(Booklist) The combination of Alexander’s research and his rich characterizations produces an engaging historical fiction that offers a Rasputin who is neither beast nor saint, but merely, compellingly human. Maria is determined to protect her father's life, but the further she delves into his affairs, the more she wonders: who, exactly, is Rasputin? Is he the holy man whose genuine ability to heal inspires a cult of awed penitents, or the libidinous drunkard who consumes 12 bottles of Madeira in a single night, the unrestrained animal she spies " holding housekeeper by her soft parts"? Does this unruly behavior link him to an outlawed sect that believes sin overcomes sin? The combination of Alexander's research and his rich characterizations produces an engaging historical fiction that offers a Rasputin who is neither beast nor saint, but merely, compellingly human. Employs the fast pace of a thriller and the ability to make a remote historical episode personal to the reader. The air in the newly renamed capital is thick with dangerous rumors, many concerning Maria's father, whose close relationship with the monarchy-he alone can stop the bleeding of the hemophiliac heir to the throne-invokes murderous rage among members of the royal family. This eyebrow-raising account of the final week of the notorious mystic's life is set in Petrograd in December 1916 and narrated by Rasputin's fiery teenage daughter, Maria. , Alexander couples extensive research and poetic license, this time turning his enthusiasm toward perhaps the most intriguing player in the collapse of the Russian dynasty: Rasputin. In an endeavor similar to his debut novel, The Kitchen Boy
0 Comments
Enter Marion Crawford, a twenty-four-year-old from Scotland who was promptly dubbed “Crawfie” by the young Elizabeth and who would stay with the family for sixteen years. They already had a nanny-a family retainer who had looked after their mother when she was a child-but it was time to add someone younger and livelier to the household. In the early thirties, the Duke and Duchess of York were looking for someone to educate their daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, then five- and two-years-old. The family moved to Buckingham Palace, and ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth became the heir to the crown she would ultimately wear for over fifty years.The Little Princesses shows us how it all began. Suddenly the little princesses’ father was King. Their father was the Duke of York, the second son of King George V, and their Uncle David was the future King of England.We all know how the fairy tale ended: When King George died, “Uncle David” became King Edward VIII-who abdicated less than a year later to marry the scandalous Wallis Simpson. Once upon a time, in 1930s England, there were two little princesses named Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. Paris's debut novel Behind Closed Doors was picked up in 2014 by her agent, Camilla Bolton, at the Darley Anderson Literary Agency in London. Novels Success of Behind Closed Doors ī.A. Paris lives in Hampshire with her husband and continues to write psychological thrillers. She is published by HarperCollins Publishers in the UK and St Martin's Press in the US. While she didn't win, this led her to write her first novels, including her internationally bestselling debut Behind Closed Doors. Paris began writing, when one of her daughters suggested she enter a writing competition advertised in a magazine. They eventually left the world of finance to set up a language school together. During this time, she met her husband, with whom she now has 5 daughters. After completing her education, she moved to France, where she worked as a trader in an international bank in Paris for several years. She is the third of 6 children, including 4 brothers and a sister. Paris was born in Surrey, England, in 1958 to a French mother and Irish father. Her other books include The Breakdown (2017), Bring Me Back (2018), The Dilemma (2019) and The Therapist (2021).ī.A. It has been translated into 40 languages and has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide. Her debut novel, Behind Closed Doors (2016), was a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller. Paris (Bernadette MacDougall) is a Franco-British writer of fiction, mainly in the psychological thriller subgenre. That is, until her son’s deadbeat dad shows up in Magnolia Grove asking for a second chance. With her sister married and exploring a new career, Tracy has begun to run the family’s magazine business and feels her life is pretty much perfect. She’s focusing on her own life and helping her hearing-impaired son learn to talk. Tracy Briggs has finally gotten her act together. You can also find Bette on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. To learn more about Bette Lee Crosby’s work, visit her at her website. She laughingly admits to being a night owl and a workaholic, claiming that her guilty pleasure is late-night chats with fans and friends on Facebook and Goodreads. Her 2016 novel, Baby Girl, was named Best Chick Lit of the Year by Huffington Post. She has been the recipient of the Royal Palm Literary Award, Reviewer’s Choice Award, FAPA President’s Book Award, International Book Award, and Next Generation Indie Award, among many others. It sounds like it will be a great novel and Bette has one signed copy for a lucky reader!īette Lee Crosby is the USA Today bestselling author of nineteen novels, including the first Magnolia Grove novel, The Summer of New Beginnings. The hearing loss aspect of this novel stands out to Melissa A, as she has experience with raising children who have hearing loss. We're pleased to have Bette Lee Crosby visiting today to celebrate the publication of her latest novel, A Year of Extraordinary Moments. This aspect of the story also uncovers a romantic tale that is set to the turbulent backdrop of the American Civil War. The series also portrays some great characterisation development as we get to know about the friends and enemies in George and Orry's lives, and also the women that stole their hearts as young men. "North & South" is a wonderful historic timeline and as I have grown older (and wiser!) it very much interests me to learn about the contrasting attitudes to such controversial aspects as 'Slavery' and 'Abolitionists', and how these attitudes originated. The intertwining stories evolve around the families of the Hazards (the 'North' in the title) and the Mains and their two central figures of George and Orry who form a friendship whilst embarking on their West Point training in 1842. The story itself covers the two decades leading up to the years of the election of President Abraham Lincoln and the imminent proclamation of the Civil War - North versus South. It's a fabulous adaptation of the first classic novel in the trilogy from author John Jakes. "North & South" the television mini-series is to the 80's what "Rich Man, Poor Man" (the first-ever TV mini-series) was to the 70's. In it, Cline delves into fresh research on fashion’s impacts and illustrates how consumers and fashion lovers can leverage our everyday choices to transform the apparel industry and change the world for the better. Cline’s much-anticipated follow-up book, The Conscious Closet: A Revolutionary Guide to Looking Good While Doing Good, was published in August of 2019 by Penguin Random House. Overdressedis read around the world in seven languages and included on the curriculum of numerous leading universities. Cline’s critically acclaimed 2012 expose, Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, was first to reveal the impacts of fast fashion on the environment, economy, and society and is a founding text of the modern global ethical and sustainable fashion movement. Cline is a New York-based author, journalist, public speaker, and expert on consumer culture, fast fashion, sustainability, and labor rights in the apparel industry. You can peruse some recent interviews here.Įlizabeth L. Please contact Elizabeth (elizabeth.l.cline AT ) to set up an interview. Courtney Gray struggles to step away from her Southern Living-style life. Revered for her powerful female characters, here Lee Smith tells a brilliantly authoritative story of how college pals who grew up in an era when they were still called "girls" have negotiated life as "women." Harriet Holding is a hesitant teacher who has never married (she can't explain why, even to herself). This time, when they reach New Orleans, they'll give the river the ashes of a fifth rafter-beautiful Margaret ("Baby") Ballou. This time it's on the luxury steamboat, The Belle of Natchez, and there's no publicity. Thirty-five years later, four of those "girls" reunite to cruise the river again. It's Girls A-Go-Go Down the Mississippi read the headline in the Paducah, Kentucky, paper. On a beautiful June day in 1965, a dozen girls-classmates at a picturesque Blue Ridge women's college-launched their homemade raft (inspired by Huck Finn's) on a trip down the Mississippi. The day after the girl went missing - Hal's truck bed was full of blood and his bumper was dented and everyone knew that he had a crush on Peggy. As the search for the missing girl goes on - Hal begins to look more guilty. Alma is more than a mother to him as his own mother. Alma and her husband hired a mentally challenged young man to help on the farm and try to help him out. No matter how hard she tried, the townspeople never really accepted her and she covers her loneliness with a brash personality to make people think that she doesn't care if she's accepted. She wasn't sure about the move but after numerous miscarriages, she knew that she needed a change. Alma was a city girl who was talked into moving to the farm after her in-laws died. The story is told by two people - Milo, the 12-year-old brother of Peggy, the missing girl, and Alma, a farmer's wife. The 50-year-old Filidei has composed two previous operas: “Giordano Bruno,” which premiered in Porto, Portugal in 2015 and “L'inondation,” performed during the 2019 season of the Opera Comique in Paris. The movie received mixed reviews, including from Eco, who critiqued its simplification of the book’s political and theological content: A book like this is a club sandwich, with turkey, salami, tomato, cheese, lettuce. Eco died at home in Milan in 2016.įilidei is working on two versions, one in Italian and one in French, the second to premiere at the Paris Opera. The Name of the Rose was adapted into a 1986 film starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater. It catapulted him to international celebrity and was made into a 1986 film starring Sean Connery. “The Name of the Rose” was Eco's debut novel, a medieval thriller set in a monastery. La Scala's general manager, Dominique Meyer, called the new commission “a very important opera.” The world premiere has already been scheduled, at La Scala on April 27, 2025, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher and starring mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsay and baritone Lucas Meachem. MILAN - Italian composer Francesco Filidei has been commissioned by Milan's Teatro alla Scala and the Paris Opera to write a new opera based on Umberto Eco's most famous novel “The Name of the Rose,'' the opera houses announced Friday. BOOKLIST Clever young adult saga that leaves readers on the edge of their seats.-ASSOCIATED PRESS Nightshade is historical fiction-with a modern pop culture twist. will no doubt have teens debating the relative merits of werewolves versus vampires. lift it to a higher level.-KIRKUS REVIEWS Theres enough action to engage any reluctant reader. The books underlying themes of individualism and freedom. *formerly published under Andrea Cremer* Review Quotes RAVE REVIEWS FOR THE NIGHTSHADE SERIES: Yet another young adult novel filled with supernatural beasties, but this teen wolf tale is actually good and will keep you reading An imaginative. But will she follow her heart if it means losing everything, including her own life? Callas story continues in WOLFSBANE. Calla begins to question everything - her fate, her existence, and her world and the orders the Keepers have asked her to follow. But then, Calla saves a beautiful human boy, who captures her heart. Together, they would rule their pack together, guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. She is destined to marry Ren Laroche, the packs alpha male. Book Synopsis The first book of the internationally bestselling Nightshade series by New York Times bestselling author Andrea Robertson! Calla is the alpha female of a shape-shifting wolf pack. About the Book Includes an excerpt from book 2 in the Nightshade series, Wolfsbane. |