It’s not my fault! My foremothers were strong, capable, compassionate women. Angry with the silence around women in history, I have been passionate about restoring the voices and contributions of women to history and culture. I have written several books on neglected aspects of women's history that have been translated into 12 languages. While a voracious reader of history, I enjoy historical fiction (when it’s done well). I will never recommend a novel that does not respect this. And I love author’s notes and/or historical notes where the author explains what is real and what is imagined; and resources to learn more about the subject of the novel.
Set in a beguinage in 1310 Paris, which is churning with palace intrigue and the pyres of the Inquisition. I felt drawn into the lives of these beguines as they strive to hold their place in society with strong political forces set against their independent lifestyle.
I felt the smells, sights, and sounds of medieval Paris. An innocent Maheut arrives, unintentionally stirring up life among the beguines as they and the girl try to outwit the Inquisitors. Maheut is hunted, but the beguines are not sure by whom, and she won’t talk. A great resolution.
'A rich, surprising and devastating story of a female institution long-forgotten' Marj Charlier, author of The Rebel Nun
A heretical text, a vengeful husband, a forbidden love...
It's 1310 and Paris is alive with talk of the trial of the Templars. Religious repression is on the rise, and the smoke of execution pyres blackens the sky above the city. But sheltered behind the walls of Paris's great beguinage, a community of women are still free to work, study and live their lives away from the domination of men.
When a wild, red-haired child clothed in rags arrives at the beguinage…
I loved the way I was pulled into the world of early Saxon England and the women who inhabited that world. Griffith is a scholar of Saxon language and culture and immersed me into the world of Hild—her growing up years and all the challenges she, her mother, and her friends negotiated.
I loved Griffith’s use of language and imagery to paint this world with its beauty and threats. This is a time when new and old religions clash, kings fighting for power, plots, and cruelty. But Hild forges her own path, and not without risk. The actress who read the book does a stunning job, especially pronouncing some very foreign Saxon names. The story stayed with me.
Hild is born into a world in transition. In seventh-century Britain, small kingdoms are merging, usually violently. A new religion is coming ashore; the old gods' priests are worrying. Edwin of Northumbria plots to become overking of the Angles, ruthlessly using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, belief. Hild is the king's youngest niece. She has the powerful curiosity of a bright child, a will of adamant, and a way of seeing the world - of studying nature, of matching cause with effect, of observing human nature and predicting what will happen next - that can seem uncanny, even…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
Menewood, the name of the valley where she builds her personal stronghold, picks up where Hild ended. I simply had to find out what happened next! It was a riotous journey of violence, hunger, and work, yet also the raw beauty of her world: trees, birds, valleys, and hills. Her language continues to be rich and abundant with details, good and painful.
The political complexity and even savagery of her time echo our own. Yet Hild remains a unique and complicated woman who is heroic in every sense of the word. Again, the actress who read the book does a stunning job, especially pronouncing some very foreign Saxon names. I look forward to the next book, which I insist must be a series. After all, Hild will become a powerful abbess at Whitby.
In the much anticipated sequel to Hild, Nicola Griffith’s Menewood transports readers back to seventh-century Britain, a land of rival kings and religions poised for epochal change.
Making a much-anticipated return to the world of Hild, Nicola Griffith’s Menewood transports readers back to seventh-century Britain, a land of rival kings and religions poised for epochal change. Hild is no longer the bright child who made a place in Edwin Overking’s court with her seemingly supernatural insight. She is eighteen, honed and tested, the formidable lady of Elmet, now building her personal stronghold in the valley of Menewood.
Julian of Norwich will be remembered throughout history for her Showings, written in the time of horrific plagues. “All shall be well, all shall be well, and in all manner of things, all shall be well.” An anchorite (a hermit attached to the side of a church), we can only infer who this woman was.
Gilbert tells a lovely story of what might’ve been her growing up years and early adulthood before choosing to live the life of a hermit. I love the simple elegance of her storytelling.
'I was completely hooked and considerably moved by the life and thoughts of this exceptional woman' - JEREMY IRONS
'It is as if we have finally found the lost autobiography of one of the medieval world's most important women.' - JANINA RAMIREZ
'A beautiful, intensely moving achievement' - A.N. WILSON
In 1347, the first pestilence rages across the land. The young Julian of Norwich encounters the strangeness of death: first her father, then later her husband and her child. When she falls ill herself, she encounters mystical visions that bring comfort and concern. But in the midst of suspicion and…
Haunted by her choices, including marrying an abusive con man, thirty-five-year-old Elizabeth has been unable to speak for two years. She is further devastated when she learns an old boyfriend has died. Nothing in her life…
I loved this book so much that I read it twice! I loved the portrayal of an intelligent, well-educated woman (Belle da Costa Green) who needed to “pass for white” and be accepted as capable despite her gender (this is set around 1905).
We enter the elite world of financier J.P. Morgan and the library he was building—the pursuit and collecting of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork. We also enter the rarified world of the lifestyles and personalities of the elite, especially J. Pierpont Morgan. This is a fine piece of historical fiction: Belle da Costa Greene was actually Belle Marion Greener, the daughter of the first Black graduate of Harvard.
The Instant New York Times Bestseller! A Good Morning America* Book Club Pick!
Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR! Named a Notable Book of the Year by the Washington Post!
“Historical fiction at its best!”*
A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from New York Times bestselling authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.
In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by…
Beguines were laywomen who lived in communities called beguinages, which could be single homes for just a few women or walled-in rows of houses where hundreds of beguines lived together. They felt called to the marginalized and poor. To fund their ministries, they became great businesswomen. They founded schools and hospitals. They preached on street corners.
They were mystics, often writing down their visions; translated portions of the Bible into the local vernacular so their neighbors could know what the gospel said; and trained young girls coming off the farms in skills to support themselves. They copied manuscripts, composed music, and were influential in art. Yet, they are rarely mentioned in history books. The beguines never died out, and the movement is growing again.
Secrets, lies, and second chances are served up beneath the stars in this moving novel by the bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends. Think White Lotus meets Virgin River set at a picturesque mountain inn.
Seven days in summer. Eight lives forever changed. The stage is…
The Not Quite Enlightened Sleuth
by
Verlin Darrow,
A Buddhist nun returns to her hometown and solves multiple murders while enduring her dysfunctional family.
Ivy Lutz leaves her life as a Buddhist nun in Sri Lanka and returns home to northern California when her elderly mother suffers a stroke. Her sheltered life is blasted apart by a series…
