Today I’m delighted to be talking to Vivienne Brereton about her recently released novel, Beware the Lizard Lurking. This is the second book in Vivienne’s series, The House of the Red Duke, which follows the fortunes of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, his family and those within his orbit. Vivienne, tell us a little … Continue reading Author Interview – Vivienne Brereton
Historical fiction
Book Review – Taking the Waters by Lesley Sainty
Following the death of her brother, Alice Elliot finds herself independently wealthy. At the suggestion of family friend and solicitor, Edmund Walter, she decides to come to Cheltenham to consider how she will spend her life from now on. She arrives at the height of the spa season when the fashionable and wealthy come to … Continue reading Book Review – Taking the Waters by Lesley Sainty
Book Review – A Plague on Mr Pepys by Deborah Swift
Elizabeth Bagwell figures in the diary of Samuel Pepys, the seventeenth century Naval administrator, as one of his most enduring mistresses. The diary provides us with no hint of how Elizabeth, a married woman, achieved this position, especially as Pepys initially described her as ‘a virtuous modest woman’ who he had ‘a kindness’(!) for. In … Continue reading Book Review – A Plague on Mr Pepys by Deborah Swift
2020 – A Year of Reading
I could argue that I have done reasonably well with my reading this year having finished fifty books but I feel, in some ways, that I have cheated. Nine of those books are children's books and all but one of them less than 200 pages long. These were Tove Jansson's Moomin series which I would … Continue reading 2020 – A Year of Reading
Book Review – A Murder by Any Name by Suzanne M Wolfe
A Murder by Any Name is set in 1585, a time when England was providing arms and support to the Dutch in their fight against Spain, the King of Spain had already begun building his great armada and the English government was ever alert to plots against the life of Queen Elizabeth I. The story … Continue reading Book Review – A Murder by Any Name by Suzanne M Wolfe
The Devil’s Dye by Jeni Neill
Today, I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Jeni Neill's debut novel, The Devil's Dye which is set in and around Norwich in the 1560 and 1570s and follows the fortunes of a family of Strangers, Protestant refugees escaping persecution in the Spanish Netherlands. Excerpt Apprenticing the two Wright boys to Jowan has been … Continue reading The Devil’s Dye by Jeni Neill
This too shall pass
This is a post I wrote for the online magazine Women Writers, Women's Books about why we read historical fiction and the lessons, if any, we can gain from it. We read historical fiction for a range of reasons beyond the pleasure of being immersed in another time and place. It gives us the chance … Continue reading This too shall pass
Meandering through Cyberspace in February 2020
The internet has dramatically enlarged our access to a wealth of information. Most days I spend some time online looking for items related to those things the interest me most - reading, writing and history. Without fail, every time, I find something new and interesting. So, here, I'd like to share a few of the … Continue reading Meandering through Cyberspace in February 2020
The Bridled Tongue – My new novel
Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Last Saturday I released my second novel, The Bridled Tongue. This is a story that, once again, takes place in the 1580s with fictional characters set against what I hope is a reasonably accurate historical background. While the developing relationship of the two main characters, … Continue reading The Bridled Tongue – My new novel
Book Review – Fallen Skies by Philippa Gregory
It is 1920 and the Great War ended two years ago. Seventeen-year-old Lily Pears had done her best to ignore it. She is a chorus girl with a beautiful voice, who performs under the stage name Lily Valance. Her widowed mother has poured all her dreams into her daughter. Helen Pears runs a shop on … Continue reading Book Review – Fallen Skies by Philippa Gregory
Catherine Meyrick 