"None such in the land"

Susan's recent post on The White Queen got me to thinking about Nonsuch, the royal palace built by Henry VIII, and a novel I once read about its history. In the 1530s, the king chose a site on the Surrey plain for the location of a magnificent hunting lodge. The lands were already owned by the Cuddington family, and had been for hundreds of years, but no matter -- King Henry annexed the entire village, along with a manor house, church, and priory, and had all the structures torn down to construct a Renaissance palace "as there would be none such in the land." The Cuddingtons were properly compensated for their troubles and given lands in Sussex in exchange. No doubt they were less than thrilled by this demonstration of the king's munificence!

Nonsuch Palace, which never merited more than a few visits by Henry VIII, proved more popular with his daughter, Elizabeth I. It remained standing until 1682. By this time it had fallen into the hands of Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland, the notorious mistress of Charles II. Her gambling habits left her short of cash, so she had it demolished, the building materials sold to pay her debts.

Mary M. Luke's The Nonsuch Lure focuses not on the Tudors themselves, but on the Cuddingtons, the family dispossessed by the king's decision. It's a time-slip novel about star-crossed lovers, a beautiful 16th-century woman thought to be tainted by witchcraft, a curse that lasts over generations, and a mysterious lost treasure known only as the Lure. An irresistible combination for an escapist historical read.

The novel begins in the 1970s, as Andrew Moffatt, a wealthy American architect who spends his time jet-setting around the globe, comes across an old journal in a Virginia bookstore. Andrew gets caught up in reading the diary entries of Julian Cushing, a young teacher from colonial Williamsburg, who became so enraptured by a painting that it drew him across the Atlantic and to the ruins of Nonsuch Palace. Curious, Andrew travels to England to visit the Nonsuch excavation site, and finds that his life and Julian's are running in parallel. He begins seeing ghosts from the Tudor era, and there's an evil presence at Nonsuch that seems to have lingered...

I first read The Nonsuch Palace about twenty years ago, and after a quick reread, I found the storyline just as captivating now as it was to me then. Parts are dated, like the 1970s-era slang, and then there's Andrew's occasional cigarette-smoking (in a historic building, too, for shame!). But it's still a wonderful book, and you won't soon forget the history of Nonsuch Palace after reading it. My copy's a 1977 paperback, and it's long out of print, but you can find copies on ABE and Bookfinder.com, among others (kind of pricey, though), as well as at many public libraries.

Good stuff this week

1 - The new bookshelves have arrived. I don't know why it is, but I can always think more clearly when my house isn't a mess. I've had some books sitting in piles on the floor for over a year.

2 - An ARC of DeVa Gantt's Forever Waiting is on its way to me. This will be one of these drop-everything-and-read-it books, so I won't be beginning any lengthy novels for a little while.

3 - Entries have started to come in for the historical novel title game. This is exciting - I really had no idea if anyone would take me up on the challenge!

4 - There is talk of a book blogger convention which would tag along after (or before) BEA in 2010. It sounds like great fun, and if it happens, I plan to be there.

5 - An article that I've been struggling to write for the past couple of days is starting to take shape.

6 - There have been many new historical novel deals in Publishers Marketplace. Judging by past practice, the titles on some of these will be changing before publication, but here are some of them:

CEZANNE'S QUARRY author Barbara Corrado Pope's THE BLOOD OF LORRAINE, at the height of the Dreyfus Affair, the town magistrate must prove that a mutilated baby is not a case of "ritual sacrifice" in order to quell the anti-Semitic hysteria threatening to engulf the town, to Jessica Case at Pegasus, by Mollie Glick at Foundry Literary + Media (World). [speaker at the Historical Novel Society conference in Schaumburg; her first novel was an HNS editors' choice title]

Dori Jones Yang's DAUGHTER OF XANADU, about a spirited young Mongolian princess who must decide between her growing attraction towards a young foreigner, Marco Polo, and proving to the Khan, and to herself, that she can be a bold warrior, to Michelle Poploff at Delacorte, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (NA). [this is a YA novel]

Suzanne Desrochers's BRIDE OF NEW FRANCE, pitched as pioneering meets Philippa Gregory, based on the riveting true story of the Filles du roi, the unlucky girls sent from the poor houses of Paris to the wilderness of New France to populate its new colony for King Louis XIV, to Adrienne Kerr at Penguin Canada, for publication in November 2010, by Samantha Haywood of the Transatlantic Literary Agency. [if it's a novel about historical women, the comparison to Gregory is almost a given. It's the subject that makes me want to read it, though]

Melissa Hardy's BROKEN ROAD, following several generations of one Cherokee family in their various quests for wealth, love, power and dignity, drawing upon the roots of their native mythology and sacred history to create a moving account of the intense love-hate relationship between two peoples that would ultimately end in the destruction of the Cherokee way of life, to Michael Callaghan of Exile Editions, for publication in Fall 2009, by Bill Hanna of Acacia House. [another great-sounding novel from Canada]

RITA-nominated author Susanna Kearsley's THE WINTER SEA, the story of a modern novelist who slowly comes to realize that her book about a little-known Jacobite rebellion and the people taking part in it might be more fact than fiction, to Deb Werksman at Sourcebooks, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Shawna McCarthy at The McCarthy Agency (US). [so glad this one will finally be available in American bookstores!]

BBAW, and recent purchases

First, thank you to whoever nominated Reading the Past for Best History/Historical Fiction blog for Book Blogger Appreciation Week! It's an honor to be in such great company (I know many of my fellow HF bloggers were also nominated) and also really nice to see that our little corner of the blogosphere has an award to call our own.

I've made a couple semi-large purchases this week and thought I'd spread the word, especially since the sales won't last long. The first is that there's a really good deal on stackable folding bookshelves going on this week at Staples, the US-based office supply store. They're $29.99 apiece in stores, which means you can get a floor-to-ceiling pair of them for $60. I own a couple dozen of these shelves, and this is the cheapest I've ever seen them, so yesterday we went out and ordered four more with free delivery since our local store was out of stock. This means the mini-chateau of books next to my desk will soon be gone (to my cats' dismay).

This is what eight of them look like, stacked and placed side by side. And yes, there is another row of them around the corner to the left...

The second thing is that, for those of you who haven't heard, Book Depository's US site, http://www.bookdepository.com/, is now in business and has enormous discounts (up to 54% off) on some brand new titles and preorders, but you have to be fast and catch them before they disappear. Last week, I found Lindsey Davis's Rebels and Traitors, to be published in two weeks, on sale for $9ish plus free shipping. Of course I put it in my cart. That particular discount doesn't seem to be available any more, but there are others just as good on different books.

I purchased, erm, seven or eight other historical novels at similar prices and will have to wait a few weeks to a few months until some of them come in, but that's OK with me. Browse through their historical novel section and see what else you can find. Some books are as low as $5.24 US. How are they making money on this, especially with the free shipping? I've no idea. They're also selling Gregory's The White Queen for 1/2 off, should you be leaning in that direction. (My book is even on sale with a small discount, with free shipping worldwide. Normally, for some countries, airmail shipping would be more than the book itself costs.)

Anyway, I have no association with either company, but maybe some other book collector will find this info useful.

The Historical Novel Title Game

Okay, I have a lot of duplicate historical novels on hand and no room on my shelves. They need to find good homes, so I thought I'd share the wealth.

To do this, I've come up with a little game that will not only test your historical fiction knowledge but hopefully be fun to participate in, too.

This is the grid you'll have to work with:

Your mission is to find as many historical novel titles as you can.

The rules:

(1) The words have to be used in the order given (left to right).

(2) You don't have to use something from every column, as long as the words are in the correct order. For example, if there were historical novels called The Italian Bastard or The Shoe Garden (as far as I know, neither exists), they would count.

(3) Forthcoming titles count. Out-of-print titles count. As long as it's a historical novel that will be or has been published, it counts.

(4) You need to provide both the titles and the authors. (Hint: there are some titles that work for more than one author.)

(5) If you're an author who discovers title possibilities within the grid, you're more than welcome to use them for your next book!

The prizes:

There are 20 books in the pile above. All are unread and in pristine shape, a mix of new books, ARCs, and older titles I've had sitting around for a while. Most were published in summer 2009.

The person who sends the longest list of titles, per the rules above, will win 6 books or his/her choice from the pile. The second-place winner will get to choose 5 books from what remains, the third-place winner will get 4 books... after that, randomly selected entrants will get to choose two apiece from the remaining books until they're all gone.

How to enter:

Email your completed lists to me at readingthepast@hotmail.com with the subject "Title Game." The deadline is Friday, September 4th. One entry per person. International entrants welcome. Please don't leave your contest entries in the comments; if you do, your fellow readers will see your answers and will have every right to use them :)

I'll post the top 3 winners' names and their lists on Saturday, September 5th, and I'll be in touch about the prizes shortly thereafter.

Good luck and happy hunting!

Book review: Margaret Redfern, Flint

A well-paced, thoughtful novel of brotherly affection, self-discovery, and shifting wartime loyalties, Margaret Redfern's Flint deals not so much with the movers and shakers of history as with the moved and shaken. In the summer of 1277, Edward I of England and his men are trampling over North Wales, building castles to consolidate their domination of the land and people. Their enemy, Prince Llewelyn, remains trapped with his men in the mountains of Snowdonia, and pockets of Welsh resistance still exist.

When Edward's men arrive in the village of Boston Haven in the English fens, recruiting peasants as ditch-diggers, ten-year-old Will accompanies his sixteen-year-old brother Ned when he is conscripted into the makeshift army. Their journey over water and land, a long and exhausting march, will end at Flint, in the sandy marshes of the eastern border of Wales. Here they will do what they do best, "make land out of sea," creating banks and wide trenches to keep Edward's new fortress safe from attack.

The story is narrated by Will, both as a youth and in old age, with an occasional third-person perspective. Small icons denote the alternating sections.

Will has always watched over his older brother, whose garbled speech makes him seem simple-minded to others, although Ned has uncanny abilities to calm restless animals and communicate with music. Ned has further talents besides, some of which Will doesn't yet know. As they make their way westward with their 300-man company, Ned quietly follows his private, more complicated mission: to reunite with his former teacher and friend, the Welsh bard Ieuan ap y Gof.

The landscape along their route becomes a character in itself: the red stone and earth of Chester, the thick mud of the camp at Flint, the damp odor of the marshy riverbanks. The haunting imagery is beautifully rendered, with the sky, sea, and native birds and other animals changing constantly along the way. Redfern writes in the lilting language of myth. In this land where children believe in marsh-devils and elf-lights, and musicians whittle pipes out of the bones of swans' wings, the dark medieval atmosphere becomes infused with its own magic.

As the brothers' personal tale plays out in the wake of the English and Welsh monarchs' actions, Will gradually learns that one's path in life hinges on seemingly minor choices, and that ties of love matter more than politics. Emotionally resonant, and considerably deeper than its short length might suggest, Flint celebrates the power of song and story to help us remember people and places that might otherwise be forgotten. Highly recommended.

---

Flint was published this June by Honno, an independent cooperative press focused on Welsh women writers (£6.99, 195pp, 1-906-78404-3, free postage to UK addresses). It can also be ordered from Book Depository at $9.95.

It's time for more tacky

More lusty adventures in the past! Another trawl through my basement bookshelves revealed more tacky historical novel covers -- with equally tacky blurbs.



"A picture of the wanton court of James I and of the beautiful, voluptuous Arabella Stuart, a woman who lived only to satisfy her own lusts."

"The dull pain in his heart gave way to seething anger; fury at this wench who thought Pagan de Beaugency's love was a plaything to be tossed aside at a woman's whim..."

"Romance and horror! The fabulous, magnificent story of the young Englishman, Dirk Young, and of the lovely Dutch girl who followed him across a savage land..."

(That's bad enough; the rest of the blurb goes beyond culturally insensitive.)



"Illegitimate daughter of a debauched nobleman; ragged pickpocket of the slums; wife of a titled wastrel; insatiable paramour of men of low estate and high. But finally and forever, she was a slave to the lust of Innocent Paradine, king of highwaymen."



"The spectacular story of a reckless adventurer who went where few men dared to go..."



"A mighty empire sliding into a pit of corruption, pride, and hatred."



"Bloody civil wars, tiger hunts, the passionate loves of Lalita, the sultry slave girl ... He learned all there was to know about life and death -- and desire!"



"Full of violence, lust, cruelty, and barbaric passion."



"A swashbuckling tale about the cutthroat pirate and a highborn lady... In the hot darkness, she had learned more about men than she would have guessed it possible to know."

If you missed the previous two galleries of tackiness, check them out here and here.

And the winners of Invasion are...

In the order their numbers were drawn: Laura, Michael, Valorie, Marie B, and Lucy.

Drop me a line at sljohnson2 at eiu.edu with your mailing address and I'll get your ARCs out to you. Congratulations to the five winners, and thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!

ps - For another chance to enter, C.W. Gortner is offering a similar contest on his blog and will draw the winners on August 10.

A visual preview of the fall season, part three

I'm late in getting this final group of covers posted. The good news about my tardiness, though, is that many of these titles will be available in the very near future. See parts one and two here and here. Part one of my spring 2010 preview coming soon!


In 1815 Paris, a medical student from Edinburgh gets drawn into an underworld of outlaws and émigrés after a beautiful woman steals his coral specimens. Spiegel & Grau, September; also Weidenfeld & Nicolson (UK), Jan 2010.

Edghill (Queenmaker, Wisdom's Daughter) reinterprets another biblical tale from the feminine perspective. I was fortunate to read an early copy of Delilah and think it's her best yet. St. Martin's, November.



The conclusion of the authors' Colette trilogy, a family saga set in the West Indies during the early 19th century. This series is addictive, and I'll be indulging myself as soon as my copy arrives. Avon A, November.


Catalan novelist Rosales's fourth novel, set in the contemporary art world and at the royal court of 18th-century Barcelona, centers on a manuscript telling of a lost masterpiece by the Venetian painter Tiepolo. Carlos Ruiz Zafón gave it a great blurb. Alma Books, October.

Jarrettsville takes place in northern Maryland just after the Civil War, and looks deeply into the reasons behind the inexplicable killing of a Union hero by his fiancée. Based on a true story from the author's family history. Counterpoint, October.

A multigenerational epic of Canada, done up in the style of Michener and Rutherfurd, and inspired by the life of David Thompson, an early 19th-century Welsh immigrant who became Canada's greatest cartographer. I love the cover. Viking Canada, November.

Third in Gedge's King's Man trilogy, which follows the life of the renowned seer, Huy, in the last years of ancient Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty. This volume begins as Huy becomes scribe and counselor to the young pharaoh, Amunhotep III. Penguin Canada, forthcoming [publication delayed, per publisher]



In the Aizu mountains of Japan in the late 19th century, a young peasant girl falls desperately in love with a samurai warrior, only to learn that the world she inhabits has no place for love. Alma, October, and available in the UK now.


An author known for her historical mysteries set in ancient Rome turns to the English Civil War and Commonwealth, a setting she calls her first love in historical fiction. Century, September.


Canadian novelist Holeman has written three historical novels for adults, all part of her Indian trilogy set in 19th-century India and Afghanistan. Her latest, about a woman in search of her missing fiancé, takes place in 1930s Marrakech. McArthur & Co (Canada) and Headline Review (UK), October.


A debut novel about a mysterious young woman named Rachel and the passion she and Vincent van Gogh shared. If you're not already a regular to Sheramy's blog, give it a visit for insights into the writing process as well as Van Gogh's life and art. Avon A, October.


In the third in her Languedoc trilogy, a man and woman haunted by loss in the Great War meet in the Pyrenees in 1928 and begin unraveling a tragic mystery extending back centuries. Orion, October.

Interesting cover...

After finishing up The Taste of Sorrow, I pulled my old copy of Wuthering Heights off the shelf (it has my former name and homeroom penciled in on the inside cover) and noticed the heroine on the cover looked familiar. What do you think — Catherine Earnshaw as a more demure version of Madame X?

Forthcoming titles, and an old book gets a makeover

I've finished compiling an update to the forthcoming books list on the Historical Novel Society website. It's only July, but a few publishers have their Winter 2010 catalogs out already. The main page lists titles through December, while those for January and forward appear on a separate page. Info on titles from US publishers was provided by me; Sarah Cuthbertson compiles the UK listings.

One of the new books on Sarah C's list, Mary Jane Staples's The Summer's Day is Done, caught my attention because the title seemed so familiar. A little googling revealed it was a reissue of a novel from 1976, one that I happen to own. The new and the old:

Mary Jane Staples and Robert Tyler Stevens were both pseudonyms used by Reginald Thomas Staples. He's best known for the Adams Family series of cockney wartime sagas written as Mary Jane Staples. Although he died in 2005, some of his older, non-series books are being reissued under the more familiar Mary Jane Staples name, which has been confusing some readers.

The novel's about a secret (fictional) love affair between Grand Duchess Olga and British agent John Kirby, who meets her at the Tsar's ball in 1911. The original edition was also published in the US, in paperback. Has anyone read it? Kind of a similar plotline to Catherine Gavin's The Snow Mountain, which a while back I mentioned as a favorite of mine.

Book review: Jude Morgan's The Taste of Sorrow

In historical fiction circles, the Brontës look set to become this year’s Tudors, prompting questions on whether the world needs yet another novel on 19th-century England’s most famous literary family. In this case, the answer is definitely yes. Jude Morgan has traced the dark paths to artistic genius before (his Passion is an absorbing look at Byron, Shelley, Keats, and the women in their lives). In his latest effort, he sweeps the aura of romantic legend away from Charlotte, Emily, and Anne and examines who they were as writers and as people, working separately and together. The Taste of Sorrow is a masterful work, written with admiration, deep understanding, and imaginative skill while remaining faithful to the historical record. It’s totally engrossing as well, the only downside being that it may spoil the enjoyment of other fictional accounts.

As the title suggests, a sense of melancholy pervades the Brontës’ lives. As Morgan details their personal histories, he makes it easy to understand why. But despite the suffering and tragedies they each experience, we’re also left with vivid impressions of the intellectual spark that helped them triumph over what could have been a wholly bleak existence.

The most harrowing moments occur toward the beginning and end. In 1824, Reverend Patrick Brontë, the strong-willed parson of Haworth parish in windswept, remote Yorkshire, helps his dowerless daughters plan for a lifetime of duty by sending the four eldest away to boarding school. The abominable conditions and abusive treatment leave them malnourished and despondent, yet they’re too proud to complain. Maria and Elizabeth, the oldest girls, eventually sicken and die of consumption, events recited as living examples of the dreadful “children’s stories” read by the school’s proprietor.

Charlotte’s childhood experience at the Cowan School clearly shapes her character (and writings, as we know from Jane Eyre). After their sisters’ deaths, she and her remaining siblings, including brother Branwell – gifted, unhappy, self-destructive Branwell – band together in a fertile literary synergy, creating imaginary worlds which to them are very real. The lands of Angria and Gondal become physical places where they spend time (and sometimes get lost), so strong is their pull. Literary genius, given life on the page.

Although Charlotte emerges as the main protagonist, Morgan ensures no one receives short shrift. We see how Anne, quietly independent, uses her frustrations with governessing as fodder for Agnes Grey, but Emily needs no outside inspiration. She finds all the knowledge she needs of passion, torment, and the complexity of human nature within herself; she is a wonderfully realized character. Though fiercely solitary, Emily's advice following Charlotte’s romantic rejection by her married mentor from Brussels shows perceptive insight. Even Maria and Elizabeth, the young leaders of their family group, have more than walk-on roles, and their absence leaves Charlotte, the original middle child, feeling vulnerable and exposed.

Not only does Morgan have a sure touch with character, but his wording is spot on. His phrasing is precisely crafted and setting-appropriate. When Anne notes that the unpleasantness she encounters as governess at Thorp Green Hall “rubbed like a nutmeg-grater at the quick of her self,” we know her meaning exactly. However, while the language reflects its time, the novel’s style is actually quite contemporary, and what’s remarkable is how well it works. Without excess drama or irrelevant scenes, it presents the Brontës in tune with what’s known of them, offering impressionistic fragments when full sentences won’t do. The narrative slips back and forth between their actions and thoughts; one scene told in a tangle of four contrasting inner voices is especially effective. Every word contributes to the whole, and the result reads seamlessly.

One result of this understated approach is that the sisters are allowed some of their intensely guarded privacy. For example, with a few exceptions, we don’t get to scrutinize the thought processes that went into the creation of their masterworks; those novels stand on their own, as they should. Other scenes fade out at a point when less practiced writers might have been tempted to continue. Knowing when to hone in versus step back is a powerful skill, and here, the silences speak as loudly as words. This restraint makes the emotional content all the more poignant, and the conclusion all the more heartbreaking.

-----

The Taste of Sorrow was published in hardcover this May by Headline Review (£12.99, 384pp, 9780755338894 ). Those outside the UK can order it, as I did, from Book Depository.

Win a copy of Julian Stockwin's upcoming Kydd novel, Invasion

Thanks to McBooks Press, I have five ARCs of Invasion, the 10th novel in Julian Stockwin's Kydd series, to offer to Reading the Past visitors. The series, based on real events from history, is the story of Thomas Paine Kydd's journey from pressed man to Admiral in the Great Age of Fighting Sail.

Readers new to the series will find that each volume stands on its own merits, while those familiar with Kydd should enjoy reading about his new adventures. A plot synopsis follows:

In the tenth book of the popular series, rumors fly of Napoleon's planned invasion of England, and British naval commander Thomas Kydd is sent to liaise with American inventor, Robert Fulton. The American has created "infernal machines" that can kill from a distance. Fulton believes that his inventions--the submarine and torpedo--will win the day for the power that possesses them, and Kydd must help him develop the devices. Despite his own scruples, believing that standing man-to-man is the only honorable way to fight, Kydd agrees to take part in the crucial testing of these weapons of mass destruction. In the end, their fire power just may decide the fate of England.

These five copies are galleys... not in the nautical sense, mind you, but pre-publication Advanced Reading Copies (paperbacks). Invasion will be published in October 2009, so this is your chance to read it early. The McBooks site as a whole, I might add, is worth checking out if you're into historical fiction at all, especially thrillers and multi-volume historical adventures.

To enter the drawing for Invasion, all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post, briefly mentioning why you'd like to receive a copy. Deadline is Saturday, August 1st, and the five winners will be selected randomly (and announced) the following day. Good luck to all the entrants!

Book review: Susan Holloway Scott's The French Mistress

(This is the first of three reviews of novels by authors consistently given Editor's Choice status by the Historical Novels Review. I take no credit for this, as the editors simply choose the novels that the reviewers recommend most highly. This also marks a stop on Susan Holloway Scott's online book tour; for more details, read to the bottom of the review.)

As the most honored mistress of Charles II of England and a spy for Louis XIV of France, Louise de Keroualle was in a unique position to nurture an alliance between their two countries. That she carried out her mission while remaining high in the favor of both men testifies to her cleverness, ambition, and unwavering devotion to her royal lover. It’s no surprise that Louise’s story is a compelling one, and Scott’s fictionalized memoir of this fascinating woman brims with color and vitality.

In the prologue, set in London in 1685, Louise looks back on her life to that point, acknowledging her bad reputation among the English while remaining proud of her accomplishments. We follow her journey beginning in 1668, when as a shy eighteen-year-old she joins the household of the English-born Henriette-Anne, Duchesse d’Orleans, as a maid of honor. Louise soon becomes the confidante of “Madame,” witnessing her abusive marriage and her close relationship with her royal brother, Charles, with whom she frequently corresponds.

After Madame’s tragic (and suspicious) early death, Louise obeys the Sun King’s request that she travel to England to seduce Charles and ensure his sympathy to French interests. It’s a dangerous game, for her nationality and Catholicism make her an easy target in that overly Protestant country, but Louise’s beauty, elegance, and kindness capture Charles’s attention. Surrounded by flatterers and enemies, Louise learns that the king is the only person she can trust in England, but she finds that sufficient.

Scott has the gift of creating appealing characters while simultaneously allowing us to observe their flaws. Louise retains her charm, even when we’re presented with hints that Englishmen had good reason to note her appetite for jewels and other royal gifts. Similarly, although Charles is hardly faithful, because we understand the values they share, we also share her assurance that Charles will always return to her. We don’t get the chance to fully indulge in the bawdiness of the Restoration court – though Louise observes it on occasion, she’s an unwilling participant – but this fits in with her narrative. The technique used for her dialogue, which omits French vocabulary save for titles and honorifics, feels quite natural to read.

The French Mistress presents a study in contrasts. Louis XIV rules by divine right; despite his magnificent public persona, he keeps his innermost feelings private, so much so that the only evidence his courtiers have of his ongoing relations with his mistress is her appearance on his daily schedule. On the other hand, Charles II’s open, outgoing nature shows in his attendance at Drury Lane theatres and the considerably more relaxed atmosphere at the English court. We also view his ongoing frustration with Parliament, particularly in his efforts to show tolerance to Catholics in his realm.

Through Louise’s jealous eyes we also glimpse her fellow mistresses: notorious Barbara Villiers, saucy Nell Gwyn, and bold, brazen Hortense Mancini, who briefly replaces her in the king’s bed. This provides an even fuller picture of Charles II and his age. And although Louise herself may be sorry to hear this, her narrative served to whet my appetite for two of her competitors’ stories, as recounted in The Royal Harlot and The King’s Favorite.

The French Mistress was published in July by NAL/Penguin ($15.00/C$18.50, 477pp including author's note + discussion questions, pb, 978-0-751-22694-1). To visit the other stops on Susan Holloway Scott's tour-du-blog, visit her News page.

What's next on the blog

This is really just a placeholder until I have more time for a proper post. Deadlines always have a way of creeping up, but during the past month, several have sneaked up behind me and smacked me in the back of the head.

I leave Friday for the ALA conference in Chicago. Saturday afternoon I'm speaking on "sharpening your resume for a tough job market" as part of the New Members Round Table (NMRT) President's Program, 1:30-3:30pm in the Hyatt Regency Chicago's Grand D North. I'm at the conference till Tuesday, after which I plan to come home, lie down on the couch, and not leave it for the next week.

The blog will likely be minimally attended until I get back, but I do have some plans for future posts. I'll be participating in Susan Holloway Scott's recent tour-du-blog, with a review of her latest, The French Mistress. As you may be aware, Susan is one of a select group of authors whose latest novels have all been named Editors' Choice selections in the Historical Novels Review. At the same time, I'll be covering newish releases by Jude Morgan and Cora Harrison, the two other historical novelists who fit this category... I'm eager to see for myself why HNR reviewers have been so enthusiastic about their works. (HNR hasn't yet reviewed Morgan's latest, The Taste of Sorrow, so we'll have to see if this streak continues.)

I still intend to post Part 3 of the Visual Preview for Fall. I'm not sure why I feel delinquent about this, since it's only the beginning of July, but some spring covers have already been spotted on Amazon. Meanwhile, the TBR pile next to my desk is starting to resemble Chenonceau, minus the river, so I need to get cracking on reading more of them... and I'll post reviews on as many as I'm able.

Hope to see some of you in Chicago this coming weekend!

And the books go to...

Copies of The Personal History of Rachel DuPree will shortly be making their way around the globe. The three winners of last Saturday's contest are: Michelle from Australia, Susan from the West Coast U.S., and Teddy Rose from Vancouver, BC. Please email me at sljohnson2 @ eiu.edu with your full name and mailing address, and your books will be on their way. Hope you enjoy the novel as much as I did!

An opportunity to read Rachel DuPree's personal history for yourself

Not long after I posted my interview with Ann Weisgarber on April 27th, she generously offered to send copies of The Personal History of Rachel DuPree for blog readers as soon as she received them from her publisher. I happily accepted.

So now I have three new paperbacks sitting on my bookshelf, and each awaits a reader. All you need to do for a chance to win is leave a comment on this post saying why you'd be interested in reading it.

If you didn't catch my earlier interview with Ann, click the link above for details. Deadline is Thursday, July 2nd. The names of the three winners will be drawn on Friday. International entrants welcome.

And the best news of all: At the time of the interview, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree had yet to be picked up by an U.S. publisher, despite its South Dakota Badlands setting and classic American themes. I was very pleased to learn that this has changed. I got the chance to meet Ann at the HNS conference two weekends ago, and while speaking as part of the "debut novels" panel, she announced that it had been acquired by Viking US. Publication will be next summer. Congratulations, Ann, and thanks for providing copies for Reading the Past visitors!

Good luck to all the entrants!

Book review: Anna Elliott's Twilight of Avalon

(I finished Twilight of Avalon before leaving for the conference, which meant I got the opportunity to mention it in my "best new historical fiction" panel. For those who were there, here's an extended version of my thoughts.)

Despite my longtime interest in Arthurian myth and fiction, the classic romance of Tristan and Isolde had never truly captured my attention. While reading Anna Elliott’s new historical novel Twilight of Avalon, I've been trying to analyze why. As tradition has it, Tristan and Isolde accidentally drink a love potion while en route to her wedding to his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. This serves as the catalyst for an intense conflict between love, honor and duty that ends ultimately in tragedy for the young couple. However, I’ve always found it hard to believe in a romance enhanced by magical means, and in a strong, beautiful heroine made weak by love.

Other recent fictional takes on the legend include Dee Morrison Meaney’s heartrending romantic tragedy (Iseult), Rosalind Miles’s proto-feminist triumph (Isolde, Queen of the Western Isle and its sequels), and Diana Paxson’s complex historical fantasy epic (The White Raven). All are moving, poetically written, and worth seeking out. Among them, only the latter found a place among my favorite retellings. It relegates selfish Esseilte to the background while her more intelligent and rational cousin, Branwen, steals the spotlight and gets her man. All too often, Isolde has been a woman whose circumstances earned my sympathy but who I found difficult to like or even admire; that is, until now.

Twilight of Avalon bears small resemblance to the earlier novels and indeed to the Arthurian saga most are familiar with. The genealogical chart in the opening pages let me know I was in for something different. The novel is set firmly in 6th-century Cornwall, a land beset by political turmoil, seven years after Camlann. Arthur’s heir, Constantine, has been killed fighting the Saxons, or so it's believed, and his widow, Isolde, is left alone, distrusted by everyone. The bastard daughter of Modred and Gwynefar – King Arthur’s traitorous son and his adulterous wife – Isolde was married to Con in an arrangement of political necessity.

Now that her husband the High King is dead, Isolde is helpless to do anything except try to heal soldiers’ battle-wounds and ponder her unknown future with dread. She is thought by all of Britain’s lesser kings to be a witch, though her powers of Sight – inherited from her grandmother Morgan – have been blocked, and her pre-Camlann past forgotten through force of will. King Marche of Cornwall, who is chosen the new High King by his fellow monarchs, forces her hand in marriage, though Isolde refuses to submit to his mistreatment. Her only sometime ally is Trystan, a part-Saxon, part-Briton prisoner whose suspicious outlook and desperate actions reflect the violence of the age. They form an unlikely, reluctant partnership to flee from Marche’s clutches at Tintagel and uncover evidence of his treason.

Readers looking for scenes of chivalrous romance or sweeping Celtic enchantment won’t find them here: this is not a Camelot-style fantasy world but a vividly evoked early medieval Britain of uneasy alliances and swift, surprising brutality. The characters express a healthy cynicism about how their reality will be transformed over time into glorious legend, as has happened with their forebears, but accept its inevitability and work it to their own benefit. This isn’t to say there’s nothing magical about the tale, though. Aside from Isolde’s own limited supernatural powers, Twilight of Avalon celebrates the magic of storytelling in ways that pay tribute to both the legends and their historical origins. Most notably, Isolde, for all of her initial powerlessness, is never a weak character. She knows what she must do to escape her situation and the long odds of her success; she has a few tricks up her sleeve as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this inventive retelling, in all its gritty authenticity. It would be horribly unromantic of me to say it works better without the passionate love story, so I won’t go that far. Rather, it plants the seeds for a deeper connection between Isolde and Trystan that I’ll be eager to see develop in the next two volumes.

Twilight of Avalon was published in May by Touchstone Books ($16.00/C$21.00, 428pp, 978-1-4165-8989-9). Anna Elliott's website is http://www.annaelliottbooks.com/.

HNS conference linkfest

(me, Joyce Saricks, and Georgine Olson speaking at our "what to read and why" panel at 8:30am on Saturday)

I've been back in Charleston for three days, but my mind's still up north in Schaumburg. It was wrenching to come back home after having such an outstanding time meeting up with authors and readers, old friends and new, at the HNS conference last weekend.

I'd planned on doing a longer, more descriptive post, but so many bloggers have already done it for me. Below are other authors' and readers' summaries of the event, in no particular order, with occasional commentary from me.

Barbara Vey, contributing editor of Publishers Weekly, blogged from the event over the entire weekend, complete with photos, covering Margaret George's keynote, the late-night sex scene readings -- which has become a tradition -- and a nice wrap-up, complete with conference committee photo. If you haven't done so already, you must watch C.W. Gortner's hilarious drive-by interview with Barbara. Afterwards, responding to HNS authors' discussions on research, Barbara asked Beyond Her Book readers whether they require accurate details in their fiction.

I chatted with Barbara and Romance B(u)y the Book and B&N genre fiction columnist Michelle Buonfiglio in the hotel lobby on Saturday afternoon about book recommendations and the mission/history of the HNS. The organizing committee put a lot of effort into ensuring that many different types of historical novels (including historical romance) were well represented at the conference, so it pleased me to see this come out in her report. There's a photo of us three at Michelle's RBTB blog.

Julianne Douglas wrote an excellent summary of the event which covered many panels I didn't get to see. As I told her afterward on the Historical Fiction forum, the hotel used to be done up in Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Style, though following last summer's renovation, it looks more like 2020 than 1920! Other bloggers include:

• Nancy Blanton, who got a photo of some costume pageant participants;


• Conference volunteer DL Larson, who writes about her book-signing experience;


• Joyce Moore, who moderated the "query letter" panel and who wore a gorgeous green linen gown at the costume pageant. Scroll down to Joyce's gallery for more photos.


• Sheramy Bundrick, on how she and Margaret George make connections with their characters;


• I shared a book-signing table with Doug Jacobson and thoroughly enjoyed the "historical boys" panel on Sunday;


• It was fun to catch up with Michelle Moran and get my copy of The Heretic Queen signed! Her blog has a few more photos.


• HNS reviewer and Facebook pal Laurel Corona has a great picture of all the Jane Rotrosen Agency clients who attended (quite a few!);


• Dawna Rand did an extensive writeup that covered some cool photos (of three-time conference attendees Vic and Jenny Brown, who bought me drinks and kept me up late in Salt Lake City in 2005), the "debut novels" panel, more great pics, and marketing tips from Karen Essex, C.W. Gortner, and Michelle Moran (which I couldn't attend because my panel ran concurrently, alas).


• Costume pageant winner Joan Baril, from Thunder Bay, Ontario, talks about Margaret George's unique writing method;


• And Gemi Sasson, whose summary made me proud to be part of the conference, and who created a clever logo!

Did I miss anyone's blog post? Let me know!

Coming soon - a review of Anna Elliott's Twilight of Avalon and a giveaway of Ann Weisgarber's The Personal History of Rachel DuPree.

Tote bag stuffing party: before and after

And so, the big conference adventure begins

It's Wednesday morning, and the trunk of our SUV is completely full of tote bags, programs, and assorted flyers and promo items sent by authors/publishers for the HNS conference this week. Mark's still asleep, and we haven't really packed anything else yet, though I've got a folder of notes and other printouts set aside.

The last week has been hectic, even beyond expectations. After BEA, we were home for exactly two days before taking off in the car again for my cousin's wedding in London, Ontario, a 9-hour drive, though we overnighted in Ann Arbor on the way out. The trip went smoothly, the wedding was lovely (beautiful sunny day, not too hot, held at a historical estate on the outskirts of London) and we got to visit with many family members from across the US and Canada.

More troublesome was the return trip to the States on Sunday, which Mark summarized succinctly on his blog. Yeah, we're armed and dangerous, all right. (Armed with book purchases, maybe. I did some historical novel shopping at a Canadian bookstore on Saturday morning.)

On Monday morning, we learned that one of our author guests of honor, Edward Rutherfurd, had a family emergency and had to return to England asap, so was unable to appear at the conference after all. He was extremely sorry about it, and we're disappointed we won't be seeing him there, but family comes first. Fortunately for us, conference attendee Sharon Kay Penman accepted our very last-minute invite to give Saturday night's keynote address in his place. Sharon's one of my favorite historical novelists, and I'm really looking forward to meeting her and hearing her talk.

Today's plan: head up to Schaumburg, unload all our stuff at the hotel, and meet up with editor/agent liaison Ann Chamberlin for the drive out to hotel liaison Winifred Halsey's house an hour west; she's been storing 120+ boxes of books in her garage for the past month and more. Publishers were very, very generous with donations for attendees, so there's lots of good reading to look forward to. These books will mysteriously reappear in conference attendees' tote bags when registration opens on Friday. We're renting a U-Haul and plan to do the big book move this afternoon and evening.

Inspired by a post by Susan on the HFO forum, I've set up a Twitter account, which I'd been mulling over since BEA, and will be posting news flashes from the conference there as time permits. Holly from Wonders and Marvels (tweeting as history_geek) and I are wondering what other historical novel folks are there, so if you're connected up, let me know! I'm coming late to the party and am still figuring out how it works - no snazzy backgrounds yet - so please bear with me. No doubt I'll be blogging more about the event as well, though maybe not until after it's over.

Looking forward to seeing many of you in Schaumburg!