Mailbox Monday


Another Monday, Another Mailbox!! This is a feature where we all share with each other the yummy books that showed up at our doors! WARNING: Mailbox Mondays can lead to extreme envy and GINORMOUS wishlists!!

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

From Sourcebooks I received The Brothers of Gwynedd by Edith Pargeter.  This is a reprint and contains four books which will be reviewed in four consecutive months, starting in May.  Sourcebooks is also kicking off their Summer Reading Club with this book and I will be hosting the first discussion night on May 24th here at Passages to the Past. More info on this later on!


by Edith Pargeter

Release Date:  May 1, 2010

SYNOPSIS:  Set in 13th Century Wales at the time of the Plantagenets, The Brothers of Gwynedd is an ambitious and absorbing saga about Llewelyn, the grandson of Llewelyn the Great, enveloping readers in the guts and glory of medieval Wales. Llewelyn dreams of one Wales, united against the threat of the English. But first he must tackle enemies nearer home. His brothers vie with him for power among themselves and with the English king, Henry III, and their willful infighting threatens the very soil of their fathers. Despite the support of his beloved wife, Eleanor, Llewelyn finds himself starting down his own downfall, a tragic death he might not be able to prevent, and a country slipping out of his grasp.

Originally published as four volumes, this quartet includes Sunrise in the West, The Dragon at Noonday, The Hounds of Sunset, and Afterglow and Nightfall.

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From Crown I received Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell.  This will be the April event for The Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table.  Make sure to check back April 6-13 for guest posts from Stephanie Cowell, a few creative posts from the Round Table members, as well as, reviews and some spectacular giveaways!! 


by Stephanie Cowell

Release Date:  April 6, 2010

SYNOPSIS:  In the mid-nineteenth century, a young man named Claude Monet decided that he would rather endure a difficult life painting landscapes than take over his father’s nautical supplies business in a French seaside town. Against his father’s will, and with nothing but a dream and an insatiable urge to create a new style of art that repudiated the Classical Realism of the time, he set off for Paris.

But once there he is confronted with obstacles: an art world that refused to validate his style, extreme poverty, and a war that led him away from his home and friends. But there were bright spots as well: his deep, enduring friendships with men named Renoir, Cézanne, Pissarro, Manet – a group that together would come to be known as the Impressionists, and that supported each other through the difficult years. But even more illuminating was his lifelong love, Camille Doncieux, a beautiful, upper-class Parisian girl who threw away her privileged life to be by the side of the defiant painter and embrace the lively Bohemian life of their time.

His muse, his best friend, his passionate lover, and the mother to his two children, Camille stayed with Monet—and believed in his work—even as they lived in wretched rooms, were sometimes kicked out of those, and often suffered the indignities of destitution. She comforted him during his frequent emotional torments, even when he would leave her for long periods to go off on his own to paint in the countryside.

But Camille had her own demons – secrets that  Monet could never penetrate, including one that when eventually revealed would pain him so deeply that he would never fully recover from its impact. For though Camille never once stopped loving the painter with her entire being, she was not immune to the loneliness that often came with being his partner.

A vividly-rendered portrait of both the rise of Impressionism and of the artist at the center of the movement, Claude and Camille is above all a love story of the highest romantic order.

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From the loverly Sourcebooks I received The Dark Rose (Book 2, The Morland Dynasty).  I will be reviewing Book 1, The Founding, in April.  I am really excited to start this series as I've heard so many good things and ya'll know I love me a good series ;-)


by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Release Date:  July 1, 2010

SYNOPSIS: The second book in the epic bestselling Morland Dynasty series which spans from the Wars of the Roses to Queen Victoria's long reign into the courts of kings and the salons of the Regency, onto the battlefields of Culloden and the Crimea, and beyond.

In The Dark Rose, the turbulence of Henry VIII's reign brings passion and pain to the Morlands as they achieve ever greater wealth and prestige. Paul, great-grandson of Eleanor Morland, has inherited the Morland estates, and his own Amyas is set to be his heir. But Paul fathers a beloved illigitimate son, and bitter jealousy causes a destructive rift between the two half-brothers which will lead to death. Through birth and death, love and hatred, triumph and heartbreak, the Morlands continue proudly to claim their place amongst England's aristocracy.

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And last, but not least, I received No Will But His by Sarah A. Hoyt from Berkley Trade. 

 
by Sarah A. Hoyt

Release Date:  April 6, 2010

SYNOPSIS:  As the bereft, orphaned cousin to the ill-fated Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard knows better than many the danger of being favored by the King. But she is a Howard, and therefore ambitious, so she assumes the role Henry VIII has assigned her-his untouched child bride, his adored fifth wife. But her innocence is imagined, the first of many lies she will have to tell to gain the throne. And the path that she will tread to do so is one fraught with the same dangers that cost Queen Anne her head.

So, how was your week?


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21 comments:

  1. Claude and Camille sounds fascinating and that cover is gorgeous too! Enjoy!

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  2. The monet novel caught my eye...happy reading.

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  3. Great mailbox! All your books sound very good! I hope you enjoy them all!

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  4. Nice mailbox! Happy reading. My mailbox is at The Crowded Leaf.

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  5. These all sound great...enjoy!

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  6. All of your books look beautiful this week! It makes me wish I had even more reading time. :)

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  7. Oh how I love historical fiction covers. These are all beautiful. The Dark Rose sounds interesting, I think I am going to have to pick up the first book in the series.

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  8. I read the "Brothers of Gwynedd" right after I had read Penman's series about the Welsh princes and I very much enjoyed the book (or books). The author did a fantastic job and told a great story that gave me another perspective of the tumultuous years. I'm glad the book is being re-released because it'll give readers another opportunity to 'find' this story!

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  9. Can't wait for the HFRT on Claude & Camille. I love Monet! I really want to read No Will But His too. I've always felt badly for Katherine Howard.

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  10. If I had your collection I would not know where to start. What great potentials.

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  11. Great books! The Brothers of Gwynedd sounds interesting. I've waited No Will But His: A Novel of Kathryn Howard tobe released for some time.

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  12. I have heard good things about Claude and Camille and will be interested in hearing what you think of it. Great mailbox this week, I hope you enjoy them!

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  13. Another collection of sinfully rich historicals. If your book collection was chocolate, I think it would be named "Godiva"! Looking forward to reading your thoughts on the Gwynedd book particularly.

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  14. Claude and Camille sounds fascinating! Enjoy your books!

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  15. I think the Summer Reading Club is going to be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it. I'm still waiting for Claude & Camille -hopefully it'll come this week. Happy Reading Amy!

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  16. You have a lovely blog. Enjoy your new books. I only got a few: http://suko95.blogspot.com/2010/03/mailbox-monday_15.html

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  17. Wow...you got some great ones here. The Brothers of Gwynedd I've been hearing a lot about and I think the Claude and Camille will be a good one. I have always loved Monet's art. I use to have several of his prints hanging in my house. While I still enjoy his art, I no longer have them on the wall. I just think I got a little tired of them.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

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  18. All of these sound good. I was so tempted to sign up for both ARC's from Source Books but resisted. Enjoy all of your books!

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  19. As another person who love series, I must confess that before I started reading the Morland Dynasty books I was a bit intimidated at the thought of 31 books, but now I have started I am very much looking forward to working my way through the series.

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  20. I want them all! I need to get to the bottom of my TBR pile/mountain so I can justify getting more. Either that, or I'll just sneak them in : )

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