Book picks similar to
The Gentle Falcon by Hilda Lewis


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The Sister Wife


Diane Noble - 2010
    Married on board, the newlyweds make their way to the new Mormon settlement in Nauvoo, Illinois and are just settling in when Prophet Joseph Smith receives a revelation from God about polygamy. As one of their close friends from the voyage is suddenly widowed during anti-Mormon riots, Gabriel announces he will marry the beautiful Bronwyn and raise her baby as his own.Mary Rose loves Bronwyn like a sister, but cannot imagine sharing her husband. Assuming that the relationship will remain platonic, she agrees, and Bronwyn and Mary Rose begin to come to terms with what plural marriage truly entails. Is this really what God wants for them?

Katherine


Anya Seton - 1954
    Set in the vibrant 14th century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who ruled despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son, falls passionately in love with the already married Katherine. Their well-documented affair and love persist through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption. This epic novel of conflict, cruelty, and untamable love has become a classic since its first publication in 1954.

The Badger Knight


Kathryn Erskine - 2014
    It doesn't help that he's an albino, which makes those he meets wonder if he's an angel or a devil. His father is a bowyer, and all Adrian wants to do is become apprenticed and go off to war as a long bowman. But that's not what his father wants for him. Since Adrian can write, his father wants him to be a scribe. That's just about the last thing Adrian wants. When the Scots invade England and Adrian's best friend Hugh runs off to find his father and fight in battles, Adrian soon follows, intent on finding Hugh and joining him in glorious warfare against the pagans invading England from the north. When Adrian finds Hugh, who is caring for a wounded Scotsman, he's horrified that Hugh would aid an enemy. But soon, as Adrian gets to know the Donald, he begins to question what he's been taught about the enemy and the nature of war. In this epic journey an afflicted boy finds and inner strength he never knew belonged to him.

The Perilous Gard


Elizabeth Marie Pope - 1974
    In 1558, while exiled by Queen Mary Tudor to a remote castle known as Perilous Gard, young Kate Sutton becomes involved in a series of mysterious events that lead her to an underground world peopled by Fairy Folk—whose customs are even older than the Druids’ and include human sacrifice.

Rowan Hood: Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest


Nancy Springer - 2001
    She disguises herself as a boy Rowan, befriends half-wolf Tykell, overgrown enchanting minstrel Lionel, and runaway princess Ettarde. Vicious Guy of Gisborne wears a black horse-head hide. But Robin says his camp is no place for a girl.

Son of York


Amy Licence - 2017
    Richard of York, the most powerful magnate in the land, steps in to manage affairs whilst Henry is unwell. Many people prefer York’s rule, which does not please the queen. The country begins to divide and plots start to hatch. York himself is directly descended from the royal family line, in fact, a little more directly than Henry but he puts this fact aside and strives only to serve the king. This, however, becomes increasingly difficult due to the acts of the queen, who, now feeling threatened by York, calls her men to get rid of him. The York family is strong and the two eldest sons, Edward and Edmund are approaching manhood. Edward, bold and eager, is keen to leave his childhood behind and enter the world of men, of politics, combat and love. Edmund, the younger brother is more introspective and struggles to project his public image. Both boys look to York as their mentor, a match for any king; and Richard is proud of them both. But with sons comes the question of inheritance. Who will succeed Henry’s throne? His own son, the young Prince Edward, or the capable York and his heirs? This historical window into the past lifts figures from the history books and gives the personality and purpose behind their actions. The story bears witness to the extremes of the human condition, from loving tenderness in court to vengeful violence on the battlefield.

The Last Hours


Minette Walters - 2017
    The Church cites God as the cause, and fear grips the people as they come to believe that the plague is a punishment for wickedness.But Lady Anne of Develish has her own ideas. Educated by nuns, Anne is a rarity among women, being both literate and knowledgeable. With her brutal husband absent from the manor when news of this pestilence reaches her, she looks for more sensible ways to protect her people than daily confessions of sin. She decides to bring her serfs inside the safety of the moat that surrounds her manor house, then refuses entry to anyone else, even her husband.Lady Anne makes an enemy of her daughter and her husband’s steward by doing so, but her resolve is strengthened by the support of her leading serfs...until food stocks run low. The nerves of all are tested by continued confinement and ignorance of what is happening in the world outside. The people of Develish are alive. But for how long? And what will they discover when the time comes for them to cross the moat again?Compelling and suspenseful, The Last Hours is a riveting tale of human ingenuity and endurance set against the worst pandemic in history. In Lady Anne of Develish—leader, savior, heretic—Walters has created her most memorable heroine to date.

The Raven Queen


Jules Watson - 2011
      She was born to be a pawn, used to secure her father’s royal hold on his land. She was forced to advance his will through marriage—her own desires always thwarted. But free-spirited Maeve will no longer endure the schemes of her latest husband, Conor, the cunning ruler of Ulster. And when her father’s death puts her homeland at the mercy of its greedy lords and Conor’s forces, Maeve knows she must at last come into her own power to save it. With secret skill and daring, Maeve proves herself the equal of any warrior on the battlefield. With intelligence and stealth, she learns the strategies—and sacrifices—of ruling a kingdom through treacherous alliances. And to draw on the dangerous magic of her country’s oldest gods, Maeve seeks out the wandering druid Ruan, whose unexpected passion and strange connection to the worlds of spirit imperil everything Maeve thought true about herself—and put her at war with both her duty and her fate.

Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country


Rosalind Miles - 1999
    . . a woman whose story has never been told -- until now.Raised in the tranquil beauty of the Summer Country, Princess Guenevere has led a charmed and contented life -- until the sudden, violent death of her mother, Queen Maire, leaves the Summer Country teetering on the brink of anarchy. Only the miraculous arrival of Arthur, heir to the Pendragon dynasty, allows Guenevere to claim her mother's throne. Smitten by the bold, sensuous princess, Arthur offers to marry her and unite their territories, allowing her to continue to reign in her own right. Their love match creates the largest and most powerful kingdom in the Isles. Yet even the glories of Camelot are not safe from the shadows of evil and revenge. Arthur is reunited with his long-lost half-sisters, Morgause and Morgan, princesses torn from their mother and their ancestral right by Arthur's father, the brutal and unscrupulous King Uther. Both daughters will avenge their suffering, but it is Morgan who strikes the deadliest blows, using her enchantments to destroy all Guenevere holds dear and to force Arthur to betray his Queen.In the chaos that follows, Arthur dispatches a new knight to Guenevere, the young French prince Lancelot, never knowing that Lancelot's passion for the Queen, and hers for him, may be the love that spells ruin for Camelot.

Anastasia's Secret


Susanne Dunlap - 2010
    Ousted from the imperial palace when the Bolsheviks seize control of the government, Anastasia and her family are exiled to Siberia. But even while the rebels debate the family's future with agonizing slowness and the threat to their lives grows more menacing, romance quietly blooms between Anastasia and Sasha, a sympathetic young guard she has known since childhood. But will the strength of their love be enough to save Anastasia from a violent death?Inspired by the mysteries that have long surrounded the last days of the Romanov family, Susanne Dunlap's new novel is a haunting vision of the life-and love story-of Russia's last princess.

The Eagle and the Raven


Pauline Gedge - 1978
    Spanning three generations, this historical novel tells the tale of Boudicca, the most famous warrior of ancient Britain, and Caradoc, the son of a Celtic king, who sets out to unite the people of the Raven and lead them against Rome. Caradoc's objective is not easily accomplished as the Roman army advances into Britain, raping Celtic women and burning villages to the ground. His efforts are also met with fierce opposition from Aricia, the vain queen of a northern tribe who swears allegiance to the Romans after Caradoc slights her, and from Gladys, Caradoc’s warrior sister who falls in love with her Roman captor. Unfortunately, Caradoc’s endeavors are left unresolved when he is taken prisoner, but Boudicca, a strong-willed woman, ultimately takes up the cause that was Caradoc’s legacy.

Once Was a Time


Leila Sales - 2016
    But when Charlotte's scientist father makes an astonishing discovery that the Germans will covet for themselves, Charlotte is faced with an impossible choice between danger and safety. Should she remain with her friend or journey to another time and place? Her split-second decision has huge consequences, and when she finds herself alone in the world, unsure of Kitty's fate, she knows that somehow, some way, she must find her way back to her friend. Written in the spirit of classic time-travel tales, this book is an imaginative and heartfelt tribute to the unbreakable ties of friendship.

The Portal


Kathryn Lasky - 2019
    But one night, she sees a strange light glowing from within it. She climbs a ladder to investigate . . . and finds herself transported back four hundred years to Hatfield Palace, where she becomes servant and confidante of the banished princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Henry VIII. Rose soon discovers something else surprising—a locket with two mysterious images inside it, both of them clues to her own past.Could her grandmother’s greenhouse portal offer answers to the mysteries of her family . . . and their secrets? And how will she ever unravel them all?

I Capture the Castle


Dodie Smith - 1948
    By the time the last diary shuts, there have been great changes in the Mortmain household, not the least of which is that Cassandra is deeply, hopelessly, in love.

The Door in the Wall


Marguerite de Angeli - 1949
    The great house is empty, his father is fighting the Scots in the north, his mother is traveling with the Queen, and the servants have fled. He calls for help but only the stones hear his cries. Suddenly someone else is in the house, coming towards Robin. It is Brother Luke, a wandering friar, who takes Robin to St. Mark's Monastery, where he will be cared for until his father sends for him.At last, a message comes--Robin is to meet his father at Castle Lindsay. The journey is dangerous, and the castle is located near the hostile Welsh border. Perched high in the hills, the castle appears invincible. But it is not. Under the cover of a thick fog the Welsh attack the castle. And Robin is the only one who can save it...