📖 Book Review ~ The Wives of Henry VIII by Jessica Carey - Bunning

Pen and Sword
30 January 2026
My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

The Wives of Henry VIII:Rethinking the Stories behind the Symbols examines some of the small details about the six wives of Henry VIII that are often overlooked. This book is a revisionist close study that moves beyond the traditional narratives to present fresh, more nuanced perspectives. Focusing on significant moments and aspects that inform and showcase who these women were. Throughout these chapters, new research, fresh analysis, and remarkable discoveries come together to offer a deeper understanding of the women we know as the Six Wives of Henry VIII.

We begin with a re-evaluation of Catherine of Aragon’s name through the lens of her family history and how it shaped her life, followed by an analysis of Catherine’s financial situation after the annulment. 

Anne Boleyn is considered in relation to her role in the Chateau Vert pageant, followed by an analysis of her use of French and English gable hoods, which includes a discussion of an incredible, newly discovered contemporary image of Anne. 

Jane Seymour’s religion and unpopularity are each examined in turn to uncover fresh perspectives on Henry’s third queen. 

Anna of Cleves adaption to life in England is discussed, followed by her life and status under Edward VI and Mary I.

Katherine Howard’s performance of queenship is re-evaluated, as well as the connections between herself and her cousin, Anne Boleyn. 

Finally, apocryphal tales of Kateryn Parr’s rise to the throne are reassessed, followed by an examination of how close she came to arrest and execution.

📖 My Review..

The Six Wives of Henry VIII continue to be endlessly fascinating and even though we sometimes look at these marriages through the rosy glow of five hundred years we occasionally need to stop and consider the women behind the marriages and the legacy they each left behind. Whilst each of their turbulent marriages to this infamous King are well documented, this new accounts offers a different look at each of the wives and what defined them and highlights how they fit into history.

The wives are mentioned in chronological order with Catherine of Aragon coming first and finishing with that of Kateryn Parr’s story at the end of Henry’s lifetime. Each of the Queens are written about with a fine eye for detail and there is a strong sense the book has been well written and researched. The author writes well, describing the Tudor court and customs in enough detail to make the book readable without being too complicated. I love the colour of the book’s cover, the Tudor green, so associated with Henry’s court, along with the red and white roses, gives an authentic feel. The vibrancy of the cover would certainly make me pick the book up in a bookshop to have a closer look. Overall,  I found this to be an informative read with snippets of information I had forgotten or not known.

I am sure that The Wives of Henry VIII will appeal to anyone who enjoys Tudor history and who is interested in a different view on the lives of these six extraordinary women who played such an important role in Henry’s life and of the tragic consequences of their relationships with this irascible King of England.

🍷 Best read with…a goblet of strong red wine

About the Author 

Jessica Carey-Bunning is a Tudor historian and PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide. She fell in love with history after seeing a copy of the Magna Carta on a trip with her parents when she was five years old. Jessica began the Tudor Treasures website and Facebook page in 2022. She lives in Sydney with her husband, son, and cat. This book is the culmination of decades of passion and research.

📖Poetry Review ~ Ten Poems about History from Candlestick Press

 

Candlestick Press
January 2022

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet

This wonderfully varied selection of poems demonstrates the vast scope of the word history. We’re transported on a dizzying journey from the beginnings of time all the way to a ciné-film that brings the past right into the present.

The poems look through both ends of the telescope and take us from the epic to the everyday, via harpsichord players, pitchfork rebellions, shipyards and family china:

“glaze veined

with grains of dirt

archivists of our own lives”

from ‘China, Blue and White’ by Linda France.

The selection carries the fascinating idea that history is what we remember of our own lives as much as the events we read about in books, and that sometimes the two can overlap – as for the speaker in Patrick Kavanagh’s masterly poem, who reflects that he has “lived in important times”.

These are poems that look at history from every angle, finding richness and vividness in each corner of the past.

Poems by Rita Dove, Alistair Elliot, Linda France, Patrick Kavanagh, Hannah Lowe, Sean O’Brien, Caitríona O’Reilly, Louis Simpson and Tamar Yoseloff.

Cover illustration by Sam Cannon.

📖 My thoughts..

History is all around us, we feel it everyday in everything we do and see, and yet we also sense time passing, we say as we get older that time seems to pass far too quickly. In this collection of ten poems about history each of the poets have brought their own thoughts on a diverse range of global topics from a medieval interpretation of Adam's temptation in the Garden of Eden in Adam lay ybounden, an anonymous 15th Century poem :

"...Blessed be the time that apple was taken

Therfore we mown singen, Deo Gratias..."

To the emotive subject of slavery in Rita Dove's prose poem Kentucky, 1833

"...as if the sky were an omen we could not understand, the book that, if we could read, would change our lives..."

To the fading of consumerism in The Last Woolworths in America by Tamar Yoseloff

"...But the doors will close today.

there is nothing we can do.The traffic will stop

on Broad Street, the other shopkeepers will bow their heads,

the slow procession will move forward, and keep moving..."

With its stunning front cover, this diverse anthology is a fascinating snapshot of world history expressed so eloquently by ten poets who share their thoughts and experiences about a whole range of topics. It would make a perfect gift 'instead of a card' for anyone who enjoys thought provoking world history.

About Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Clouds, Walking, Birds, Home and Kindness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

Twitter @poetrycandle

Winner of the Wolfson History Prize 2020

A few weeks ago I featured the short list for this prestigious history prize and I am pleased to be able to announce the winner of the Wolfson History Prize 2020

The Boundless Sea: A Human History of the Oceans

by

David Abulafia

The winner was announced in a virtual ceremony featuring guest appearances from previous Wolfson History Prize winners including Mary Beard (2009), Peter Marshall (2018), and Mary Fulbrook (2019). The ceremony can be viewed here. The Wolfson History Prize is awarded annually to a work of historical non-fiction which combines excellence in research and writing, with readability for a general audience. It is the most valuable non-fiction prize in the UK.

Abulafia beat five other shortlisted authors to take home the coveted Prize: John Barton (A History of the Bible: The Book and its Faiths), Toby Green (A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution), Prashant Kidambi (Cricket Country: An Indian Odyssey in the Age of Empire), Hallie Rubenhold (The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper), and Marion Turner (Chaucer: A European Life).

The Boundless Sea: A Human History of the Oceans (Allen Lane) reveals the importance of the sea to all of our stories, highlighting how it has shaped human societies and cultures for millennia. Abulafia takes readers around the globe and through thousands of years of history, exploring the earliest Polynesian seafarers, who navigated by stars; Viking raids in Northern Europe; piracy in the Caribbean; the Atlantic slave trade; naval skirmishes; through to the realities of modern-day super-shipping.

David Abulafia, Emeritus Professor of Mediterranean History at the University of Cambridge, said upon winning: “Winning the Wolfson History Prize I see as a tribute to all of us who have been trying to communicate history to the public, writing in an accessible way without jargon, and making sure that people see the past as an essential part of our human experience."

David Cannadine, chair of the Wolfson History Prize Judging Panel commented: “The Boundless Sea tackles a world encompassing subject: humanity’s constantly changing relationship with the seas that cover most of our planet and on which our very lives depend. This is a book of deep scholarship, brilliantly written and we extend our warmest congratulations to David Abulafia”

This year’s Wolfson History Prize shortlist had a distinctly global outlook, with five of the six shortlisted titles exploring non-British history. The five shortlisted authors were each awarded £4,000. In 2019, the Wolfson History Prize was awarded to Mary Fulbrook for her Holocaust study Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice.

The Wolfson History Prize is run and awarded by the Wolfson Foundation, an independent charity that awards grants in the fields of science, health, heritage, humanities, and the arts.

Paul Ramsbottom, chief executive at the Wolfson Foundation, said: “This year’s Prize ceremony was virtual for the first time but the essence of what the Prize has stood for across nearly five decades remains constant. We celebrate the importance to society of outstanding and accessible history writing. David Abulafia’s book is magnificently ambitious, brilliantly examining the changing, extraordinarily connections between the vast oceans and humanity. While broad in chronological sweep, this clearly has a strong contemporary resonance – as our relationship with the natural world (including the oceans) is under scrutiny as never before.”

Allen Lane Books

About the Author

David Abulafia is Emeritus Professor of Mediterranean History at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College and a former Chairman of the Cambridge History Faculty. His previous books include Frederick II, The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms and The Great Sea, which has won numerous awards and has been translated into a dozen languages. In 2003 he was made Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana in recognition of his work on Italian and Mediterranean history. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and chair of its Medieval Studies section.

More about The Wolfson Prize can be found here

Twitter @WolfsonHistory#WolfsonHistoryPrize

@midaspr

Review ~ Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

From the author of A Discovery of Witches 

a new All Souls novel about what it takes to become a vampire.

Headline
18 September
Published in hardback with 3 different collectable endpapers designs, ebook and audio

My thanks to Caitlin Raynor and Headline for my copy of Times Convert

As a fan of the All Souls Trilogy you can imagine my excitement when a few weeks ago this lovely package was delivered - I actually said wow! To receive one of the few limited proof copies of this latest book in the All Souls series had me jumping with joy 😊

What's it all about...

Set in contemporary Paris and London, and the American colonies during the upheaval and unrest that exploded into the Revolutionary War, a sweeping story that braids together past and present. 

On the battlefields of the American Revolution, Matthew de Clermont meets Marcus MacNeil, a young surgeon, during a moment of political awakening when it seems that the world is on the brink of a brighter future.

When Matthew offers him a chance at immortality and a new life, free from the restraints of his puritanical upbringing, Marcus seizes the opportunity to become a vampire. But his transformation is not an easy one and the ancient traditions and responsibilities of the de Clermont family clash with Marcus's deeply-held beliefs in liberty, equality, and brotherhood. 

Fast forward to contemporary London, where Marcus has fallen for Phoebe Taylor, a young employee at Sotheby's. She decides to become a vampire, too, and though the process at first seems uncomplicated, the couple discovers that the challenges facing a human who wishes to be a vampire are no less formidable in the modern world than they were in the 18th century. The shadows that Marcus believed he'd escaped centuries ago may return to haunt them both - for ever.

The shadows that Marcus believed he'd escaped centuries ago may return to haunt them both - for ever.

What did I think about Time's Convert...

Time's Convert is an absolute gift of a story as not only does it allow us a tantalising glimpse into the de Clermont household as Diana and Matthew get on with their lives, but it also gives us the eagerly anticipated story of how Marcus Whitmore became part of the de Clermont family and of the long and complicated process that becoming a vampire entails, both for Marcus in the eighteenth century, and his girl-friend, Phoebe Taylor, in the twenty-first.

I found Time's Convert to be an insightful story, true, it carries all the trademarks of this author's ability to conjure a world within a world and there is much to identify it alongside previous stories in the series, and yet, there is less frantic action and more introspection, which I found fascinating. I loved how time was managed so that all the multiple story strands were given equal consideration so that none dominated and everything all flowed seamlessly from past to present and present to past. I was as captivated with Diana and Matthew's life at Les Revenants in Limousin, as I was in Phoebe's vampire transformation in Paris, and yet, it was Marcus’s story which absorbed my attention. 

Anyone who has read the All Souls series cannot fail to be intrigued by Marcus, the young vampire, who Matthew welcomed into the de Clermont family, but until now we have never been given more than a few interesting snippets into the background to his story, of the society that shaped him and of the puritanical birth family, in rural Massachusetts, who failed to nurture him. Set against the background of the American Revolutionary War, with all the inherent danger of conflict and disease, both the politics and the people come alive in the imagination. In 1781, Marcus is working as a surgeon's assistant with the Continental Army when he comes into contact with the enigmatic Matthew de Clermont. This momentous meeting will shape both of their lives forever, and observing just how Marcus’s life plays out within the wider scope of the story is what makes this book so fascinating.

Beautifully written, Time’s Convert is another absorbing page turner from an author whose magical writing continues to take us into the haunting world of vampire, witch and demon and is, without any shadow of doubt, a worthy continuation of the All Souls series...

✨ TV series coming to SKY ONE TONIGHT ✨ 

By Kind permission of the publishers

Deborah’s debut novel, and the first in the bestselling All Souls trilogy, A Discovery of Witches has been adapted by Jane Tranter’s Bad Wolf Productions for Sky One starring Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey/The Crown) and Teresa Palmer (Hacksaw Ridge) as well as Alex Kingston, Trevor Eve, Lindsay Duncan, Owen Teale and Louise Brealey.

Teresa Palmer plays brilliant academic and historian Diana Bishop, a reluctant witch denying her heritage. The discovery of a manuscript in Oxford’s Bodleian Library throws her into the heart of a dangerous mystery and into the path of enigmatic geneticist Matthew Clairmont played by Matthew Goode, an ancient vampire hiding dark family secrets. As Diana and Matthew embark on a journey to understand the significance of the mysterious manuscript and as their relationship develops and their heritage comes in to play, events threaten to unravel the fragile peace that has long existed between humans, witches, vampires and daemons.

I have been waiting for The Discovery of Witches to be made into a TV series since I first read the book way back in 2011. I can't wait for tonight ...

Twitter @DiscoveryofWTV 

 @DebHarkness #AllSouls

@Headlinepg

@SkyOne

Amazon UK

About the Author

Credit :Vania Stoyanova
Source: Headline

Deborah Harkness is the number one Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night and The Book of Life. The trilogy has sold over 3 million copies worldwide plus foreign rights sales in over 38 territories. A history professor at the University of Southern California, Harkness has received Fulbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships. Deborah has 33K Twitter followers and 80K likes on Facebook.

His Fic Saturday ~ Author, Juliet West

On Hist Fic Saturday

I am delighted to introduce to the blog the Historical Fiction writer 

Juliet West

A warm welcome to you, Juliet. Thank you for spending time with us today. Please tell us a little about yourself and how you got started as an author.

I grew up in Worthing, West Sussex. I went to the local school and sixth form college then studied history at university. Afterwards I trained as a newspaper reporter and worked in Dorset and Hampshire before moving to London. It wasn’t until my mid-thirties, when I was married with three children and living back in Sussex, that I started to write fiction. I joined a local writing group and later took a creative writing MA at Chichester University, where I focused mainly on short stories and poetry.

Finally, in 2010, I started to write my first novel, Before the Fall. I didn’t have an agent and I certainly wasn’t confident that the book would ever be published. It was just a challenge that I set myself – I wanted to write a novel before I was 40. In fact, I finished in 2013 when I was 42! 

To my amazement I found an agent very quickly, and signed a contract with Pan Macmillan. Before the Fall was published in 2014 and The Faithful is just out in paperback.

Without giving too much away what can you tell us about The Faithful?

The novel is set during the 1930s and it’s a love story that follows the lives of Hazel and Tom, who are teenagers when they first meet in 1935. Tom is a Londoner who has been dragged along to a seaside camp organised by Oswald Mosley’s blackshirt movement. Tom wants nothing to do with the camp, but his mother supports Mosley’s fascists and insists he comes along for the ‘holiday’. On his first day in Sussex, Tom meets Hazel, a local girl who knows nothing about the blackshirts. There is an instant connection between Tom and Hazel, but their romance proves to be less than straightforward . . .

Hazel is the main protagonist of The Faithful. Tell us about her and why you decided to write her story?

When I looked at old pictures of the blackshirt camps held in Sussex between the wars, I was struck by the number of young women taking part and wondered what could have possibly attracted them to join the British Union of Fascists. I imagined that some of them might have been vulnerable in some way, and became easy prey to the clever propaganda of the blackshirts. Even if they didn’t embrace the politics, they might be seduced by the sense of belonging and the security that being in a ‘gang’ can offer (even when that security turns out to be illusory).

So the idea for Hazel’s character was really borne of that curiosity. Hazel is an only child of wealthy parents, but her mother, Francine, is totally disinterested in her and spends as much time as possible with her lover in London. When the novel opens Hazel is bored and longing for excitement . . .

Whilst you are writing you must live with your characters. How do you feel about them now that the book is finished? 

Once a book starts to take off the characters live in my head quite vividly, and they do feel real in many ways, because sometimes they surprise me and go off on tangents that are totally unplanned. I don’t think there’s anything mystical about this: when you sink into a chapter or a scene it’s natural that the subconscious begins to take over.

I have a fondness for every character in The Faithful – even the flawed ones. One of the challenges I enjoy is trying to pick apart the seemingly incomprehensible actions of people who are not necessarily ‘bad’. This is what I’ve done in both novels – tackled quite difficult, dark subjects, not to excuse them in any way, but to gain some level of understanding. 

The Faithful is set in the mid-1930s. In researching the background to the story did anything leave a lasting impression on you?

Hazel is sixteen when the novel opens, but I didn’t want her to be totally ignorant in terms of sex education. I wondered what books might be lying around (or stashed away) in the 1930s family home. I knew about Marie Stopes’ Married Love, but then I discovered Ideal Marriage by Theodoor van de Velde. This was published in 1926 and became a massive worldwide bestseller. Fair to say Ideal Marriage is quite an adventurous sex manual, and the emphasis is most definitely on women receiving their equal share of pleasure. We have this image that everything was terribly buttoned-up before the 1960s, but the success of Ideal Marriage shows this certainly wasn’t the case!

When combining historical fact with fiction it must be quite a challenge to get the balance right. How do you manage to achieve this without compromising on authenticity? 

I am quite careful about research, and try to weave actual events into the narrative, rather than invent fictional incidents to serve the plot. The real history can be so rich and fascinating that there’s no need to dream up fictional scenarios. Having said that, there are occasions when I’ll make a balanced judgement and include an invented (plausible) detail, such as a soldier’s helmet washed up on Aldwick beach after the Dunkirk evacuation. After all, I’m a novelist not a historian – creativity is allowed!

Macmillan
Paperback
26 July 2018

As England is pulled towards war, the secrets within two families threaten to tear them apart, in the new novel from Juliet West, The Faithful . . . July 1935. In the village of Aldwick on the Sussex coast, sixteen-year-old Hazel faces a long, dull summer with just her self-centred mother Francine for company. But then Francine decamps to London with her lover Charles, Oswald Mosley's blackshirts arrive in Aldwick, and Hazel's summer suddenly becomes more interesting. She finds herself befriended by two very different people: Lucia, an upper-class blackshirt, passionate about the cause; and Tom, a young working-class boy, increasingly scornful of Mosley's rhetoric. In the end, though, it is Tom who wins Hazel's heart - and Hazel who breaks his. Autumn 1936. Now living in London, Hazel has grown up fast over the past year. But an encounter with Tom sends her into freefall. He must never know why she cut off all contact last summer, betraying the promises they’d made. Yet Hazel isn't the only one with secrets. Nor is she the only one with reason to keep the two of them apart . . . From the beaches of Sussex to the battlefields of civil war Spain, The Faithful is a rich and gripping tale of love, deception and desire.

Read my review of The Faithful here

About the Author

Juliet West worked as a journalist before taking an MA in Creative Writing at Chichester University, where she won the Kate Betts' Memorial Prize. Before the Fall, her debut novel, was shortlisted for the Myriad Editions novel-writing competition in 2012. Juliet also writes short stories and poetry, and won the H. E. Bates short story prize in 2009. The Faithful is her second novel. She lives in West Sussex with her husband and three children.

Find out more about Juliet and her writing on her website 

Follow on Twitter @JulietWest14 #TheFaithful

 Huge thanks to Juliet for being my guest today and for sharing her thoughts about 

The Faithful

The Faithful is available to buy from Amazon UK and other good book stores

Hist Fic Saturday ~ Beautiful Star & Other Stories by Andrew Swanston

On Hist Fic Saturday

Lets's go back in time

This is a really fascinating book of seven historical fiction short stories which have their basis firmly in truth and the author has used his considerable skill with words to bring to life these events which have been completely overlooked.

• Beautiful Star tells the story of a devastating disaster which befell a small Scottish fishing community in the winter of 1875
• The Flying Monk gives the fascinating tale of Eilmer, a young Benedictine Monk, who was obsessed with the idea of flight and of the strange portents of a mysterious comet 
• HMS Association is the story of  the marvelously named, Sir Cloudelly Shovell and his connection to the Longitude Act of 1714
• The Tree is based on the well known story of the Boscobel Tree and the future King Charles II , but was there someone in the tree with him?
• The Castle tells of the gallant defense of Corfe Castle which was led by Lady Mary Bankes, widow of Sir John Bankes, Privy Councillor and advisor to King Charles I
• A Witch and a Bitch describes how a village, even as late as the eighteenth century could turn against a poor old woman 
• The Button Seller and the Drummer Boy tells the story of an English button seller's encounter with the Duke of Wellington, and the bravery of a young French drummer boy during the Battle of Waterloo

All of the stories sit very comfortably together and are easy to read in one sitting. Beautifully reminiscent of the era in which they are set, each story gives a vibrant account of a forgotten time and gives weight to the argument that our connection to history is always with us.

I found some of the stories very moving, particularly the treatment given to Jane Wenham, an unfortunate old woman who is notoriously known as the Witch of Wenham.  I found the title story, Beautiful Star to be especially poignant and the whole shipbuilding and fishing industry was brought so vividly to life that I could almost taste the tang of sea salt and savoured the smell of wood smoke and timber. However, it's the story of The Button Seller and the Drummer Boy which I found to be the most interesting and couldn't help but be immersed in each of their stories and of the consequences of their actions.

I think this is a real hidden gem of a book which will appeal, not just to history lovers, but also to those interested in well written short stories.

You can read an interview by the author by clicking here

About the author

Andrew read a little law and a lot of sport at Cambridge University, and held various positions in the book trade, including being a director of Waterstone & Co, and Chairman of Methven’s plc, before turning to writing. Inspired by a lifelong interest in early modern history, his Thomas Hill novels are set during the English Civil Wars, and the early period of the Restoration. 

Andrew’s novel, Incendium, was published in February 2017 and is the first of two thrillers featuring Dr. Christopher Radcliff, an intelligencer for the Earl of Leicester, and is set in 1572 at the time of the massacre of the Huguenots in France. 

The Dome Press publish Beautiful Star, a collection of short stories documenting a journey through time, bringing a new perspective to the defense of Corfe Castle, the battle of Waterloo, the siege of Toulon and, in the title story, the devastating dangers of the life of the sea in 1875.

Website

Twitter #BeautifiuStar

The Dome Press

Amazon UK

Beautiful Star & Other Stories is published by The Dome Press on the 11th January 2018

Review ~ Warriors and Kings by Martin Wall

Amberley Publishing

What's it all about..

For centuries, the Celtic peoples of Britain stood fast against invasion, oppression and war. Theirs is a fascinating and exciting story which birthed some of the most tenacious and heroic leaders in history: from Caractacus and Boudicca, to William Wallace, Owain Glyndwr and the legendary King Arthur. What was it that gave first the Britons, and then the Welsh, this fanatical will to hold out against overwhelming odds, over so many centuries? Martin Wall explores the mythology and psychology of this unyielding and insular people: their devotion to charismatic leaders they believed to be sent from God, and their stubborn determination "ne’er to yield" to oppression and injustice, whether Roman, Saxon, Norman or Viking, or the ravages of soulless industrialism.

My thoughts about it..

I don't claim to speak with any authority on the Celts. As an avid reader of historical fiction, I merely have a non-academic interest in finding out more about the people who shaped the early world. So for me, to have an easy to read introduction to the Warriors and Kings of Celtic Britain is both fascinating and informative.

I tend to read non-fiction history books in non-sequential order, much preferring to read snippets from chapters here and there which seems to appeal more to my sense of purpose. In Warriors and Kings, the author has given a thoughtful introduction into the Celtic world and over the course of the next sixteen chapter spans almost fifteen hundred years. A might ambitious, maybe, but no less interesting.

The book covers a huge area of history starting with the 'war mad' Celts of the pre-Roman era and extending to the Arthurian legend surrounding the once and future King and the search for the elusive Holy Grail, all is done with a fine eye for historical detail and a distinct enthusiasm for the subject matter. The author writes with authority and gives the reader enough information without getting too bogged down in interminable facts and figures which can so often spoil the enjoyment of reading a non-fiction history book. There is also an extensive bibliography and a useful index which is particularly valuable if , like me,  you want to reference something quickly.

On a personal level, and because I have just read an enjoyable fictional book set in Wales during the time of Owain Glyndwr, I was especially interested to read about the Welsh bard Iolo Morganwg in the chapter entitled, The Son of Prophecy.

I found much to enjoy and lots to learn in this book. I am sure that I shall use it as an aide memoir when I need some clarification on a period of history I enjoy learning more about.

Jaffa was especially thrilled to find reference to this poem written in the 9th century by an Irish Monk to his cat Pangur Ban...

I and Pangur Ban my cat,
'Tis a like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.

Better far than praise of men
'Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill-will,
He too plies his simple skill.

'Tis a merry task to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.

About the Author

Martin Wall inherited his passionate interest in local history and folklore from his father and has been writing about these subjects for ten years. He lectures historical groups on a variety of subjects and acts as a gallery interpreter in his spare time.

My thanks to Philip at Amberley Publishing for introducing me to this author and also for kindly supplying the review copy of Warriors and Kings

~***~

Blog Tour ~ Despite The Falling Snow by Shamim Sarif

Jaffareadstoo is thrilled to host today's stop on the 

Despite The Falling Snow

Blog Tour

Metro Books London
7th April 2016

I am delighted to introduce the author Shamim Sarif to the blog...

Hi and welcome, Shamim.....

Please tell us a little about Shamim Sarif‏, author.

I am an author, but also a screenwriter and director – a storyteller in many forms. It’s a great privilege but more than that I love having my family – my wife Hanan and two sons Ethan and Luca. I was born and raised in the UK, of parents who are South African Indian in heritage. It’s a rich background and I drew on it for my first two books and films, The World Unseen and I Can’t Think Straight.

How long have you been writing and what got you started?

I’ve been writing for more than twenty years. It always felt natural to me to express myself in written words, much more than in spoken words. And I was captivated from the time I could read by the fact that the characters and places I knew from books could feel as real as everyday life. I began writing, without really telling anyone, while still working for my father in his business, during which time I wrote a screenplay that was optioned and some short stories that were published. And then after The World Unseen was published, I felt more justified in calling myself a full time writer. 

What inspired you to write Despite the Falling Snow and what can you tell us about the story that won’t give too much away?

Despite the Falling Snow is about a young Soviet woman, Katya, who is passionately anti-communist. When she takes a job spying on a Kremlin official, the last thing she expects is to fall in love with him. But while she tries to sort out her feelings for him versus her duty to the Americans, the net is closing around them. I loved that period of history but more than that, I wanted to explore the ways in which love can make us see the world differently and perhaps transcend betrayal.

Are you a plotter...or ...a start writing and see where it takes you sort of writer?

It depends on the book. With Despite the Falling Snow, the central mystery of what happened to Katya needed to be solved by the end, so that gave me major plot points. But the smaller twists and turns were very much on instinct, letting the characters revelations and decisions guide the process.

What were the challenges you faced whilst writing this novel?

I was pregnant with our second son Luca while writing Despite the Falling Snow. I was about five chapters away from finishing, and ended up going into labour before I could finish. Not to be thwarted by such a small event, my wife Hanan took us all to South Africa to stay with my parents and enlisted plenty of help with the baby so I could finish the book!


What do you hope that readers will take away from Despite the Falling Snow?

Some readers have reported feeling cold with all the snow that’s in the book J But what I really would like if for people to feel moved by Katya’s journey. She is an heroic character but also a lonely young woman who finds love – just in the most unexpected place. And the transformative power of that emotion is life-changing for her, but also life-threatening. We can experience that openness and transformation and when it can happen without the sacrifices, it’s a wonderful process. 

 How can readers discover more about you and your work?

My website is at www.shamimsarif.com and all my books are on Amazon and other online stores, but I would love anyone who is interested to join me on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/shamimsarif) or on Twitter (@shamimsarif). I’ve had such an outpouring of support for my books and films over the past few years that I use social media to talk to fans of the stories and love the community we’ve created there.

My thanks to the author, Shamim Sarif  and to Leanne at Midas PR for their kind invitation

be part of this lovely blog tour 

Despite The Falling Snow

Blog Tour runs from 7th - 17th April

Please visit the other stops on the tour for more informative content

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The Last Plantagenet King...

Richard III

October 1453 - August 1485

Richard Plantagenet was born into violent times, and even by the brutal standards of his day, he most certainly knew death and family tragedy on a grand scale. 

 Whether we judge him or not, it is entirely appropriate, that the last English King to be killed in battle be afforded some peace at last.

Richard III
Re-buried in Leicester Cathedral
26 March 2015

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