Review: Pilgrim Footprints on the Sands of Time by Sylvia Nilsen

Pilgrim Footprints: On the Sands of Time

Sylvia Nilsen

Publication Date: December 2, 2013

LightEye Editions

Paperback; 396p

ISBN-10: 2917183349

A few months after Richard FitzUrse and his fellow knights murder Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, Lord Robert and Lady FitzUrse are instructed by King Henry to make a penitential pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint James the Greater in Spain in order to earn redemption for his disgraced family.

William Beaumont has made a promise to his dead mother and younger sister to go on a pilgrimage to save their souls. William is secretly in love with Alicia Bearham, niece of Lord Robert. He is overjoyed when he is asked to accompany the family and their servants on their three-month pilgrimage.

They face many adversities, dangers, and an attempted murder on the long and hazardous journey across England, France and Spain. Who is trying to kill Sir Robert and Alicia? What does the gypsy woman they meet in Paris mean when she predicts that Alicia and William are destined to be soul mates, but only when the eleventh flaming star returns to the skies and the water carrier rises over the horizon? One fateful night, a shocking event changes their lives forever.

About the Author

Sylvia Nilsen, well known in the Camino world for her ‘amaWalker blog’ is a South African freelance writer who has been published in numerous local and international publications.

She has worked as a research agent and editor for a UK-based travel guide publisher and produced several African city and country guides.

Sylvia has walked over 5,000 km of pilgrimage trails in Europe including Paris to Spain, the Camino Frances from St Jean Pied de Port and Roncesvalles to Santiago, from Lourdes to Pamplona, el Ferrol to Santiago, Santiago to Finisterre and from Switzerland to Rome on the Via Francigena. She also walked from Durban to Cape Town as part of the ‘Breaking Free’ team in aid of abused women and children. Sylvia has served as a volunteer hospitalero in Spain and is a Spanish accredited hospitalero trainer having trained over 40 people to serve as volunteers in Spain. She was the Regional Co-ordinator for the Confraternity of St James in South Africa from 2003 to 2010.

In 2009 she started amaWalkers Camino (Pty) Ltd and takes small groups of pilgrims on three weeks walks of the Camino Frances in Spain.

For more information on Sylvia Nilsen please visit her website.  You can also find her on Facebook.

Buy the Book

Amazon UK
Amazon US (eBook)
Amazon US (Paperback)
Book Depository
Fishpond
Waterstones

My thoughts

I have always been intrigued by Thomas Becket.  Not only in his death, but in his life as well, his friendship with Henry II that turned to hatred after Beckett's apparent transformation from politician to devout churchman after his appointment as Archbishop thereby thwarting Henry's plan to have an Archbishop on his side and one he would control.  It was King Henry's thwarted plans for Beckett which fueled his rage and to voice the need to have "someone rid him of that meddlesome priest".  Whether King Henry meant those words literally or not four of his knights decided to do just that and journeyed to Canterbury where they murdered Beckett on the altar of the Cathedral. Pilgrim Footprints on the Sands of Time takes up the tale of those four knights and their families as they make a pilgrimage to Compestelo de Santiago in Spain to atone for the death of Beckett. 

I feel that Nilsen's Pilgrim Footprints in the Hands of Time filled a gap in the literature surrounding the story of Thomas Beckett and found the narrative seemed to embody the lackluster feelings of a pilgrimage undertaken without personal investment; in that these pilgrims were not motivated by faith, or the need to make a personal penance but were making the often arduous journey for political atonement and not for personal or religious reasons. 

Sylvia Nilsen's Pilgrim Footprints: On the Sands of Time is a thoroughly researched and well written account that contributes to the written discourse on the period despite being a work of fiction.  Pilgrim Footprints serves to remind any researcher of the period to not overlook the fate of the four men involved in the murder, but also provides a more realistic account of the arduousness of making a pilgrimage, and relates the angst of the pilgrims themselves,  in a way so many others authors have romanticized.

For more information click on the banner below.  

The full tour schedule also follows.

Tour Hashtag: #PilgrimFootprintsVirtualTour

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, February 24

Review at Flashlight Commentary

Spotlight & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection

Tuesday, February 25

Interview at Flashlight Commentary

Thursday, February 27

Spotlight & Giveaway at Kinx’s Book Nook

Friday, February 28

Guest Post at A Bookish Libraria

Monday, March 3

Review at A Chick Who Reads

Guest Post at Mina’s Bookshelf

Tuesday, March 4

Review at Historical Fiction Obsession

Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee

Wednesday, March 5

Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book

Thursday, March 6

Interview at Oh, for the Hook of a Book

Friday, March 7

Review at Reading the Ages

Monday, March 10

Review & Guest Post at Just One More Chapter

Tuesday, March 11

Review at The Most Happy Reader

Wednesday, March 12

Review at Staircase Wit

Spotlight & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Thursday, March 13

Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Friday, March 14

Interview at Layered Pages

Monday, March 17

Review at Book Nerd

Tuesday, March 18

Interview & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Wednesday, March 19

Guest Post at Kelsey’s Book Corner

Thursday, March 20

Review at From L.A. to LA

Friday, March 21

Spotlight at Passages to the Past

Review and Giveaway: The Boleyn Bride by Brandy Purdy

The Boleyn Bride

by Brandy Purdy

Publication Date: February 25, 2014
Kensington Publishing
Paperback; 272p
ISBN-10: 0758273363

From carefree young woman to disillusioned bride, the dazzling lady who would become mother and grandmother to two of history’s most infamous queens, has a fascinating story all her own…

At sixteen, Elizabeth Howard envisions a glorious life for herself as lady-in-waiting to the future queen, Catherine of Aragon. But when she is forced to marry Thomas Boleyn, a wealthy commoner, Elizabeth is left to stagnate in the countryside while her detested husband pursues his ambitions. There, she raises golden girl Mary, moody George, and ugly duckling Anne–while staving off boredom with a string of admirers. Until Henry VIII takes the throne…

When Thomas finally brings his highborn wife to London, Elizabeth indulges in lavish diversions and dalliances–and catches the lusty king’s eye. But those who enjoy Henry’s fickle favor must also guard against his wrath. For while her husband’s machinations bring Elizabeth and her children to the pinnacle of power, the distance to the scaffold is but a short one–and the Boleyn family’s fortune may be turning.

Praise for the novels of Brandy Purdy:

“Recommended for readers who can’t get enough of the Tudors and have devoured all of Philippa Gregory’s books.” –Library Journal on The Boleyn Wife

“Purdy wonderfully re-imagines the behind-the-scenes lives of the two sisters.” –Historical Novel Reviews on The Tudor Throne

Buy the Book

Amazon (eBook)

Amazon (Paperback)
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
Bookish.com
Books-a-Million
Google Play
IndieBound
iTunes
Kobo
Target

About the Author:

Brandy Purdy (Emily Purdy in the UK) is the author of the historical novels THE CONFESSION OF PIERS GAVESTON, THE BOLEYN WIFE (THE TUDOR WIFE), THE TUDOR THRONE (MARY & ELIZABETH), THE QUEEN’S PLEASURE (A COURT AFFAIR), and THE QUEEN’S RIVALS (THE FALLEN QUEEN). An ardent book lover since early childhood, she first became interested in history at the age of nine or ten years old when she read a book of ghost stories which contained a chapter about Anne Boleyn haunting the Tower of London. Visit her website at www.brandypurdy.com, you can also follow her, and her cat Tabby, via her blog at http://brandypurdy.blogspot.com where she posts updates about her work and weekly book reviews.

My thoughts:

I have to admit I have long wondered about the mother of my dearest Queen Anne Boleyn, the marvelously elusive, Elizabeth Boleyn, sister of The Duke of Norfolk, wife of Thomas Boleyn, mother to Mary, Anne and George and grandmother of Elizabeth I.  I was beyond thrilled to see that Brandy Purdy had taken on the exploration of this pivotal and often overlooked Tudor woman.  I am amazed how many novels have written Elizabeth Boleyn off completely, replacing her with a step mother, fondly referred to by one as Lady Bo, rather than dive into the deep end, as Purdy has done, and truly explored the maternal nature and character of the mother of one of England's most famous, and sadly most notorious, queens.

Brandy Purdy presents the character of Elizabeth Boleyn in her latest novel, The Boleyn Bride, as a complex woman.  A volatile mix of pride and beauty living a life of negligent self-indulgence, disappointment and ultimately bitter loss and self-blame.  We meet Elizabeth at the end of her life, full of bitter remorse for her own lost life, once so full of pride and promise, as she mourns the loss of two children and the hope of ever being a mother to the third.  She is a woman full of loathing and regret for what might have been and embitterment for not only herself but even more so for the father of her children, Thomas Boleyn, the man she was forced to marry and never liked, much less loved. 

As an avid reader of historical fiction and during my graduate studies in history I have always been confounded by the marriage of Elizabeth, beloved daughter of The Duke of Norfolk, to Thomas Boleyn.  One would expect the daughter of one of England's foremost peers to marry well, perhaps royally well, and yet here we have Elizabeth, a beautiful and vivacious young woman, living at the Tudor court as maid of honor to the Queen, wedded to Thomas Boleyn.  At first glance one assumes it must have been one of the rare love matches of the time, but something about that just never sat well with me.  That being said, I can neither comprehend why Norfolk was persuaded, indebted to or coerced into the arrangement of the marriage.  Perhaps the reason is lost to time, but it certainly provides fodder for the novelist!    

Brandy Purdy gives us Elizabeth forced to marry Thomas Bullen, her spite filled name nickname for her unwanted, unloved and ultimately despised spouse.  Thomas goes so far as to encourage his wife to become mistress to King Henry, but Elizabeth denies him, out of devotion for Queen Catherine and a touch of spite.   Rather, Purdy gives us the character of Remi Jouet, as the man who becomes the true lifelong love for Elizabeth.  Remi Jouet is a man of whom I have never heard mentioned nor of whom I could find any evidence, but Purdy does note in Postscript, that Remi Jouet, was indeed a doll maker, a skilled artisan, whose few remaining creations can be found today in museums and private collections.   I was completely perplexed by the relationship of Elizabeth and Remi and as I read truly thought he was a fictional insertion by Purdy until reading the postscript.  Amazing, truly and to Purdy I raise a toast for her amazingly complex and skillfully crafted novel giving historical fiction readers a glimpse into the life of Elizabeth, mother and grandmother of Queens. 

Giveaway:

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Tour Page: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/theboleynbridetour

Tour Hashtag: #BoleynBrideTour

The entire tour schedule with links follows:

Friday, February 14
Feature & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Monday, February 17
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews
Review & Giveaway at The Maiden’s Court

Tuesday, February 18
Review at A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, February 19
Spotlight & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary

Thursday, February 20
Review & Giveaway at Always with a Book

Friday, February 21
Review & Giveaway at WTF Are You Reading?

Monday, February 24
Review & Giveaway at The Most Happy Reader

Tuesday, February 25
Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Wednesday, February 26
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time
Review & Giveaway at Found Between the Covers

Thursday, February 27
Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee

Friday, February 28
Review at Book-alicious Mama
Review at Book Lovers Paradise

Monday, March 3
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict

Tuesday, March 4
Review & Giveaway at Oh, for the Hook of a Book

Wednesday, March 5
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Thursday, March 6
Review & Giveaway at Griperang’s Bookmarks

Friday, March 7
Review at The Musings of ALMYBNENR

Review: Isabella - Braveheart of France by Colin Falconer

Isabella: Braveheart of France

by Colin Falconer

About Isabella: Braveheart of France

Publication Date: September 3, 2013

Cool Gus Publishing

Paperback; 218p

ISBN-10: 1621250911

She was taught to obey. Now she has learned to rebel.

Isabella is just twelve years old when she marries Edward II of England. For the young princess it is love at first sight - but Edward has a terrible secret that threatens to tear their marriage - and England apart.

Who is Piers Gaveston - and why is his presence in the king’s court about to plunge England into civil war?

The young queen believes in the love songs of the troubadours and her own exalted destiny - but she finds reality very different. As she grows to a woman in the deadly maelstrom of Edward’s court, she must decide between her husband, her children, even her life - and one breath-taking gamble that will change the course of history.

Does she submit to a lifetime of solitude and a spiritual death - or seize her destiny and take the throne of England for herself?

This is the story of Isabella, the only woman ever to invade England - and win.

About the Author:

Born in London, Colin first trialed as a professional football player in England, and was eventually brought to Australia. He went to Sydney and worked in TV and radio and freelanced for many of Australia’s leading newspapers and magazines. He has published over twenty novels and his work has so far been translated into 23 languages.

He travels regularly to research his novels and his quest for authenticity has led him to run with the bulls in Pamplona, pursue tornadoes across Oklahoma and black witches across Mexico, go cage shark diving in South Africa and get tear gassed in a riot in La Paz.

His most recent novels are Silk Road, set in the 13th century, and Stigmata, set against the backdrop of the Albigensian Crusade in Southern France in 1209. He currently lives in Barcelona.

For more information please visit Colin Falconer's blog. You can also find him on Facebook or follow on Twitter.

My thoughts:

Isabella, proud daughter of the French King Philip IV, was raised from the cradle to look to her marriage to bring glory and honor to France.  She was raised to obey, but was a born observer.  So while she outwardly was everything she was meant and believed to be: innocent, complacent and even servile; inside Isabella a remarkable intelligent with the equally remarkable gift of insight into reading the innuendo and duplicity of politics.  She keenly observed the double entendre of politics and learned to listen and watch before she ever realized that she would desperately need these skills later in life.

Isabella was an innocent girl of twelve with a head full of romantic notions of knights and maidens and looked to marriage for true love, indeed she fell in love with her groom the moment she first saw him. Unfortunately for Isabella, she was an unknowing pawn in the never ending strife between England and France and her groom, King of England, Edward II was not a typical man.  Edward was neither a born leader nor a man of character and preferred almost any activity to kingship and most importantly was in love with another, Piers Gaveston.  Isabella realized quickly that she would have to fight to win the heart of her husband and she steeled her will and determination to do just that.

Isabella maintained the obedience that was expected of queens and did manage, almost through her shear will to win some signs of tenderness from her husband and in time managed to conceive several children.  Isabella tried to consul her husband to rule and for a time he heeded her advice, but after the execution of Piers, an event Isabella thought would be her liberation, another more devious and more politically motivated favorite emerged to rule Edward, Hugh Dispenser.

As Isabella became a woman she came to realize that it wasn't Piers or even Dispenser that was the problem for her, for her marriage and for her adopted country.  The problem was the inability of Edward to make a decision thoughtfully and stand by it, to rule wisely and shrewdly, to play the game of politics that Isabella had observed so keenly.  After so many years of marriage, of disappointment, betrayal, broken promises and virtual abandonment, the caged lion within Isabella rose and she took her life into her own hands.

Falconer breathes life into Isabella.  For this reader, her motives and her reasoning become understandable.  Falconer sheds the myth of Isabella as the "she-wolf" and brings to the reader the story of a child bride who learns that in order to survive she must go against everything she was raised to be and embody and to disappoint the hopes of her beloved father and France to save the country she had come to love.

I was intrigued from the first page and remained riveted until the last.  Isabella:  Braveheart of France is a must read and one you will not regret.  

Review: The Hands of Time by Irina Shapiro

The Hands of Time

by Irina Shapiro

Synopsis:

When a young American woman vanishes without a trace from a quaint fishing village on the coast of England only one person knows the truth, but he remains silent, allowing the authorities to search for her in vain, safe in the knowledge that she will never be found.  As Valerie’s bereft sister returns home alone, she struggles to understand what happened and come to terms with her terrible loss when she suddenly stumbles upon a clue that might finally shed some light on her sister’s disappearance.

Meanwhile, Valerie Crane finds herself transported to the year 1605. Terrified and confused she turns for help to the Whitfield brothers, who take her in and offer her a home despite their misgivings about her origins. Both Alexander and Finlay Whitfield fall in love with the mysterious woman who shows up on their doorstep, creating a love triangle that threatens to consume them all.  Valerie must make her choice, deciding between the brother who will lead her down the path of destruction or one who will give her the love she couldn’t find in her own time.

About The Hands of Time

Publication Date: December 7, 2011

Merlin Press

eBook

ASIN: B006JRO9WS

Purchase the Book:

Amazon

About the Author:

Irina Shapiro was born in Moscow, Russia, where she lived until she was eleven.  In 1982 her family immigrated to the United States and settled in New York.  Due to her love of reading, Irina was able to pick up English very quickly, and was an honor student throughout her school career. 

After graduating from Bernard M. Baruch College in 1992 with a Bachelor’s degree in International Business, Irina worked in advertising for two years before shifting her focus to Import/Export.  She worked her way up to the position of Import Manager in a large textile house before leaving the work force in 2007 to focus on her autistic son. 

It wasn’t until Irina had been at home for some time that she began to write.  Eventually the characters began to take on a life of their own and have conversations in her head, and once she started writing her musings down the stories came easily enough.  Irina incorporated her love of history and travel into her writing to create a rich and detailed background for the characters.  Since then Irina has written eight novels.  She is currently working on book five of The Hands of Time Series.

Irina Shapiro lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.

For more information, please visit www.irinashapiro.com.  You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter. 

My thoughts:

Traveling to England following a divorce… Now that hits home.  Seeking out the fantasies of the lives of those historical figures I have loved and admired would have, at the time, been a welcome respite.  I cannot relate the doorways, stones and tiled floors I have touched throughout my life trying to conjure a sense of those who walked them before me.

I found the The Hands of Time a bit of an escapist read, but not a seriously historical one.  It was for me more of a historical romance set within a time travel theme.  However, I enjoyed the escape and was thrilled that Valerie found in 1605 what she lacked in her modern life.   I also enjoyed Shapiro’s interjection of clues left by Valerie for the family she left behind, especially those to her sister.

I enjoyed this novel not because it was one that stirred the Historian in me to research and debate, but more because it soothed the soul or at least this one.

Interview with Anna Belfrage and Giveaway of her latest A Newfound Land

Interview with Anna Belfrage

author of

A Newfound Land

Today The Most Happy Reader has the pleasure of interviewing author Anna Belfrage who has published the fourth installment of The Graham Saga, A Newfound Land.  

Welcome Anna!  Many thanks for taking the time to share some insight about your work with The Most Happy Reader. 

AB:  Hi Shannon, and thank you for having me!

MHR:  Would you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

AB:  A little about myself, hey? Well, I must own up to being quite gregarious, I suppose. I’m a fast talker, and the more excited I am, the faster I talk. If speaking Spanish, my gesticulation increases as my pace picks up, which tends to make my audience sit back and stare. Most of the time, I’m a happy person – horribly cheerful, some would say. I sing a lot, and now that we’re in December, my repertoire narrows down to carols and other Christmas favourites.

I grew up in South America, and we moved around a lot. That left me rootless, in the sense that there’s no place I can call my childhood home. It also made me skilled at handling new surroundings, new cultures and languages. Plus it left me permanently enriched, as I am fluent not only in my native Swedish, but also in Spanish and English.

I’m the proud mother of four children, one daughter and three sons, and now that they’re more or less adults, it is very irritating to be the shortest person in the family. Probably the reason why they’re all so tall and strong is that I have always made sure they’ve eaten well – I enjoy cooking (and especially baking).

When I’m not writing, I’m working – or it’s the other way around, as I have more than a full day-time job (that I very much enjoy). During daytime I do numbers, budgets and forecasts, in the evenings I do words and stories set in the past. Perfect combination, if you ask me.

I have always written – more or less – but there were a number of years when work and small children made it difficult to invest more than the odd hour in this my favourite pastime. Not so anymore.

  

MHR:  What made you decide to sit down and actually start writing what would become a four book series?  Did you intend from the start to begin a saga with these characters? 

AB:  Actually, dear Shannon, The Graham Saga will run into eight books. And no, I never intended it to be such a long series, but when I finished the first book, my head was bursting with more stories, more scenes, odd snippets of dialogue. I saw children – many children – I saw grief and loss, I saw fear and anger. And whenever I closed my eyes to sleep, there was Alex and Matthew, whispering about new adventures, new dangers. So I wrote one more book. And another. Yet another – you get the picture, right?

Alex and Matthew lead a very exciting life, and through them I get the opportunity to explore the 17th century and its convoluted political (and religious) happenings. Further to this, I’ve really enjoyed watching their relationship develop from the heady fervor of youth to the middle-aged conviction that they belong together – always, no matter what life throws at them. Ultimately, I guess I’m a sucker for love, and Matthew and Alex have that in spades, even if that doesn’t stop them from being severely at odds with each other from time to time.

MHR:  Give us an insight into Matthew Graham and Alexandra Lind.  What about them (aside from Alexandra's abilities), has inspired you to write four novels? 

AB:  If we start with Alex, I like her resilience. She is basically an optimist, capable of enormous inner strength when required. Thrown out of context, she wastes very little time feeling sorry for herself and instead concentrates on building a new life with what she has at her disposal – which fortunately includes Matthew. Alex is no seer. She has paid scant attention to the history lessons of her youth, and so has but vague notions of what may happen next in her 17th century life. She also has few if any useful practical skills for her new life, because seriously, being a computer whizz doesn’t exactly help when you’re living in an age devoid of all high-tech stuff. But she is intelligent and resourceful, she is loyal and courageous and always has her husband’s back. Not that Matthew always appreciates this last quality, seeing as it is his opinion that he should do the defending…

Matthew is a 17th century man raised within the narrow confines of the Scottish Kirk who still retains enough of an open mind to not totally freak out when he finds a concussed and badly singed woman on the moor – a woman who insists she was born in 1973. Major plus points already there, even if there are times when Matthew is not entirely sure if Alex is a witch or not. A man of conviction, of strong beliefs in the right of men to rule themselves (he’s a Commonwealth man, through and through), he will at times place himself and his family at considerable risk for the sake of his beliefs. From being rather intolerant of other faiths, Matthew’s life with Alex (half heathen and potentially papist as she is) has him developing an acceptance for other Christian faiths. He is also a man with a strong sense of right and wrong, which is why he so often sides with the Indians against the colonists, all too aware that more often than not it is the colonists who are in the wrong, not the Indians. I like men with integrity and grit. Matthew possesses both these qualities and it helps, of course, that he is quite easy on the eyes as well.

MHR: How much primary research did you do when writing A Newfound Land?

AB:  I read a lot about the origins of Maryland, the Act of Toleration and the upheaval the colony went through during the English Civil War. For the “emigrant” experience, I read extensively about the Swedish emigrants in the 19th century.  I also did a lot of reading about the Susquehannock and their sad fate.

MHR:  Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors?

AB:  To be a good writer, I think you have to be a voracious reader. I average three books a week, so I guess I qualify as “voracious”. I am a big fan of historical fiction, but when I am at my most productive stage, I will not read books within my own genre, as I don’t want to contaminate my own writing voice. Instead I read a lot of crime (great plotters, crime writers) and my favourites include Reginald Hill, Sara Paretsky and Michael Dibdin. I am also a fantasy fan – traditional fantasy, mostly, like Tolkien. When I’m through the crucial stages of my own writing, I will gladly read (or re-read) anything by Sharon Penman, Edith Pargeter, Pamela Belle, Elizabeth Chadwick and Nigel Tranter, all of them fantastic Historical Fiction authors.

MHR:  For your own reading, do you prefer EBooks or traditional paper/hard back books?

AB:  If you’d asked me a year ago, I’d have said paperback. Now, I am totally in love with my Kindle, but if I really like a book, I will probably buy it as a paperback as well.

MHR:  Are you reading at the moment?  If so, what?

AB:  At present I am reading a biography of Queen Kristina of Sweden. I have a couple of books on my “review” list that I will sink my teeth into during the coming weeks, amongst them Royalist Rebel by A Seymour, Daughter of the God-King by A Cleeland and Sisters of the Bruce by J.M. Harvey. Looking forward to all three!

MHR:  Do you have a favorite or inspirational author or novel?  What is it about that person or their work that draws you to it?

AB:  As an adolescent, I read Gone with the Wind nine times. I read Lord of the Rings ten times, and can’t quite count the number of times I’ve read Romeo and Juliet. Quite the mix, right? I was in my twenties when I first read Sharon Penman’s Here be Dragons, and since then I’ve read it once every year (which adds up to very, very many times by now, but one should never reveal one’s age, should one?) so I think Ms Penman is the closest thing to a house god I have. I would say it is never the author as a person that attracts me to a book, it is the story as such. Ms Penman sinks her teeth into very juice bits of history, but what makes her books soar is how she creates flesh and blood characters out of long dead historical people. Someday, I hope to write a book that will reduce me (and my readers) to a bloated mass of tears, like Ms Penman does in so many of her books. Actually, come to think of it, one of the future books in The Graham Saga does just that. It leaves me red-eyes and hoarse with tears, despite it being me that wrote it – which makes my husband shake his head and mutter something about “weird females”.  I suspect he might be referring to me, but chose to pretend I didn’t hear him…

MHR:  How can readers discover more about you and you work?

Website   Blog   Facebook   Twitter   Amazon Author Page   Goodreads 

Book Links:

           

MHR:  Anna, many thanks again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview.

AB:  Dear Shannon, it was a pleasure – and may I take the opportunity to wish you great holidays.

Anna has generously agreed to offer the winner's choice of either a Kindle eBook or a paperback copy of A Newfound Land.  This contest is open Internationally. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click on the banner below for the full tour schedule.

HFVBT: Review of A Newfound Land by Anna Belfrage

A Newfound Land

by Anna Belfrage

About A NEWFOUND LAND

Publication: November 1, 2013

Matador Publishing

Paperback; 402p

ISBN: 978-1781321355

It’s 1672, and Matthew Graham and his family have left Scotland. Having taken the drastic decision to leave their homeland due to religious conflicts, Alexandra and Matthew hope for a simpler, if harsher, life in the wilds of the Colony of Maryland.

Unfortunately, things don’t always turn out as you want them to, and the past has a nasty tendency to resurface at the most inappropriate moments. Both Matthew and Alex are forced to cope with the unexpected reappearance of people they had never thought to meet again, and the screw is turned that much tighter when the four rogue Burley brothers enter their lives.

Matters are further complicated by the strained relations between colonists and the Susquehannock Indians. When Matthew intercedes to stop the Burleys from abducting Indian women into slavery he makes lifelong – and deadly – enemies of them all.

Once again Alex is plunged into an existence where death seems to threaten her man wherever he goes.

Will Matthew see himself – and his family – safe in these new circumstances? And will the past finally be laid to rest?

A Newfound Land is the fourth book in Anna Belfrage’s time slip series featuring time traveller Alexandra Lind and her seventeenth century husband, Matthew Graham.

About the Author

I was raised abroad, on a pungent mix of Latin American culture, English history and Swedish traditions. As a result I’m multilingual and most of my reading is historical – both non-fiction and fiction.

I was always going to be a writer – or a historian, preferably both. Instead I ended up with a degree in Business and Finance, with very little time to spare for my most favourite pursuit. Still, one does as one must, and in between juggling a challenging career I raised my four children on a potent combination of invented stories, historical debates and masses of good food and homemade cakes. They seem to thrive … Nowadays I spend most of my spare time at my writing desk. The children are half grown, the house is at times eerily silent and I slip away into my imaginary world, with my imaginary characters. Every now and then the one and only man in my life pops his head in to ensure I’m still there. I like that – just as I like how he makes me laugh so often I’ll probably live to well over a hundred.

I was always going to be a writer. Now I am – I have achieved my dream.

For more information, please visit Anna Belfrage’s website.  You can also find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

My thoughts

I discovered Anna Belfrage with the third novel in this series, The Prodigal Son.  First let me say it certainly stood on its own and I enjoyed it immensely.  It did leaving me wanting more and fortunately Belfrage delivered, with her fourth installment to the series, A Newfound Land. 

One of the strengths of the series and of each title standing alone is Belfrage's examination of different historical subjects within each.  A Newfound Land has as its backdrop the British colonies of the America's and with it the slave trade, race relations within the colonies as well as the practice of slavery itself.  At first I sort of bristled at the thought of the typical non-American judgment leveled at the colonies, particularly the South, for the ownership of other men, women and children.  It was wrong without question, but the sin of slavery itself stains more than just the hands of American colonists.  I expected the usual treatment of slavery and as a result the same of Americans ourselves.

What must be commended of Belfrage is that she does not sugar coat history nor does she skirt around its more unpleasant eras.  Rather, she jumps right in to the deep end of the issue and her reader therefore must swim with her or sink.  I think FAR more often than not they swim.  Not only is she able to face the historical fact straight on Belfrage combines her forthrightness in the development of the characters that populate her novel.  Each has his or her own very individual motivations and personality and Belfrage is able to maintain each character through to the last. 

Belfrage, in this reader's opinion, has happened upon a series that could truly last her writing life, should she choose for it to do so.  As each book is set within a historical era and the characters deal with the issues they are confronted with they do so as a family and in essence it is the family that is at the core of A Newfound Land as with the other titles in the series. 

The matriarch, Alexandra Lind, as time traveler and her seventh century husband Matthew Graham might live an exciting life but it is not without pain and loss.  For me, I found their union comforting as they weathered whatever life brought them as a partnership and must admit I had such faith in their unique, never perfect, bond. 

A Newfound Land will surprise you by taking you unaware and pulling you into its pages and by the time the cover closes you will find yourself an Anna Belfrage fan for life.  Now, back to wondering where she will take us next. 

Please come back to The Most Happy Reader tomorrow for an interview with Anna as well as a chance to win a copy of The Newfound Land for yourself!!

Twitter Hashtag: #NewfoundLandTour