1264, and storm clouds are gathering as Simon de Montfort and the barons of the realm challenge the power of Henry III. The barons demand reform; the crown demands obedience. England is on the brink of civil war. Adam de Norton, a young squire devoted to the virtues of chivalry, longs only to be knighted, […]
Ten fascinating facts about the Knights Templar
The Knights Templar: powerful, dedicated, richer than kings, they were legendary even during their own existence. And many myths about them have flourished in the seven centuries since they were suppressed. Boyd and Beth Morrison, this month’s guest contributors, are the authors of The Last Templar. They share some of the fascinating facts they learned […]
Loki’s Deceit by Donovan Cook
Sven the Boar is Jarl of Ribe once more. He and Charles try to settle into their new lives, but trouble and treachery are never too far away. Tormented by recent events, Charles struggles to adapt to life amongst the heathens that mock his Christian God, and the arrival of a priest from the south […]
Widows of the Ice by Anne Fletcher
As Captain Scott lay freezing and starving to death on his return journey from the South Pole, he wrote with a stub of pencil his final words: ‘For God’s sake look after our people.’ Uppermost in his mind were the three women who would now be widows: Kathleen, his own bohemian artist wife; Oriana, the […]
Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare
1936, September 17th, 1am, and in the middle of Harlem, in the dead of night, a woman falls from a second storey window. In her hand, she holds a passport and the name written on it is Lena Aldridge… Nine days earlier: Lena arrived in Harlem less than two weeks ago, full of hope for […]
Mothers of the Mind by Rachel Trethewey
Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie and Sylvia Plath are three of our most famous authors. For the first time this book tells in full the story of the remarkable mothers who shaped them. Julia Stephen, Clara Miller and Aurelia Plath were fascinating women in their own rights, and their relationships with their daughters were exceptional; they […]
The Hidden Years by Rachel Hore
When talented musician Gray Robinson persuades Belle to abandon her university studies and follow him to Silverwood, home to an artistic community on the Cornish coast, Belle happily agrees even though they’ve only just met. She knows she is falling in love, and the thought of spending a carefree summer with Gray is all she […]
A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins
Jesus College, Oxford, 1881. An undergraduate is found dead at his lodgings and the medical examination reveals some shocking findings. When the young man’s guardian blames the college for his death and threatens a scandal, Basil Rice, a Jesus College fellow with a secret to hide, is forced to act and finds himself drawn into […]