Thomas Cromwell Finds A Sympathetic Portrayal in ‘Wolf Hall’ In Wolf Hall, Mantel takes us back in history when Henry VIII was shaking the very foundation of the Church in his bid to marry Anne Boleyn. Fun times, huh? Historians and storytellers have already written much about one of the most reformative and turbulent periods of the Tudor rule that it is challenging for a writer to leave their own mark and bring some freshness …
historical fiction
In The Lost Queen, Signe Pike dives deep in Welsh and Scottish myth to bring a fresh look at the legend of Arthur & Merlin. Pike takes us back to 550 A.D to Goddeu, a small kingdom in Scotland, where Languoreth, a ten-year-old princess and her twin brother, Lailoken, are mourning the death of their mother. Bereft and grieving, both the young kids are fearful of what the future holds for them. Plot Summary In …
Le Carrè’s brooding spy thriller is slow in execution but big in substance. At a few hundred pages it’s a quick read with a plot engaging in its simplicity. Plot Summary Alec Leamas is an aging British intelligence officer who has recently led the Berlin division during the height of the cold war. His network has slowly collapsed over time because of one person — Mundt, the leader of East Germany’s intelligence operations. The novel opens with …
Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad is not just a historical novel; it is a profound exploration of the American soul. By literalizing the railroad, Whitehead creates a visceral, locomotive journey through the various “states” of American racism. It is a harrowing, brilliant, and ultimately essential read that rightfully earned its place among the author’s top recommendations.
Marcus Didius Falco is a private informer and the protagonist of Lindsey Davis‘s mystery series set in Ancient Rome. Emperor Vespasian has come into power and good imperial agents are required to hide royal crimes, curb corruption and sniff out political scandals. This detective series starts with ‘The Silver Pigs‘ where Falco accidentally stumbles upon an imperial minting fraud. The investigation begins with the death of a Senator’s young and impressionable niece. Falco’s inquiry takes …
The plot is based a decade or more after the French revolution and the Age of Terror, just after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo. The story follows a young medical student, Daniel Connor into the bedlam of Paris. Paris then, is the beating heart of Europe – the scientific, cultural and political center. As the city is coming to terms with the new regime, students from all over Europe are travelling to Paris to make their …
I first learned about the Salem Witch trials when I read Robin Cook’s ‘Acceptable Risk‘ way back in 1998. I was immediately intrigued. What would drive intelligent educated people on witch-hunts? What was that hysteria that gripped Europe in the middle ages and the US as late as the 17th century? Arthur Miller’s critically acclaimed play The Crucible dramatizes the Salem Witch Trials and gives a glimpse of what may have happened. The Plot The …
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