History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack Paperback Publication Date: June 6, 2017 Picador Paperback; 368 Pages ISBN: 9781250099778 Genre: Fiction/Historical/Mystery      FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE MEMORY PAINTER COMES A SWEEPING AND SUSPENSEFUL TALE OF ROMANCE, FATE, AND FORTUNE.      Semele Cavnow appraises antiquities for an exclusive Manhattan auction house, deciphering ancient texts—and when she discovers a manuscript written in the time of Cleopatra, she knows it will be the find of her career. Its author tells the story of a priceless tarot deck, now lost to history, but as Semele delves further, she realizes the manuscript is more than it seems. Both a memoir and a prophecy, it appears to be the work of a powerful seer, describing devastating wars and natural disasters in detail thousands of years before they occurred.      The more she reads, the more the manuscript begins to affect Semele’s ...

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry • Hardcover: 432 pages • Publisher: Custom House (June 6, 2017) Connect with Custom House Books:  Instagram | Twitter | Facebook Source: This book was given to me by TLC book tours in Exchange for an honest review.   Synopsis:  Costa Book Award Finalist, Waterstones Book of the Year, winner of the British Book Awards Fiction Book of the Year and overall Book of the Year.      “[T]he most deeply satisfying fiction you will read this year.” –Waterstones Book of the Year      An exquisitely talented young British author makes her American debut with this rapturously acclaimed historical novel, set in late nineteenth-century England, about an intellectually minded young widow, a pious vicar, and a rumored mythical serpent that explores questions about science and religion, skepticism, and faith, independence and love.      When Cora Seaborne’s brilliant, domineering husband dies, sh...

The Other Side of Midnight Author: Simone St. James Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Paranormal, Romance Publisher: Berkley Release Date: 2015 Pages:  331 Source: My State Public Library  Synopsis: London, 1925. Glamorous medium Gloria Sutter made her fortune helping the bereaved contact loved ones killed during the Great War. Now she's been murdered at one of her own séances, after leaving a message requesting the help of her former friend and sole rival, Ellie Winter.      Ellie doesn't contact the dead—at least, not anymore. She specializes in miraculously finding lost items. Still, she can't refuse the final request of the only other true psychic she has known. Now Ellie must delve into Gloria's secrets and plunge back into the world of hucksters, lowlifes, and fakes. Worse, she cannot shake the attentions of handsome James Hawley, a damaged war veteran who has dedicated himself to debunking psychics.      As Ellie and James un...

The Life and Deaths of Blanche Nero by Ken Brigham Publication Date: August 1, 2016 Secant Publishing Formats: Hardcover, Paperback & eBook Genre: Thriller & Suspense/Historical Fiction/Mystery At fifteen, Blanche Nero watches the electrocution of her Italian immigrant father, punishment for the inexplicable brutal murder of his recently acquired friend Old Man Flaherty. She resolves to do something with her life that values humanity over justice, mercy over sacrifice. But she is forever haunted by the mystery of her father. She is also drawn irresistibly to the bigger human mysteries of violence and death. After a grueling but successful academic career at some of the nation’s finest university hospitals, Blanche is almost sixty. Her long career as a trauma surgeon at Charity Hospital in New Orleans has been abruptly ended by Hurricane Katrina. She takes a year sabbatical from the medical school and leases a small flat in Venice, seeking an understandin...

Where Rainbows End by AnneMarie Brear Publication Date: May 23, 2017 Choc Lit eBook; ASIN: B071P7KBH6 Genre: Fiction/Historical/Romance/Western            Can she hold on to her dreams…?      It’s 1850 and the Noble family have travelled to the other side of the world to start a new life after scandal drove them from their native England.      Pippa Noble is determined to reclaim their honour by making her father’s plan for an outback farm reality, although her ambition is frowned upon by a society that has very set ideas about a woman’s place…      Pippa learns the hard way about the unforgiving nature of the bush, sometimes with devastating consequences. And when unfortunate circumstance leads to Pippa tending the farm alone, it is the friendship of neighbouring estate owner Gil Ashford-Smith that helps her through.      Then an unexpected visitor from England arriv...

    Today's guest writer is K. Hollan Van Zandt. She is the author of Written in the Ashes , a historical fiction novel about an Alexandrian slave that is tasked with restoring unity among religions. In her research, she came across many interesting findings about women in the ancient world. Surprisingly, there are many similarities to the modern world. Someone could have made a killing if they owned an ancient  Nordstrom! I hope that you will find this article enlightening. If you find it this interesting, pick up a copy of Written in the Ashes . Thank you, Ms. Van Zandt! Women in the Ancient World by K. Hollan Van Zandt      Did women of ancient Rome and Egypt wear make-up? Carry purses? Study in schools? Care about perfume? Run a household?      Turns out, women of the ancient world cared and enjoyed many of the same luxuries that modern women do.      How do we know?      Cleopatra would tr...