History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

Queen of Exiles Author: Vanessa Riley Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: William Morrow Release Date: 2023 Pages: 447 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Acclaimed historical novelist Vanessa Riley is back with another novel based on the life of an extraordinary Black woman from history: Haiti’s Queen Marie-Louise Christophe, who escaped a coup in Haiti to set up her own royal court in Italy during the Regency era, where she became a popular member of royal European society.       The Queen of Exiles is Marie-Louise Christophe, wife and then widow of Henry I, who ruled over the newly liberated Kingdom of Hayti in the wake of the brutal Haitian Revolution.      In 1810 Louise is crowned queen as her husband begins his reign over the first and only free Black nation in the Western Hemisphere. But despite their newfound freedom, Haitians still struggle under mountains of debt to France and indiffe...

The Secret Life of Josephine: Napoleon’s Bird of Paradise  Author: Carolly Erickson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Release Date: 2007 Pages: 356 Source: Personal Collection  Synopsis: The bestselling author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and The Last Wife of Henry VIII returns with an enchanting novel about one of the most seductive women in history: Josephine Bonaparte, first wife of Napoleon.       Born on the Caribbean island of Martinique, Josephine had an exotic Creole appeal that would ultimately propel her to reign over an empire as wife of the most powerful man in the world. But her life is a story of ambition and danger, of luck and a ferocious will to survive. Married young to an arrogant French aristocrat who died during the Terror, Josephine also narrowly missed losing her head to the guillotine. But her extraordinary charm, sensuality, and natural cunning helped her become mistress to some of the mo...

Agustina de Aragon Author: Gail Meath Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Gail Meath Release Date: 2021 Pages: 198 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Her story is so much more than a tale of war, tremendous courage, and loss. It is one of the greatest love stories in history. Based upon a true Spanish heroine.       Barcelona, Spain, 1803. Agustina Saragossa, the youngest daughter of a bladesmith, sneaks around the military barracks, yet not to snag a husband as everyone thinks. Stubborn, hot-tempered and fiercely devoted to her country, like her grandfather before her, she is far more interested in learning about the ensuing war between Britain and France than the lazy, arrogant Spanish soldiers at the compound.       When Sergeant Juan Roca, a handsome officer with a troubled past, is relocated to the barracks, he is instantly struck by Agustina’s beauty and fiery spirit. Despite her heat...

Th e Queen’s Fortune: A Novel of Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty that Outlasted an Empire Author: Allison Pataki Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Ballantine Books Release Date: 2020 Pages: 449 Source: Publisher/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: As the French revolution ravages the country, Desiree Clary is faced with the life-altering truth that the world she has known and loved is gone and it’s fallen on her to save her family from the guillotine. A chance encounter with Napoleon Bonaparte, the ambitious and charismatic young military prodigy, provides her answer. When her beloved sister Julie marries his brother Joseph, Desiree and Napoleon’s futures become irrevocably linked. Quickly entering into their own passionate, dizzying courtship that leads to a secret engagement, they vow to meet in the capital once his career has been secured. But her newly laid plans with Napoleon turn to sudden heartbreak, thanks to the rising star of Parisian society, Jos...

The Game of Hope by Sandra Gulland Publication Date: June 26, 2018 Viking Books for Young Readers Hardcover & eBook; 384 Pages Genre: YA/Historical Fiction Source: This book was given to me by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: For Napoleon’s stepdaughter, nothing is simple — especially love.      Paris, 1798. Hortense de Beauharnais is engrossed in her studies at a boarding school for aristocratic girls, most of whom suffered tragic losses during the tumultuous days of the French Revolution. She loves to play and compose music, read and paint, and daydream about Christophe, her brother’s dashing fellow officer. But Hortense is not an ordinary girl. Her beautiful, charming mother Josephine has married Napoleon Bonaparte, soon to become the most powerful man in France, but viewed by Hortense as a coarse, unworthy successor to her elegant father, who was guillotined during the Terror. ...

The Girl Who Fought Napoleon Author: Linda Lafferty Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Lake Union Publishing Release Date: September 20, 2016 Pages: 442 Source: This book was given to me by TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review Synopsis: In a sweeping story straight out of Russian history, Tsar Alexander I and a courageous girl named Nadezhda Durova join forces against Napoleon.      It’s 1803, and an adolescent Nadya is determined not to follow in her overbearing Ukrainian mother’s footsteps. She’s a horsewoman, not a housewife. When Tsar Paul is assassinated in St. Petersburg and a reluctant and naive Alexander is crowned emperor, Nadya runs away from home and joins the Russian cavalry in the war against Napoleon. Disguised as a boy and riding her spirited stallion, Alcides, Nadya rises in the ranks, even as her father begs the tsar to find his daughter and send her home.      Both Nadya and Alexander defy expectations—she as a hero...