Here are 2 books that The First Friend fans have personally recommended if you like
The First Friend.
Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
As an author who writes about Ancient Rome and the Etruscans, I enjoyed delving into Forsyth's book which re-imagines the Roman myth of the love affair between Eros/Cupid, the god of love, and the mortal woman Pysche (Psykhe is the Greek spelling). Forsyth merges this myth with the legend of the evil Etruscan King Tarquin the Proud which is a great twist. Forsyth is renowned for reworking fairytales (she has a doctorate in them!) into history such as Bitter Greens (Rapunzel in Louis XIV's France), The Beast's Garden (Beauty and the Beast in WW2 Berlin) and Beauty in Thorns (Sleeping Beauty with the Pre-Raphaelites). This is the first time she has set her books in prehistory which enables her a good deal of leeway to weave the two Roman legends together. As always, the author's prose is lush and evocative, the characters are engaging, and the narrative enlaced with ingenuity.
Kate Forsyth gives voice, power and agency to Psykhe telling this much loved myth from the perspective of the woman at its centre.
It is not wise to anger the gods ... or to fall in love with one.
Psykhe has always been different. Fair as Venus, the goddess of love, and with the hard-won ability to save the lives of those of mortal blood, she is both shunned and revered.
When she unwittingly provokes Venus, she and her sisters lose everything. Psykhe must find a way to make amends and support her family.
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
Natasha Lester passionately brings to life the true story of one of history's unsung Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the only woman to lead a resistance network in WWII France. Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was an extraordinary woman. Mother. Rally-car driver. Journalist. A woman who was at the top of the Gestapo's most wanted list and suffered physical hardship and psychological pain in fighting for her beloved France.
This is a story about the very best people, those who endangered their own lives and the lives of their loved ones and associates, and the Nazis who tortured, raped, looted and murdered.
I loved learning so much about a woman who is lost to the pages of history but who's story is studded with episodes that seem unbelievable and yet were true. The novel is important in also highlighting all the many Alliance agents who died for France.
How did a young Parisian mother, celebrated for her beauty and glamour, come to lead the largest spy network in occupied France?
“A passionate, fiery tribute to a historical woman so extraordinary she almost defies belief.”—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Briar Club
Morocco, 1928. Marie-Madeleine Méric is not the kind of woman who stays quietly at her husband's side. Polyglot, pianist, and pilot, she is a woman of many skills, with unconventional interests—like driving in car rallies—that earn her a daredevil reputation. But dabbling in intelligence work to assist her military officer…
