The Book Bandit's Library : July 2024

Wednesday 31 July 2024

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! Fortune’s Wheel, The First Meonbridge Chronicle by Carolyn Hughes

Fortune’s Wheel, The First Meonbridge Chronicle
By Carolyn Hughes
Audiobook Narrator: Alex Lee

Publication Date: 22/4/24 (Audiobook). Publisher: Carolyn Hughes. Listening Length: 11 hours and 54 minutes. Genre: Historical Fiction

How do you recover from the havoc wrought by history's cruellest plague?

It's June 1349. In Meonbridge, a Hampshire manor, many have lost their lives to the Black Death, among them Alice atte Wode’s beloved husband and Eleanor Titherige’s widowed father. Even the family of the manor’s lord and his wife, Margaret de Bohun, has not entirely escaped.

But, now the plague has passed, the people of Meonbridge must work together to rebuild their lives. However, tensions mount between the de Bohuns and their tenants, as the workers realise their new scarceness means they can demand higher wages and dictate their own lives.

When the tensions deepen into violence and disorder, and the men – lord and villagers alike – seem unable to find any resolution, the women – Alice, Eleanor and Margaret – must step forward to find a way out of the conflict that is tearing Meonbridge apart.

Audio excerpt

Amazon

Carolyn Hughes

Carolyn Hughes has lived much of her life in Hampshire. With a first degree in Classics and English, she started working life as a computer programmer, then a very new profession. But it was technical authoring that later proved her vocation, word-smithing for many different clients, including banks, an international hotel group and medical instruments manufacturers.

Although she wrote creatively on and off for most of her adult life, it was not until her children flew the nest that writing historical fiction took centre stage. But why historical fiction? Serendipity!

Seeking inspiration for what to write for her Creative Writing Masters, she discovered the handwritten draft, begun in her twenties, of a novel, set in 14th century rural England… Intrigued by the period and setting, she realised that, by writing a novel set in the period, she could learn more about the medieval past and interpret it, which seemed like a thrilling thing to do. A few days later, the first Meonbridge Chronicle, Fortune’s Wheel, was under way.

Six published books later (with more to come), Carolyn does now think of herself as an Historical Novelist. And she wouldn’t have it any other way…

Social Media Links:

Bluesky

Friday 12 July 2024

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! Zig Zag Woman by Roberta Tracy

Zig Zag Woman
By Roberta Tracy

Publication Date: April 16, 2024 . Publisher: Historium Press. Pages: 248 pp. Genre: Historical Mystery

The last thing LAPD Detectives McManus and Tyson expect to find behind Pantages Theatre is a body rolled up in a blanket. The last thing Margaret Morehouse, one of the city's first policewoman with arrest powers, expects to do is join the investigation. When a deadly explosion at the L. A. Times derails their efforts, Margaret finds herself at a crossroads and strikes out on her own, a path leading to delusion and self-discovery on a vaudeville stage. Her husband's nephew Leland further complicates the situation by sharing a ransom note and confiding his failure to report his wife's disappearance at the Dominguez Air Meet.

A brief stint as a magician's assistant takes Margaret to Chicago, where she almost signs on as a zig zag girl, the term used for ladies performing in the "cutting-a-woman-in-two"

illusion. Instead, Margaret returns to the tumultuous world of early twentieth century Los Angeles. Reunited with McManus and Tyson, she confronts prejudices and societal norms in efforts to identify a body, clear Leland's name, and topple the stranglehold one powerful, amoral person has over many lives. Their efforts lead to dead ends and misconceptions before truth comes to light. Love is rekindled and danger uncovered in unlikely places. Margaret goes from Zig Zag Girl to Zig Zag Woman, no longer cut in two but headed on a clearer path.

Excerpt

The Morehouses' world turned upside down on a warm September day when Captain Hiram Clarke of the Los Angeles Police Department welcomed Margaret to the force with a book of rules and first aid kit. Had he included a crystal ball, she might have been able to predict the way murder and deception would riddle her life for the next twenty years.

On her first official day of work, Margaret tried to take advantage of a long-standing police department privilege, free trolley rides to Central Police Station on First Street. The pot-bellied conductor, who always tipped his hat to policemen and waved them aboard, eyed her up and down with suspicion. "Anyone not wearing a badge must pay!" he declared.

Assuming he had not had a chance to read the morning paper, she handed him the fare.

If she'd left home a few minutes later, Margaret would have ridden to work alongside Alice Stebbins Wells, Los Angeles's first female policewoman with arrest powers, who never, ever paid to board a trolley.

Amazon

Roberta Tracy

Early experience as a staff greeting card writer introduced Roberta Tracy to witty people who shared the writer’s dream. Marriage, motherhood, and career intervened, but she maintained that creative desire.

A degree in nonprofit management led her to work situations where newsletters, grant proposals, and business correspondence took precedence. Still, she wrote poetry, some of which won prizes and publication, and children’s books set in worldwide locations. Recently, she co-authored Come Dream With Me, a part travelogue, part hippie nostalgia work of creative nonfiction, detailing the adventures of colleague Inese Civkulis.

No matter what writing projects unfold in the future, she'll never find enough words to thank family and friends for their inspiration and encouragement.

Social Media Links:

Thursday 11 July 2024

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! Courage of the Conquered by Anna Chant.

Courage of the Conquered
By Anna Chant

Publication Date: December 28th, 2019. Publisher: Independently published. Pages: 431. Genre: Historical Fiction.

All the wonders of the Mediterranean have not prepared the English for the splendours of Constantinople. As Siward of Gloucester settles into the city, he is grateful to have finally found what he was looking for: A fine, god-fearing lord he is proud to serve and a safe place where he and Oswyth can await the birth of their child.

But as the months pass, doubts creep in. Emperor Michael proves to be a weak ruler, continually threatened with rebellion. Determined to keep the English army close, his promises of reward grow increasingly vague.

With tension in the city rising, Siward and his friends are caught up in the power struggle. While Bridwin maintains his loyalty to the emperor and Siward continues to trust in the friendship of the cunning Alexios Komnenos, Frebern grows close to John Bryennios, a man whose ambitions may include the imperial throne itself. With the friends drawn in different directions, Siward fears they could find themselves fighting on opposing sides.

Desperate to escape, he renews his efforts to find the home the English have so long craved. But the beauty of Constantinople conceals dangers that go far beyond Siward’s fears as sordid secrets and ruthless betrayal stalk the lives of those he holds dear.

As the English prepare for battle yet again, will Siward’s quest for New England end in heart-breaking tragedy?

You can pick up a copy of this book on Amazon.

This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Anna Chant

Anna Chant grew up in Essex, with her first home a tiny medieval cottage. Aged 18 she moved to Yorkshire to study history at the University of Sheffield. In 2015, inspired by her love of medieval history and her Scottish ancestry, Anna started writing her first book with Kenneth’s Queen, the tale of the unknown wife of Kenneth Mac Alpin, published the following year. Taking inspiration from both history and legend, she particularly enjoys bringing to life the lesser known people, events and folklore of the past. When not writing, Anna enjoys walking the coast and countryside of Devon where she lives with her husband, three sons (if they’re home) and a rather cheeky bearded dragon.

Social Media Links:

Wednesday 10 July 2024

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! The Sea Witch Voyages (Series) by Helen Hollick

The Sea Witch Voyages (Series)

By Helen Hollick

Book Title: The Sea Witch Voyages. Series: 6 in the series & 1 prequel novella. Author: Helen Hollick. Publisher: Penmore Press & Taw River Press. Genre: Nautical Adventure with a touch of Supernatural Fantasy.

Note: Contains adult language and behaviour.

Trouble follows Captain Jesamiah Acorne like a ship’s wake...

The early 1700s: from the sun of the Caribbean to the eerie mists of England’s Exmoor in Devon, the Sea Witch Voyages follow the adventures (misadventures?) of Captain Jesamiah Acorne. Orphaned at almost fifteen Jesamiah escaped his home in Virginia and the bullying of his half-brother to join with his father’s old friend, Captain Malachias Taylor – a kindly man, but also a rogue of a pirate.

Jesamiah eventually captains his own ship, but at Cape Town, South Africa, he is to meet the girl who becomes the love of his life – Tiola Oldstagh, a midwife, healer... and a White Witch with the gift of Craft.

Accepting amnesty from Governor Woodes Rogers of Nassau, Jesamiah turns to a legal, married, life, except various governors, ex-lovers, bad-tempered pirates, lingering ghosts and other non-human entities seem to have different ideas.

Jesamiah Acorne: a swashbuckling amalgamation of Hornblower, Jack Aubrey and Jack Sparrow mixed with Indiana Jones, James Bond and Bernard Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe.

Voyage with Jesamiah aboard Sea Witch and sail into the ocean realm of fast-paced, exciting nautical adventures...

If you are interested in reading this series then head over to Amazon. The series in order:

Sea Witch - Voyage: https://viewbook.at/SeaWitch

Pirate Code – Voyage 2: https://viewbook.at/PirateCode

Bring It Close – Voyage 3: https://viewbook.at/BringItClose

Ripples In The Sand – Voyage 4: http://viewbook.at/RipplesInTheSand

On The Account – Voyage 5: https://viewbook.at/OnTheAccount

Gallows Wake – Voyage 6: https://mybook.to/GallowsWake

When The Mermaid Sings – a prequel novella: https://viewbook.at/WhenMermaidSings

Helen Hollick

First accepted for traditional publication in 1993, Helen became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The Forever Queen (titled A Hollow Crown in the UK) with the sequel, Harold the King (US: I Am The Chosen King) being novels that explore the events that led to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Her Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy is a fifth-century version of the Arthurian legend, and she writes a nautical adventure/supernatural series, The Sea Witch Voyages. She has also branched out into the quick read novella, 'Cosy Mystery' genre with her Jan Christopher Mysteries, set in the 1970s, with the first in the series, A Mirror Murder incorporating her, often hilarious, memories of working as a library assistant. The fifth in the series, A Memory Of Murder, was published in May 2024.

Her non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and Tales and Life of A Smuggler. She is currently writing about the ghosts of North Devon for Amberley Publications, and Jamaica Gold for her Sea Witch Voyages.

Recognised by her stylish hats, Helen attends conferences and book-related events when she can as a chance to meet her readers and social-media followers, although her ‘wonky eyesight’ as she describes her condition of Glaucoma, and severe arthritis is becoming a little prohibitive for travel.

She lives with her family in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in North Devon with their dogs and cats, while on the farm there are showjumper horses, fat Exmoor ponies, an elderly Welsh pony, geese, ducks and hens. And several resident ghosts.

Social Media Links:

Monthly newsletter: Thoughts from a Devonshire Farmhouse

Tour Schedule