From the Library With Love

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There are few writers who manage to successfully pull off three genres and write under three different names.

Rebecca Mascull writes historical fiction under her real name, saga trilogies under the pen name of Mollie Walton and is shortly due to launch feel good romantic comedies under the pen name Harper Ford. Her new novel, Divorced not Dead came out recently.
Becca/Mollie/Harper has navigated ten years in the publishing industry and in this fascinating episode discusses how she trusts her sub-conscious muse to guide her storytelling, the power of pacing, the magic of a ‘history shiver’ and how to fight snobbery in publishing.

Thank you to our media partner: Family History Zone – a website covering archives, history and genealogy.  Please check then out at www.familyhistory.zone and consider signing up for their free weekly newsletter.

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Madeline Martin is not only a New York Times bestselling historical fiction author, she is frank, funny and oh so eloquent about the craft of writing and research. She has written over 30 romance novels and three historical fiction novels. In this lively and eye-opening episode she tells us why 4am starts are essential and some amazing tricks and tips for researching historical fiction – including why every writer needs a magnifying glass in their pocket.

Her most recent novel is the spellbinding, Keeper of Hidden Books.

A heartwarming story about the power of books to bring us together, inspired by the true story of the underground library in WWII Warsaw, by the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London.

All her life, Zofia has found comfort in two things during times of hardship: books and her best friend, Janina. But no one could have imagined the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. As the bombs rain down and Hitler’s forces loot and destroy the city, Zofia finds that now books are also in need of saving.

With the death count rising and persecution intensifying, Zofia jumps to action to save her friend and salvage whatever books she can from the wreckage, hiding them away, and even starting a clandestine book club. She and her dearest friend never surrender their love of reading, even when Janina is forced into the newly formed ghetto.

But the closer Warsaw creeps toward liberation, the more dangerous life becomes for the women and their families—and escape may not be possible for everyone. As the destruction rages around them, Zofia must fight to save her friend and preserve her culture and community using the only weapon they have left—literature.

Thank you to our media partner: Family History Zone – a website covering archives, history and genealogy.  Please check then out at www.familyhistory.zone and consider signing up for their free weekly newsletter.

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Anna Stuart is international time traveller, roaming the past for stories. The historical fiction writer turns out three novels a year, writing under two different pseudonyms. As Joanna Courtney she wrote a trilogy set in the 11th century, Queens of Conquest and as Anna Stuart, she writes WW2 fiction.

Her recent novel, The Midwife of Auschwitz, is inspired by the harrowing true story of the women who delivered babies in the midst of hell and it's sequel, The Midwife of Berlin is out now.

From Book 1: Auschwitz, 1943: As I held the tiny baby in my arms, my fingers traced the black tattoo etched across her little thigh. And I prayed that one day this set of numbers, identical to her mother’s, would have the power to reunite a family torn apart by war…

Inspired by an incredible true story, this poignant novel tells of one woman’s fight for love, life and hope during a time of unimaginable darkness.

Ana Kaminski is pushed through the iron gates of Auschwitz beside her frightened young friend Ester Pasternak. As they reach the front of the line, Ana steps forward and quietly declares herself a midwife – and Ester her assistant. Their arms are tattooed and they’re ordered to the maternity hut. Holding an innocent new-born baby, Ana knows the fate of so many are in her hands, and vows to do everything she can to save them.

When two guards in their chilling SS uniforms march in and snatch a blond-haired baby from its mother it’s almost too much for Ana to bear. Consoling the distraught woman, Ana realises amidst the terrible heartache there is a glimmer of hope. The guards are taking the healthiest babies and placing them with German families, so they will survive. And there are whispers the war is nearly over… Ana and Ester begin to secretly tattoo little ones with their mother’s numbers, praying one day they might be reunited.

Then, early one morning, Ana notices the small bump under Ester’s thin striped clothing…

An absolutely heartbreaking and page-turning WW2 novel of one woman’s bravery and determination to bring life and hope into a broken world. Fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Alice Network and The Nightingale will be gripped.

Thank you to our media partner: Family History Zone – a website covering archives, history and genealogy.  Please check then out at www.familyhistory.zone and consider signing up for their free weekly newsletter.

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Gill Paul is an international bestselling historical fiction writer, specialising in the twentieth century and often focussing on the lives of real women. Her novels have topped bestseller lists in the US and Canada as well as the UK and have been translated into twenty languages. Her latest novel, A Beautiful Rival, reveals the infamous rivalry of cosmetic titans Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein...

The world is at war, but on the gilded streets of Fifth Avenue, New York, a battle of a different kind is brewing…

New York, 1915.
Elizabeth Arden has been New York’s golden girl since her beauty salon opened its famous red door five years prior. Against all odds, she’s built an empire.

Enter Helena Rubinstein: ruthless, revolutionary – and the rival Elizabeth didn’t bargain for.

With both women determined to succeed – no matter the personal cost – a battle of beauty is born. And as the stakes increase, so do the methods: poaching employees, planting spies, copying products, hiring ex-husbands.

But as each woman climbs higher, so too does what she stands to lose.

Because the greater the height, the harder the fall…

In her stunning new novel, internationally bestselling author Gill Paul reveals the unknown history of cosmetic titans Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein and their infamous rivalry that spanned not only decades, but also broken marriages, personal tragedies, and a world that was changing dramatically for women – perfect for fans of Fiona Davis, Dinah Jefferies and Karen Swan.

Thank you to our media partner: Family History Zone – a website covering archives, history and genealogy.  Please check then out at www.familyhistory.zone and consider signing up for their free weekly newsletter.

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Bletchley Park, Britain’s secret centre of code breaking housed the finest minds of a generation, and has always been perceived as a predominately male institution.

Countless books, films and documentaries have paid tribute to the genius of eccentric code-breakers like Alan Turing, widely regarded to have brought the war to a premature end by cracking the infamous Nazi Enigma encryptions, but little has been said of the quietly formidable women of Bletchley Park.

By 1944, Bletchley had over 8,000 personnel – 75 per cent of them women. These women, who outnumbered the men three to one, formed the backbone of the entire operation. 

Women like Charlotte ‘Betty’ Webb, a former Bletchley park codebreaker. I went to visit Betty at her home in Worcestershire and was charmed by this lively, whip-smart 100-year-old. Betty is full of surprising stories about her time at Bletchley, or as she described it ‘Britain’s Wartime University’. Rather than jitterbugging with a GI at London’s teeming dancehalls, on her leave weekends, Betty would head instead to an Indian restaurant for a curry. "Unusual, but so much nicer than boiled beef and beetroot’,’ she told me. This episode is full of fascinating tales of her time at Bletchley and after VE Day, her experiences of working in the Pentagon in Washington.

Thank you to our media partner: Family History Zone – a website covering archives, history and genealogy.  Please check then out at www.familyhistory.zone and consider signing up for their free weekly newsletter.

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Heather is the author of international bestselling novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which has sold over eight million copies, been published in 49 countries and spawned a new genre of Holocaust books.

A major TV multi-part drama series based on the Tattooist is also in production. Heather has gone from being, in her words, ‘a regular granny’ to a multi-million selling author.

In this searing and fascinatingly frank interview, Heather explains how the art of active listening helped her unlock a decades old secret and shares the story behind her new novel Sisters Under the Rising Sun.

Thank you to our media partner: Family History Zone – a website covering archives, history and genealogy.  Please check then out at www.familyhistory.zone and consider signing up for their free weekly newsletter.

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Christy Lefteri is the award-winning author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, which has sold over a million copies worldwide and has been published in 40 countries. The Book of Fire is her spellbinding third novel. In this conversation we talk about how dry statistics are humans with the tears dried off, but storytelling has the power to grab our hearts…

The Book of Fire...

This morning, I met the man who started the fire. He did something terrible, but then, so have I. I left him. I left him and now he may be dead.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful village that held a million stories of love and loss and peace and war, and it was swallowed up by a fire that blazed up to the sky. The fire ran all the way down to the sea where it met with its reflection.

A family from two nations, England and Greece, live a simple life in a tiny Greek village: Irini, Tasso and their daughter, lovely, sweet Chara, whose name means joy. Their life goes up in flames in a single day when one man starts a fire out of greed and indifference. Many are killed, homes are destroyed, and the region's natural beauty wiped out.

In the wake of the fire, Chara bears deep scars across her back and arms. Tasso is frozen in trauma, devastated that he wasn't there when his family most needed him. And Irini is crippled by guilt at her part in the fate of the man who started the fire.

But this family has survived, and slowly green shoots of hope and renewal will grow from the smouldering ruins of devastation.

Once again, Christy Lefteri has crafted a novel which is intimate and epic, sweeping and delicate. The Book of Fire explores not only the damage wrought by human folly, and the costs of survival in our changing world, but also - and ultimately - our powers of redemption and renewal.

Thank you to our media partner: Family History Zone – a website covering archives, history and genealogy.  Please check then out at www.familyhistory.zone and consider signing up for their free weekly newsletter.

Send us Fan Mail

Thank you to our media partner: Family History Zone – a website covering archives, history and genealogy.  Please check then out at www.familyhistory.zone and consider signing up for their free weekly newsletter.