated the world.

As much as I love reading historical fiction that is set in England, every now and again I really appreciate a change of location and characters. If that sounds a bit like you, then you can't really go wrong with The Last Queen by C W Gortner.

Whilst a lot of historical fiction fans will be familiar with the life and times of Catherine of Aragon, I must confess that I knew very little about any of her other family members. In this book, the author focuses on the life of Juana, Catherine's older sister who married into the Hapsberg family, to Phillip of Flanders (known as Phillip the Handsome). What started out as an arranged marriage quickly turned into a passionate, loving marriage but just as quickly turns into a passionate marriage of what can be a far stronger emotion - loathing and hate.

Due to a series of tragedies that hit the Aragonese royal family, Juana becomes the rightful heir to the Castilian throne. She is however forced to fight for her birthright against not only against her husband who was determined to claim the throne for himself, but also against the church, her own remaining family members, and against the distrust of the idea of a queen reigning.

As husband and wife engage in political power plays to try and gain the upper hand, as family members betray each other, and as mother becomes separated both physically and emotionally from her children, we are left with a portrayal of a woman who many would have envied as having everything, but who is left with nothing. Some of the choices that Juana did make seem somewhat foolhardy and yes, slightly mad, and the author does not shy away from these events. The portrayal of Juana is handled with sensitivity and perceptiveness, and yet as a reader, it is quite easy to be swept up in the drama and the emotion of the story.

I am glad to have been introduced to this fascinating character who in some ways is a footnote in history for many non-Europeans. I will definitely be looking forward to reading more from C W Gortner.

Rating 4.5/5

Why I love Revolution! (including a giveaway!)

“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”

This sentence from Common Sense, by Thomas Paine (one of my favorite revolutionaries) sums it all up for me. It is perhaps ridiculously simplistic, but it is there – the idea that when things are bad, we always have the ability to change – to begin anew.

Spanning time and culture, and for reasons religious, political, or economic, it happens – and often. Revolution. People rising up to say enough is enough. Some lead, others follow, but together they muster the strength to sacrifice and struggle in an effort make their world into a better place.

One of the few books I owned as a kid was a worn textbook on world history that I purchased at a school book sale. A big, heavy volume, the chapters covered many eras and events up to World War II. The thick glossy pages were chock-full of illustrations, timelines and photographs. I would pour over it, reading about my own country’s history, and the histories of countries and peoples far away, and of civilizations and empires long gone. I think because of this early, broad exposure, I now can’t point to a favorite historical time period or place – but I can say I was always particularly drawn to the events involving insurrection, rebellion and revolution. Large or small, joyfully successful or dismally inept, these political cataclysms have all the stuff I look for in a great story.

Of course, rebellions don’t always end well. Spartacus’s slave uprising was eventually squashed, and he was crucified together with 6,600 of his followers on the Appian Way, the bodies left to hang for years as a warning to future rebels. The Jacobite Rising in 1745 did not restore Bonnie Prince Charlie to the throne. The confederacy of Native American tribes who banded together in Pontiac’s Rebellion did not drive the British from their lands, or put a stop to colonial expansion. History is rife with examples of failed efforts.

Revolution can also create strange dichotomies. The French Revolution propelled by cries of “liberté, égalité, fraternité” devolved into the Reign of Terror. Iconic Che Guevera is vilified as “the butcher of La Cabaña” by some, and also prayed to as “Saint Ernesto” by others.

And the revolutions that are deemed successful don’t ever seem to end in perfect solutions. The American Revolution created a radical form of self-governance based on a constitution that left women without a voice in representation, and the slavery issue unresolved.

For these reasons and more, revolutions in both the distant and recent past persist as the basis for novels, movies, and even Broadway musicals. Within rebellion there lies a classic David and Goliath quality – the weak making a courageous stand against the mighty. Revolts inherently abound in conflicts where courageous heroes and martyrs face brutal, tyrannical oppressors – creating the veritable petri dishes in which stories filled with daring, adventure and romance develop. Who can resist?

So I say “Up the Rebels!!”

Author Christine Blevins writes what she loves to read – historical adventure stories. Her debut novel Midwife of the Blue Ridge (August 2008) takes the reader to the wilds of 18th century colonial America, and was inspired by information unearthed while researching family history. Her second novel, The Tory Widow (April 2009) begins in New York City at the eve of rebellion, and is the result of a lifelong fascination with the foundations of American history and the revolutionary spirit. A native Chicagoan, Christine lives in Elmhurst, Illinois, along with her husband Brian, the younger two of their four children, and The Dude, a very silly golden-doodle. She is presently at work on the second novel in her Revolutionary War trilogy titled Hearts of Oak, which is due to be published in June, 2010, by Penguin/Berkley.

http://www.christineblevins.com

And now the giveaway details:


HUZZAH! Enter to win a signed copy of The Tory Widow, plus an Revolutionary America survival kit (lavender water and a hankie) by leaving a comment noting your favorite revolution. Entries will close on 15 May. Please note that entry is open to everyone! Good luck!

HT News

Anna Elliott is working really hard at getting her new book, Twilight of Avalon to the notice of readers. Today she is at Historical-fiction.com.

CW Gortner is continuing on his blog tour (check out other stops here), but he has also been interviewed at News and Random Musings About Historical Novels.

Have you read Susan Holloway Scott's book, The Royal Harlot? If not, you might be interested in entering the current giveaway at Passages to the Past.

Julianne Douglas from Writing the Renaissance has interviewed Robin Maxwell about her book, Signora da Vinci.

Cover Story: The Last Queen by C W Gortner

Following on from the Why I Love post that C W Gortner wrote for us a couple of days ago, we thought it would be fun to have a look at a few of the covers from The Last Queen.

Hardcover

Newly released paperback

Australian Paperback

Italian cover

To see other covers from around the world, check out the Books page at cwgortner.com.


Which is your favourite?

HT News

It's almost release date for Twilight of Avalon and Anna Elliott has been interviewed over at News and Random Musings about Historical Novels.and also by fellow author Michelle Moran.

Over at Blogs.com, Michelle Moran was invited to guest post and her list is the Top 10 History Blogs by Authors of Historical Fiction. How many of them are you reading?

Award time!

Lana from A Hoyden's Look at Literature has bestowed the I Love Your Blog award on us!

Thank you so much Lana! We really appreciate it.

The HT Seasons

HT SEASONS

The Seasons are a month long event held at Historical Tapestry every month of June. It spotlights an historical fiction author and includes book reviews, thematic guest posts, giveaways and interesting discussions. Below you can find the index for the past events:

Daphne du Maurier (2012)

Anya Seton (2010)

Jean Plaidy (2009)

Georgette Heyer (2008)

Why I Love Writing About the Renaissance

C W Gortner is the author of The Last Queen, which is being released in paperback on May 5. We are very pleased to be the first stop on his blog tour to celebrate that release.


The Renaissance was a brutal, splendid, quixotic era. The art, music, architecture, and people who populated this diverse time have enthralled me since childhood. Whether it’s a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, the terrors of Henry VIII; Juana of Castile’s haunting struggle, or the opalescent chateaux of François I, if it took place in the Renaissance I’m hooked.

Writing about the Renaissance isn’t something I chose; I actually feel as if it found me. Growing up in southern Spain during the final years of Franco’s reign, television was not a significant element of my life (we had few channels and sparse programming). Books, on the other hand, abounded in my world, and many of those books were about people who lived, fought, loved and died in the Renaissance. I grew up with Elizabeth I declaring she had the stomach of a king; with Queen Isabel’s crusade to unite Spain; Catherine de Medici and her mad sons; the Borgia princes, the Este sisters, Imperial Habsburgs, Martin Luther, the popes, the revolts of the Low Countries, and the narcissistic Valois. These people and events became as familiar to me as my own history; their vicissitudes and triumphs as real as anything going on around me. As a boy, I’d read about them and find out reading wasn’t enough: I wanted to embody their personas, live as they did. The abyss of the centuries separating us seemed to dissolve when I wrote; and thus writing became my time machine for traveling into the past. Once I started, I never wanted to stop.

Renaissance life could be incredibly opulent and incredibly cruel. Death was always a threat; but unlike people of today, the Renaissance seemed much more aware of it and thus lived all the more for it. Today, we have forgotten or neglected on many levels our vital link to nature, our part in a scheme that is much larger than us. The Renaissance re-discovered the paganism and wisdom of the ancient world and reshaped it for a time that was awakening from the shackles of medieval repression; and its celebration of the world’s beauty, of life and nature and all its gifts, infused its people with a robust vitality. Writing about their lives and their world requires dedicated research in order for me to bring this complex time alive, but the effort is always worth it. I don’t share or condone many of the Renaissance’s more unsavory aspects, such as the oppression of women and gay people, the cruelty to animals and religious fervor, the classicism, prejudices, xenophobia, warfare and racism that are all part of the time; but I do celebrate its incredible achievements, for it was a time whose beauty and contradictions will never be seen again.

Check back here over the next few days for further information, and at the following stops on his blog tour over the next few weeks:

Monday, May 4, '09 - Historical Tapestry
Tuesday, May 5, '09 - A Bookish Mom
Tuesday, May5, '09 - The Burton Review
Wednesday, May 6, '09 - A Bookish Mom
Wednesday, May 6, 09 - Passages to the Past
Thursday, May 7, '09 - Savvy Verse & Wit
Friday, May 8, '09 - Savvy Verse & Wit
Monday, May 11, '09 - Ramya's Bookshelf
Tuesday, May 12, '09 - A Girl Walks into a Bookstore
Wednesday, May 13, '09 - Introducing Writers! Radio Show Podcast with Kim Smith
Wednesday, May 13, '09 - Medieval Bookworm
Thursday, May 14, '09 - Jo-Jo Loves to Read
Friday, May 15, '09 - Bookgirl's Nightstand
Friday, May 15, '09 - Medieval Bookworm
Monday, May 18, '09 - Jenn's Bookshelf
Monday, May 18, '09 - Jo-Jo Loves to Read
Tuesday, May 19, '09 - Sam's Book Blog
Tuesday, May 19, '09 - The Bluestocking Society
Wednesday, May 20, '09 - Popin's Lair
Wednesday, May 20, '09 - The Epic Rat
Thursday, May 21, '09 - Marta's Meanderings
Thursday, May 21, '09 - The Epic Rat
Friday, May 22, '09 - The Book Connection
Monday, May 25, '09 - Book Addiction
Tuesday, May 26, '09 - The Book Faery Reviews
Wednesday, May 27, '09 - Cafe of Dreams
Thursday, May 28 - Cafe of Dreams
Friday, May 29 - A Book Lover

HT News

Arleigh from Historical-fiction.com has been on a roll lately with great giveaways. Her current giveaway is another. By answering one question, you have the chance to win all three of Karleen Koen's books - Through a Glass Darkly, Now Face to Face, and Dark Angels.

In preparation for her upcoming September release, Cleopatra's Daughter, Michelle Moran has launched a new website for the book. On her blog, Michelle has given us some details of some of the exciting things that are going to happen around release date.

Over at Historical Novel Review, Mirella Patzer has interviewed Australian author Margaret Tanner. I met Margaret at an event earlier this year, and it was interesting to listen to talk to her about her books. You can read the interview here.

Why I Love Arthurian Fiction

We are very pleased this week to bring you a new post in our Why I Love series, this time from debut author Anna Elliott. Anna's book, Twilight of Avalon: A Novel of Trystan and Isolde is released on 5 May.


In the Spring of 2007, I woke up from a very vivid dream of telling my mother that I was going to write a book about the daughter of Modred, son of Arthur and the great villain of the Arthurian cycle of tales. I'd been writing historical fiction and sending books around to agents and editors, always coming close to being published but never actually getting a book sold. I was four months pregnant with my first baby at the time, and had been starting to think that as much as I loved writing, maybe a professional career wasn't going to happen for me--or at least not for some time.

Something about this dream, though, just wouldn't let me go. I had been an English major in college with a focus on Medieval literature and history, and had fallen in love with the Arthurian world and the Arthur legends then. I started to do some preliminary research, reading books that explored the possibility of a real, historical Arthur--who if he existed at all would, scholars agreed, have been a 5th century British warlord, possibly one who made a victorious stand against the Saxon tribes invading Britain at the time--a far cry from the king of Camelot who's come down to us in the tales.

At the same time, though, I was reminded of why I'd fallen in love with the Arthur stories in the first place. The world of the legends is a recognizably historical one, part of our own past--and yet it's also a world that has the wonderful potential for magic and enchantment. So as I was reading, I started to build my own version of that world in my head--one that was a blending of legend and late 5th century British history, truth and tale.

In my dream, I'd known only that the main character of my book was going to be Modred's daughter. It was only when I was looking over name lists trying to decide on one for my heroine that the name "Isolde" leaped off the page at me and made me turn back to the story of Trystan and Isolde. The Trystan and Isolde legend is a later addition to the Arthurian cycle, very much grounded in a courtly, chivalric, 13th century world. And yet it, too, has its roots in earlier legends and traditions that still echo faintly in the story as it has come down to us today. I started to wonder what those earliest traditions might have been, what the story might have looked like at its first inception during the chaos and violence of Dark Age Britain, the "real" Arthurian age.

That was how the story started to frame itself in my mind as a trilogy: Twilight of Avalon, Dark Moon of Avalon, and Sunrise of Avalon. Three books that would weave together the scraps we knew of 5th century British history with the earliest versions of both the Arthurian and the Trystan and Isolde tales.

From the first, I'd known that my story was going to be a kind of sequel to the Arthur tales, a chance to explore what might have happened after the battle of Camlann, after Arthur was wounded and carried away to be healed on the mist shrouded Isle of Avalon. And that idea, too, held tremendous appeal for me, in that it gave me a chance to see a different side of the Arthurian story.

I think one of the most captivating, the most moving aspects of the Arthur stories is their ability to show us the highest potentials for human nobility, human honor and courage. And yet the story always ends in tragedy, with the battle of Camlann where Arthur falls, betrayed by all those he loved best.

His legend though, still lives, still gives us an ideal to strive for. That was the feeling that stayed with me in reading the original Arthur stories--and the feeling I wanted the characters in my trilogy to have, as well. The title of my book is Twilight of Avalon, because in many ways it's set at a turning point, the end of the age defined by Arthur the king. But I wanted my Trystan and Isolde to be able to hold onto the ideals of the Arthurian world, even if that world was forever gone. Because even in the wake of tragedy, life goes on--and there's always the possibility that someday those ideals will end in victory instead of defeat. For me, that was one of the joys of writing Twilight of Avalon: to know that this time, in my small corner of the great Arthurian tapestry, the story didn't have to end at Camlann.

Thank you so much for guest posting for us today Anna. You can find out more about Anna and her book on her website at www.annaelliottbooks.com

HT News

Are you on Facebook? Did you know that you can see what we are up to here at Historical Tapestry while you are over there through Networked Blogs? Check out our page here.

That's not what I was actually meaning to post about tonight, but I was reminded of it when Jen from Literate Housewife posted about the May book of the month for the Historical Fiction Lovers book club which is hosted on Facebook. I haven't managed to read any of them yet, but this month the book is The Firemaster's Mistress which I read a few years ago now and really enjoyed.

Further update on the release date for The Endless Forest. Rosina Lippi, who writes as Sara Donati, has now confirmed a definite release date which is 26 January 2010. We also have a first look at the cover art for the final book in the Into the Wilderness series.