Showing posts with label Elizabeth I. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elizabeth I. Show all posts

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Favorite Historical Novels

I've always been fascinated with history. Mostly early American history, but I spread out to other eras and countries from time to time. Thanks to blogging, I have the chance to learn about many historical novels. Here are some of my favorites.


Loss of Innocence by Anne Newton Walther was one of the first books I read when I began reviewing. I didn't even have this blog yet, so I was reviewing for a book review site. Set during the French Revolution, it is a sequel to Walther's A Time for Treason. You can read my review here.

Faith and Honor by Robin Maderich is the first book in the author's Honor trilogy. Colonial America is one of my favorite settings for stories, and this eloquently written book captured the fashion, the language, and tense situation of Colonial Boston . You can read my review here.

I was introduced to the work of C.W. Gortner through Pump Up Your Book. I've reviewed his books and helped him promote two of them. It's hard for me to say one of his books is a favorite over the other, because his eloquent writing style and his attention to detail fill every one I've read. The Tudor Secret, however, appeals to my love of mysteries too.


Set during the summer of 1553, foundling Brendan Prescott's chance meeting with Princess Elizabeth pulls him into a world of danger and intrigue. The style of this one is a bit more casual than Gortner's usual fair, but it is a superbly told story that will captivate readers. My review can be found here.


Lovers of Tudor England will most likely know the work of Margaret George. C.W. Gortner turned me onto her work, and I helped the author promote her novel, Elizabeth I.  George set this novel thirty years into the queen's reign. This allowed me to rediscover a piece of history I am familiar with from my travels to North Carolina each summer, because in this novel, Sir Walter Raleigh visits Queen Elizabeth to announce the colony on Roanoke Island has disappeared. Recently, a new clue surfaced regarding the disappearance of this colony. You can read my review of Elizabeth I here. The giveaway, however, is over.

Blogging has also allowed me to find some great World War II and post-World War II novels.

A Despicable Profession by John Knoerle is set in 1946, when America is celebrating its victory over the Germans. This outstanding historical spy novel--while not my typical historical read--blew me away. I loved it beginning to end. I shared it with my father-in-law, who also enjoyed it. He liked it so much, I bought the first book in this series for him as a birthday gift. I'm trying to make room in my schedule to read that one too.


I believe Copper Fire by Suzanne Woods Fisher is the first World War II era novel I read for this blog. It is the second in her Copper Star Series, and the book that made me a fan of her work.

After Louisa Gordon receives a telegram from the International Red Cross Training Service that her young cousin, Elizabeth has been released from a German concentration camp, she decides to go to Germany to collect her cousin and bring her back to the States. She is also eager to discover the whereabouts of Nazi sympathizer, Friedrich Mueller, who fled Copper Springs, AZ. If you love strong heroines, this is a great book. You can read my review here.

There are many other historical novels I've enjoyed through the years, but to share all of them here would make this a novel in and of itself. I didn't include any of my favorite Civil War novels because there are so many the list needs a post all its own.

What are your top three favorite historical novels?  

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Elizabeth I by Margaret George Winner!


Our congratulations go out to Farrah the winner of a hardcover of Elizabeth I by Margaret George.

I'll be contacting Farrah by email soon. She'll have 72 hours to respond. If I don't hear from her by then, I'll select a new winner.

Thanks to all who participated in this giveaway. Look in our sidebar for other ongoing giveaways.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Book Review and Giveaway: Elizabeth I by Margaret George

A breathtaking, eloquently written historical novel awaits you in Elizabeth I by Margaret George.

In 1588, Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, was preparing her kingdom for its inevitable showdown with King Philip's Spanish Armada. While England struggled to find the necessary funds to support the fight, it seemed Spain's coffers overflowed. Even after pushing back the first threat, and with selling off inherited lands and crown jewels, the queen knew a future fight could prove disastrous for her people.

Having lost her love and soul mate, Robert Dudley, she is forced to move on as her destiny and that of Robert's widow and her cousin, Lettice Knollys, collide.

Even if she could shake Lettice, the rumors and concerns over the succession to the childless queen continue to plague her.

In this moving portrait of the legendary queen, George provides the reader with a book they won't be able to put down.

Margaret George came to me as a referral from one of my other favorite historical authors, C.W. Gortner. Having read Gortner's The Tudor Secret (The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles), I was already familiar with the legacy of Elizabeth I. His story, however, focused on a much earlier part of Elizabeth Tudor's life. I have to admit, I was immediately taken with this larger than life woman who was destined to become the queen of England.

George's novel begins thirty years into Elizabeth's reign. The historical research necessary to tackle this project must have been extensive, but it shows in every page of Elizabeth I. The reader is drawn into Elizabeth's court, she is surrounded by such historical figures as Raleigh, Drake, Shakespeare, the Earl of Essex, the Cecils, Francis Bacon, and more.

As more of an America history reader, the scene between Sir Walter Raleigh and Elizabeth when he reports that the colony in Virginia has disappered, was extremely touching. Last year, when we visited Roanoke, we took in the Lost Colony Outdoor Theatre for the first time. Raleigh had left the colonists and sailed for England to pick up much needed supplies. Thanks to Philip and his Spanish Armada, no one returned to America for three years. When they did, the only signs of what might have happened to the colonists were the word "Croatoan" carved into a post of the fort and "Cro" carved into a nearby tree. Their fate remains an unsolved mystery.

Elizabeth's tense relationship with Lettice propels this novel along nicely. Told from both women's point of views, Elizabeth I provides a great deal of insight into these famous rivals.

In my opinion, the gauge of success for an historical novel is that the author portrays the people and events in such a way that the reader can believe that everyone and everything happened exactly as portrayed. George's masterful storytelling, her rich details, and her knowledge of the era and its famous players, definitely achieves that goal.

I highly recommend Elizabeth I to every lover of the Tudor era and to those who relish a perfectly told story that leaves you hungry for more.

Title:  Elizabeth I
Author: Margaret George
Publisher: Viking Adult
ISBN-10: 9780670022533
ISBN-13: 978-0670022533
SRP: $30.00

Also available in a Kindle edition.



The author paid to promote her book with a virtual book tour through Pump Up Your Book! This fee did not include a review. I received no monetary compensation to provide my honest opinion of the book.

This was such a popular request with bloggers that the tour filled up within days. Here is your chance to own a copy of the hardcover version of Elizabeth I.

1) You must be a follower or subscriber of The Book Connection to win.

2) For your first entry, leave a comment with a valid email address. You can't win if you don't provide an email address.

3) One additional entry if you friend me on Facebook. Leave a comment with your profile link to show you're friending me.

4) One additional entry if you follow me on Twitter. Leave a comment with your profile link to show you're a follower.

5) One additional entry if you friend Margaret George on Facebook. Leave a comment with your profile link.

6) Three additional entries if you blog about this contest. Leave a link to your post here.

7) You must be 18 or older and reside in the U.S. or Canada to be eligible to win.

Deadline for entries is 11:59 PM Eastern on Sunday, May 15, 2011. Winner will be selected out of all entrants who followed the rules governing this contest. The book will be shipped via USPS media mail. The Book Connection is not responsible for lost or damaged goods.