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Book Review: In the Shadows of Castles, by G.K. Holloway
It’s the 1060s, and William of Normandy is establishing a new and brutal regime in England, but there are those who would defy him. As Norman soldiers spread like a plague across the land, resistance builds, but will it be enough to topple William and restore the rightful king to his throne? The English have the courage to fight, but the Normans, already victorious at Hastings, now build castles seeking to secure their tenuous foothold in these lands. And what of the people caught up in these catastrophic events? Dispossessed but not defeated, their lives ripped apart, the English struggle for freedom from tyranny; amongst them, caught up in the…
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Island of Gold
1454. A noble French falconer. A spirited merchant’s daughter. And a fateful decision that changes their destiny forever. When Cédric is recruited by the Knights Hospitaller to the Greek island of Rhodes, his wife Sophie jumps at the chance to improve their fortunes. After a harrowing journey to Rhodes, Cédric plunges into the world of the knights—while Sophie is tempted by the endless riches that flow into the bustling harbor. But their dazzling new home has a dark side. Slaves toil endlessly to fortify the city walls, and rumors of a coming attack by the Ottoman Turks swirl in the streets. Desperate to gain favor with the knights and secure…
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Book Review: Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest
Originally posted January 11, 2019 The momentous events of 1066, the story of invasion, battle and conquest, are well known. But what of the women? Harold II of England had been with Edith Swanneck for twenty years but in 1066, in order to strengthen his hold on the throne, he married Ealdgyth, sister of two earls. William of Normandy’s Duchess, Matilda of Flanders, had supposedly only agreed to marry the Duke after he’d pulled her pigtails and thrown her in the mud. Harald Hardrada had two wives – apparently at the same time. So, who were these women? What was their real story? And what happened to them after 1066?…
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Book Review: A Time for Swords, by Matthew Harffy
Lindisfarne, AD793. The life of a novice monk will be changed forever when the Vikings attack in a new historical adventure from Matthew Harffy. There had been portents – famine, whirlwinds, lightning from clear skies, serpents seen flying through the air. But when the raiders came, no one was prepared. They came from the North, their dragon-prowed longships gliding out of the dawn mist as they descended on the kingdom’s most sacred site. It is 8th June AD793, and with the pillage of the monastery on Lindisfarne, the Viking Age has begun. While his fellow monks flee before the Norse onslaught, one young novice stands his ground. He has been taught…
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Book Review: Luminous – The Story of a Radium Girl
When a shy Catholic girl stands up to the might of the radium industry, the legal and medical communities, and townspeople who told her to be quiet. Would she be too late? This is the story of a Radium Girl.
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Book Review: Traitor’s Knot
England 1650: Parliament has executed King Charles I, and the English Civil War is over. Meanwhile, ordinary English men and women must get back to life, living with the consequences of loyalties and principles tested, stretched, strained, and sometimes broken. The winning side, as it often does, holds the only culturally acceptable moral high ground, and everyone else must bow to the pressure of the new political landscape or suffer the consequences. Memories are long, and grudges hold fast. Royalist officer James Hart escapes the war with his body intact, settling into an uneasy life as an ostler (keeper of the stables) at a small inn in Warwick. But this…
