Historical Fiction Enticements 8/14

Sown in Tears
Beverly Magid

The place is Russia, the time, 1905. The country has lost the war with Japan, the peasants are frustrated with their poverty, soldiers are on the brink of mutiny, and the government, in order to distract the citizens, scapegoats the Jews, blaming them for all the country’s ills.

Inflamed by the lies, peasants attack the Jewish community where Leah Peretz and her family live. After a brutal assault on her husband, Leah has to survive and protect her two young children. But her life is complicated by the unexpected attentions of Ivan Vaselik, the Russian captain-in-charge, who is drawn to Leah, despite a long-held antipathy towards Jews.

Leah is conflicted by her growing feelings for Vaselik, while at the same Yaakov, the young peddler tries to bring her into the clandestine workers’ movement, which aims to change the lives of Russia’s workers.

Leah is a woman at the crossroads of her life, conflicted by emotions she never before experienced, in a community which is religiously constrained, as her journey is played out against the background of Russia’s growing revolutionary fever.

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Heyerwood: A Novel
Lauren Gilbert 

Control and authority… two words that did NOT apply to women like Catherine.

After her father sold her into a sham marriage, Catherine unexpectedly found herself in charge of her own life. After years of living alone and isolated in the country, she was the sole heir to an ancient estate, a title, and wealth beyond her wildest dreams.

Suddenly, she was discovered by relations of whom she had never heard but who were more than willing to help her with her inheritance, and she became engulfed in responsibilities for which she was not prepared. After years of isolation, she now had the means and the opportunity to do what she wanted. But what did she want? A man?

Between her father and her late husband, inviting another man into her life did not appear that attractive an option, until she made the acquaintance of more than one eligible gentleman. What else could she do with her life? Rediscovering old friends and finding new ones, Catherine discovers herself. A novel of choice and change, manners and growth, HEYERWOOD: A Novel follows a woman’s coming into her own as she learns to navigate Society alone and manage unexpected power.

Available in print and e-formats.

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Barnes & Noble

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A Vow to Keep
Book I of The Vengeance Trilogy
Lana Williams

Set in Medieval England, A Vow To Keep is the story of Sir Royce de Bremont, a bold knight set on vengeance, determined to reclaim his birthright. Capturing Lady Alyna is merely one step on his path of thwarting his traitorous uncle’s plans. He never expected her to capture his heart.

Lady Alyna has no desire to be a pawn in the knight’s game. She wishes only to find a safe place to raise her son, a boy gifted his second sight. Her son’s growing ability seems both a blessing and a curse as she tries to determine whom she can trust.

Royce’s traitorous uncle plays the game by his own rules, no matter the cost. And he has no intention of losing.

The beautiful lady and her precocious son make Royce long for a family of his own, yet until he reclaims his birthright, he has little to offer them. Alyna soon realizes this bold knight has captured her heart but fears she’s merely part of his plan for revenge. As passions rise, Royce is forced to choose between vengeance and love.

"An extraordinary tale of medieval love." Barnes and Noble Review

“A fun, enchanting read” Amazon Review

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Kobo

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Finishing School
David Bruce

 “Finishing School” is a novel intended to tell a truly representative story about a veteran WWII RAF bomber pilot leading a rookie crew through their last few weeks training at a Lancaster Finishing School, where they were trained to fly the Lancaster bomber. It is a story that has not been told before, either factually or in fiction, and the aim has been to make the tale as realistic as possible. The story is woven closely into the real events of March, 1944, and the technicalities involved in flying and fighting the Lancaster are treated in a highly realistic, but readable, way.

It is March 1944, and Flight Lieutenant Hugh MacKay is returning to operations after a long gap caused by severe injuries sustained in a crash the previous year. MacKay has an outlook as bleak as the war-torn skies over Germany and takes a very businesslike approach to getting his new crew up to the mark. During training, he meets June, a WAAF Flight Officer who appears to be taking an interest in him; an interest of which he is initially sceptical, but which leads him to accept a few days leave with her and her fighter pilot brother at the house of their aunt and uncle. During his leave, he becomes emotionally closer to June, but his imminent posting to an operational squadron causes him to fight shy of making any kind of meaningful commitment.

MacKay and his crew join their new squadron and spend the first few days getting settled in. MacKay’s reputation as a brilliant pilot is such that, rather than making him take a trial operational run with an existing crew as a second pilot, the squadron commander allows him and his new crew to participate in the next operation. That operation is the notorious attempted bombing of Nuremberg on the night of the 30th of March, during which nearly one hundred RAF bombers were shot down. For MacKay, it is the ultimate test of his qualities as a commander, and that, if he survives, a different personal destiny may await him.

Amazon US
Amazon UK

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