After a daring escape from a British prison, Philippe Kermorvant returns to France and gains command of a frigate in the Mediterranean, where France is trying to rebuild its decimated fleet. Facing overwhelming odds, the fleet is forced to flee for refuge to a fortified bay. The prospect of an interminable blockade looms, but Philippe […]
Businesswomen through the ages
Gill Paul writes about some of the businesswomen who defied convention and restrictive laws to become successful entrepreneurs through the ages, including the wealthiest woman in early New York; the painter Hogarth’s sisters; the inventor of a baby-making vegetable compound; the African-American who became the first self-made female millionaire in the US; and the rivals […]
Sailor of Liberty by JD Davies
In 1793 the infant French republic is assailed on all sides, by enemies within and the combined might of the great European monarchies without. A fanatical regime has taken power in Paris. In the midst of these upheavals, Philippe Kermorvant, son of an English aristocrat and a French nobleman, arrives in Brittany, his father’s homeland, […]
That Bonesetter Woman by Frances Quinn
Endurance Proudfoot, the bonesetter’s daughter: clumsy as a carthorse, with a tactless tongue and a face she’s sure only a mother could love. Durie only wants one thing in life – to follow her father and grandfather into the family business of bonesetting. It’s a physically demanding job, requiring strength, nerves of steel and discretion […]
The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
A girl known only as Red, the daughter of a Cornish fortune-teller, travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient method: the Square of Sevens. When her father suddenly dies, Red becomes the ward of a gentleman scholar. Now raised as a lady amidst the Georgian splendour of Bath, her fortune-telling […]
What We Leave Behind by Siôn Scott-Wilson
In this sequel to Some Rise By Sin, Sammy and Facey are pulled back into the gritty world of London’s criminal underworld. This time, the stakes are higher than ever as the fate of Sammy’s young adopted son hangs in the balance. Coerced into the hunt for a notorious gemstone, Sammy and Facey are torn […]
Savage Beasts by Rani Selvarajah
Calcutta in 1757. Bengal is on the brink of war. The East India Company, led by the fearsome Sir Peter Chilcott, is advancing and nobody is safe. Meena, the Nawab’s neglected and abused daughter, finds herself falling under the spell of James Chilcott, nephew of Sir Peter, who claims he wants to betray the company […]
Medea in India: savage colonialism
Rani Selvarajah’s novel Savage Beasts takes the story of Medea and reimagines it set in 18th-century India. She tells Historia how she wanted to explore the treatment of women and of foreigners under colonialism; universal themes, both in myth and in history. I first studied the play Medea at school and was instantly mesmerised by […]