History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

The Orchid Hour Author: Nancy Bilyeau Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery & Suspense  Publisher: Lume Books Historical Fiction Release Date: 2023 Pages: 320 Source: Netgalley/ Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Nancy Bilyeau, author of The Blue , returns with a tantalizing novel about one woman caught up in a secret nightclub that one can only reach through a certain florist on a cobblestone street.       New York City, 1923. Zia De Luca’s life is about to be shattered.      Having lost her husband to The Great War, she lives with her in-laws in Little Italy and works at the public library.       But when a quiet poetry-lover is murdered outside the library, the police investigation focuses on Zia.       After a second tragedy strikes even closer to home, Zia learns that both crimes are connected to a new speakeasy in Greenwich Village called The ...

The Orchid Hour by Nancy Bilyeau Publication Date: August 10, 2023 Lume Books Genre: Historical Thriller      There is a certain hour, in the dead of night, when the orchid’s scent can put you under a spell…      " Nancy Bilyeau has created a beautifully layered and utterly seductive tale… and, at its living, tender heart, a strong-willed and magnetic heroine. " – Emilya Naymark, author of Behind the Lie , finalist for the 2023 Sue Grafton Award      Nancy Bilyeau, author of The Crown and The Blue , returns with a tantalizing novel about one woman caught up in a secret nightclub that one can only reach through a certain florist on a cobblestone street.      New York City, 1923. Zia De Luca’s life is about to be shattered. Having lost her husband to The Great War, she lives with her son and in-laws in Little Italy and works at the public library. But when a quiet poetry lover is murdered outside the library, the polic...

Dreamland Author: Nancy Bilyeau Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery & Suspense Publisher: Lume Books Release Date: 2020 Pages: 291 Source: Publisher/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: The year is 1911 when twenty-year-old heiress Peggy Batternberg is invited to spend the summer in America’s Playground.       The invitation to Coney Island is unwelcome. Despite hailing from one of America’s richest families, Peggy would much rather spend the summer working at the Moonrise Bookstore than keeping up appearances with New York City socialites and her snobbish, controlling family.      But soon it transpires that the hedonism of Coney Island affords Peggy the freedom she has been yearning for, and it’s not long before she finds herself in love with a troubled pier-side artist of humble means, whom the Batternberg patriarchs would surely disapprove of. Disapprove they may, but hidden behind their pomposity lurks a web...

The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau Publication: Fall 2018 Endeavour Quill Genre: Historical Fiction      What would you do to possess the most coveted color in the world? The year is 1758, and a headstrong woman artist, 24-year-old Genevieve Planche, is caught up in a high-stakes race to discover the ultimate color, one that threatens to become as deadly as it is lucrative. When Genevieve’s mission is complicated by her falling in love with the chemist behind the formula, she discovers the world of blue is filled with ruthless men and women and how high the stakes really are. The story sweeps readers from the worlds of the silk-weaving refugees of London’s Spitalfields and the luxury-obsessed drawing rooms of Grosvenor Square to the porcelain factory of Derby and, finally, magnificent Sevres Porcelain in the shadow of Versailles. And running through it all: the dangerous allure of the color blue.      “Bilyeau’s sumptuous tale of mystery and intri...