Here are 2 books that The Mademoiselle Alliance fans have personally recommended if you like
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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…
Malcolm Knox has written a highy intelligent black comedy about Stalin's Soviet Union which simultaneously amused and horrified me . Set in 1938 amid the coterie of Laventry Beria, the psychopathic governor of the Georgian Republic, the narrative is written from the viewpoint of Beria's loyal driver, Murtov, who, despite being a childhood friend, realises he is on a doomed journey. The book exposes the paranoia, absurdities and murderous activities of a world where oppression is the fabric of life, and treachery is the only way to survive.
Longlisted for the 2025 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
'Crackling with energy, irony, wit and terror, The First Friend is a timely and cautionary reminder of the stifling, murderous logic of strong man politics.' Tim Winton
'Razor-sharp, wildly imaginative, bold, brilliant and often as dark as the inside of a coffin. Another triumph from a truly extraordinary writer.' Trent Dalton
'The First Friend is not just a cracking read, it's a masterclass in Machiavellian manoeuvres. This is a magnificent piece of gallows humour, bitingly funny and horrifyingly grim at the same time.'…
