Mary Anne Yarde's Blog: The Coffee Pot Book Club , page 38

Welcome to Day #8 of the blog tour for Beneath Black Clouds and White by Virginia Crow #HistoricalFiction #FrenchRevolution @DaysDyingGlory @booksterrupted

  

4th January – 15th January 2021

Amazon UK • Amazon US • Smashwords • Kobo •  Barnes and Noble 

Publication Date: 11th April 2019Publisher: CrowvusPrint Length: 637 PagesGenre: Historical Fiction/Military Fiction/Family Saga
Despite adoring his family and enjoying frequenting gaming tables, Captain Josiah Tenterchilt’s true love is the British Army and he is committed to his duty. As such, he does not hesitate to answer the army’s call when King Louis XVI of France is executed.
Accompanied by his wife to Flanders, Josiah finds his path crosses with a man who could not be more different from him: an apprentice surgeon named Henry Fotherby. As these two men pursue their own actions, fate and the careful connivance of a mysterious individual will push them together for the rest of their lives.
But it is a tumultuous time, and the French revolutionaries are not the only ones who pose a threat. The two gentlemen must find their place in a world where the constraints of social class are inescapable, and ‘slavery or abolition’ are the words on everyone’s lips.
Beneath Black Clouds and White is the prequel to Day's Dying Glory, which was published by Crowvus in April 2017.
Check out Books, Interrupted to find a spotlight of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #9 of the blog tour for Discovery (The Orphan Train Saga, Book 1) by Sherry A. Burton #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour @SherryABurton @CraftygasheadZo

 

DISCOVERY THE ORPHAN TRAIN SAGA, BOOK 1 BY SHERRY A. BURTON

NOVEMBER 18TH – JANUARY 20TH 2021
AMAZON UK • AMAZON US • BARNES & NOBLE

Book Title: Discovery

Series: The Orphan Train Saga, Book 1

Author: Sherry A. Burton

Publication Date: December 25, 2018

Publisher: Dorry Press

Print Length: 229 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

While most use their summer breaks for pleasure, third grade teacher Cindy Moore is using her summer vacation to tie up some loose ends concerning her grandmother’s estate. When Cindy enters the storage unit that holds her grandmother’s belongings, she is merely looking for items she can sell to recoup some of the rental fees she’s spent paying for the unit.

Instead, what she finds are secrets her grandmother has taken to the grave with her. The more Cindy uncovers, the more she wants to know. Why was her grandmother abandoned by her own mother? Why hadn’t she told Cindy she’d lived in an orphanage? And how come her grandmother never mentioned she’d made history as one of the children who rode the Orphan Trains?

Join Cindy as she uncovers her grandmother’s hidden past and discovers the life that stole her grandmother’s love.
Head on over to Zoe's Art, Craft & Life to find out about the inspiration behind this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #8 of the blog tour for A Rooster for Asklepios (A Slave's Story Trilogy, Book 1) By Christopher D. Stanley #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour @aslavesstory @JudithArnopp

 

January 4th – January 15th 2021
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU 

Publication Date:  May 23rd 2020
Publisher: Amelia Books
Page Length: 522 pages Genre: Historical Fiction
Marcus, a slave in the household of Lucius Coelius Felix, enjoys a better life than most slaves (and many free citizens) as the secretary and accountant of a wealthy aristocrat.  His master is rising in the civic life of the Roman colony of Antioch-near-Pisidia (central Turkey), and his responsibilities and income are growing as well. If this continues, he could soon earn enough to buy his freedom, set up a small business, and even marry.  
Then misfortune strikes, and his master falls into a deep depression that is exacerbated by a nagging illness that his physician is unable to cure.  The future looks bleak until the physician receives a dream from the healing god Asklepios calling Lucius to travel hundreds of miles across western Asia Minor to his sanctuary at Pergamon for treatment and, he hopes, a cure. Accompanied by Marcus and his new wife Selena, Lucius embarks on a long and eventful journey in which both master and slave encounter people and ideas that challenge long-held beliefs about themselves, their society, and the world around them.  Values are questioned, loyalties tested, and identities transformed in a story that brings to life a corner of the Roman empire that has been neglected by previous storytellers.
Ever wondered about sickness and Health Care in the Roman World? Head on over to Judith Arnopp’s Official Blog, to find a Guest Post by Christopher Stanley!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #8 of the blog tour for A Painter in Penang (Penang Series, Book 3) By Clare Flynn #HistoricalFiction #APainterinPenang #CoffeePotBookClub @clarefly @LisaReadsBooks

 

January 4th – January 15th 2021

Amazon

Publication Date: 6th October 2020

Publisher: Cranbrook Press

Page Length: 362 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Sixteen-year-old Jasmine Barrington hates everything about living in Kenya and longs to return to the island of Penang in British colonial Malaya where she was born. Expulsion from her Nairobi convent school offers a welcome escape – the chance to stay with her parents’ friends, Mary and Reggie Hyde-Underwood on their Penang rubber estate.

But this is 1948 and communist insurgents are embarking on a reign of terror in what becomes the Malayan Emergency. Jasmine goes through testing experiences – confronting heartache, a shocking past secret and danger. Throughout it all, the one constant in her life is her passion for painting.

From the international best-selling and award-winning author of The Pearl of Penang, this is a dramatic coming of age story, set against the backdrop of a tropical paradise torn apart by civil war.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Clare Flynn is the author of twelve historical novels and a collection of short stories. A former International Marketing Director and strategic management consultant, she is now a full-time writer. 

Having lived and worked in London, Paris, Brussels, Milan and Sydney, home is now on the coast, in Sussex, England, where she can watch the sea from her windows. An avid traveller, her books are often set in exotic locations.

Clare is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of The Society of Authors, Novelists Inc (NINC), ALLi, the Historical Novel Society and the Romantic Novelists Association, where she serves on the committee as the Member Services Officer. When not writing, she loves to read, quilt, paint and play the piano. She continues to travel as widely and as far as possible all over the world.

Check out Madwoman In The Attic for an exclusive author interview with Clare Flynn!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #5 of the blog tour for Donna Scott's fabulous book - The London Monster #HistoricalFiction @D_ScottWriter @ElizStJohn

 

DECEMBER 16TH – FEBRUARY 17TH 2021AMAZON US • AMAZON UK

Publication Date: 21st November 2020

Publisher: Atlantic Publishing

Page Length: 322 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction/Historical Mystery

In 1788, exactly one hundred years before Jack the Ripper terrorizes the people of London, a sexual miscreant known as the London Monster roams the streets in search of his next victim…

Thomas Hayes, having lost his mother in a vicious street assault, becomes an underground pugilist on a mission to rid the streets of violent criminals. But his vigilante actions lead to him being mistaken for the most terrifying criminal of all.

Assistance arrives in the form of Sophie Carlisle, a young journalist with dreams of covering a big story, though she is forced to masquerade as a man to do it. Trapped in an engagement to a man she doesn’t love, Sophie yearns to break free to tell stories that matter about London’s darker side—gaming, prostitution, violence—and realizes Tom could be the one to help. Together, they come up with a plan.

Straddling the line between his need for vengeance and the need to hide his true identity as a politician's son becomes increasingly difficult as Tom is pressured to win more fights. The more he wins, the more notoriety he receives, and the greater the chance his identity may be exposed—a revelation that could jeopardize his father’s political aspirations and destroy his family’s reputation.

Sophie is also in danger as hysteria spreads and the attacks increase in severity and frequency. No one knows who to trust, and no one is safe—Tom included, yet he refuses to end the hunt.

Little does he realize, the monster is also hunting him.

Head on over to Elizabeth St.John's Official Blog to find an exclusive author interview!

Click HERE!

#BookReview — The Graves of Whitechapel by Claire Evans #HistoricalFiction #Thriller @claireevans113

 

Publication Date: 25th JunePublisher: SpherePage Length: 300 PagesGenre: Historical Thrillers
In the gripping new novel by the author of The Fourteenth Letter, a lawyer in Victorian London must find a man he got off a murder charge - and who seems to have killed again . . .
Victorian London, 1882. Five years ago, crusading lawyer Cage Lackmann successfully defended Moses Pickering against a charge of murder. Now, a body is found bearing all the disturbing hallmarks of that victim - and Pickering is missing. Did Cage free a brutal murderer?
Cage's reputation is in tatters, and worse, he is implicated in this new murder by the bitter detective who led the first failed case. Left with no other alternative, Cage must find Pickering to prove his innocence.
His increasingly desperate search takes him back to the past, to a woman he never thought to see again, and down into a warren of lies and betrayals concealed beneath Holland Park mansions and the mean streets of Whitechapel - where a murderer, heartbreak and revenge lie in wait.

“The power of words: scratched and feeble on their own, yet when marshalled together into an army they could break hearts and bones, tear down citadels…”
As a reputable lawyer, renowned for his almost theatrical, one might even say scripted, flare in the courtroom, as well as being a published poet, Cage Lackmann knew all about the power of words. He could just as easily convince a judge of a man’s innocence as he could pen a heartrending poem about lost love. However, words, as Cage knew only too well, also had the power to destroy. An innocent man can be found guilty of a hideous crime just as easily as a guilty man can be found innocent—it all depends on how good one’s lawyer is. And Cage was very good at his job.
Five years ago, Cage had successfully defended Moses Pickering, who had been accused of murder. In Cage’s opinion, Moses lacked the arrogance to take a man’s life. And yet, there had been another victim, another murder in the same manner as the first. All the evidence suggests that the same sick individual committed both murders, and once again, all eyes turn to Pickering.
Cage’s reputation is now on the line, along with his integrity, and with Pickering nowhere to be found, the authorities are drawing their own conclusions, and Cage has to ask himself if he had made a monumental mistake five years ago…
From The Old Bailey’s bustling courtroom to a cold and lonely cell in the notorious Newgate Prison, The Graves of Whitechapel by Claire Evans is a Victorian Crime Thriller triumph.
As is so often the case in Historical Crime Thrillers, there are red herrings aplenty that throw the reader off the right trail. Do we, the lucky readers, take the bait that Evans tangles in front of our faces so enticingly? Dare we make our own assumptions? Or do we wait and watch as the events unfold? The one question that plagued me throughout this novel was that if the murderer is not Pickering, then who is? Evans has given her readers ample opportunity to try to guess who the murderer is. I must admit, I did not figure out who the murderer was before it was revealed, which was remarkably refreshing and demonstrates the exceptional talent that Evans has for creating an enthralling, fast-paced narrative that is not only filled with numerous plot twists, but also with seemingly insignificant but clever details that ultimately concealed the killer in one of the best ways possible—at all times the murderer is in plain sight. 
The crime-infested world in which Evans has placed her story is a befitting backdrop for her novel. The corrupt nature of the legal system is explored in explicit detail, as is the seedy, poverty-driven description of the inhabitants of Whitechapel. The hours that Evans has committed to researching this fascinating era shines through in every sentence. She has brought Whitechapel, with all its darkness and destitution, back to glorious life. I could almost inhale the history. I fancied I could feel the bite of a cold London morning upon my face, feel the fear of finding your cloak pocket devoid of the coins you so desperately need, as well as the heart-wrenching longing for someone you can never have. I thought the historical detailing of this novel was breathtakingly portrayed. 
Throughout this book, the running theme is the corruption that seemingly afflicted the legal system during this period in history. And this corruption is demonstrated most admirably by the protagonist’s portrayal. Cage is beholding to a crime boss, Obediah Pincott, a position no lawyer would ever wish to find themselves in. Cage was given the opportunity to study law because Pincott paid for him to do so, but his education came with conditions. Cage is trapped, his life controlled by a man who cares about the outcome, not the process of reaching it. I thought the depiction of Pincott was fabulous. Here is a villain in the truest sense. He is deplorable in his treatment of Cage and, like most victims, Cage cannot break away from him for Pincott holds the purse strings. Pincott wanted a lawyer who could help keep the men who surround him out of prison, and that job falls to Cage. Cage is allowed to take on other clients as long as they are innocent, Pickering being one such client. With little to no money, a task of which he is not well versed in and his reputation hanging on the line, Cage must prove Pickering’s innocence once again, whether that means establishing the identity of the real killer or building a case against someone else to keep Pickering’s record clean. I thought the power and influence that Pincott held over Cage was cleverly depicted, and it shone a light on the corruption of the legal system during this era.
I thought Cage was a fascinating protagonist. He is a brave, although not always sober, hero. He has a taste for the finest claret, and keeps company with whores, in particular a young woman called Agnes, and it was this relationship that I found so endlessly fascinating. Due to unforeseen circumstances and through her acquaintance with Cage, Agnes finds herself involuntarily involved in the investigation, often as Cage’s alibi and helping provide Cage with information that may be crucial in the success or failure of his attempt to uncover the truth. I thought Evans’ depiction of Agnes was fabulous. 
I had mixed feelings about detective Jack Cross. His blindness to other possibilities and his continuous harassment of Cage made this character exceedingly unlikeable. However, he does have to find the killer and the only suspect, as far as he is concerned, is Pickering. His determination, his pig-headedness, hinders the investigation rather than enhances it. And much like one finds in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle’s, Sherlock Holmes, it is not Scotland Yard that will ultimately uncover the villain. However, unlike in Sherlock Holmes, Cross is no blundering fool. 
The Graves of Whitechapel by Claire Evans is worthy of the highest acclaim. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. This is a story, not only about murder, money and mystery. It is also one about love and justice. This is a novel that will keep you guessing to the very last chapter.
I Highly Recommend.
Review by Mary Anne Yarde.The Coffee Pot Book Club.

Amazon UK • Amazon US • Waterstones •

WHSmith • Goldsboro Books

Claire Evans divides her time between writing and her job as Chief Operating Officer at Two Brothers Pictures Ltd, the television production company behind Fleabag, Liar and Baptiste. She lives in London with her partner. 

Welcome to Day #7 of the blog tour for A Rooster for Asklepios (A Slave's Story Trilogy, Book 1) By Christopher D. Stanley #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour @aslavesstory @CaigJamie @hooverbkreview

 

January 4th – January 15th 2021
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU 

Publication Date:  May 23rd 2020
Publisher: Amelia Books
Page Length: 522 pages Genre: Historical Fiction
Marcus, a slave in the household of Lucius Coelius Felix, enjoys a better life than most slaves (and many free citizens) as the secretary and accountant of a wealthy aristocrat.  His master is rising in the civic life of the Roman colony of Antioch-near-Pisidia (central Turkey), and his responsibilities and income are growing as well. If this continues, he could soon earn enough to buy his freedom, set up a small business, and even marry.  
Then misfortune strikes, and his master falls into a deep depression that is exacerbated by a nagging illness that his physician is unable to cure.  The future looks bleak until the physician receives a dream from the healing god Asklepios calling Lucius to travel hundreds of miles across western Asia Minor to his sanctuary at Pergamon for treatment and, he hopes, a cure. Accompanied by Marcus and his new wife Selena, Lucius embarks on a long and eventful journey in which both master and slave encounter people and ideas that challenge long-held beliefs about themselves, their society, and the world around them.  Values are questioned, loyalties tested, and identities transformed in a story that brings to life a corner of the Roman empire that has been neglected by previous storytellers.
We are stopping over on two blogs today! Head on over to Historical Fiction Reviews for a book spotlight:
Click HERE!
Head on over to The Whispering Bookworm for a review of this fabulous book:
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #6 of the blog tour for Janet Lee Berg's fabulous book - Restitution #BlogTour #HistoricalFiction #CoffeePotBookClub @janetleeberg1 @BritonandDane

December 8th - February 9th 2021

Publication Date: 30th September 2020
Publisher: Koehler
Page Length: 262 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction 
Amazon UK • Amazon US • Barnes and Noble • BooksAMillion

“Restitution” is the riveting, multigenerational story of Sylvie Rosenberg, a Holocaust survivor traumatized by the memory of her art dealer father forced to trade paintings with the Nazis in an attempt to save their large extended family.  Sylvie’s adult life in 1970s New York is plagued by survivors’ guilt and bitterness.  But when her self-destructive ways threaten to upend the life of her Vietnam-vet son, Sylvie finally needs to face her demons.  She returns to Holland to confront her past and fight the Dutch judicial system for the return of the masterpieces, but the battle proves far more difficult than Sylvie imagined...
Weaving in tragic true events from her own family history, Berg offers a sensitive story of history, romance, and humor along with detail from the extensive research of Lynn H. Nicholas, the world’s leading expert on art pilfered during WWII. Over 80 years later, the real family still awaits justice and the return of artwork that continues to hang on museum walls, without noting their tragic history…  

Head on over to Let Your Words Shine... for a sneak-peek between the covers of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #7 of the blog tour for A Painter in Penang (Penang Series, Book 3) By Clare Flynn #HistoricalFiction #APainterinPenang #CoffeePotBookClub @clarefly @CaigJamie

 

January 4th – January 15th 2021

Amazon

Publication Date: 6th October 2020

Publisher: Cranbrook Press

Page Length: 362 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Sixteen-year-old Jasmine Barrington hates everything about living in Kenya and longs to return to the island of Penang in British colonial Malaya where she was born. Expulsion from her Nairobi convent school offers a welcome escape – the chance to stay with her parents’ friends, Mary and Reggie Hyde-Underwood on their Penang rubber estate.

But this is 1948 and communist insurgents are embarking on a reign of terror in what becomes the Malayan Emergency. Jasmine goes through testing experiences – confronting heartache, a shocking past secret and danger. Throughout it all, the one constant in her life is her passion for painting.

From the international best-selling and award-winning author of The Pearl of Penang, this is a dramatic coming of age story, set against the backdrop of a tropical paradise torn apart by civil war.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Clare Flynn is the author of twelve historical novels and a collection of short stories. A former International Marketing Director and strategic management consultant, she is now a full-time writer. 

Having lived and worked in London, Paris, Brussels, Milan and Sydney, home is now on the coast, in Sussex, England, where she can watch the sea from her windows. An avid traveller, her books are often set in exotic locations.

Clare is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of The Society of Authors, Novelists Inc (NINC), ALLi, the Historical Novel Society and the Romantic Novelists Association, where she serves on the committee as the Member Services Officer. When not writing, she loves to read, quilt, paint and play the piano. She continues to travel as widely and as far as possible all over the world.

Head on over to The Whispering Bookworm to find a 5 star review for this fabulous book!
Click HERE!

Welcome to Day #7 of the blog tour for Beneath Black Clouds and White by Virginia Crow #HistoricalFiction #FrenchRevolution @DaysDyingGlory @ADarnGoodRead

  

4th January – 15th January 2021

Amazon UK • Amazon US • Smashwords • Kobo •  Barnes and Noble 

Publication Date: 11th April 2019Publisher: CrowvusPrint Length: 637 PagesGenre: Historical Fiction/Military Fiction/Family Saga
Despite adoring his family and enjoying frequenting gaming tables, Captain Josiah Tenterchilt’s true love is the British Army and he is committed to his duty. As such, he does not hesitate to answer the army’s call when King Louis XVI of France is executed.
Accompanied by his wife to Flanders, Josiah finds his path crosses with a man who could not be more different from him: an apprentice surgeon named Henry Fotherby. As these two men pursue their own actions, fate and the careful connivance of a mysterious individual will push them together for the rest of their lives.
But it is a tumultuous time, and the French revolutionaries are not the only ones who pose a threat. The two gentlemen must find their place in a world where the constraints of social class are inescapable, and ‘slavery or abolition’ are the words on everyone’s lips.
Beneath Black Clouds and White is the prequel to Day's Dying Glory, which was published by Crowvus in April 2017.
Head on over to A Darn Good Read to find a spotlight of this fabulous book!
Click HERE!