Book picks similar to
David the Prince by Nigel Tranter
historical-fiction
12th-century
fiction
historical
Ma Polinski's Pockets
Sara Sheridan - 1999
Setting off to discover why, she rocks her stable existence and uncovers secrets about her mother's experiences as a 5 year old in a concentration camp in WWII. What made Ma Polinski leave Rachel everything and will what she finds set her and her family free?
Mary Queen of Scotland and The Isles
Margaret George - 1992
Life among the warring factions in Scotland was dangerous for the infant Queen, however, and at age five Mary was sent to France to be raised alongside her betrothed, the Dauphin Francois. Surrounded by all the sensual comforts of the French court, Mary's youth was peaceful, charmed, and when she became Queen of France at the age of sixteen, she seemed to have all she could wish for. But by her eighteenth birthday, Mary was a widow who had lost one throne and had been named by the Pope for another. And her extraordinary adventure had only begun. Defying her powerful cousin Elizabeth I, Mary set sail in 1561 to take her place as the Catholic Queen of a newly Protestant Scotland. A virtual stranger in her volatile native land, Mary would be hailed as a saint, denounced as a whore, and ultimately accused of murdering her second husband, Lord Darnley, in order to marry her lover, the Earl of Bothwell. She was but twenty-five years old when she fled Scotland for the imagined sanctuary of Elizabeth's England, where she would be embroiled in intrigue until she was beheaded "like a criminal" in 1587. In her stunning first novel, The Autobiography of Henry VIII, Margaret George established herself as one of the finest historical novelists of our time. Now she brings us a new, mesmerizing blend of history and storytelling as she turns the astonishing facts of the life of Mary Queen of Scots into magnificent fiction that sweeps us from the glittering French court where Mary spent her youth, to the bloodstained Scotland where she reigned as Queen, to the cold English castles where she ended her days. Never before have we been offered such arich and moving portrayal of the Scots Queen, whose beauty inspired poetry, whose spirit brought forth both devotion and hatred, and whose birthright generated glorious dreams, hideous treachery, and murdered men at her feet.
Silk Road
Colin Falconer - 2000
Josseran Sarrazini is chosen to escort the Pope’s emissary on an embassy to the all-conquering Mongol horde in an effort to save all Christendom from destruction. But although he serves as a Templar warrior, Josseran is not all that he appears to be - and he despises the Pope’s man on sight. Now they have to spend nine months in each other’s company on the most dangerous and most inhospitable journey on the earth - across the legendary deserts of Persia, through the horrific black hurricanes of the Taklimakan, along the entire spider's web of the Silk Road to Khubilai Khan’s legendary capital at Xanadu. When he sets out, Josseran cannot know then that he will never see Christendom again. Meanwhile, somewhere near the Roof of the World, a Tatar princess possessing a gift for prophesy, defies her father’s attempts to marry her off to the sons of other tribal chiefs. She does not belong in her world any more than Josseran belongs in his. Now fate will bring their paths on a collision course somewhere on the Silk Road and change the course of her life, and Josseran's, forever. From the Storehouse of Winds to the Palace of Myriad Tranquillities, from the Pamirs and Hindu Kush to the legendary Xanadu and the dazzling court of Khubilai Khan, this is romance and adventure on a breath-taking scale.
Trail of Broken Wings
Sejal Badani - 2015
Since she left home, Sonya has lived on the run, free of any ties, while her soft-spoken sister, Trisha, has created a perfect suburban life, and her ambitious sister, Marin, has built her own successful career. But as these women come together, their various methods of coping with a terrifying history can no longer hold their memories at bay.Buried secrets rise to the surface as their father—the victim of humiliating racism and perpetrator of horrible violence—remains unconscious. As his condition worsens, the daughters and their mother wrestle with private hopes for his survival or death, as well as their own demons and buried secrets. Told with forceful honesty, Trail of Broken Wings reveals the burden of shame and secrets, the toxicity of cruelty and aggression, and the exquisite, liberating power of speaking and owning truth.
Insurrection
Robyn Young - 2010
Scotland is in the grip of the worst winter in living memory. Some say the Day of Judgement has arrived. The King of Scotland rides out from Edinburgh into the stormy night. On the road he is murdered by one of his own men, leaving the succession to the throne wide open. Civil war threatens as the powerful Scottish families jostle for power, not knowing that King Edward I of England has set his own plans for conquest in motion. But all is not destined to go Edward's way. Through the ashes of war, through blood feuds and divided loyalties, a young squire will rise to defy England's greatest king. His name is Robert Bruce. Insurrection is the first in an addictive and action-packed trilogy in the tradition of Conn Iggulden, Bernard Cornwell and Manda Scott.
The Girl from Krakow
Alex Rosenberg - 2015
Rita Feuerstahl comes to the university in Krakow intent on enjoying her freedom. But life has other things in store—marriage, a love affair, a child, all in the shadows of the oncoming war. When the war arrives, Rita is armed with a secret so enormous that it could cost the Allies everything, even as it gives her the will to live. She must find a way both to keep her secret and to survive amid the chaos of Europe at war. Living by her wits among the Germans as their conquests turn to defeat, she seeks a way to prevent the inevitable doom of Nazism from making her one of its last victims. Can her passion and resolve outlast the most powerful evil that Europe has ever seen?In an epic saga that spans from Paris in the ’30s and Spain’s Civil War to Moscow, Warsaw, and the heart of Nazi Germany, The Girl from Krakow follows one woman’s battle for survival as entire nations are torn apart, never to be the same.
Mine, All Mine
Ella J. Quince - 2013
Rose. It has been revised and given a beautiful new cover.A steamy historical romance novel. Fated for Love Series. Lillian St. James is a privileged and beautiful duke’s daughter whose world is turned upside down when her widowed mother marries a seedy merchant.After her mother suddenly dies as well, Lilly has no one to turn to when scandal erupts over her stepfather’s treason. As her world falls apart Lilly is forced to go into hiding with the help of her loyal staff. She finds work as a cook’s assistant in the kitchen of a wealthy but mysterious aristocrat.Dominic Coel, Earl of Redwick, is a spy on the cusp of retirement. He is ordered to complete one last mission. He must track down a young girl who disappeared with stolen royal jewels. Dominic is desperate to complete his task and begin a normal life without murder and lies. While he must focus on his duties he can’t help but be distracted by the mysterious beauty who has just joined his kitchen staff. The girl is innocent to say the least, but her elusive nature and cultured speech drives him to wonder who the real Miss Millie James is.
Light
Margaret Elphinstone - 2006
Sisters-in-law Lucy and Diya are raising their children together far from prying Victorian eyes, even as they dread the day the outside world will come to their island. That invasion arrives in the form of a surveyor and his assistant, sent to the remote outpost because a new lighthouse must be built and, according to custom of the time, a man must be found to replace the current lighthouse keeper, Lucy. That Lucy does a man’s job and Diya turns out to be a highly educated Indian woman shocks and confuses the men, but soon romance blossoms. Faced with banishment from the only home she’d ever known, Diya’s hot-headed daughter attempts a terrible act that may lead the family to ruin. With an assured eye for capturing the alien beauty of the island, Margaret Elphinstone creates an empathetic and compassionate tale of two singular women coming to terms with a sea change in their lives.
Homespun Bride
Jillian Hart - 2008
Undaunted, Noelle Kramer fought to remain independent. But then a runaway horse nearly plunged her into a rushing, ice-choked river, before a stranger's strong, sure hand saved her from certain death.And yet this was no stranger. Though she could not know it, her rescuer was rancher Thad McKaslin, the man who had once loved her more than life itself. Losing her had shaken all his most deeply held beliefs. Now he wondered if the return of this strong woman was a sign that somehow he could find his way home.
The Mapmaker's Children
Sarah McCoy - 2014
She boldly embraces this calling after being told the shocking news that she can’t bear children, but as the country steers toward bloody civil war, Sarah faces difficult sacrifices that could put all she loves in peril. Eden, a modern woman desperate to conceive a child with her husband, moves to an old house in the suburbs and discovers a porcelain head hidden in the root cellar—the remains of an Underground Railroad doll with an extraordinary past of secret messages, danger and deliverance. Ingeniously plotted to a riveting end, Sarah and Eden’s woven lives connect the past to the present, forcing each of them to define courage, family, love, and legacy in a new way.
Young Bloods
Simon Scarrow - 2006
Perfect for fans of Robert Harris.Arthur Wesley (the future Duke of Wellington) was born and bred to be a leader. With a firm belief that the nation must be led by a king, the red-coated British officer heads for battle against the French Republic, to restore the fallen monarchy.Napoleon Bonaparte joins the French military on the eve of the Revolution. He believes leadership is won by merit, not by noble birth. When anarchy explodes in Paris he's thrust into the revolutionary army poised to march against Britain.As two mighty Empires embark on a bloody duel, Wesley and Bonaparte prepare to face a sworn enemy, unaware that the fate of Europe will one day lie in their hands...
The Howling Trilogy
Gary Brandner - 2012
On the surface Drago appeared to be like most small rural towns.But it was not.The village had a most unsavory history. Unexplained disappearances, sudden deaths.People just vanished, never to be found.THE HOWLING II:For Karyn it was the howling.The howling that had heralded the nightmare in Drago… the nightmare that had joined her husband Roy to the she-wolf Marcia and should have ended forever with the fire.But it hadn’t.Roy and Marcia were still alive, and deadly…And thirsty for the most horrifying vengeance imaginable…THE HOWLING III:They are man. And they are beast.Once again they stalk the night, eyes aflame, teeth flashing in vengeance.Malcolm is the young one. He must choose between the familiar way of the human and the seductive howling of the wolf. Those who share his blood want to make him one of them.Those who fear him want him dead.Only one woman and one man want to help him.Even though they can't believe their ears. Or their eyes.* * *Includes:Preview: James Roy Daley’s - Terror TownPreview: Matt Hults’ - HuskPreview: James Roy Daley’s - Into HellPreview: Paul Kane’s - Pain Cages
Captured by the Pirate Laird
Amy Jarecki - 2014
Crestfallen, she believes her disastrous life cannot get worse—until she awakes to the blasts of cannon fire.Facing certain death, Anne trembles in her stateroom while swords clash and the chilling screams of battle rage on the deck above. When a rugged Highlander kicks in her door, she prays for a swift end. But Laird Calum MacLeod has a reason for plundering the ship—and it’s not a stunning English lass. With no other choice, he takes Anne to his crumbling keep on the isle of Raasay and sends a letter of ransom to her husband. In time, Anne grows to understand MacLeod’s plight and finds it increasingly difficult to resist Calum’s unsettling charm—until the baron sends a reply agreeing to terms. Ripped from passion that will be forever seared into their souls, will Anne and Calum risk everything for love?
Ambition's Queen: A Novel of Tudor England
V.E. Lynne - 2013
Bridget Manning is forced to leave the safety and tranquillity of her home at Rivers Abbey in order to join the household of the queen, Anne Boleyn. Once there she enters a world seething with intrigue and plots against her new mistress. Will Bridget be able to navigate her way through the dangerous maze of the court or will it destroy her as it is destroying her queen?
Honeysuckle Season
Mary Ellen Taylor - 2020
Though her new life as a wedding photographer provides a semblance of purpose, it’s also a distraction from her profound pain.When asked to photograph a wedding at the historic Woodmont estate, Libby meets the owner, Elaine Grant. Hoping to open Woodmont to the public, Elaine has employed young widower Colton Reese to help restore the grounds and asks Libby to photograph the process. Libby is immediately drawn to the old greenhouse shrouded in honeysuckle vines.As Libby forms relationships and explores the overgrown—yet hauntingly beautiful—Woodmont estate, she finds the emotional courage to sort through her father’s office. There she discovers a letter that changes everything she knows about her parents, herself, and the estate. Beneath the vines of the old greenhouse lie generations of secrets, and it’s up to Libby to tend to the fruits born of long-buried seeds.