The Italian Woman by Jean Plaidy. US and UK reissue January 13, 2013.
When Catherine de Medici was forced to marry Henry of Orleans, her heart was not the only one that was broken. Jeanne of Navarre once dreamed of marrying this same prince, but like Catherine, she must comply with Frances political needs. And so both Catherine and Jeannes lives are set on unwanted paths, destined to cross in affairs of state, love, and faith, driving them to become deadly political rivals.
Years later Jeanne is happily married to the dashing but politically inept Antoine de Bourbon. But the widowed Catherine is now the ambitious mother of princes, who will do anything to see her beloved second son, Henry, rule France. As civil war ravages the country and Jeanne fights for the Huguenot cause, Catherine advances along her unholy road, making enemies at every turn.
Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Forthcoming Books: 2013 edition
[quote=""SonjaMarie""]Even though I wasn't impressed with her historical in accuracies that I hear are in "Three Maids For A Crown" Ella March Chase is coming out with another book on the subject:
"The Reluctant Queen: The story of Lady Jane Grey's nine-day rule", out in the UK (so far) Feb 14, 2013:
No cover so far.
SM[/quote]
I think this is the same book - the descriptions of both mention all three Grey sisters (even though they are worded differently). Her previous book was recently repackaged with a new cover from a different publisher (which is the same publisher for this one).
"The Reluctant Queen: The story of Lady Jane Grey's nine-day rule", out in the UK (so far) Feb 14, 2013:
No cover so far.
SM[/quote]
I think this is the same book - the descriptions of both mention all three Grey sisters (even though they are worded differently). Her previous book was recently repackaged with a new cover from a different publisher (which is the same publisher for this one).
- princess garnet
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1590
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: Maryland
[quote=""Tanzanite""]The Italian Woman by Jean Plaidy. US and UK reissue January 13, 2013.
When Catherine de Medici was forced to marry Henry of Orleans, her heart was not the only one that was broken. Jeanne of Navarre once dreamed of marrying this same prince, but like Catherine, she must comply with Frances political needs. And so both Catherine and Jeannes lives are set on unwanted paths, destined to cross in affairs of state, love, and faith, driving them to become deadly political rivals.
Years later Jeanne is happily married to the dashing but politically inept Antoine de Bourbon. But the widowed Catherine is now the ambitious mother of princes, who will do anything to see her beloved second son, Henry, rule France. As civil war ravages the country and Jeanne fights for the Huguenot cause, Catherine advances along her unholy road, making enemies at every turn.[/quote]
Yay! New Plaidy reissue!!
When Catherine de Medici was forced to marry Henry of Orleans, her heart was not the only one that was broken. Jeanne of Navarre once dreamed of marrying this same prince, but like Catherine, she must comply with Frances political needs. And so both Catherine and Jeannes lives are set on unwanted paths, destined to cross in affairs of state, love, and faith, driving them to become deadly political rivals.
Years later Jeanne is happily married to the dashing but politically inept Antoine de Bourbon. But the widowed Catherine is now the ambitious mother of princes, who will do anything to see her beloved second son, Henry, rule France. As civil war ravages the country and Jeanne fights for the Huguenot cause, Catherine advances along her unholy road, making enemies at every turn.[/quote]
Yay! New Plaidy reissue!!

- Mythica
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1095
- Joined: November 2010
- Preferred HF: European and American (mostly pre-20th century)
- Location: Colorado
- Contact:
Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell
UK release 14 March 2013 (US release TBA 2013)
Patricia Bracewells debut novel Shadow on the Crown is set in 11th century England, and is the first book of a trilogy about Emma of Normandy.
UK release 14 March 2013 (US release TBA 2013)
Patricia Bracewells debut novel Shadow on the Crown is set in 11th century England, and is the first book of a trilogy about Emma of Normandy.
- Mythica
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1095
- Joined: November 2010
- Preferred HF: European and American (mostly pre-20th century)
- Location: Colorado
- Contact:
A Study in Revenge: A Novel by Kieran Shields
Release date 8 Jan 2013
No description yet but it's categorized on Amazon as a historical mystery.

Release date 8 Jan 2013
No description yet but it's categorized on Amazon as a historical mystery.

- Mythica
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1095
- Joined: November 2010
- Preferred HF: European and American (mostly pre-20th century)
- Location: Colorado
- Contact:
David by Ray RobertsonPreviously released in Canada
US/UK Release date 15 January 2013
Fiction
Born a slave in 1847 but raised as a free man by the Reverend William King, David has rebelled against his emancipator and a future in the church. Now he's a God-cursing, liquor-slinging, money-having, Hobbes-quoting man-about-town, famously educated, fabulously eccentric, and more-or-less happy . . . till the death of Reverend King brings his past back to haunt him.
Inspired by the Elgin Settlement, which by 1852 housed seventy-five free black families and was studied by Abraham Lincoln, Ray Robertson's novel is a fiery look at a community essential to the Underground Railroad's success.

US/UK Release date 15 January 2013
Fiction
Born a slave in 1847 but raised as a free man by the Reverend William King, David has rebelled against his emancipator and a future in the church. Now he's a God-cursing, liquor-slinging, money-having, Hobbes-quoting man-about-town, famously educated, fabulously eccentric, and more-or-less happy . . . till the death of Reverend King brings his past back to haunt him.
Inspired by the Elgin Settlement, which by 1852 housed seventy-five free black families and was studied by Abraham Lincoln, Ray Robertson's novel is a fiery look at a community essential to the Underground Railroad's success.

Looks like one for the multi-use book cover! A Study in Revenge I meant.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI chasront
'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'
Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal
www.elizabethchadwick.com
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI chasront
'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'
Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal
www.elizabethchadwick.com
- Mythica
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1095
- Joined: November 2010
- Preferred HF: European and American (mostly pre-20th century)
- Location: Colorado
- Contact:
Parlor Games: A Novel by Maryka BiaggioRelease date 22 January 2013
A sweeping historical novel about a beautiful con artist whose turn-of-the-century escapades take her around the world as she's doggedly pursued by a Pinkerton Agency detective
The novel opens in 1917 with our cunning protagonist, May Dugas, standing trial for extortion. As the trial unfolds, May tells her version of events.
In 1887, at the tender age of eighteen, May ventures to Chicago in hopes of earning enough money to support her family. Circumstances force her to take up residence at the citys most infamous bordello, but May soon learns to employ her considerable feminine wiles to extract not only sidelong looks but also large sums of money from the men she encounters. Insinuating herself into Chicagos high society, May lands a well-to-do fiancéuntil, that is, a Pinkerton Agency detective named Reed Doherty intervenes and summarily foils the engagement.
Unflappable May quickly rebounds, elevating seduction and social climbing to an art form as she travels the world, eventually marrying a wealthy Dutch Baron. Unfortunately, Reed Doherty is never far behind and continues to track May in a delicious cat-and-mouse game as the newly-minted Baronesss misadventures take her from San Francisco to Shanghai to London and points in between.
The Pinkerton Agency really did dub May the Most Dangerous Woman, branding her a crafty blackmailer and ruthless seductress. To many, though, she was the most glamorous woman to grace high society. Was the real May Dugas a cold-hearted swindler or simply a resourceful provider for her poor family?
As the narrative bounces back and forth between the trial taking place in 1917 and Mays devious but undeniably entertaining path to the courtroomhoodwinking and waltzing her way through the gilded age and into the twentieth centurywe're left to ponder her guilt as we move closer to finding out what fate ultimately has in store for our irresistible adventuress.

A sweeping historical novel about a beautiful con artist whose turn-of-the-century escapades take her around the world as she's doggedly pursued by a Pinkerton Agency detective
The novel opens in 1917 with our cunning protagonist, May Dugas, standing trial for extortion. As the trial unfolds, May tells her version of events.
In 1887, at the tender age of eighteen, May ventures to Chicago in hopes of earning enough money to support her family. Circumstances force her to take up residence at the citys most infamous bordello, but May soon learns to employ her considerable feminine wiles to extract not only sidelong looks but also large sums of money from the men she encounters. Insinuating herself into Chicagos high society, May lands a well-to-do fiancéuntil, that is, a Pinkerton Agency detective named Reed Doherty intervenes and summarily foils the engagement.
Unflappable May quickly rebounds, elevating seduction and social climbing to an art form as she travels the world, eventually marrying a wealthy Dutch Baron. Unfortunately, Reed Doherty is never far behind and continues to track May in a delicious cat-and-mouse game as the newly-minted Baronesss misadventures take her from San Francisco to Shanghai to London and points in between.
The Pinkerton Agency really did dub May the Most Dangerous Woman, branding her a crafty blackmailer and ruthless seductress. To many, though, she was the most glamorous woman to grace high society. Was the real May Dugas a cold-hearted swindler or simply a resourceful provider for her poor family?
As the narrative bounces back and forth between the trial taking place in 1917 and Mays devious but undeniably entertaining path to the courtroomhoodwinking and waltzing her way through the gilded age and into the twentieth centurywe're left to ponder her guilt as we move closer to finding out what fate ultimately has in store for our irresistible adventuress.

- Mythica
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1095
- Joined: November 2010
- Preferred HF: European and American (mostly pre-20th century)
- Location: Colorado
- Contact:
One for Downton Abbey fans, apparently:
Summerset Abbey by T. J. Brown15 January 2013
Fiction
Reminiscent of Downton Abbey, this first novel in a new series follows two sisters and their maid as they are suddenly separated by the rigid class divisions within a sprawling aristocratic estate and thrust into an uncertain world on the brink of WWI...
Rowena and Victoria, daughters to the third son of the Earl of Summerset, have always treated their housekeepers daughter, Prudence, like a sister. But when their father dies and they move in with their uncles family in a much stricter household, Prudence is relegated to the downstairs maids quarters, much to the girls shock and dismay. The impending war offers each girl hope for a more modern future, but the ever-present specter of class expectations makes it difficult for Prudence to maintain a foot in both worlds.
Vividly evoking both time and place and filled with authentic dialogue and richly detailed atmosphere, Summerset Abbey is a charming and timeless historical debut.
Summerset Abbey by T. J. Brown15 January 2013
Fiction
Reminiscent of Downton Abbey, this first novel in a new series follows two sisters and their maid as they are suddenly separated by the rigid class divisions within a sprawling aristocratic estate and thrust into an uncertain world on the brink of WWI...
Rowena and Victoria, daughters to the third son of the Earl of Summerset, have always treated their housekeepers daughter, Prudence, like a sister. But when their father dies and they move in with their uncles family in a much stricter household, Prudence is relegated to the downstairs maids quarters, much to the girls shock and dismay. The impending war offers each girl hope for a more modern future, but the ever-present specter of class expectations makes it difficult for Prudence to maintain a foot in both worlds.
Vividly evoking both time and place and filled with authentic dialogue and richly detailed atmosphere, Summerset Abbey is a charming and timeless historical debut.
- Mythica
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1095
- Joined: November 2010
- Preferred HF: European and American (mostly pre-20th century)
- Location: Colorado
- Contact:
Seven Locks: A Novel by Christine Wade1 January 2013
Set in the Catskills on the eve of the Revolutionary War, Seven Locks is a spare, haunting, and beautifully written debut for readers who loved The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.
In the years before the American Revolution, a womans husband mysteriously disappears without a trace, abandoning her and her children on their farm at the foot of the Catskill Mountains. At first many believe that the farm wife, who has the reputation of being a scold, has driven her husband away. But as the strange circumstances of his disappearance circulate, a darker story begins to unfold, sending the lost man's wife on a desperate journey to find the means and self-reliance to ensure her familys survival.
Inspired by a famous American folktale, Seven Locks is an ambitious and poignant exploration of family love, secrets, and misunderstandings, and of the inner and outer lives of the American frontier at the end of the eigtheenth century.
In this lyrical and complex book, which opens with a mystery and ends with a literary twist, Wade creates a rich, imaginative and tactile evocation of life and times in the historical Hudson River Valley, where the lines between myth and reality fade in the wilderness beyond the small towns, while an American nation struggles to emerge.

Set in the Catskills on the eve of the Revolutionary War, Seven Locks is a spare, haunting, and beautifully written debut for readers who loved The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.
In the years before the American Revolution, a womans husband mysteriously disappears without a trace, abandoning her and her children on their farm at the foot of the Catskill Mountains. At first many believe that the farm wife, who has the reputation of being a scold, has driven her husband away. But as the strange circumstances of his disappearance circulate, a darker story begins to unfold, sending the lost man's wife on a desperate journey to find the means and self-reliance to ensure her familys survival.
Inspired by a famous American folktale, Seven Locks is an ambitious and poignant exploration of family love, secrets, and misunderstandings, and of the inner and outer lives of the American frontier at the end of the eigtheenth century.
In this lyrical and complex book, which opens with a mystery and ends with a literary twist, Wade creates a rich, imaginative and tactile evocation of life and times in the historical Hudson River Valley, where the lines between myth and reality fade in the wilderness beyond the small towns, while an American nation struggles to emerge.
