Late Mailbox Mondays

Vlad: The Last Confession C.C. Humphreys

"Dracula. A name of horror, depravity and the darkest sensuality. Yet the real Dracula was just as alluring, just as terrifying, his tale not one of a monster but of a man... and a contradiction.
His tale is told by those who knew him best. The only woman he ever loved...and whom he had to sacrifice. His closest comrade...and traitor. And his priest, betraying the secrets of the confessional to reveal the mind of the man history would forever remember as The Impaler. This is the story of the man behind the legend...as it has never been told before".

 My Lord John: A tale of intrigue, honor and the rise of a king, Georgette Heyer

"Georgette Heyer's final novel, set in her own favorite time period.
With her signature wit, drama and impeccable historical accuracy, Georgette Heyer tells the story of a medieval royal family on the rise. Set in the last days of the reign of Richard II, just before Henry V succeeded him to the throne, the eponymous hero is Henry's brother, John, Duke of Bedford. Heyer brings the medieval world to life, creating a panoramic view of a royal family's intricacies, intrigues and sibling rivalries, along with the everyday lives of the servants, clerics, and vassals in their charge".

A Race to Splendor, Ciji Ware

"Inspired by female architect Julia Morgan, this is the riveting tale of a race against time to rebuild two luxury hotels after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed 400 city blocks and left 250,000 homeless.
Morgan's fictional protegee Amelia Bradshaw and client J.D. Thayer will sacrifice anything to see the city they love rise from the ashes; in the process, they can't help but lose their hearts".


~Lizzy~

Giveaway "The Tapestry Shop" by Joyce Elson Moore

"The Tapestry Shop", by Joyce Elson Moore, is an historical novel based on the life of Adam de la Halle, a poet/musician who left behind a vast collection of secular compositions. While researching Adam's music, Moore discovered a little-known fact; the earliest version of the Robin Hood legend may have been Adam's play, Le Jeu de Robin et Marion. Because Adam was patronized by royalty, his play was probably performed in English courts, and would have changed, as legends do. In the retelling, Robin became an English hero, and Robin's companions became the Merry Men.

The book draws the reader into the Middle Ages, where women joined the crusades and students held discourse on the Street of Straw, but the overriding appeal of The Tapestry Shop may be Adam's connection to the popular legend of Robin Hood, the celebrated outlaw who was immortalized in later ballads, and who continues to draw fans around the world to films that center on this elusive hero".

Lets kick off this killer giveaway! 

The giveaway is for one advance readers copy. This one is only open to the US residents. Giveaway ends May 15th 2011 at midnight west coast time.

For 1 entry enter your name and email

For 2 entries be a follower and say so in the form

For 3 entries share this and add a real link.

~Lizzy~

Giveaway "Day of Revenge" by Deanna Proach

Day of Revenge by Deanna Proach

"The French Revolution provides a vivid backdrop for Proach's passionate, fast-paced anti-"Vive le Republique!" historical romance debut. More than four years have passed since the 1789 Bastille riots, and the summer of 1793 finds a counter-revolutionary plot brewing against the bloodthirsty Citoyen Robespierre and his red caps. Young Lyon nobleman Emmanuel d' LeVasque and his family, along with other deposed aristocrats like Samuel La Font, fear Robespierre's next move after Jacobin Capt. Citoyen Henri Varennesh arrests their friend Pierre La Metz for possessing a counter-revolutionary letter. Varennes becomes disenchanted with Robespierre and eventually joins the counter-revolutionaries. After Metz is guillotined, a prison rescue of young Dauphin Louis is launched. Proach makes a valid point about Robespierre's fanaticism, and she also includes feverish romance: Emmanuel's brother Emil pursues a relationship with orphaned vineyard worker Elle, while Emmanuel is tempted by La Font's cousin Lisabetta. Featuring a well-developed cast of characters, this is a sympathetic portrait of imperiled French aristocracy".

Lets kick off this killer giveaway! 

The giveaway is for one finished paperback copy. This one is only open to the US residents only. Giveaway ends May 14th 2011 at midnight west coast time.

For 1 entry enter your name and email

For 2 entries be a follower and say so in the form

For 3 entries share this and add a real link.

Amazon
Day of Revenge

~Lizzy~

Hot Historical Fiction Releases: March

5.1.2011 Rivals in the Tudor Court (Tudor Court 2), D.L. Bogdan
"The death toll in Henry VIII's England can be counted in the thousands. No one was more aware of this than Thomas Howard, third duke of Norfolk. Relying on his indomitable force of will, cleverness, and sheer good fortune, Thomas Howard manages to be one of the king's only intimates to survive an unforgettable reign of terror. This impeccably researched companion piece to "Secrets of the Tudor Court" chronicles the ambitious duke's life, loves, and remarkable capacity to endure. Before he was the king's uncle, before he was his nieces' ultimate betrayer, Thomas Howard was a hostage at the court of Henry VII while his father was imprisoned in the dreaded Tower of London. There he would marry the queen's sister, his forever princess Anne Plantagenet. While he founded a dynasty, his career as soldier and sailor brought him acclaim and the trust of the Tudors. But when unspeakable tragedy robs him of family and fortune, Thomas must begin again. Abandoning notions of love, Thomas seeks out an advantageous match with the fiery Elizabeth Stafford, daughter of the duke of Buckingham. Clever, willful, and uncompromising in principle, the young duchess falls victim to a love she cannot deny. When Thomas takes on a mistress, the vulnerable Bess Holland, Duchess Elizabeth prepares to fight for all she holds dear. Only then does she learn she faces a force darker than anything she could ever have imagined, an obsessive love that neither she nor Bess can rival".


5.1.2011 Vlad: The Last Confession, C.C. Humphreys
"Dracula. A name of horror, depravity and the darkest sensuality. Yet the real Dracula was just as alluring, just as terrifying, his tale not one of a monster but of a man... and a contradiction.
His tale is told by those who knew him best. The only woman he ever loved...and whom he had to sacrifice. His closest comrade...and traitor. And his priest, betraying the secrets of the confessional to reveal the mind of the man history would forever remember as The Impaler. This is the story of the man behind the legend...as it has never been told before".

5.1.2011 Venetia, Georgette Heyer
Venetia features a remarkably independent heroine who falls deeply in love with the wrong man. Venetia Lanyon lives a quiet life until she meets her notorious neighbor Jasper, Lord Damerel, who would marry her in a heartbeat if he didn't think it would ruin her. Then she discovers a shocking family secret that changes everything...







5.3.2011 Queen By Right: A Novel, Anne Easter Smith
"From the award-winning author of A Rose for the Crown, Daughter of York, and The King’s Grace comes another masterful historical novel—the story of Cecily of York, mother of two kings and the heroine of one of history’s greatest love stories. Anne Easter Smith’s novels are beloved by readers for their ability “to grab you, sweep you along with the story, and make you fall in love with the characters.” * In Cecily Neville, duchess of York and ancestor of every English monarch to the present day, she has found her most engrossing character yet.History remembers Cecily of York standing on the steps of the Market Cross at Ludlow, facing an attacking army while holding the hands of her two young sons. Queen by Right reveals how she came to step into her destiny, beginning with her marriage to Richard, duke of York, whom she meets when she is nine and he is thirteen. Raised together in her father’s household, they become a true love match and together face personal tragedies, pivotal events of history, and deadly political intrigue. All of England knows that Richard has a clear claim to the throne, and when King Henry VI becomes unfit to rule, Cecily must put aside her hopes and fears and help her husband decide what is right for their family and their country. Queen by Right marks Anne Easter Smith’s greatest achievement, a book that every fan of sweeping, exquisitely detailed historical fiction will devour."
 
5.3.2011 Prophecy, S.J. Parris
"S. J. Parris returns with the next Giordano Bruno mystery, set inside Queen Elizabeth’s palace and steeped in period atmospherics and the strange workings of the occult.

It is the year of the Great Conjunction, when the two most powerful planets, Jupiter and Saturn, align—an astrologi­cal phenomenon that occurs once every thousand years and heralds the death of one age and the dawn of another. The streets of London are abuzz with predictions of horrific events to come, possibly even the death of Queen Elizabeth.

When several of the queen’s maids of honor are found dead, rumors of black magic abound. Elizabeth calls upon her personal astrologer, John Dee, and Giordano Bruno to solve the crimes. While Dee turns to a mysterious medium claiming knowledge of the murders, Bruno fears that some­thing far more sinister is at work. But even as the climate of fear at the palace intensifies, the queen refuses to believe that the killer could be someone within her own court.

Bruno must play a dangerous game: can he allow the plot to progress far enough to give the queen the proof she needs without putting her, England, or his own life in danger?

In this utterly gripping and gorgeously written novel, S. J. Parris has proven herself the new master of the historical thriller".

5.24.2011 The Confessions of Catherine de Medici: A Novel, C.W. Gortner
"Catherine de Medici uses her natural and supernatural gifts to protect the French throne in Gortner's (The Last Queen) portrait of a queen willing to sacrifice happiness and reputation to fulfill her family's royal destiny. Orphan Catherine has her first vision at age 10, and three years later is betrothed to Henri d'Orleans, brother of the sickly heir to the French throne. She heads to France with a vial of poison hidden among her possessions, and after negotiating an uneasy truce with her husband's mistress, she matures into a powerful court presence, though power, she learns, comes at a price. Three of her sons become king in succession as the widow Catherine wields ever-increasing influence to keep the ambitious de Guise clan at bay and religious adversaries from murdering each other. Gortner's is not the first fictional reinterpretation of a historical villainess—Catherine's role in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, for instance, is recounted in a way sympathetic to her—but hers is remarkably thoughtful in its insight into an unapologetically ruthless queen".

The King's Mistress: A Novel, Emma Campion
"Alice Perrers scholar Campion debuts with a dynamic fictionalization of the life of Alice Salisbury, who, at 14, leaves family and best friend Geoffrey Chaucer behind to marry Janyn Perrers, a prominent merchant who has the patronage of Isabella, the Queen Mother. Alice accustoms herself to the royal lifestyle, grows close to her husband, and bears a daughter. Her happiness is destroyed when royal fortunes shift, Janyn disappears, and Alice is summoned to court by Queen Philippa. To secure her daughter's safety, Alice complies and is quickly drawn into the machinations and extravagance of Edward III's mid-14th-century court, where she captures the king's interest. Campion stays true to the facts of Alice's life as the mistress of Edward III, the mother of his son John, and a successful businesswoman. This is a detailed rendering of Edward III's court, one that provides an empathetic but realistic portrait of a colorful and, if Campion is to be believed, misunderstood woman".


5.24.2011 The Daughter of Siena: A Novel, Marina Fiorato
"Amid the intrigue and danger of 18th-century Italy, a young woman becomes embroiled in romance and treachery with a rider in the Palio, the breathtaking horse race set in Siena....

It’s 1729, and the Palio, a white-knuckle horse race, is soon to be held in the heart of the peerless Tuscan city of Siena. But the beauty and pageantry masks the deadly rivalry that exists among the city’s districts. Each ward, represented by an animal symbol, puts forth a rider to claim the winner’s banner, but the contest turns citizens into tribes and men into beasts—and beautiful, headstrong, young Pia Tolomei is in love with a rider of an opposing ward, an outsider who threatens the shaky balance of intrigue and influence that rules the land".


5.31.2011 Bedlam: The Further Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte, Laura Joh Rowland
"Set in 1851, three years after the events in The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë, Rowland's fast-paced second Charlotte Brontë adventure continues to transform the shy author of Jane Eyre into an action heroine. Still pining for John Slade, the rugged spy from the first book whose marriage proposal she refused, Charlotte is stunned to come across John under restraints in Bedlam, the notorious London hospital for the insane. The last she knew John was in Russia on a secret mission. When Charlotte learns the police suspect that John is the Whitechapel Ripper, who's killed and mutilated three prostitutes, she sets out to prove him innocent, despite John's spymaster telling her that he betrayed Britain in Russia. The less than imaginative use of an ur–Jack the Ripper may disappoint those expecting the depth and sophistication of the author's series set in medieval Japan (The Cloud Pavilion, etc.). This historical thriller will likely appeal more to romance fans than Brontë enthusiasts".


5.31.2011 Dreams of Joy: A Novel, Lisa See
"In her beloved New York Times bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, and, most recently, Shanghai Girls, Lisa See has brilliantly illuminated the potent bonds of mother love, romantic love, and love of country. Now, in her most powerful novel yet, she returns to these timeless themes, continuing the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl’s strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy.

Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, and anger at her mother and aunt for keeping them from her, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z.G. Li, with whom both May and Pearl were once in love. Dazzled by him, and blinded by idealism and defiance, Joy throws herself into the New Society of Red China, heedless of the dangers in the communist regime.

Devastated by Joy’s flight and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost. From the crowded city to remote villages, Pearl confronts old demons and almost insurmountable challenges as she follows Joy, hoping for reconciliation. Yet even as Joy’s and Pearl’s separate journeys converge, one of the most tragic episodes in China’s history threatens their very lives.

Acclaimed for her richly drawn characters and vivid storytelling, Lisa See once again renders a family challenged by tragedy and time, yet ultimately united by the resilience of love".
~Lizzy~

BELOVED PILGRIM Author Nan Hawthorne on "Gay People in Historical Novels"

"Unwilling to settle for the passive life of a noblewoman, Elisabeth dons her late twin brother's armor and sets out for the Holy Land. On the journey she learns many things, not the least of which is that she can pass for a young man because, as she says, "People see what they expect to see." Her lessons also include that honor is not always where you expect to find it, and that true love can come in the form... of another woman". 

Please welcome the lovely author Nan Hawthorne to Historically Obsessed! Thank you Nan for coming and sharing with us some of the realities of gay releationships in historical fiction novels today. I am proud to have Nan here today to discuss this very relevant topic in historical fiction.With out further delay take it away Nan.

Gay People in Historical Novels 

With a widely accepted estimate that ten percent of men and women prefer their own sex for love and lovemaking and most likely always have, it can be difficult to find gay and lesbian characters in historical novels. This issue is important to me as the author of Beloved Pilgrim whose protagonist is a lesbian. Besides caring that a group of people who have almost no written history should at least be represented in historical fiction, I also worried whether there would be some barrier to my own novel’s acceptance by readers. I wondered about the instances of other gay characters and did some canvassing to find them in well-known novels.

Both my own novels have gay characters. Besides several, both women and men, in my just released Crusades-era novel, Beloved Pilgrim, there is both a villain and a heroic characters in An Involuntary King: A Tale of Anglo Saxon England(2008). I like to write about and read about gay people in history, plus with the prevalence of gay people in my extended family, I feel it is important to include that population in any effort to be inclusive. Some people may think that there were no practicing homosexuals in the past, such as the woman who was critical in her review of Brandy Purdy’s The Boleyn Wife who said that if there were so many gay people in the Tudor court they would all be executed. I don’t accept this for several reasons, not the least of which is common sense. But more on that another time. It is simply both important to me and to my liking to have gay people in my books.

I thought over some of the books I have read and also considered the portrayals of these gay characters. Candace Robb’s Owen Archer series starts with THE APOTHECARY ROSE with its predatory Summoner who murders his former lover, and I have wondered if a negative response to the characterization led to her development of the spy Martin Werther and his lover, the musician Ambrose, who are both complex and appealing and gain more support from Owen and Lucy than I even would have expected. Other historical mysteries include gay characters, such as Priscilla Royal’s Prioress Eleanor mysteries with the gay Brother Thomas, and I understand Jeri Westerson has a new gay character coming up in her Medieval Noirs.

Priscilla Royal, by the way, told me that she thinks the prevalence of romances in historical fiction may be the reason there are not so many gay characters in our novels. She points to Diane Galbadom’s novels and says, “For non-romance readers, however, gay characters are often welcome because they add a dimension to life in the era which isn't discussed much.”

There are of course historical figures who are believed to have been gay, perhaps most prominently Edward II of England and his lover, Piers Gaveston, about whom several novels have been written, including Purdy’s The Confession of Piers Gaveston , Susan Higginbotham’s The Traitor's Wife, and others. Richard the Lionhearted is portrayed as gay in novels like Norah Loft’s The Lute Player: A Novel of Richard the Lionhearted and Shield of Three Lions: A Novel by Pamela Kaufman, though Sharon Kay Penman has her well-reasoned doubts, but at least two novels about William Rufus, Valerie Anand’s King of the Wood and Parke Godwin’s Robin and the King portray that earlier king of England as gay. Philippa Gregory’s Earthly Joys has the horticulturalist John Tradescant in love with George Villiers who was himself generally believed to be in sexual relationships with James I and Charles I. Historical figures portrayed as gay also include Christopher Marlow, William Shakespeare, Byron and, of course, Oscar Wilde.

There are some societies that we know had a greater acceptance of sexual diversity, in particular the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Mary Renault’s Alexander the Great is only one of the novels that tell a gay love story. This is also where you will find lesbian characters, most notably the original Lesbian, Sappho, in Sappho Sings by Peggy Jay Ullman and others. There seem to be many fewer lesbians in other historical novels. Gregory’s The Wise Woman has the title character courted by the mistress of the house in which she lives. The web site Bosom Friends http://bosomfriends.wordpress.com, which I edit, has a list of lesbian historical novels.

The average reader is probably not aware of the whole industry of gay male or “M/M” novels, mostly romances. You can find more on this at Speak Its name http://www.speakitsname.com and The Macaronis http://historicromance.wordpress.com/. There are several such novels that take place in the Age of Sail, most prominent of which are books by Alex Beecraft, M. Kei and one by Mel Keegan. What might surprise you is that many of the male-named authors, like Alex, are actually women. There are lots of women readers of them as well. I plan my own M/M Civil War era novel for the near future. But there does not appear to be as much in the way of what one could call F/F historical fiction, though it is on the rise. I am currently reading The Warrior’s Path by Catherine M. Wilson and long ago read Isabel Miller’s Patience & Sarah about a couple who travel into the wilderness in America to carve out lives for themselves.

There are so many topics we could explore with this subject, such as why there is so little documentation of gays and lesbians in history, what life would have been like for people who sought their own gender for love, and, in another vein, why readers might or might not want to see gay characters in novels. If this last is a possibility, then I worry that the readers, like the woman who said “I’m not a lesbian, so I don’t read lesbian romance", will avoid a book like mine. Gay people don’t generally take that tack with straight novels but read for the story, and I would hope that straight readers would do so as well. As I said to the woman who doesn’t read lesbian romance, I’m not a lesbian and I wrote one! There is also the strong possibility that mainstream publishers would be chary of novels with strong gay themes. I hope to have the opportunity to explore these in other essays.

Stereotypes do come out in literature, including historical novels. I have found that people with disabilities and people who are fat are more likely to be negatively represented, and I would tend to assume the same might be true for gay and lesbian characters. One I have run into is tied to another, that gay characters were the victims of child sexual abuse or that gay men in particular seek out underage boys for sex.

I am making no pronouncements here but hoping to engender discussion. What gay and lesbian historical novels have you read? And what did you think of the portrayals both of the characters and their societies?

Nan Hawthorne is the author of Beloved Pilgrim, a novel about a woman who chooses to live and fight as a man in the doomed Crusade of 1101. It is available at Amazon and Smashwords, and should be on Kindle and Amazon.co.uk shortly.

Bio on Nan Hawthorn


Nan Hawthorne is a historical novelist who lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband and doted-upon cats. She has been in love with history and historical fiction since, at four, she discovered the Richard Greene “The Adventures of Robin Hood” television series. She wrote her first short story at seven, then launched into the letters and stories with a teen friend that ultimately became her first novel, AN INVOLUNTARY KING: A TALE OF ANGLE SAXON ENGLAND (2008). The author of one nonfiction work on women and body image, she now concentrates primarily on historical novels set in the Middle Ages. Her latest novel, BELOVED PILGRIM, looks at gender identity and self-realization during the chaotic and doomed Crusade of 1101. She writes several blogs on historical themes, owns the medieval-novels.com catalog and also Internet radio station, Radio Dé Danann.

Amazon

~Lizzy~