Guest Post by Nicole Galland + Giveaway of I, Iago

I am very pleased to welcome author Nicole Galland to Passages to the Past today to talk about her novel I, Iago!


Thanks to HarperCollins I have one copy of I, Iago up for grabs, so be sure to enter the giveaway at the bottom of this post.

And now, please enjoy this guest post from Nicole Galland...

Iago and Emilia 
by Nicole Galland (author of I, Iago) 

My novel I, Iago is inspired by Shakespeare’s masterpiece Othello. The play features two married couples. In the novel, we watch each couple meet, fall in love, and marry. 

Without giving much away: in Othello, Ensign Iago is angry at General Othello for not promoting him to lieutenant. To get back at him, Iago decides to convince Othello that his bride, Desdemona, is having an affair. (If this sounds to you like an extreme reaction, you’re in good company.) One of Iago’s tools of deception is Desdemona’s handkerchief. Iago’s wife Emilia, who is Desdemona’s attendant, pinches it (at Iago’s request) and gives it to Iago, who plants it on Desdemona’s supposed paramour. Chaos ensues. Eventually Emilia realizes the role the handkerchief has played in all the mayhem, and calls her husband to account, mortified at her own involvement. 

Of these two couples, one of them – Desdemona and Othello – is pretty familiar by name, even to those with little knowledge of Shakespeare. They are famously passionate and impetuous. In the play, they have just eloped in defiance of Desdemona’s patrician father; they pet in front of the population of Cyprus (including the soldiers Othello commands). In almost every scene together, the two are in physical contact; even when they aren’t, Othello’s words have a physical effect on Desdemona. The nature of their relationship is clear at every moment. 

Remember, Shakespeare wrote his plays for actors, not for readers. When actors playing these two characters walk into the rehearsal room for the first time, they already have a sense of how they’ll be playing the scenes. 

In contrast, the other couple’s “vibe” is downright murky. Iago and Emilia have been married longer than their respective bosses. But on-stage they speak directly only occasionally; and they have just one brief (but pivotal) scene alone together. And yet, if Othello and Desdemona’s eloping sets the story in motion, it is Iago and Emilia’s relationship that keeps the plot moving – and then short-circuits it. Theirs may be the most underwritten marriage in history. 

Unlike the actors playing Othello and Desdemona, whoever plays Iago and Emilia are likely to show up for rehearsal with no clear idea what kind of matrimony they are in for. Their relationship can be interpreted any number of ways. Even if you’re not the sort to step foot in a theatre, you’ll find, even on Youtube clips, that every movie of Othello has a different slant on the Iago-Emilia marriage. For the sake of maximizing Iago’s villainy, most depictions are not positive. To name a few: They are a long-married couple, resigned to the habit of bickering; or, the adoring Emilia longs to please her strangely distracted husband, who has recently grown grumpy; or, theirs is the classic abusive marriage – Iago treats Emilia snidely even in public, and she, in a cloud of confusion that is common to battered spouses, is desperate to please him and obeys without question because she is too cowed to do otherwise. 

When I became obsessed with understanding Iago (after directing a staged reading of the play), I realized that most of all I had to understand his relationship with his wife. I disagreed with all these negative interpretations. I am not alone in that; I’d also seen the couple played as if they are bantering, not bickering. That, to me, was not only the most attractive, but the most compelling, way to go. 

If Iago is behaving badly uniformly, across the board, then he’s a cardboard cutout of a villain, akin to Snidely Whiplash. If that were the case, gallons of ink would not have been consigned to parchment and paper over the span of 400 years trying to understand him. But if he is behaving badly except that he loves his wife – suddenly he’s interesting. Suddenly there’s texture, and layers, and conflicting elements within his character. Suddenly, he’s human. Shakespeare’s characters can be inhumane, but never actually inhuman. (Except, of course, the fairies.) 

So I dug into the scenes, lines by line, word by word, that make some (usually male) scholars feel Iago bullies his wife. Chief among these is part of a scene that is usually cut in performance: As all the characters await Othello’s arrival in Cyprus, Iago makes cheeky comments to and about both Emilia and Desdemona, to the point that another character intervenes, apologizing to Desdemona for Iago’s rudeness. But Desdemona seems charmed by it, and Emilia even eggs him on! 

I suppose his impudence could be interpreted as misogyny – but given how the ladies respond to it, it could just as easily be seen as playful banter. To suggest that joshing a woman is misogynistic is frankly, to me, somewhat sexist in itself. Iago may dish it out at times, but Emilia can dish it back; she teases him as much as he teases her, and near the end of the play, she tells Desdemona how far she’d go to make her husband king of the world if she could (she’d go pretty far). 

All the other scenes that could suggest a bad marriage between them can just as easily been read – and more importantly, performed – as a lively marriage between two lively personalities. It’s fun in theatre to be able to interpret one scene in different ways, but it is more satisfying to me (perhaps I’m too controlling?) to cement just one particular version by fleshing it out on the page. I’m not saying my interpretation of Iago and Emilia is the best one, or the only one. But it’s one that I believe in and love a lot, both for itself specifically and for what it says about human nature generally. There are few things more satisfying in any kind of story – book, movie, or play – than a spirited relationship between two strong characters. If you ever have the opportunity to see Othello, I hope you are treated to an Emilia and a Iago who are a marriage of true minds, as I believe I’ve made them in I, Iago.

About I, Iago

 
Publication Date: April 24, 2012 | William Morrow | 400p

{SYNOPSIS}

From Nicole Galland, acclaimed author of The Fool's Tale, comes a marvelous evocation of a distant time and place . . . and a breathtaking reexamination of one of literature's classic villains

From earliest childhood, the precocious boy called Iago had inconvenient tendencies toward honesty—a failing that made him an embarrassment to his family and an outcast in the corrupt culture of glittering Renaissance Venice. Embracing military life as an antidote to the frippery of Venetian society, Iago won the love of the beautiful Emilia and the regard of Venice's revered General Othello. After years of abuse and rejection, Iago was poised to achieve everything he had ever fought for and dreamed of . . .

But a cascade of unexpected deceptions propels him on a catastrophic quest for righteous vengeance, contorting his moral compass until he has betrayed his closest friends and family, and sealed his own fate as one of the most notorious villains of all time.

Inspired by William Shakespeare's classic tragedy Othello—a timeless tale of friendship and treachery, love and jealousy—Galland's I, Iago sheds fascinating new light on a complex soul, and on the conditions and fateful events that helped to create a monster.

For more information on Nicole Galland and her novels, please visit her WEBSITE.

Giveaway Information

- To enter, please leave a comment below and include your email address (only comments with email addresses will be entered in the giveaway).
- Giveaway is open to US ONLY.
- +5 additional entries become a follower of Passages to the Past. If you are already a follower you will automatically receive the bonus entries. 
- +3 additional entries join the Passages to the Past FB Page.
- +3 additional entries follow me on Twitter.
- +1 additional entry each, please help spread the word by blogging, posting on sidebar, tweeting or posting this giveaway on Facebook or Google+.  You can use the SHARE buttons below.
- Giveaway ends on May 5th.

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Interview with D.L. Bogan + Giveaway of The Sumerton Women

Please welcome author D.L. Bogdan, who is here at Passages to the Past today to answer a few questions and give away a copy of her latest novel, THE SUMERTON WOMEN, in honor of her virtual book tour!

For more information and to see a schedule of the tour stops, please click HERE.


Can you please tell us a bit about The Sumerton Women and the inspiration behind writing it?
 

The Sumerton Women is the story of three women whose lives are intertwined against the backdrop of the British Reformation, and how each woman deals with the consequences of their choices—some  of them good, some extremely destructive.  I have always been fascinated with human psychology and motivation, and am drawn to any era, event, or historical figure I can use to illustrate that in the most emotionally charged, fast paced, and relatable way I can.  I feel the human condition is timeless, and finding ways to keep it fresh, moving, and interesting is one of the reasons historical fiction can be so compelling.  I also have had a long standing interest in the Reformation and wanted to touch upon the elements I found would provide the most conflict for the human spirit.  

Have you always wanted to be a writer?  And did you always want to write historical fiction?


I have always wanted to be a writer.  No matter what other career I was entertaining notions of at any given time in my life, writing was always there.  It is my coping mechanism, my escape, and my passion.  No matter if I continue to be fortunate enough to keep being published or not, writing will always be an extremely important element of my life.  I have always enjoyed reading historical fiction and writing it was a very important goal to reach.  I love bringing events and historical figures to life and endeavor to give original interpretations of them that I hope readers find captivating and entertaining.  However, I do not want to limit myself to one particular genre.   I hope to experiment with a few different styles and genres to keep challenging myself and hopefully show my readers that I can be eclectic and grow as a writer.  


What is your favorite part of the writing process?  What do you find the most difficult?


My favorite part is the escape to another world, getting lost in an era, and falling in love with my characters, whether they are of my own creation or are historical figures.  I love being hot on the trail of good, fun research (which is a double edged sword, because at times it is extremely challenging cross-referencing and trying to figure out which source is the most reliable), and discovering the paths it takes me on, which often inspires much different—and better—plot twists than what was in my original vision for the novel.  Difficult aspects of writing for me are finding the time to do it where I can focus wholly on the project, second guessing myself after publication and realizing I could have done something better, knowing all I can do is note it, learn from it, and apply that lesson to my next work.  Then of course there is the fear of it not being well-received.  During the creation phase itself there are times I get stuck on a scene, which stops the process for a time until I figure out what went wrong and how to fix it, and other times where an idea needs to be totally reworked, which can be discouraging when I’m more than half-way through a novel!  Despite those pitfalls, however, it’s a compulsion I can’t deny myself.  I may curse at my computer and lament at never finishing the work at hand (“I’ll never be able to write again!” is something my husband hears quite frequently).  But at the end of the day, there I am again, plodding away, starry eyed and wrapped up in my favorite world.  And that makes all those headaches worth it.     

  
What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
 

Never, never give up!  If you are writing expecting great financial gains you should pick a different career.  Write for the sheer love and joy of it; write because it’s your passion.  It is too difficult a career to do for any other reason than love of your characters, your story, and your readers.  Discern between a “hater” and a constructive critic—disregard the former and learn from the latter (the former will make you stronger, the latter will make you better).  Grow a thick skin and keep your mind open to learning new things—learn from your mistakes, don’t be ashamed of them, and keep plugging along.  Submit, submit, submit to every agent receptive to your genre and follow their guidelines.  Once the publication process begins, network with other authors and find a good mentor to guide you (you can of course start that before you are picked up by anyone)—that part of the ride can be rocky and it is made much easier when you have the compassionate ear of someone who knows what you are going through as it can be an isolating, at times lonely, career.  Most of all, however, always believe in yourself and your work!  

Can you tell us about your next project?
 

I can’t yet disclose the exact nature of my next work, but I can say it is another historical about a very fascinating person and I absolutely cannot wait to unveil her to the world. 

If you could read any book again for the first time, what would it be and why?


Probably East of Eden.  I love John Steinbeck; his writing and character development is hard to match.  The emotion he evokes is priceless.  His ironic humor mingled with the extreme poignancy of his work is a remarkable talent.  I try to read that book (and a few other favorites) every 10 years or so, because at different stages of my life I gain new perspectives from it.  So in a way, it is like reading it for the first time all over again.

What books have you currently read and enjoyed?


I have been so mired in research that I haven’t had as much time for pleasure-reading as I like.  However one work that moved me tremendously was Alan Brennert’s MOLOKA’I.  I cannot say enough about how powerful that book was, how touching and brave its heroine, and how beautiful the writing.  It really is a treasure.   I am trying to get in touch with the classics again and am reading Charles Dickens’ GREAT EXPECTATIONS after seeing the 1946 version of the movie as an adult and falling in love with it again, and my brother just lent me THE HUNGER GAMES so I’m eager to check that out as well.   That and a long, long to-read list that keep growing!


What authors have inspired you?


The aforementioned John Steinbeck, Colleen McCullough, Margaret Mitchell, and Boris Pasternak to name a few. Their diverse styles and talents never fail to awe and motivate me.   And several of my peers who are too many to mention but are all inspiring and great examples to learn from as well.  I still believe the adage that the best way to learn to write is to keep reading!  


About The Sumerton Women

  
Publication Date: April 24, 2012 | Kensington Publishing | 384p

{SYNOPSIS}

Orphaned at age eight, Lady Cecily Burkhart becomes the ward of Harold Pierce, Earl of Sumerton. Lord Hal and his wife, Lady Grace, welcome sweet-natured Cecily as one of their own. With Brey, their young son, Cecily develops an easy friendship. But their daughter, Mirabella, is consumed by her religious vocation - and by her devotion to Father Alec Cahill, the family priest and tutor. As Henry VIII's obsession with Anne Boleyn leads to violent religious upheaval, Mirabella is robbed of her calling and the future Cecily dreamed of is ripped away in turn. Cecily struggles to hold together the fractured household while she and Father Alec grapple with a dangerous mutual attraction. Plagued with jealousy, Mirabella unleashes a tumultuous chain of events that threatens to destroy everyone around her, even as the kingdom is torn apart...

About D.L. Bogdan

D.L. Bogdan is an ongoing student of history, musician, and avid reader who enjoys travel, the outdoors, and time with her family and friends. She is a proud wife and mother who makes her home in central Wisconsin. She is the author of Secrets of the Tudor Court, Rivals in the Tudor Court and The Sumerton Women.
For more information on D.L. Bogdan and her novels, please visit her WEBSITE.  You can also find her on FACEBOOK and TWITTER.
 
Giveaway Information

- To enter, please leave a comment below and include your email address (only comments with email addresses will be entered in the giveaway).
- Giveaway is open to INTERNATIONALLY.
- +5 additional entries become a follower of Passages to the Past. If you are already a follower you will automatically receive the bonus entries. 
- +3 additional entries join the Passages to the Past FB Page.
- +3 additional entries follow me on Twitter.
- +1 additional entry each, please help spread the word by blogging, posting on sidebar, tweeting or posting this giveaway on Facebook or Google+.  You can use the SHARE buttons below.
- Giveaway ends on May 4th.


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Guest Post by Elizabeth Loupas + Giveaway!

Passages to the Past is pleased to bring you a guest post by author Elizabeth Loupas in honor of the virtual book tour for her novel, The Flower Reader!

Thanks to Elizabeth I also have one copy of The Flower Reader and a beautiful, handmade flower bookmark to give away to a lucky winner!

Please welcome Elizabeth Loupas....

Childhood Books


There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away,
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry-

-Emily Dickinson

Childhood books live with us forever. I remember the Little Golden Books my mother read to us—there was one with a velvety flocked yellow duckling, and another with a spotted puppy, which I think was called The Poky Little Puppy. I still treasure a frayed and faded copy of The Road in Storyland by Watty Piper, full of fairy tales and wonderful old illustrations:


This one is from the story The Star Dipper, about how the constellation called the Big Dipper came to be in the sky. I always adored this image. Stars, a friendly doggie, and a kind-hearted little girl in an old-fashioned dress, plus the rich blue and green colors with splotches of red and pink—for me, the stuff of dreams. The illustrators of The Road in Storyland are credited as Lucille W. and H.C. Holling.

How I loved those stories as a tiny girl. My mother used to laugh about how she read them to us over and over until we had them memorized, and how we would correct her if she tried to hurry our bedtime by leaving anything out. And you know, my life has turned out to follow a road in, over, under, and through storyland—a road to telling stories.

In The Flower Reader, Rinette has a treasured childhood book as well, a hand-lettered and hand-painted book of French fairy tales that belonged to her mother, and from which her mother read to her when she was small. So art follows life. Rinette has more “mother issues” than I ever had, thank goodness, but she keeps the book, and later (I’m skipping over huge swathes of the story here, but I don’t want to include spoilers) Nico de Clerac, who was trained as an illuminator at the great monastery of Mont Saint-Michel in France (more swathes of the story skipped over) sets out to make a copy. He goes to great pains to make it as exact as possible, but still—it is a copy. In the story it is a symbol of Rinette’s new life, in many ways the same and yet in other ways different from her early life.

Symbolism in stories is all very well, but I usually prefer the originals of books I’ve loved, even when the originals are tattered and worn (The Road in Storyland is heavily water damaged from a long-ago flood in my mother’s basement but I would never give it up for anything). How do you feel about classic childhood books (or for that matter, adult books) being re-issued in new editions? Would you rather have a fresh new version, or do you cling to your ruined treasures?

About The Flower Reader


Publication Date:  April 3, 2012
NAL Trade
448p

{SYNOPSIS}

In the sweeping new novel from the author of The Second Duchess, dangerous secrets lead a passionate young woman into a maze of murder and conspiracy as Mary, Queen of Scots, comes home to reign in a treacherously divided Scotland….

With her dying breath, Mary of Guise entrusts a silver casket to Rinette Leslie of Granmuir, who possesses the ancient gift of floromancy. Inside the casket, and meant only for the young Mary, Queen of Scots, are papers the old queen has painstakingly collected—the darkest secrets of every Scottish lord and explosive private prophecies prepared by Nostradamus. Rinette risks her life to keep the casket safe, but she makes a fatal mistake: she shows it to her beloved young husband. On the very day the young queen comes home, Rinette’s husband is brutally assassinated.

Devastated, Rinette demands justice from the queen before she will surrender the casket. Amid glittering masques and opulent weddings, courtly intrigues and Highland rebellions, the queen’s agents and Rinette herself search for the shadowy assassin. They are surrounded by ruthless men from all over Europe who will do anything to force Rinette to give up the casket—threatening her life, stripping her of her beloved castle by the sea, forcing her to marry a man she hates, and driving her from the man she has reluctantly grown to love. In the end, the flowers are all she can trust—and only the flowers will lead her safely home to Granmuir.

About Elizabeth Loupas

 

Elizabeth Loupas lives near the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. She is presently a novelist, freelance writer and amateur historian. In other times and other places she has been a radio network vice president, a reference librarian, a business-to-business magazine editor, and a tutor in English literature.

One of her passions is the art and poetry of the Pre-Raphaelites. This led her to the Rossettis and the Brownings, and the project nearest and dearest to her heart--her novel THE SECOND DUCHESS, based on Robert Browning's poem "My Last Duchess."

She hates housework, cold weather, and wearing shoes. She loves animals, gardens, and popcorn. Not surprisingly she lives in a state of happy barefoot chaos with her delightful and faintly bemused husband (the Broadcasting Legend), her herb garden, her popcorn popper, and two beagles.

Giveaway Information


- To enter, please leave a comment below and include your email address (only comments with email addresses will be entered in the giveaway).
- Giveaway is open to US ONLY.
- +5 additional entries become a follower of Passages to the Past. If you are already a follower you will automatically receive the bonus entries. 
- +3 additional entries join the Passages to the Past FB Page.
- +3 additional entries follow me on Twitter.
- +1 additional entry each, please help spread the word by blogging, posting on sidebar, tweeting or posting this giveaway on Facebook or Google+.  You can use the SHARE buttons below.
- Giveaway ends on April 30th.

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Review: Empress of the Seven Hills by Kate Quinn

by Kate Quinn

Publication Date:  April 3, 2012
Berkley Trade
512p


{SYNOPSIS}

From the national bestselling author of Daughters of Rome and Mistress of Rome comes a tale of love, power, and intrigue spanning the wilds of the Empire to the seven hills of Rome. 

Powerful, prosperous, and expanding ever farther into the untamed world, the Roman Empire has reached its zenith under the rule of the beloved Emperor Trajan. But neither Trajan nor his reign can last forever...

Brash and headstrong, Vix is a celebrated ex-gladiator returned to Rome to make his fortune. The sinuous, elusive Sabina is a senator's daughter who craves adventure. Sometimes lovers, sometimes enemies, Vix and Sabina are united by their devotion to Trajan. But others are already maneuvering in the shadows. Trajan's ambitious Empress has her own plans for Sabina. And the aristocratic Hadrian-the Empress's ruthless protégé and Vix's mortal enemy-has ambitions he confesses to no one, ambitions rooted in a secret prophecy.

When Trajan falls, the hardened soldier, the enigmatic empress, the adventurous girl, and the scheming politician will all be caught in a deadly whirlwind of desire and death that may seal their fates, and that of the entire Roman Empire...

{REVIEW}

No one does Ancient Rome quite like author Kate Quinn and her third novel, Empress of the Seven Hills, is yet another shining example of historical fiction done right!

Vix is the son of Thea from Quinn’s first novel, Mistress of Rome, and the feisty boy we met previously has grown into a headstrong, obstinate man with a loyal heart…I fell in love with him instantly! Sabina is equally headstrong. She’s a woman who knows what she wants out of life and goes after it, but not in a conniving, scheming manner like Empress Plotina, but rather as an impressive and inspiringly independent woman. Though their passion for each other ebbs and flows throughout the novel, their mutual love for Emperor Trajan unites them against others who threaten his rule and the Empire.

Kate’s talent at writing characters in such a way that the reader becomes totally invested in them is one of her greatest strengths, in my opinion. Combine that with her flawless writing, extensive research and an intriguing, action-packed plot and you’ve got one hell of a read...one that I can't recommend enough!

Quinn ends the book with a hint of a sequel and I can’t wait to see what more is in store for Vix and Sabina! 
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Announcing the Virtual Book Tour for The Sumerton Women by D.L. Bogdan

Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours is excited to announcing that author D.L. Bogdan will be touring the blogsophere for the release of her novel, The Sumerton Women, from April 16th - May 11th!

Our fabulous tour hosts will be posting reviews, interviews with D.L. Bogdan and giveaways of The Sumerton Women, so be sure to check out the schedule below to see where the tour will be stopping!

About The Sumerton Women

  
Publication Date: April 24, 2012 | Kensington Publishing | 384p

{SYNOPSIS}

Orphaned at age eight, Lady Cecily Burkhart becomes the ward of Harold Pierce, Earl of Sumerton. Lord Hal and his wife, Lady Grace, welcome sweet-natured Cecily as one of their own. With Brey, their young son, Cecily develops an easy friendship. But their daughter, Mirabella, is consumed by her religious vocation - and by her devotion to Father Alec Cahill, the family priest and tutor. As Henry VIII's obsession with Anne Boleyn leads to violent religious upheaval, Mirabella is robbed of her calling and the future Cecily dreamed of is ripped away in turn. Cecily struggles to hold together the fractured household while she and Father Alec grapple with a dangerous mutual attraction. Plagued with jealousy, Mirabella unleashes a tumultuous chain of events that threatens to destroy everyone around her, even as the kingdom is torn apart...

About D.L. Bogdan

D.L. Bogdan is an ongoing student of history, musician, and avid reader who enjoys travel, the outdoors, and time with her family and friends. She is a proud wife and mother who makes her home in central Wisconsin. She is the author of Secrets of the Tudor Court, Rivals in the Tudor Court and The Sumerton Women.

For more information on D.L. Bogdan and her novels, please visit her WEBSITE.  You can also find her on FACEBOOK and TWITTER.

The Sumerton Women Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, April 16th
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

Tuesday, April 17th
Review at Always with a Book

Wednesday, April 18th
Author Interview & Giveaway at The Maiden's Court

Friday, April 20th
Review & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick

Monday, April 23rd
Review at A Bookish Affair

Tuesday, April 24th
Author Interview & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, April 25th

Thursday, April 26th
Author Interview & Giveaway at History Undressed

Monday, April 30th
Review & Giveaway at Bippity Boppity Book

Tuesday, May 1st
Review at A Novel Affair

Wednesday, May 2nd
Review & Giveaway at CelticLady's Reviews

Thursday, May 3rd
Review & Giveaway at The Muse in the Fog Book Reviews

Friday, May 4th
Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, May 7th
Author Interview & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Friday, May 11th
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict

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Review: White Heart by Sherry Jones

by Sherry Jones

Publication Date:  April 3, 2012
Simon & Schuster
Kindle ebook (40 pages)


{SYNOPSIS}

A historical eBook about Blanche, the White Queen of France, the manipulative mother-in-law of Marguerite in Sherry Jones’s Four Sisters, All Queens.

A woman's power lies in her beauty. For years, Blanche de Castille, the White Queen of France, has lived by this maxim—passed on by her grandmother, ElÉonore d'Aquitaine, as she took the girl to marry King Louis VIII. When her husband dies unexpectedly, however, Blanche finds that beauty is not enough to hold, and command, a kingdom against usurpers eager to wrest the Crown from her woman's grasp. Faced with an English invasion, barons' uprisings, and slanderous rumors, Blanche must look within herself for the strength she needs to guard the throne for her young son. Her bold response shocks the kingdom and shapes her into the formidable, seemingly heartless mother-in-law to Marguerite of Provence, wife of King Louis IX (Saint Louis) and the eldest of the "Four Sisters, All Queens" in Sherry Jones's forthcoming novel.

Includes an excerpt to the upcoming Four Sisters, All Queens, to be published by Gallery Books, May 8, 2012. 

{MY REVIEW}

After the death of her husband, King Louis VIII of France, Blanche of Castille is distraught by grief over the loss of her love, but knows she must remain strong and prepare for the battle that’s to come to retain control of the crown for her young son. Against the odds and a multitude of enemies, both home and abroad, who have no intention of being ruled by a women or a young boy, Blanche prevails over her foes by relying on her courage, strength, passion and cunning. She truly exudes the traits of her grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitaine!

 A concise 40 page ebook, White Heart effectively portrays a vital time in France’s history and Blanche’s life, as well as, sets the stage for the story of her son Louis IX and his wife Marguerite who are featured in Four Sisters, All Queens. I found it to be very well-written and thought that Jones did a fabulous job of bringing the character of Blanche to life, especially given the short length that she had to accomplish it. I can never get enough of reading about powerful women who triumph over the men who seek to control and dominate her and Blanche definitely is one of those. Her bravery and pluck is something to be inspired by!

White Heart is the perfect precursor to Sherry’s novel Four Sisters, All Queens and I highly recommend it!

White Heart is available as a Kindle ebook for $1.99.


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Guest Post by Susanna Kearsley + Giveaway of Mariana!

Passages to the Past is pleased to welcome back author Susanna Kearsley, who is here in honor of her novel, Mariana, which was just reissued by Sourcebooks Publishing!  

I had the recent pleasure of reading the fabulous Mariana and it now has a firm place among my favorites shelf, I highly recommend it and thanks to Sourcebooks I have one copy to give away to a lucky reader!

And now, please enjoy this post from Susanna....

Thanks so much, Amy, for having me back. 

The last time I was here, in October, I talked a bit about the differences between historical fiction and non-fiction, and how fiction can sometimes do a better job of humanizing history for its readers. And that got me thinking, afterwards, of some of the other things that we, as novelists, can do more freely perhaps than our non-fiction colleagues. 

One of the first things I thought of was how we, in writing historical fiction, can turn our focus to the outer corners of the bigger picture, like photographers shifting their lenses away from the stars on the red carpet to look instead at the chauffeur who’s holding the limousine door. 

Charles II
For example, the main action of my novel Mariana, in the past, takes place in 1665, throughout the summer that the Great Plague leveled London. A historian writing about that year would have to get into details of how the Plague spread, and how Londoners dealt with it—how many died, and the way they were buried, and all of that. Which is only fair, since one of the primary roles of a historian is to chronicle the key events of history and contextualize them. Any historian who wrote about England in 1665 and didn’t spend adequate time on the Great Plague of London, or the Second Anglo-Dutch War, or what was going on at Charles II’s court, would not be doing a good job. 

Even when a historian picks one aspect of that year—like the village of Eyam closing itself off voluntarily so that it wouldn’t spread Plague to its neighbors—or when a social historian chronicles everyday life in the country, they still have to reference the major events and include a few chapters explaining in detail what’s going on elsewhere. 

Historical novelists set things in context as well, but we’re also much freer to swing our own cameras away from the main action, showing the people who lived on the fringes of all these events, and just letting our characters talk about what’s going on in the world in the same way that we do. (Hint: We rarely quote numbers and data and details. A lot of what is going on we never even notice unless we’re directly affected by it.) 

By having this freedom, not having to focus on rulers and parliaments, generals and treaties, we’re able to tell a much different account of the Plague Year; one just as historically accurate, but from a different perspective, as narrow or broad as we need it to be. And both ways of looking at history, in my view, are valuable. 

About Mariana



 Publication Date:  April 1, 2012 | Sourcebooks | 384p

{SYNOPSIS}

Time slip historical fiction at its best by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Susanna Kearsley, whose novel The Winter Sea won the RT Reviewers Choice Award, and finaled for a RITA award.

When Julia Beckett moves into a beautiful old farmhouse, she finds herself transported into17th-century England, and into the world of Mariana. Each time Julia travels back, she becomes more enthralled with the past... until she realizes Mariana's life is eclipsing her own. She must lay the past to rest or risk losing the chance for happiness in her own time. 

About Susanna Kearsley


Susanna Kearsley studied politics and international development at university, and has worked as a museum curator.

Her first novel Mariana won the prestigious Catherine Cookson Literary Prize and launched her writing career. Susanna continued her mix of the historical and paranormal in novels The Splendour Falls, Named of the Dragon, Shadowy Horses and Season of Storms.

Susanna Kearsley also writes classic-style thrillers under the name of Emma Cole.
 
For more information on Susanna and her novels, please visit her WEBSITE.

Giveaway Information


- To enter, please leave a comment below and include your email address (only comments with email addresses will be entered in the giveaway).
- Giveaway is open to US and Canada ONLY.
- +5 additional entries become a follower of Passages to the Past. If you are already a follower you will automatically receive the bonus entries. 
- +3 additional entries join the Passages to the Past FB Page.
- +3 additional entries follow me on Twitter.
- +1 additional entry each, please help spread the word by blogging, posting on sidebar, tweeting or posting this giveaway on Facebook or Google+.  You can use the SHARE buttons below.
- Giveaway ends on April 14th.
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Guest Post by Kate Quinn + 2 Copy Giveaway of Empress of the Seven Hills!

Today, I have the ultimate honor of hosting one of my favorite authors Kate Quinn and what is perhaps the single most awesome guest post I have ever had the pleasure of posting on Passages to the Past! 

Her latest novel, Empress of the Seven Hills, was released yesterday and you seriously need to get your hands on a copy because it is all sorts of fabulous!  Don't have a copy yet?  No worries, Amy's got you covered!  Penguin has graciously offered up a copy AND I received an extra one by mistake, so I have TWO COPIES up for grabs!  Trust me, you won't want to miss a chance to read this book!

Okay, Kate...take it away...

Sexuality in Ancient Rome 


With all the heated debate going on right now about gay marriage, there's been a great deal of revisionist history. Pundits and politicians cry out for a return to the ways of the past, when men only slept with women and marriage was sacred and inviolable. This might have held true for some eras of the past, but certainly not all. My latest novel Empress of the Seven Hills deals extensively with the sexual mores of ancient Rome – and I can tell you now that if Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney were suddenly transported back to A.D. 102, as undivorced heterosexual men they would find themselves in the distinct minority. 

Sexuality in Imperial Rome was governed by a very different set of standards. For one thing, Roman sex was guilt-free: the notion that sex was linked to sin and shame was a Christian idea, and until Christianity and its tenet of original sin took hold in the Roman Empire, sex was simply viewed by the polytheistic Romans as another of life's physical pleasures, much like eating or drinking. Overindulgence in any physical pleasure was frowned on, as the Romans preached moderation and restraint in private life. But though it might be considered in bad taste to gorge oneself on either food, wine, or sex, it was not a sin. 

Neither was the institution of marriage quite the inviolable rock it is sometimes made out to be by politicians harking for the good old days. Roman marriages could legally be dissolved without divorce lawyers, courts of law, or legal proceedings (lucky them!) To get divorced, you simply declared yourself single again, and moved out. Divorce and remarriage thus became extremely common, especially among the upper classes where political alliances between families shifted constantly. It wasn't all that uncommon for a well-off man or woman in the Roman era to go through five or six marriages over the course of a lifetime, with no stigma at all – and with marriage held so lightly, extramarital affairs were common. Technically a husband could prosecute a wife for being unfaithful, and some emperors like Augustus did try to crack down on family morals, but in reality adultery was a fairly light sin. The ideal Roman wife might have been loudly touted as a modest faithful woman who obeyed her husband and never strayed – but whenever cultures make a great fuss about ideals, it means the reality isn't quite living up. Roman husbands were not required to be faithful, and neither were many Roman wives as long as their husbands were lenient about it. Even among royal circles there were wives, daughters, and nieces of Emperors who were notorious for their affairs. 

Homosexuality in ancient Rome is the issue that would really give modern Republicans the vapors. Not as much is known about lesbianism in Rome, but then lesbianism usually manages to skate under the historical radar – as one of my favorite humorists commented dryly, whenever two men live together they draw speculation, but two women who live together are obviously just unmarried besties sharing a house for reasons of economy and safety. Roman society, however, took an extremely lenient view of sex between men: it was neither a sin nor a matter of shame, merely one more sexual option among many. Roman men might take wives for the purpose of family alliance and future children, but a great many men were at least bisexual by inclination: the historian Gibbon estimated that of the first fifteen emperors of Rome, only one was strictly heterosexual – and he went through four wives, one of whom was his own niece. (You think that's next on the list for Newt Gingrich?) Some emperors preferred exclusively male company, and made no bones about it. Emperor Trajan, a hearty career soldier who advanced Rome's borders out to their furthest historical extent, appears to have kept his marriage platonic and his bed stocked with young soldiers, and was never reviled as less of a man's man. His adopted son Hadrian, a famous scholar, builder, and world traveler, had a passionate monogamous affair with a handsome Greek youth. Both Trajan and Hadrian are major characters in Empress of the Seven Hills, as are their wives who dealt in different ways with their sexless marriages: one became her husband's ally and advisor if she could not be his lover, and the other took lovers of her own. 

There was one governing rule that held sway over Roman love affairs between men, but it was a matter of social status rather than sin. A Roman male might sleep with either men or women, but to retain respect in the eyes of society, he had to be the dominant, superior partner. Women and slaves of either sex were automatically inferior on the social scale, and thus always acceptable sex partners. But a male lover of your own class had to be younger, poorer, or less experienced – in some way inferior, and thus assumed to take the submissive role in bed. An adult Roman male was held in contempt if he “took the woman's part” in homosexual relationships – that was ok for male slaves, or for some young man who was being taught the ropes by a more experienced lover, but past a certain age a Roman man was expected to be the dominant partner with all his lovers. Still, who really knows what goes on in a bed except the two people in it? 

Despite the odd social quirks mandating who got to be on top, there's no doubt that bisexuals and the homosexuals had an easier time of it in Imperial Rome than they do today. So did adulterers and fans of serial marriage. You may regard this as a step forward or a step back, morally speaking – I just wish politicians would get their facts straight before they go yapping on about the good old moral days of yore. Because if Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney ever do find a time machine and end up in ancient Rome, they're in for one hell of a shock.

A huge thank you to Kate Quinn for this intriguing & fascinating post!  I enjoyed it immensely and I hope you did too, dear readers!  If you have any thoughts of your own on the subject we would love to hear them!   

About Empress of the Seven Hills


 Publication Date: April 3, 2012 | Berkley Trade | 512p
*will be released in the UK on July 5, 2012 under the tile Empress of Rome

{SYNOPSIS}

From the national bestselling author of Daughters of Rome and Mistress of Rome comes a tale of love, power, and intrigue spanning the wilds of the Empire to the seven hills of Rome.

Powerful, prosperous, and expanding ever farther into the untamed world, the Roman Empire has reached its zenith under the rule of the beloved Emperor Trajan. But neither Trajan nor his reign can last forever...

Brash and headstrong, Vix is a celebrated ex-gladiator returned to Rome to make his fortune. The sinuous, elusive Sabina is a senator's daughter who craves adventure. Sometimes lovers, sometimes enemies, Vix and Sabina are united by their devotion to Trajan. But others are already maneuvering in the shadows. Trajan's ambitious Empress has her own plans for Sabina. And the aristocratic Hadrian-the Empress's ruthless protégé and Vix's mortal enemy-has ambitions he confesses to no one, ambitions rooted in a secret prophecy.

When Trajan falls, the hardened soldier, the enigmatic empress, the adventurous girl, and the scheming politician will all be caught in a deadly whirlwind of desire and death that may seal their fates, and that of the entire Roman Empire...

About Kate Quinn


Kate Quinn is a native of southern California. She attended Boston University, where she earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Classical Voice. A lifelong history buff, she first got hooked on ancient Rome while watching "I, Claudius" at the age of seven. She wrote her first book during her freshman year in college, retreating from a Boston winter into ancient Rome, and it was later published as "Mistress of Rome." A prequel followed, titled "Daughters of Rome," and then a sequel written while her husband was deployed to the Middle East.

"I realized that my Roman legionary hero in `Empress of the Seven Hills' was fighting in the same part of the world where my US Navy husband was deployed. Life imitating art, or art imitating life? I have no idea!"

Kate is currently working on her fourth novel, set in the Italian Renaissance. She also has succumbed to the blogging bug, and keeps a blog filled with trivia, pet peeves, and interesting facts about historical fiction. She and her husband now live in Maryland with a small black dog named Caesar, and her interests include opera, action movies, cooking, and the Boston Red Sox. 

For more information on Kate and her novels, please visit her WEBSITE.

Giveaway Information


- To enter, please leave a comment below and include your email address (only comments with email addresses will be entered in the giveaway).
- Giveaway is open to US and Canada ONLY.
- +5 additional entries become a follower of Passages to the Past. If you are already a follower you will automatically receive the bonus entries. 
- +3 additional entries join the Passages to the Past FB Page.
- +3 additional entries follow me on Twitter.
- +1 additional entry each, please help spread the word by blogging, posting on sidebar, tweeting or posting this giveaway on Facebook or Google+.  You can use the SHARE buttons below.
- Giveaway ends on April 13th.

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Guest Post by Dora Levy Mossanen + Giveaway of The Last Romanov

Passages to the Past is pleased to be hosting a guest post by author Dora Levy Mossanen and giveaway of her novel, THE LAST ROMANOV, which is being released today!  Happy Release Day, Dora!

And now, please help me welcome Dora Levy Mossanen...

The Hazards of Falling in Love with your Characters


I started the lengthy and always fascinating process of research for The Last Romanov a few months before I put pen to paper, or fingertips to keyboard. And for the next three years, while working to complete the novel, I continued to gather a treasure trove of information. I learned about a tumultuous era in Russian history, a series of revolutions that gathered force and gave rise to Communism, transforming the political landscape of the world. I became intimately familiar with the looks, likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses of Tsarina Alexandra, Tsar Nicholas II, and their five children. I studied the depth of Alexandra’s guilt at having transferred the hemophilia gene to her only son, the heir to the throne, who was born after four girls. The extent of the couple’s insulation from their disgruntled people, the thick cocoon of denial surrounding them, surprised me. And I learned about Nicholas and Alexandra’s great love for each other that might have caused the downfall of the 300 year-old Romanov Dynasty. I couldn’t stop collecting information, not even after the last period was tapped on my keyboard, my laptop was shut, and I went out to celebrate with a glass of wine. I was an obsessed woman. A voyeur! Unable to say goodbye to my charges, stop prying into their lives, unable to keep myself from digging into the mystery of the mad monk, Grigori Rasputin. I sifted through fact and fiction. Was it true that this vile womanizer was the Tsarina’s lover? Did he really cure Alexei Nikolaevich, the hemophilic heir, when the most competent doctors had failed? How did Rasputin’s penis end up in a jar of alcohol in a museum in St. Petersburg? I’m not kidding! I saw the photograph with my own eyes—a curious woman peering behind a glass jar in which an enormous penis was displayed. Well! Whose member could it be but Rasputin’s, who was alleged to have been well-endowed and to have been “dismembered” by his murderers? Further investigation revealed that this precious relic might be nothing but a strangely shaped sea-cucumber.

But I digress! The discussion is about the hazards of falling in love with your protagonists, in this case the Romanovs. The problem arose when I became more familiar with the Imperial family and, consequently, with the extent of their anti-Semitism. I faced a dilemma. Here was I, a Jewish writer, who had developed deep compassion and even love for my charges. I did what I always do when faced with a problem. I took a few days off to distance myself from my story. When I returned to the Romanovs with a fresh eye, I realized that I had already planted my own emissaries in the Imperial Court. One of them is Avram Bensheimer, a Jewish artist, whose paintings the Empress admires. Darya, the opal-eyed Toyota Dasha of the Tsarevich, falls in love with Avram. He becomes a spokesman for the Jews. He voices what is taking place beyond the walls of the palace—the discrimination, the pogroms, the devastation of entire Jewish communities.

About The Last Romanov


 Publication Date:  April 3, 2012 | Sourcebooks | 368p

{SYNOPSIS}

For almost a century, Imperial Russia has captivated the imagination- the ruthless execution of the royal family, the disputed survival of the heir: it's a cinematic chaos that the masterful Dora Levy Mossanen unravels for her readers. Taking readers deep into tarnished grandeur, The Last Romanov follows Darya, a wise old beauty whose time spent with the Imperial family has haunted her entire life. When the murderous events unfold, Darya is plagued by the prophecy made by the Empress's advisor, Rasputin. She must find the missing Tsarevich Alexis Romanov and restore the monarchy or risk losing her own life.

Giveaway Information


- To enter, please leave a comment below and include your email address (only comments with email addresses will be entered in the giveaway).
- Giveaway is open to US and Canada ONLY.
- +5 additional entries become a follower of Passages to the Past. If you are already a follower you will automatically receive the bonus entries. 
- +3 additional entries join the Passages to the Past FB Page.
- +3 additional entries follow me on Twitter.
- +1 additional entry each, please help spread the word by blogging, posting on sidebar, tweeting or posting this giveaway on Facebook or Google+.  You can use the SHARE buttons below.
- Giveaway ends on April 12th.
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