History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

The Other Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria’s Goddaughter  Author: Denny S. Bryce Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: William Morrow Paperback Release Date: 2023 Pages: 443 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: A stunning portrait of an African princess raised in Queen Victoria’s court and adapting to life in Victorian England—based on the real-life story of a recently rediscovered historical figure, Sarah Forbes Bonetta.      With a brilliant mind and a fierce will to survive, Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a kidnapped African princess, is rescued from enslavement at seven years old and presented to Queen Victoria as a “gift.” To the Queen, the girl is an exotic trophy to be trotted out for the entertainment of the royal court and to showcase Victoria’s magnanimity. Sarah charms most of the people she meets, even those who would cast her aside. Her keen intelligence and her aptitude for languages and musical composition helps ...

  The Granddaughters of Edward III Author: Kathryn Warner Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography  Publisher: Pen & Sword History  Release Date: 2023 Pages: 310 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.  Synopsis: Edward III may be known for his restoration of English kingly authority after the disastrous and mysterious fall of his father, Edward II, and eventual demise of his mother, Queen Isabella. It was Edward III who arguably put England on the map as a military might. This show of power and strength was not simply through developments in government, success in warfare or the establishment of the Order of the Garter, which fused ideals of chivalry and national identity to form camaraderie between king and peerage. The expansion of England as a formidable European powerhouse was also achieved through the traditional lines of political marriages, particularly those of the king of England’s own granddaughters. This is a joint biography ...

The Lisbon Affair (Flying With the Swallows #1) Author: Cat Gardiner Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Publisher: Unionport Hills Books Release Date: April 2, 2024 Pages: 339 Source: This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: An unforgettable reading experience about one woman's brave determination to prove she is more than a do-nothing aristocrat and, in her journey of self-discovery and sacrifice, finds a second chance at true, unconditional love. * Epic adventure and romance. Strong female heroine.      New York City, 1943: War widow and Best Society’s darling Mrs. Evelyn (Evie) Rousseau Somerset is five months into mourning her husband’s death when her family insists on an untenable plan for her future. Desolate and disenchanted with life, she’s determined to remake herself and prove she’s something more than a useless socialite—regardless of what her senator brother and domineering mother demand of her.  ...

The Librarian Spy: A Novel of WWII Author: Madeline Martin Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Hanover Square Press Release Date: 2022 Pages: 401 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London comes a moving new novel inspired by the true history of America’s library spies of World War II.      Ava thought her job as a librarian at the Library of Congress would mean a quiet, routine existence. But an unexpected offer from the US military has brought her to Lisbon with a new mission: posing as a librarian while working undercover as a spy gathering intelligence.      Meanwhile, in occupied France, Elaine has begun an apprenticeship at a printing press run by members of the Resistance. It’s a job usually reserved for men, but in the war, those rules have been forgotten. Yet she knows that the Nazis are searching for the press and its printe...

Love and Fury: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft Author: Samantha Silva Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Allison and Busby Release Date: 2021 Pages: 290 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review Synopsis: 'Now, daughter, I'm to tell you a story to coax you into the world...'      London, 1797. Mary Wollstonecraft awaits the arrival of the midwife who will help bring her child into the world, and support her through the testing eleven days that follow.       After the birth, both mother and daughter fight for survival. Even as Mary's strength wanes, she urgently weaves the tale of her life to bind her frail Little Bird close.      Wollstonecraft's journey to vindicate the rights of women spanned Europe and broke the conventions of the time. Amid the triumph and loss, she blazed a trail and passed that legacy on to her child, the future Mary Shelley.       Love an...

One More Moon: Goodbye Mussolini! One Woman's Story of Fate and Survival Author: Ralph Webster Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Createspace Release Date: 2018 Pages: 413 Source: This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Goodreads Choice Nominee Ralph Webster tells the true story of his grandmother’s desperate journey from her life at the Pensione Alexandra in Naples to America - after Mussolini and the Fascists join with Hitler - and as countries across the world close their doors to Jewish refugees fleeing the spread of Nazi evil.      In 1934, at age fifty-one, Elsa’s comfortable life in Mussolini’s Fascist Italy changes remarkably when she and her husband, Paul, purchase the Pensione Alexandria overlooking the Mediterranean in Naples. Though German Jews, they are embraced by their Italian neighbors, and for the next several years, the pensione flourishes and becomes their perch to observe the world’s events. Travel...

The Sixth Author: Avery Hays Genre:  Historical Fiction, Mystery Publisher: Mariner Books Release Date: Oct. 31, 2013 Publisher: Diadema Press Pages: 362 Source: NetGalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Florbela Sarmentos is 21 and knows what she wants: art, romance, and to free her father from the prison of Portugal's despotic King Manuel II.  Born in Lisbon, educated in London and at a painting academy in Cherbourg, France, the cosmopolitan Florbela moves to Paris and takes up residence in the wildly bohemian enclave of La Ruche, there to pursue a creative life.      Some of the yet-to-be-discovered artists living in her building are Diego Rivera, Amadeo Modigliani and Marc Chagall.  By day she paints, and by night she attends parties with the residents of La Ruche, who introduce her to collectors and creative spirits in Paris's fabled Sixth Arrondissement.  Along the way, Florbela attracts several hot-headed admirers...