About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Tracy Borman
Positive Booklist Historian Borman picks up the loose threads she deliberately left dangling at the conclusion of The King’s Witch ...the first installment of a Stuart-era trilogy featuring fictional character Frances Gorges playing a major role in the intrigues and machinations of a cast of real-life historical figures ... In an era of political and religious upheaval, there is sure to be a conspiracy lurking around every corner,
Philippa Gregory
Positive Booklist Extensive atmospherics slow the action but convey a strong sense of place ... There are chilling descriptions of what Puritans in power are prepared to do to women who deviate from social norms—or merely incite envy. Once the jeopardy accelerates, this is Gregory par excellence. A promising start to a family saga about ordinary people.
Mary Doria Russell
Positive Booklist Russell...mines the life of real-life heroine and labor activist Annie Clements to shine a fictional spotlight on the often under-reported and under-appreciated contributions of women to the early-twentieth-century labor movement ... Fictionalized history with an important message that will resonate with contemporary readers.
Kate Mosse
Positive Booklist ...[a] meaty historical ... As usual, Mosse infuses the narrative with plenty of authentic historical detail while creating a highly charged atmosphere of intrigue. The mystery, the love story, and the incendiary nature of both setting and plot will keep readers turning the pages and eagerly awaiting the next volume.
Jacquelyn Dowd Hall
Positive Booklist ... an intelligent, scholarly assessment of three sisters born into a life of white privilege in late-nineteenth-century Georgia ... Hall’s biographical chronicle will appeal and be of value to readers interested in the Reconstruction, women’s history, and individuals involved in the evolution of twentieth-century social and cultural change movements.
Elizabeth Cobbs
Positive Booklist Highlighting her close association with Union general and abolitionist David Hunter, Cobbs paints a vivid portrait of Tubman at the heart of one of the most innovative, daring, and dangerous missions of the Civil War. The heroic and brilliant Tubman is brought vividly to life as a flesh-and-blood woman and a strong and cunning leader in this compelling and instructive fictional tribute.
Lynne Olson
Rave Booklist \" ... incredibly absorbing and long-overdue ... This masterfully told true story reads like fiction and will appeal to readers who devour WWII thrillers à la Kristen Hannah’s The Nightingale (2015).\
Lucasta Miller
Positive Booklist Literary critic Miller resurrects the all-but-forgotten life and once radiant literary career of Letitia Elizabeth Landon ... A scholarly and compelling examination of an unjustly marginalized literary life.
Pam Jenoff
Positive Booklist Gripping ... Jenoff breathes life into the tale of a committed \'Band of Sisters\' who displayed boundless courage in the face of historically dire circumstances, creating a compelling and exciting read.
Marie Benedict
Positive Booklist Benedict’s compelling fictionalized biography pays tribute to the overlooked scientific contributions and the hidden depths of a stunning beauty and beloved movie star of superior intelligence and verve through an irresistible combination of Hollywood glamour and international intrigue.
Patricia Miller
Positive Booklist Miller reaches back into the past to resurrect one woman’s compelling odyssey from victim to victor ... A fascinating examination of a historical #MeToo episode.
Mitch Albom
Positive Booklist \"Annie, the little girl Eddie sacrificed his own life in order to save, has grown up ... As Annie learns her lessons about the meaning and value of both life and death, Albom wraps up this heartfelt fable with a totally unexpected twist. Order plenty of copies and warn readers to keep their hankies handy!\
Deborah Harkness
Rave Booklist \"...This time around, she focuses on a previously introduced minor character who demonstrates that it’s not always easy to make the leap from humanhood to vampiredom.​ When young surgeon Marcus MacNeill, nearing certain death, meets Matthew de Clermont during the American Revolution, he jumps at the chance at immortality proffered by Matthew. However, the transition proves to be more difficult than expected, as his background and his innate sense of self continually vie with new expectations and challenges. Effortlessly sweeping across time and continents, Harkness replaces the captivating Matthew and Diana dynamic with a passionate new love story when Marcus meets Phoebe Taylor in contemporary London. \
C W Gortner
Positive Booklist Though many are familiar with the story of Nicholas and Alexandra and their doomed children, Gortner...shines a rose-tinted fictional spotlight on Empress Maria Feodorovna ... Gortner, an experienced hand at recreating the unique aura of a particular time and place, will deftly sweep historical-fiction fans into this glamorous, turbulent, and ultimately tragic chapter in history.
Louis de Bernieres
Positive Booklist De Bernières’ latest sweeps across continents as it provides intimate glimpses into the lives of WWI survivors who never expected to have, as the title states provocatively, so much life left over. ... Interweaving their individual stories, de Bernières creates a vivid tapestry of the challenges and frustrations faced by the Lost Generation.
Tracy Borman
Positive Booklist By introducing Tom Wintour, a real-life figure, as Frances’ love interest, Borman adds a little historical heft and a lot of spice to her tale. The action culminates with the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, as the stage is nicely set for volume two of this projected trilogy.
Helen Rappaport
Positive Booklist Online Rappaport approaches the Romanov massacre from an entirely new angle, exploring the various failed plots and schemes to save the doomed royal family ... The tragic fate of the Romanovs continues to confound and fascinate, and Rappaport...continues to mine their story for nonfiction gold, as she attempts to get at the \'truth of what really happened in 1917–1918.\'
Nancy Goldstone
Rave Booklist Goldstone...relates the eminently readable tale of Elizabeth Stuart, dubbed the Winter Queen, and her four lovely, talented daughters ... The story of these five women, each remarkable for individual reasons and in her own right, both illuminates and is offset by Goldstone’s vividly rendered European backdrop.
Michael David Lukas
Positive Booklist Lukas’ (The Oracle of Stamboul, 2011) lyrical novel draws readers into a classic tale of family secrets, forbidden love, and religious rivalry that spans generations ... The initially parallel stories of Joseph’s voyage of self-discovery and the 1897 quest of British twin sisters and scholars Agnes Lewis and Margaret Gibson to rescue the synagogue’s endangered sacred scrolls intersect at a crucial juncture as family legends unfurl, coalesce, and enlighten.
Joan DeJean
Positive Booklist Though the fortunes of both families burst in the first stock market crisis, it is the story of star-crossed lovers Louise Magoulet and Louis Chevrot that takes center stage. Fighting their families, who view marriage as only a means to increasing status and fortune, they (especially Louise) suffer extremely tragic fates in their quest to be together. Though the narrative often gets bogged down in economic minutiae, the fascinating details of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Parisian fashion, politics, and feuds will reward persevering readers.
Ken Follett
Positive Booklist As Catholics and Protestants square off against one another, a young but determined Elizabeth ascends to the throne, establishing the first royal secret service to protect herself from enemies both within and outside of England. Drawn into a web of espionage and intrigue, Ned is torn between loyalty to the crown and his unwavering love for a papist. As always, Follett excels in historical detailing, transporting readers back in time with another meaty historical blockbuster.