Bits and pieces of historical fiction news

Yesterday afternoon, Maggie O'Farrell's historical novel Hamnet took home the Women's Prize for Fiction.  It was published in the UK by Tinder Press (cover image at left) and in the US by Knopf; in Canada, the title is Hamnet and Judith.  I've read it, and it's a deserving winner. Set in Shakespeare's England, the playwright is never named, but the story movingly observes the relationships between Agnes, a wise woman in 16th-century Warwickshire; her husband, a glovemaker's son; and their three children, including twins Hamnet and Judith.  Hamnet will die at age 11, an event which devastates each of the family members, who express their sorrow in different ways.

Also in the UK, Melissa Oliver won the Romantic Novelists' Association's Joan Hessayon Award, which celebrates new writers, for her debut historical romance The Rebel Heiress and the Knight (Harlequin/Mills and Boon).

Historical novelist Susanne Dunlap has a new podcast series, It's Just Historical. Each episode contains an interview with an author or other personality in the historical fiction community, including C. W. Gortner (The First Actress), Christina Baker Kline (The Exiles), Kris Waldherr (The Lost History of Dreams), and many more.

The BBC's Books section has a feature article, The Strange World of the Royal Family, in which Hephzibah Anderson speaks to two historical novelists, Wendy Holden (The Royal Governess/The Governess) and Clare McHugh (A Most English Princess) about their new works of fiction.  Holden focuses on Marion Crawford "Crawfie," the governess for Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret during their childhood, while McHugh's subject is Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, who became Empress of Germany.

Wendy Holden also has an article for Read It Forward on the must-haves of good historical fiction.

Sarah Penner's The Lost Apothecary (Park Row, March) will be one to watch for next winter. In an interview with Publishers Weekly, she speaks about the background to her debut, which delves into female power, lethal poisons, and mystery in Georgian London.

For Writer Unboxed, Liza Nash Taylor expresses what it's like to be a debut novelist at 60. Her novel Etiquette for Runaways (Blackstone, Aug.) is set in the Jazz Age of the 1920s.

Rebecca D'Harlingue (The Lines Between Us, set in the late 15th century and today) tells How to Do World Building Right in Historical Fiction for Writers' Digest.

And Parade Magazine has fall historical fiction recommendations from 12 other historical novelists with new books out.

Monday's web news

Happy Monday, everyone.

From the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles: an article on what they term "Jewish pulp fiction," aka novels about Biblical figures. It's a different angle on the topic, and the editors' comments are interesting to read. However, there are a few errors in content and spelling, plus some insulting remarks ("Jewish pulp fiction, ranging in quality from a Regency Romance to commercial literary fiction") that make me suspect the author's never read a Regency. And, ugh, Fabio.

In an interview with Dear Author, Pocket's Lauren McKenna talks mostly about their fall romance releases, but reveals that they're looking to add more historical fiction to their line:

Q: What should we be on the look out for in the future (i.e., changes in Pocket’s line, new line launches, ebook initiatives).
A: Pocket will be looking to expand our trade and hard cover lists in the areas of women’s fiction and historical fiction.

Bernard Cornwell is appearing in A Midsummer Night's Dream on Cape Cod.

Out of Oregon, an interview with Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank, a novel about Frank Lloyd Wright and his mistress, Mamah Cheney, which is being billed as one of this fall's big books.

From the Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Jeffrey Marshall, archivist and special collections librarian at the University of Vermont, explains how he found mention of the 1830 abortion scandal that turned into his novel The Inquest.

Bits and pieces from the web

Simon & Schuster emailed earlier to announce a live web event featuring Philippa Gregory that will be broadcast on Sunday, September 16th, at 2pm EST. Details here:

Philippa Gregory LIVE will feature a live simulcast streamed through the Internet of Gregory speaking to an audience in London. She will discuss her historical research; writing process; her latest novel, The Boleyn Inheritance; the upcoming major motion picture based on The Other Boleyn Girl; her next novel, The Other Queen; and much more. Throughout the one-and-a-half-hour long event, online attendees will have the opportunity to ask Philippa their own questions and interact with other fans and book clubs.

You can sign up at http://www.philippagregorylive.com/ and get a reminder in your email with login directions when the date draws closer. I vaguely recall that this is a weekend date I signed up to work the reference desk; I hope I'm wrong.

From Smart Bitches, Trashy Books comes this article by Pam Jenoff, author of The Kommandant's Girl, on the vagaries of genre classification. Her novel was nominated for a Quill (it received a starred review from Publishers Weekly) in the romance category, and the PW review called it "historical romance at its finest," yet it's not really a romance by definition. The novel itself - not to mention its title and cover art - have gone through several iterations, mainstream to romance to mainstream again, before final publication.

And then we have the UK cover, which keeps the same title yet shows an embracing couple from the WWII years; decidedly more romantic, which may have helped it become a bestseller there. I can't help but remember the frilly, sentimental UK cover of Michael Wallner's April in Paris, which features another embracing couple. Yet if readers pick up that novel expecting a traditional romance (rather than a fairly dark thriller with a love story on the side), they'll be quite surprised.

Finally, something every household needs: possessed books. Amuse your friends, scare your enemies. (And your cats.)

Two historical novels to watch for

You know it's going to be a weird day when you stagger up the steps to the post office, a huge bin of packages in both hands, and the postal clerk greets you by asking if you can tell there's a dead mouse somewhere under the counter. (No, I couldn't.)

Then we traded dead mouse stories. We have three cats and live out in the country, what can I say.

But on to book news. Gillian Bradshaw has a new Roman-era novel, Dark North, out this month. If you haven't heard about it, don't be surprised. Severn House is a hardcover library publisher, so you won't be seeing it in bookstores. I know about it mainly because a Bradshaw fan wrote in via the HNS website. Amazon has it for sale, but the date is wrong - it's June, not September, and if you plan to get a copy, I suggest ordering sooner rather than later. I had to wait six months to get her earlier Alchemy of Fire because it sold out fast, but they did a 2nd printing.

According to the blurb, it's set in Roman Britain circa 208 AD, and deals with an African cavalry scout who gets involved in imperial intrigue after he saves the life of a beautiful attendant to Empress Julia Domna (wife of Septimius Severus, who's on a mission to conquer Scotland). There aren't many novels set around this period of history, I don't believe.

Also, Valerie Anand has a new historical novel forthcoming this November, from Mira. The House of Lanyon, per information I found on a Harlequin blog, is a multigenerational story set in 15th century England. The small print on the cover says "The Exmoor Saga," which makes me think it's first in a series. I never really followed her Elizabethan mystery series (written as Fiona Buckley), but if this is anything like her Bridges Over Time series - one of my favorites - it will be something to look forward to. It's the first novel she's written under her own name in over ten years. This would go on my Christmas list, but I have a feeling I'll be buying it before then. Great cover, too. The UK publication date (also Mira) is April 2008, per an editor there.

My report on Willocks' The Religion, as promised - I'll be doing a full writeup in my next NoveList column (November; August is already turned in), but I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite its having possibly more gory scenes than any other historical novel I've read. Now that says something.

Four reviews in four days, and other news

The results of my four-day reading/reviewing marathon in early January are finally online:

• Sheila Kohler, Bluebird, or the Invention of Happiness
• Donald McCaig, Canaan
• Mark Slouka, The Visible World (do not read the Publishers Weekly review first; horrible spoiler)
• Michael Wallner, April in Paris

Unfortunately I can't read this quickly all the time, but then I was still on holiday break over New Year's. Other news bits:

Read more about Prince Michael of Greece's new historical novel Le Rajah de Bourbon (yes, it's in French), which "traces the swashbuckling story of [Balthazar Napolean de] Bourbon's first royal ancestor in India." Bourbon, an Indian lawyer/part-time farmer, is supposedly a long-lost descendant of the Bourbon kings. Time to brush up on my French.

The Boston Globe reviews Alison Weir's Innocent Traitor, but not without bringing to the table some prejudices on historical fiction. "Bodice-ripper argot"?

Israeli novelist Eva Etzioni-Halevy, author of The Garden of Ruth, speaks about researching and writing biblical fiction.

What was so great about Catherine? An older piece (complete with, um, tacky photo) from Salon.com about Virginia Rounding's Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, and Power, which also discusses other "princess books" found on the display tables of your local bookstore.