Why I Love The 17th Century: Guest Post by Andrea Zuvich, Author of The Stuart Vampire

Please join me in welcoming Andrea Zuvich, author of The Stuart Vampire, to Historical Tapestry! Below you will find not only her wonderful guest post on why she loves the 17th century (and why you should as well!) but more information about her wonderful book. So without further ado...

 

Why I Love the 17th Century, Warts and All

By Andrea Zuvich

People often ask me why I love the 17th-century. It’s hard to reply in a succinct manner. So, I’ll go about it in a slightly different manner, if I may…

What do you think of when someone mentions the 17th-century? Does an image of a bunch of moody men in black clothes and funny hats pop into your head? Do you think “that’s that boring period in time after the Tudors”? Well, let’s stop that right now!

The 17th-century has absolutely everything any history lover could want.

Are you a food lover? A chocoholic? A coffee addict? Tea person? What about pineapples? Orange juice? Well, all these things were introduced into parts of Europe or made fashionable during the 17th-century. Are you fond of salads? Well, John Evelyn, an English diarist and author, even wrote a book on salads (Acetaria). Although candy bar chocolate hadn’t been invented yet, they had hot chocolate - which totally rocks.

Are you more interested in warfare and action? Good grief! There were people colonising far away lands, trading with foreign countries - that’s quite exciting already. There were massive wars, such as the bloody, horrific, English Civil Wars; the Anglo-Dutch Wars, meaning a war between England and Holland (Dutch Republic/United Provinces); The Nine Years' War.

If fashion is more your thing, the styles are as varied as you could wish for. In the early 17th-century, clothes were still very much like the Tudor era (Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603), and while there was a time when black and sombre attire was fashionable, that later changed and the well-dressed often wore sumptuous, colourful gowns. Ruffs, lace, stays, high heels for both sexes, periwigs, and ribbons - have a look at the different fashions and you’ll see how interesting the clothing was then. The Baroque was an aesthetic which approves of flamboyant splendour.

Are you well into art? Well, the 17th-century had some of the biggest names in art history. Van Dyck, Rubens, Velazquez, El Greco, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Kneller, Caravaggio, Gentileschi, Van de Velde, are just a few of the great artists who thrived during the 17th-century. They produced truly stunning works of art, the like of which has never been equalled (in my opinion).

Music? Great Baroque composers such as Henry Purcell, Alessandro Stradella, Marin Marais, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Charpentier, Rameau, Albinoni, Allegri, Vivaldi, Blow, Handel, and more gave us such amazing music that continues to be popular to this day. All of us can recognise Pachelbel’s Canon in D, surely? That’s because Baroque music is timeless.

Still not enough for you? Well, perhaps literature and theatre appeal more to you? Perhaps the fact that some of the greatest playwrights in history lived in the 17th-century? In England, we had William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, John Vanbrugh, John Fletcher, John Dryden. In Spain, we had Lope de Vega, Miguel de Cervantes, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Juan Vélez de Guevara. In France, there was Molière, Racine, and Corneille.

If philosophy and science floats your boat, try 17th-century philosophers & scientists: Descartes, Hooke, Newton, Leibniz, Cassini, Galileo. Seriously, just a small search on the NASA website will show you that many moons, astroids, and other things in space are named after 17th-century scientists. Go on, have a look.

So there you have it. All of the above are just the tip of the very large iceberg of reasons why I love the 17th-century. It’s filled with everything: good, bad, smelly, beautiful, and just plain old fascinating stuff. I’ve been researching this period in time for many years now. Am I bored? Never!

Thank you.

 

Thank you so much, Andrea, for taking the time to share your thoughts on the 17th century! I don't think anyone could call it boring!

 

Readers, continue on below for more information on Andrea's book, The Stuart Vampire!

 

 



 

Publication Date: October 31, 2013
Self-Published
eBook; 215p

Genre: Historical Fiction/Horror/Paranormal


Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester, the youngest brother of King Charles II is a handsome man with sound principles. When the twenty-year-old prince contracts smallpox in 1660, however, his life takes a decidedly sinister turn. Obsessed with Henry from afar, Contessa Griselda di Cuorenero – one of the Devil’s concubines – turns him into a vampire and plunges him into the world of night. But Henry soon discovers that not all horrors are of the paranormal kind…

In the unnaturally close village of Coffin’s Bishop, Henry encounters a severely abused young woman – a woman who has suffered under humans who are more monstrous than vampires. Could love save them from the evil they have known? And at what cost?

Henry must choose between his humanity and his monstrous, insatiable desire for human blood.

From the author of “His Last Mistress,” The Stuart Vampire is a dark gothic tale in the vein of The Monk.

Praise for The Stuart Vampire

“An intriguing historical with a darkly gothic twist, I enjoyed The Stuart Vampire and would recommend it to anyone with a taste for period horror.” – Erin Davies.

“Once again Ms. Zuvich brings the setting to life, she paints a vivid picture of the Restoration period – intertwined with drama & romance.” – (Amazon Review)

“A great mix of historical fiction and vampires -what’s not to love?! I really enjoyed this book,I liked the unique blend of fact and fiction!
A fascinating time period anyway,with the added bonus of introducing vampires into the Stuart line it kept me hooked until the end! The author obviously knows her Stuart and 17th Century history and facts were woven in amongst the drama of a secret darker world of evil,all happening during the time of the plague in London.The book was full of great descriptions of this time,I could almost smell it!! Would definitely recommend this book.” – (Amazon Review)

Buy the Book

Amazon US
Amazon UK

 

About the Author

Andrea (aka The Seventeenth Century Lady) is a 17th-century historian, historical consultant, and historical fiction authoress. His Last Mistress – a biographical fiction novella about the Duke of Monmouth and Lady Henrietta Wentworth was published by Endeavour Press, London in 2013. She received double BA degrees in History and Anthropology from the University of Central Florida, and continued her History studies with the University of Oxford and Princeton University. Zuvich has been filmed for NTR television in The Netherlands, talking about William III, and was recently on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour discussing Queen Anne. She was one of the original developers and leaders on The Garden History Tours at Kensington Palace, London. Zuvich lives in Windsor, England.

For more information please visit Andrea’s website. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

The Stuart Vampire Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, October 13

Review at A Chick Who Reads

Tuesday, October 14
The Stuart Vampire Launch Party @ 12:00pm-2:00pm EST

Wednesday, October 15

Review at Kinx’s Book Nook
Interview at Flashlight Commentary

Thursday, October 16

Review & Guest Post at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book

Friday, October 17

Guest Post at Historical Fiction Connection

Monday, October 20

Guest Post at Historical Tapestry

Tuesday, October 21
Review at The True Book Addict

Wednesday, October 22
Interview & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Friday, October 24
Spotlight & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages



 

Why I Love the Quakers in Colonial Pennsylvania: Guest Post by Kari Edgren, Author of Goddess Born

My general fondness for the province of Pennsylvania began in college while I earned a political science degree with an emphasis in early American political thought. During this time I read works from Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin, and studied such important events as the First and Second Continental Congresses, the Walking Purchase and the numerous epidemics brought on by poor living conditions, climate, and the constant influx of immigrants.

Yet despite the many attempts of both the British and the microorganism to bring “Penn’s City” to it’s knees, Philadelphia remained the most important city in the Colonies during the eighteenth century, even gaining the nickname of the “American Athens” by the latter part of the century. Add some buckled shoes, knee breeches, and a tricorned hat to that independent spirit, and who wouldn’t be smitten? 

Twenty years later, my interest in Colonial Pennsylvania persevered—“Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto the inhabitants thereof”—except this time I saw it as the perfect setting for a historical novel that happened to call for indentured servants, wheat farms, an Irish immigrant family, and an epidemic. It also helped that a woman had been accused of witchcraft in the colony in 1728, which isn’t surprising considering the high number of Germans and Scotch-Irish in the population. 

And then there were the Quakers, those quirky, peace-loving people immortalized for modern day on the oatmeal box. From the first rough outline, I knew they would play a critical role in the story due to their overwhelming presence in the colony. But when it came to basic character sketches, I had surprisingly little knowledge about this group of dissenters other than what appeared in the Eighteenth century novels, History of Tom Jones, a Foundling and Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress. I started to dig, and the deeper I got the more I realized how far their peculiar teachings had set this colony apart from the other twelve.

The Society of Friends, or Quakers, came into being near the end of The Protestant Reformation in the Seventeenth century. Their founder George Fox espoused to the extreme the core Reformation ideal of removing all intermediaries between God and the individual. Needless to say, this often put his teachings at odds with established religious leaders and monarchies that derived their power from God. Between 1660 and 1685 around 15,000 Quakers—one in three—were imprisoned in England for such crimes as blasphemy, public speaking, refusal to swear an oath and disturbing the peace.

Something had to give, and on March 4, 1681, a prominent Quaker, William Penn, accepted a land grant of approximately 600,000 square miles from King Charles II in lieu of a large debt owed by the crown to his father, Admiral Penn. He used the land to establish a haven for religious freedom known as the “Holy Experiment.” Fed up with being tossed in jail and otherwise persecuted, Quakers came to Pennsylvania in droves.  

Along with their plain dress and speech, they brought with them certain principles that would become ingrained in the American ethos, primarily, equality, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state.

Quakers embraced true equality centuries ahead of their time. And I don’t just mean for white male property owners. Everyone was included—men and women, European, Native Indian and African, rich and poor. A person’s gender, race, or financial status was irrelevant as all people were the same under God. Though the practice sometimes fell short of the principle, they did an overall decent job in putting their words to action. Women could speak and vote in public meetings, and like male members, could travel unaccompanied to preach and be recognized with the gift of ministry. Before relations soured with the Walking Purchase, Native Indians and whites sat on juries together. And The Society of Friends was the first organization ever to officially ban slavery.

Stemming from their understanding of equality, Quakers refused to be respecters of persons. They did not acknowledge titles, regardless of how many generations a dukedom could be traced back. They also did not bow or curtsey or show deference of any kind. By virtue of being human, the king had the same intrinsic worth as the laundress and was treated accordingly, with respect for the person rather than a list of noble titles. This, along with their refusal to swear oaths often led to the misconception that they were one step away from treason.

In truth, Quakers considered government essential to civil society. William Penn in particular supported Quaker involvement in political office. When the government was established in Pennsylvania, he swore that, “You shall be governed by laws of your own making, and live a free and, if you will, a sober and industrious people. I shall not usurp the right of any, or oppress his person.” People were needed to create laws and maintain order. What they weren’t needed to do was oppress or elevate themselves above others, nor at any time insert themselves between the individual and God.

My gushing aside, Quakers would never have been voted most fun for a night out—that bawdy, rambunctious bunch stayed home in England. And as they were pacifists, I would have picked the Puritans or Anglicans for my team in any of the armed conflicts that occurred during the time. All the same, as an avid admirer of early American thought, I am thankful for the strength of character that allowed William Penn to write, “This prison shall be my grave before I budge a jot, for I owe my conscience to no mortal man.”

 

Thank you so much, Kari, for this fascinating post! I had no idea the Quakers were so far ahead of their times when it came to equality and freedom.

 

 

Be sure to come back tomorrow for my review of Goddess Born. And continue below for more information about the author, her novel and the other stop on the blog tour.

 

 

 

 

Publication Date: May 29, 2014
Carina Press
eBook; ISBN: 9781426898365

 

Genre: Historical/Fantasy/Paranormal/New Adult/Romance

 

 

The power to heal is her divine gift, the fear of discovery, her mortal curse.

Selah Kilbrid is caught between two worlds. A direct descendant of the Celtic goddess Brigid, she is bound by Tuatha Dé law to help those in need. Yet as a human, she must keep her unique abilities hidden or risk being charged for a witch. In 1730 Pennsylvania, the Quaker community of Hopewell has become a haven for religious freedom—and fanaticism—and there are those who would see her hanged if the truth were revealed.

For eighteen years, Selah safely navigates the narrow gap between duty and self-preservation, until the day a prominent minister uncovers her secret. Obsessed with her power, Nathan Crowley disregards her betrothal to a distant cousin from Ireland and demands marriage in exchange for his silence. Selah stalls for time, but when news reaches the Colonies of her cousin’s death, time has run out.

Rather than submit to Nathan, Selah coerces a stranger to pose as her husband. It’s a good plan—her only plan—even though Henry Alan harbors his own dark secrets. But when she returns to Hopewell a married woman, the real fight has just begun. As unseen forces move against her, Selah doesn’t know which poses the greater danger—a malignant shadow closing in from outside or the internal fire that threatens to consume her heart.

Book Two in the Goddess Born series will be published in November 2014 and Book Three in June 2015.

Buy the eBook

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Carina Press

About the Author

Kari Edgren did not dream of becoming a writer. Instead, she dreamed of everything else and was often made to stay inside during kindergarten recess to practice her letters. Despite doting parents and
a decent school system, Ms. Edgren managed to make it through elementary school having completed only one book cover to cover – The Box Car Children, which she read approximately forty-seven times. Things improved during high school, but not until she read Gabrielle Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude in college, did she truly understand the power of a book.

Ms. Edgren aspires to be a Vulcan, a world-acclaimed opera singer, and two inches taller. She resides in the Pacific NW where she spends a great deal of time torturing her husband and children with strange food and random historical facts. Ms. Edgren hasn’t stopped dreaming, but has finally mastered her letters enough to put the stories on paper.

For more information please visit Kari Edgren’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Sign Up for Kari Edgren’s Newsletter.

Goddess Born Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, September 22

Review at Peeking Between the Pages

Tuesday, September 23

Review at By the Book Reviews
Spotlight at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, September 24

Review at The Readers Hollow
Interview at Manga Maniac Café

Thursday, September 25

Review at Book Babe

Friday, September 26

Review at Curling Up With a Good Book

Sunday, September 28

Spotlight & Excerpt at Casual Readers

Monday, September 29

Review at Unabridged Chick
Review at The Mad Reviewer

Tuesday, September 30

Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!
Interview & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, October 1

Review & Excerpt at Book Lovers Paradise

Thursday, October 2

Review at Books, Etc.
Review at 100 Pages a Day – Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Friday, October 3

Review at So Many Books, So Little Time

Monday, October 6

Review at Bookish
Guest Post at Historical Fiction Connection

Tuesday, October 7

Spotlight & Giveaway at The Flashlight Reader

Wednesday, October 8

Review at A Bookish Affair

Thursday, October 9

Review at The True Book Addict

Friday, October 10

Review at CelticLady’s Reviews

Monday, October 13

Review at Book Nerd
Interview at The Maiden’s Court

Tuesday, October 14

Review at I’d So Rather Be Reading

Wednesday, October 15

Review at Let Them Read Books

Thursday, October 16
Review at A Book Geek
Guest Post at Historical Tapestry

Friday, October 17
Review at Historical Tapestry



Why I Love American History: Guest Post by Becky Lower, Author of The Duplicitou​s Debutante

I’ll admit it. When I took American History in high school and college, it was not my favorite subject. I hated memorizing dates and spending days immersed in talking about battle strategy. Yuck! Sure, there were events along the way that captured my interest, such as the reason behind the Civil War, the culture and treatment of the American Indian, the western expansion, the wagon trains heading west from St. Joseph and St. Louis every spring. I gobbled up the Little House books when I was a child, and later consumed every Zane Grey western I could find.

Then, I began reading romance novels. I loved the lavish gowns depicted in the Regency era. I began collecting fashion plates from Godey’s Lady’s Book and La Mode Illustree. I know the value of a Frederick Worth gown. I never became a fashionista because my mind continually compared today’s fashions with the lush gowns from the past. And capris, even with killer heels, fall way short of the mark.

When I started my career as an author, I took a few twists and turns before I found my historic voice. I resisted it for a long time, since I didn’t want to write books set in England, nor did I want to write westerns. I thought there must be a way to combine my love of 19^th century fashion with the bits of American history that I did find appealing. It took a man’s point of view to get me going in the right direction. He pointed out, in one of our writing sessions, that the Cotillion was not relegated just to English society, and the Cotillion is still a part of American culture today. My research led me to New York City in the mid 1850s. What a lucky set of circumstances it turned out to be.

America in the middle of the 1800s was beginning to have tensions between the North and the South, which would finally culminate in the Civil War in 1861. But there was so much going on in the rest of the country as well. Things that were never covered in an American History class. Little nuggets of history, insignificant events by themselves, but which made for a colorful, lush landscape in which to drop my characters. The expansion of the railroads across the country, the Pony Express, the wagon trains, which were still carrying, brave families westward. These are the events that get me excited. Add to that, the plight of women in society at the time. The rights of women were being addressed even in the 1800s. Amelia Bloomer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Elizabeth Blackwell and Clara Barton were only a few of these strong ladies who defied convention. These women forged the way for all of us who followed.

If American History had been taught through the eyes of the people who were living the events, rather than by dealing with the memorization of dates and names, it would have made for a much livelier experience for me. My Cotillion Ball Series features the Fitzpatrick family’s nine children. Each gets his or her own book, and the years roll on from 1855 through the Civil War. It was never my intention to write a Civil War saga, but I can’t ignore it, either. So, the last two books in my series will have reference to the war, but only in an incidental role. The story of how the soldiers who died in battle were brought home to be buried is a fascinating tale, little known and largely ignored. Those are the kinds of events I love to uncover.

My appreciation of American history has grown over the course of this series. Once I write “The End” on the ninth book, I will be immensely sad.

Or, I’ll start writing the next series. The Gilded Age intrigues me, too.

The Duplicitous Debutante by Becky Lower

 

 

 

 

 

Publication Date: September 1, 2014
Crimson Romance
Format: eBook

 

Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Cotillion Ball Series

 

 
In 1859, ladies of New York society were expected to do three things well: find a husband, organize a smooth-running household, and have children.
 
Rosemary Fitzpatrick’s agenda is very different. As the author of the popular Harry Hawk dime novels, she must hide her true identity from her new publisher, who assumes the person behind the F. P. Elliott pen name is male. She must pose as his secretary in order to ensure the continuation of her series. And in the midst of all this subterfuge, her mother is insisting that she become a debutante this year.
 
Henry Cooper is not the typical Boston Brahmin. Nor is he a typical publisher. He’s entranced by Mr. Elliott’s secretary the moment they meet, and wonders how his traditional-thinking father will react when he brings a working class woman into the family. Because his intentions are to marry her, regardless.
 
Rosemary’s deception begins to unravel at the Cotillion ball, when Henry recognizes her. The secretarial mask must come off, now that he knows she is a member of New York society. But she can’t yet confess who she truly is until she knows if Henry will accept her as F. P. Elliott.
The more time they spend together, the closer they become. But when Rosemary reveals her true identity to him, will Henry be able to forgive her or has her deceit cost her the man she loves?
 
 

Praise For The Duplicitous Debutante

 
 
“I cannot tell you enough how much I love Becky Lower’s books. She is by far my favorite historical romance author, and I would recommend anything she writes to everyone I meet. She just has a way with words and has a brilliantly warm and classic, romantic heart.” -HEAs Are Us
 
“If you are a historical romance fan, love multi-layered characters and enjoy a great story, please read this series.” -The Reading Café
 
“Kudos to Ms. Lower for writing a series that is different, the setting and subject matter unique and quite engaging.” -Deborah Cordes, Author
 

 

The Cotillion Ball Series

 
 
Book One: The Reluctant Debutante
Book Two: The Abolitionist’s Secret
Book Three: Banking on Temperance
Book Four: The Tempestuous Debutante
Book Five: Blinded by Grace
Book Six: The Duplicitous Debutante
 
 

About the Author

 
 
Amazon best-selling author Becky Lower has traveled the country looking for great settings for her novels. She loves to write about two people finding each other and falling in love, amid the
backdrop of a great setting, be it present day middle America or on a covered wagon headed west in the 1850s. Contemporary and historical romances are her specialty. Becky is a PAN member of RWA and is a member of the Contemporary and Historic RWA chapters. She has a degree in English and Journalism from Bowling Green State University, and lives in an eclectic college town in Ohio with her puppy-mill rescue dog, Mary. She loves to hear from her readers at beckylowerauthor@gmail.com.
 

For more information please visit Becky Lower’s website and blog. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Pinterest, and sign up for her Newsletter.

 

The Duplicitous Debutante Blog Tour Schedule

 
 
Tuesday, October 7

Interview & Giveaway at Historical Romance Lover
Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past
 
Wednesday, October 8

Spotlight at Just One More Chapter
 
Thursday, October 9
Review at The Lit Bitch
 
Friday, October 10

Review & Giveaway at Fic Central
Spotlight & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages
 
Monday, October 13
Review at What’s On The Bookshelf
 
Tuesday, October 14
Review at SOS Aloha
Spotlight & Giveaway at Susan Heim on Writing

 Wednesday, October 15

Guest Post at Historical Tapestry
 
Thursday, October 16 Spotlight at Flashlight Commentary



Why I Love Outsider Heroes and Heroines: Guest Post by Piers Alexander, Author of The Bitter Trade

Hester Prynne, standing on a Boston scaffold, waiting to be marked with a scarlet “A”.

Captain Jack Aubrey, sitting year after year in the corridors of the Admiralty, knowing his great achievements will not earn him a promotion.

Becky Sharp, ignoring the rules governing women’s behavior as she bulldozes her way through English society.

And Tom Jones, an illegitimate abandoned baby boy, acquiring love and fortune and title with a smile on his face.

These stories really draw me in. Underdogs and outsiders: their stories promise that we can change our own lives, overcome the odds, prove our critics wrong. They’re like sports movies, except that these heroines and heroes live at a time when the wrong move could mean a hanging.

I’ve just been watching an excellent Swedish TV series called Anno 1790. A surgeon called Daadh, who has revolutionary ideals, becomes a police investigator and is forced to keep choosing between his job, his love for a married gentlewoman, and his principles. Redheaded, republican, secular, he’s an outsider who’s hiding in the midst of the establishment.

 

 

  Redhead Outsider: District Commissioner Daadh and Lady Wahlstedt, Anno 1790

 

 

But I think I like the antihero outsider even more. George Macdonald Fraser’s Flashman is a brilliantly drawn character: a self-confessed coward, adulterer and liar, he commits acts of involuntary bravery all over the British Empire of Palmerston and Queen Victoria. All the way, he brags about his base motivations and how he has got away with it one more time… and we love him for it. In my own novel, The Bitter Trade, the hero Calumny Spinks is cocky, rude, selfish and rash – but he’s helped by wiser, bigger souls who see his potential.

These anti-heroes use their outsider status to gain our trust, and I find it all the more moving when they are in danger or in love or bereaved: they feel real because they’ve shown us their dark sides.

Cal is also half-French, which is important to me. I’m English but grew up in the small country of Luxembourg: an immigrant there, but now that I live in London I realise that I am not really English either. Many outsider heroines and heroes have that mixed kind of identity: like Elizabeth Bennett, educated to mingle with society but fundamentally from a lower stratum. Or Maximus Decimus Meridius, if you like your history violent: Spanish, but so attached to the ideal of Rome that he would die for it.

Some of my favourite outsider heroes are real. In setting The Bitter Trade during the Glorious Revolution of 1688, I researched William of Orange, who became King of England. He lost his father before he was born, and was orphaned before he was ten; laws were passed at his own uncles’ urging to bar him from the Dutch throne; the same uncles – Charles II and James II of England – made a secret alliance with the French against his country whilst buying him expensive gifts for his birthday. Determined, resourceful, he took the English crown without firing a shot. Now that’s an outsider story!

 

The Bitter Trade by Piers Alexander

 

 

 

 

Publication Date: April 7, 2014

Tenderfoot

Formats: eBook, Paperback; 448p

 

Genre: Historical Adventure/Thriller



 

In 1688, torn by rebellions, England lives under the threat of a Dutch invasion. Redheaded Calumny Spinks is the lowliest man in an Essex backwater: half-French and still unapprenticed at seventeen, yet he dreams of wealth and title.

 

When his father’s violent past resurfaces, Calumny’s desperation leads him to flee to London and become a coffee racketeer. He has just three months to pay off a blackmailer and save his father’s life – but his ambition and talent for mimicry pull him into a conspiracy against the King himself. Cal’s journey takes him from the tough life of Huguenot silk weavers to the vicious intrigues at Court. As the illicit trader Benjamin de Corvis and his controlling daughter Emilia pull him into their plots, and his lover Violet Fintry is threatened by impending war, Cal is forced to choose between his conscience and his dream of becoming Mister Calumny Spinks.

 

The Bitter Trade won the PEN Factor at The Literary Consultancy’s Writing In A Digital Age Conference. Jury Chair Rebecca Swift (Author, Poetic Lives: Dickinson) said: “The Pen Factor jury selected The Bitter Trade based on the quality of writing, the engaging plot, and the rich and unusual historical context. Dazzling and playful!”

 

 

Praise For The Bitter Trade

 

 

“A fantastic debut novel” – Robert Elms, BBC Radio London

 

“The ambitious, cheeky Calumny Spinks is a great guide through the sensory overload of 17th century London, in an adventure that combines unexpected insights with just the right amount of rollicking ribaldry. I hope it’s the opener to a series.” – Christopher Fowler, author of the Bryant and May novels

 

“This debut novel is a gripping evocation of late seventeenth century London, rich in persuasive dialect and period detail and with a bold protagonist. An unusual thriller that just keeps you wanting to know more about the many facets of this story. You’ll never view your coffee in quite the same way again.” – Daniel Pembrey, bestselling author of The Candidate

 

“A very exciting and superbly researched novel” – Mel Ulm, The Reading Life

 

Buy the Book

 

 

Amazon UK (Paperback)
Amazon US (Kindle)
Barnes & Noble (Nook)
iTunes
Kobo

 

 

About the Author

 

 

 

Piers Alexander is an author and serial entrepreneur. After a successful career as CEO of media and events companies he became a Co-Founder and Chairman of three start-up businesses. In 2013 he was awarded the PEN Factor Prize for The Bitter Trade. He is currently working on the sequel, Scatterwood, set in Jamaica in 1692.

 

For more information visit Piers Alexander’s website. You can also find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

The Bitter Trade Blog Tour Schedule

 

Monday, October 13

Review at Back Porchervations
Spotlight at Literary Chanteuse

 

Tuesday, October 14

Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

 

Wednesday, October 15

Interview at Back Porchervations
Guest Post at Historical Tapestry

 

Thursday, October 16

Spotlight & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

 

Monday, October 20

Review at Flashlight Commentary

 

Tuesday, October 21

Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

 

Wednesday, October 22

Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

 

Thursday, October 23

Guest Post at Historical Fiction Connection

 

Tuesday, October 28

Spotlight at What Is That Book About

 

Wednesday, October 29

Spotlight at Unshelfish

 

Thursday, October 30

Review at Broken Teepee

 

Saturday, November 1

Review at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book

 

Monday, November 3

Review at Book by Book
Review & Interview at Dab of Darkness

 

Tuesday, November 4

Review at Just One More Chapter
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

 

Wednesday, November 5

Review at Turning the Pages
Guest Post at Just One More Chapter

 

Thursday, November 6

Spotlight at Let Them Read Books

 

Monday, November 10

Review at A Book Geek

 

Tuesday, November 11

Review at Book Nerd

 

Wednesday, November 12

Spotlight at Layered Pages

 

Friday, November 14

Review at Anglers Rest
Review & Giveaway at Booklover Book Reviews