Iâm a writer and high school history teacher who has been obsessed with women from history since I was twelve. Prior to A Most Clever Girl, I wrote And They Called It Camelot about First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and American Princess about Alice Roosevelt. I've also written four novels about women from the ancient world, spotlighting Theodora of the Byzantine Empire, Egypt's Pharaoh Hatshepsut, the story of Genghis Khanâs wife and daughters, and a novel of Alexander the Great's women.
This meticulously researched bestseller breathes life into the story of Thomas Jeffersonâs daughter, Patsy, as she helps guide her father and the new nation of America. An avid fan and teacher of U.S. history, I learned so much about Thomas Jeffersonâincluding his post-presidency years and his relationship with Sally Hemingsâwhile reading about this forgotten American daughter.
In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph--a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.
From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson's oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake ofâŠ
Everyone thinks they know Cleopatra, but this amazing novel made me feel like I was peering over Cleopatraâs shoulder while she fought civil wars against her siblings, snuck into the palace to meet Julius Caesar, and fell in love with Marc Antony. There are so many forgotten details of Cleopatraâs history that are brought to life here!
The mesmerizing story of Queen Cleopatra in her own words - by bestselling novelist Margaret George, author of The Autobiography of Henry VIII and Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles.
Told in the first person - from the young queen's earliest memories of her father's tenuous rule to her own reign over one of the most glittering kingdoms in the world - this is an enthralling saga of ambition and power.
It is also a tale of passion that begins when the twenty-one-year-old Cleopatra, desperate to return from exile, seeks out the one man who can help her: JuliusâŠ
While this novel moves effortlessly between three narrators, I loved that one of them is plucked straight from the dusty pages of history. While Lucrezia Borgia typically gets plenty of press, her contemporary Giulia Farnese was the beautiful young woman who didnât have a choice in becoming the mistress of Cardinal Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI. Here we see her learning to wade through Italian politics at the height of Borgia treachery.
A gripping novel about historyâs most infamous familyâThe Borgiasâand an innocent girl pulled into their treacherous rise to power, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Diamond Eye.
Rome, 1492. The Holy City is drenched with blood and teeming with secrets. A pope lies dying and the throne of God is left vacant, a prize awarded only to the most virtuousâor the most ruthless. The Borgia family begins its legendary rise, chronicled by an innocent girl who finds herself drawn into their dangerous webâŠ
Vivacious Giulia Farnese has floor-length golden hair and the worldâŠ
Any woman who worked as a spy against the Nazis during World War II is worth reading about, but Virginia Hall was a pioneering agent for the SOE who has only started to gain widespread recognition in recent years. Hall was known as the âlimping ladyâ because she had lost part of her leg and used a prosthesis that she named Cuthbert. Now thatâs a woman Iâd happily invite to dinner!
âAn extraordinary profile of immense courage and daring.ââChanel Cleeton, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Left Cuba  âIf you only read one WWII book this year, make it this one."âNatasha Lester, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Orphans  In the depths of war, she would defy the odds to help liberate a nationâŠa gripping historical novel based on the remarkable true story of World War II heroine Virginia Hall, from the bestselling author of Hemingwayâs Girl  France, March 1944. Virginia Hall wasn't like the other young society women back home in Baltimoreâshe never wanted the debutanteâŠ
I think most history fans know about the ill-fated relationship between Napoleon and Josephine, but I loved that this novel also highlighted Josephineâs earlyâand mostly forgottenâyears spent in Haiti as Franceâs ideals of equality spurred the bloody Haitian Revolution. Josephine then also has to survive the French Revolution before she catches Napoleonâs eye.
A thrilling novel of love, loyalty, and espionage, based on the incredible true story of Elizabeth Bentley, a Cold War double agent spying for the Russians and the United States, from USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Marie Thornton. Recruited by the American Communist Party to spy on fascists at the outbreak of World War II, a young Bentleyâcode name Clever Girlâfinds she has an unexpected gift for espionage. But after falling desperately in love with her handler, Elizabeth makes another surprise discovery when she learns he is actually a Russian spy. Together, they will build the largest Soviet spy network in America and Elizabeth will become its uncrowned Red Spy Queen. However, once the war ends and the U.S. and U.S.S.R. become embroiled in the Cold War, it is Elizabeth who will dangerously clash with the NKVD, the brutal Soviet espionage agency.Â
