Deborah Swift's Blog, page 22

Recommended Historical Reads for wet Tuesdays #TuesdayBookBlog

The Silken Rose by Carol McGrath Married at only thirteen years old to a King she has never met, Ailenor of Provence has to learn quickly what it is to be a Queen, and how to manage her relationship with her husband Henry III during the turbulent world of the thirteenth century – a world […]

Interview with Mary Anne Yarde – Saints, Standing Stones and an Ancient Curse

I’m delighted to welcome Mary Anne Yarde to my blog today. Mary Anne is the multi award-winning author of the International Bestselling Series — The Du Lac Chronicles. Did you envisage writing a long series when you started the first book, or did the idea grow? What made you want to carry on writing them? The Du […]

Ailenor of Provence and Queenship by Carol McGrath #medieval

I’m delighted to welcome historian and novelist Carol McGrath to my blog today, to tell us about the concept of Queenship as it relates to her new novel The Silken Rose. Ailenor of Provence and Queenship Ailenor of Provence was married to twenty-eight year old Henry III when she was only thirteen and he was […]

The String’s the Thing – Manet and fashion by Drema Drudge #art #historicalfiction

I’m delighted to welcome Drema Drudge to my blog today to talk about Manet’s models and their clothing, which feature in her new novel ‘Victorine.’ The String’s the Thing In Victorine, my historical novel coming out in the next few months, I write about the black choker Edouard Manet paints Victorine wearing. I imagine it as […]

Review: The Bleak Midwinter by L C Tyler

The fifth John Grey historical mystery 1668. John Grey is now a Justice of the Peace and lives in the manor house he has inherited on his mother’s death with his new wife, Aminta. As the village is cut off from the rest of the world by a heavy snowfall, George Barwell is discovered dead […]

A Place in the World by Amy Maroney – review

This is the last in the series and I’m sad to see it end. I thoroughly enjoyed this dual time-line narrative that takes us back to the sixteenth century, and Mira, a female artist trying to find her place in the world. On the trail of this artist is Zari, an art historian who is […]

17th Century Witchcraft by L C Tyler

Accusations In 1664, in Bury St Edmunds, the judge Sir Matthew Hale* – great lawyer but ‘as gullible as the simplest peasant’ concerning witches – had to sit on a case of purported witchcraft. A child had become ill and was taken to a ‘cunning man’, who advised the mother to wrap child in a […]

Spotlight on Tony Riches’ new novel ‘Katherine – Tudor Duchess’

  Attractive, wealthy and influential, Katherine Willoughby is one of the most unusual ladies of the Tudor court. A favourite of King Henry VIII, Katherine knows all his six wives, his daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and his son Edward. When her father dies, Katherine becomes the ward of Tudor knight, Sir Charles Brandon. Her Spanish […]

New Release! Silent Water by P K Adams – the Cracow Royal Court

My new historical mystery Silent Water is a personal project in a way that my other writing has not been. It is set in the 16th century—an era that has many fans among historical fiction readers. But the setting is different to what the readers are used to. It does not take place in England […]

July’s Recommended Historical Fiction

Now my next two novels are with their publishers I’ve had more time for reading, and so here are two books that are well-worth your time and money. The Lady of the Tower by Elizabeth StJohn I’ve a massive interest in the seventeenth century and have written nine books set in that period, so this […]