Historical Fiction: Unpacked

Talia Carner's bio calls her an activist, a feminist, and a humanitarian who gives a voice to those without one. She's also a bestselling author. Today we talk about her latest novel, The Boy with the Star Tattoo, which released Tuesday.

Here's a description of the novel:

1942:  As the Vichy government hunts for Jews across France, Claudette Pelletier, a young and talented seamstress and lover of romance novels, falls in love with a Jewish man who seeks shelter at the château where she works. Their whirlwind and desperate romance before he must flee leaves her pregnant and terrified.

When the Nazis invade the Free Zone shortly after the birth of her child, the disabled Claudette is forced to make a heartbreaking choice and escapes to Spain, leaving her baby in the care of his nursemaid. By the time Claudette is able to return years later, her son has disappeared. Unbeknown to his anguished mother, the boy has been rescued by a Youth Aliyah agent searching for Jewish orphans.

1968:  When Israeli naval officer Daniel Yarden recruits Sharon Bloomenthal for a secret operation in Cherbourg, France, he can’t imagine that he is the target of her agenda. The twenty-year-old is grieving the recent loss of her fiancé in a drowned submarine, and also suspects that Danny’s past in Youth Aliyah may reflect that of her mysterious late mother. She sets out to track her boss’s extraordinary journey as an orphan in a quaint French village all the way to Israel.

As Danny focuses on the future of his people and on executing a daring, crucial operation under France’s radar, he is unaware that the obsessed Sharon follows the breadcrumbs of clues across the country to find her answers. But she is wholly unprepared for the dilemma she must face upon solving the puzzle.

Purchase The Boy with the Star Tattoo on Amazon (affiliate).

Check out Talia's website, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Subscribe to my mailing list to receive book recommendations and samples of my writing!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Purchase Alison’s historical novel, One Traveler (affiliate).

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

Today's episode features debut author Jamie Ogle. Her novel, Of Love and Treason, released Tuesday! It's a compelling novelization of the story of Saint Valentine of Rome. Jamie and I discussed her research process, the years she spent writing this story, and what she learned from learning about the persecution faced by Roman Christians during the third century.

Here's a description of Of Love and Treason:

Valentine defies the emperor and becomes a hero . . . and the most wanted man in the empire. Compelled by his faith, he has nothing to lose, until a chance encounter with the daughter of a Roman jailor changes everything. 

Rome, AD 270. In the wake of the emperor’s marriage ban, rumors swirl that there is one man brave enough to perform wedding ceremonies in secret. A public notarius and leader of an underground church, Valentine believes the emperor’s edict unjust and risks his own life for the sake of his convictions. But as his fame grows, so do fears for his safety.

Iris, the daughter of a Roman jailor, believes regaining her sight will ease the mounting troubles at home. Her last hope rests in searching out Valentine and his church, but the danger of associating with people labeled a threat to the empire is great. Still, as Iris's new friends lead her to faith in God, Iris is drawn to Valentine and they both begin to hope for a future together beyond the treacherous empire.

But when a past debt and a staggering betrayal collide, Valentine, Iris, and everyone they love must fight for their lives . . . and wrestle with trusting a God who can restore sight yet does not always keep His followers from peril.

Purchase Of Love and Treason on Amazon (affiliate).

Check out Jamie's website, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Subscribe to my mailing list to receive book recommendations and samples of my writing!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Purchase Alison’s historical novel, One Traveler (affiliate).

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

In today's episode, I'm talking with Jenni L. Walsh. Her latest novel, Unsinkable, tells the story of Violet Jessop, a stewardess who survived the sinking of the Titanic as well as maritime disasters aboard Titanic's two sister ships! We talked about Jenni's desire to tell Violet's story along with her decision to write a dual timeline novel with a parallel story about another "unsinkable" woman. Jenni's loves sharing the stories of little-known women who've made remarkable contributions to history.

Here's a description of Unsinkable:

The Titanic was only the beginning. What she survived has become legend.

Violet Jessop is Miss Unsinkable.

After her mother becomes too ill to work, the responsibility to provide for the family falls to Violet as the oldest of nine. When the world enters the Great War, she serves as a nurse, helping men who could very well be her brothers. Working as a stewardess and wartime nurse, Violet not only survives a shipwreck but also two sinkings, one on the infamous Titanic. No one can understand why she would return to sea, but something keeps drawing Violet back to the tumultuous waters, where she struggles to put the tragedies of her past behind her and pursue a life and love all her own.

Daphne has survived calamity of her own.

Daphne Chaundanson grows up as an unwanted child after her mother died in a tragedy. She throws herself into education, collecting languages like candy in a desperate attempt to finally earn her father’s approval. When the Special Operations Executive invites her to be an agent in France in World War II, her childhood of anonymity and her love of languages make her the perfect fit. She sees it as an opportunity to help the country she loves and live up to her father's expectations. But the dangers of war challenge Daphne in ways she never could have expected, and the secrets from her own past must be faced for her to truly have a future beyond the conflict—if she can survive it.

​

Inspired by true stories of Violet Jessop and the thirty-nine women of the Special Operations Executive. Two unsinkable women. Two stories of survival, family, and finding one's own happiness. One connection that reshapes both their lives forever.

Purchase Unsinkable on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase Violet Jessop's memoir on Amazon (affiliate).

Check out Jenni's website, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Subscribe to my mailing list to receive book recommendations and samples of my writing!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Purchase Alison’s historical novel, One Traveler (affiliate).

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

The first episode of season seven features well-known author Laura Frantz. This is her fourth time on the show! Today she shares about her latest novel, The Seamstress of Acadie, which released Tuesday and is the #1 New Release in Christian Historical Fiction on Amazon! Laura and I talk about everything from Prince Edward Island and Lucy Maud Montgomery to the poem Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which first brought attention to the sad tale of Acadia.

Here's a description of The Seamstress of Acadie from Revell:

Gifted seamstress Sylvie Galant and her Acadian family desire to live peacefully and remain neutral in the upcoming war between the French and the English. But the proximity of their land on Acadie’s rugged shores makes them an easy target. While tensions escalate, Sylvie encounters Major William Blackburn. Although he is a British Army Ranger, Blackburn warns her that the British are poised to invade. But the warning cannot counteract the plans or stop the tide of English soldiers.

William Blackburn has seen firsthand the atrocities that the British have done to the Acadian families and their villages. Rather than participate in the heinous expulsion, Will resigns his commission before a charge of treason is brought against him.

When Sylvie is forcibly removed from her homeland, she finds herself on a ramshackle ship headed to Virginia, where she crosses paths once again with Will. Together they must work through the complex tangle of their shared, shattered past to navigate the present and forge an enduring future.

Purchase The Seamstress of Acadie on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase the journals of L.M. Montgomery on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie on Amazon (affiliate).

Check out Laura's website, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Subscribe to my mailing list to receive book recommendations and samples of my writing!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Purchase Alison’s historical novel, One Traveler (affiliate).

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

This last episode of the season features New York Times bestselling author Katherine Howe and her latest release, A True Account: Hannah Masury's Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself. Katherine and I talked about the Golden Age of Piracy, how fiction tends to romanticize and sanitize piracy, and how we curate our own image in all kinds of ways.

Here's a description of A True Account:

In Boston, as the Golden Age of Piracy comes to a bloody close, Hannah Masury – bound out to service at a waterfront inn since childhood – is ready to take her life into her own hands. When a man is hanged for piracy in the town square and whispers of a treasure in the Caribbean spread, Hannah is forced to flee for her life, disguising herself as a cabin boy in the pitiless crew of the notorious pirate Edward "Ned" Low. To earn the freedom to choose a path for herself, Hannah must hunt down the treasure and change the tides.

Meanwhile, professor Marian Beresford pieces Hannah’s story together in 1930, seeing her own lack of freedom reflected back at her as she watches Hannah's transformation. At the center of Hannah Masury’s account, however, lies a centuries-old mystery that Marian is determined to solve, just as Hannah may have been determined to take it to her grave.

A True Account tells the unforgettable story of two women in different worlds, both shattering the rules of their own society and daring to risk everything to go out on their own account.

Purchase A True Account: Hannah Masury's Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune on Amazon (affiliate).

Check out Katherine's website, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Listen to my episode about my Top Ten Reads of 2023!

Subscribe to my mailing list to receive book recommendations and samples of my writing!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Purchase Alison’s historical novel, One Traveler (affiliate).

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

Today's show features a conversation with international bestselling author Téa Cooper about her latest novel to release in North America, The Butterfly Collector. Téa and I talked about her fascinating life story, how she comes upon her story ideas, as well as the themes and historically accurate events in this novel. These include the sinking of the SS Cawarra, the migration of Monarch butterflies to Australia, and the horrible business of "baby farming."

Here's a description of The Butterfly Collector:

1868 Morpeth NSW

Theodora Breckenridge, still in mourning after the loss of her parents and brother at sea, is more interested in working quietly on her art at the family's country estate than she is finding a husband in Sydney society, even if her elder sister Florence has other ideas. Theodora seeks to emulate prestigious nature illustrators, the Scott sisters, who lived nearby, so she cannot believe her luck when she discovers a butterfly never before sighted in Australia. With the help of Clarrie, her maid, and her beautiful illustrations, she is poised to make a natural science discovery that will put her name on the map. Then Clarrie's newborn son goes missing and everything changes.

​

1922 Sydney NSW

When would-be correspondent Verity Binks is sent an anonymous parcel containing a spectacular butterfly costume and an invitation to the Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball on the same day she loses her job at The Arrow, she is both baffled and determined to go. Her late grandfather Sid, an esteemed newspaperman, would expect no less of her. At the ball, she lands a juicy commission to write the history of the Treadwell Foundation - an institution that supports disgraced young women and their babies. But as she begins to dig, her investigation quickly leads her to an increasingly dark and complex mystery, a mystery fifty years in the making. Can she solve it? And will anyone believe her if she does?

Purchase The Butterfly Collector on Amazon (affiliate).

Check out Téa's website, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Subscribe to my mailing list to receive book recommendations and samples of my writing!

Join my community and help support the show on Patreon!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Purchase Alison’s historical novel, One Traveler (affiliate).

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

Hey friends, I'm coming to you solo this week (and about 12 hours early) because I want to share with you my favorite books of the year! Many of these books released this year, but all of them I read this year. Listen to the episode to hear detailed explanations of why I loved each novel and who they'd make great gifts for!

Here are the affiliate links to purchase them on Amazon:

1.The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows

2. Letters from My Sister by Valerie Fraser Luessej

3. When the Day Comes by Gabrielle Meyer

4. Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner

5. The Queen's Secret by Karen Harper

6. The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz

7. The Call of the Wrens by Jenni L. Walsh

8. The Weight of Air by Kimberly Duffy

9. The Legacy of Longdale Manor by Carrie Turansky

10. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

If you'd like to listen to the episodes in which I discuss some of these books with the authors, click to hear me talk with Valerie Fraser Luesse, Gabrielle Meyer, Laura Frantz, Kimberly Duffy, and Carrie Turansky.

Subscribe to my mailing list to receive book recommendations and samples of my writing!

Join my community and help support the show on Patreon!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Alison’s historical novel, One Traveler, is 20% off on Black Friday only on her website! Click this link and click the "Add to Cart" button to purchase an autographed copy with free shipping to the contiguous United States (while supplies last).

Use this affiliate link to get your first month of Blubrry podcasting hosting free. Use the Hosting Estimator on their site to determine the best plan for you.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

Henry O. Arnold is an actor and audiobook narrator as well as an author. In this delightful episode, we talk about his new book, The Fugitive King. It's the latest installment in his series "The Song of Prophets and Kings" and focuses on an exciting and trying time in the life of King David. We also discuss some of the other facets of Henry's career and how he balances it all.

Here's a description of The Fugitive King:

One king desperately on the run...One king in vengeful pursuit...One nation in dire turmoil.

David is broken off from the realm. The world behind him is destroyed. The world before him is dangerous and unpredictable. He flees from the royal household of King Saul as a fugitive with a death sentence on his head.

In his last days, the prophet Samuel passes the prophetic mantle to his proteges, instructing Nathan and Gad to serve Yahweh and the future king of Israel. But David is king only of caves and deserts, and his subjects are nothing but the dregs of society that flow to the lowest point of the land and stop at his feet. Mercenaries, adventurers, spies—or worse, assassins with no apparent loyalty.

David, who once thought of himself as "an olive tree flourishing in the house of Yahweh," desperately appeals to the One who can save him: "You are my rock, my fortress. Into Your hands I commit my spirit."

The Fugitive King continues the tale of triumph and tragedy, of deepest love and burning rivalries. The new epoch is given a voice . . . and it is The Song of Prophets and Kings.

Purchase The Fugitive King on Amazon (affiliate).

Also mentioned:

Henry's role in The Hiding Place with Rabbit Room Theater.

Check out Henry's website, and follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

Subscribe to my mailing list to receive book recommendations and samples of my writing!

Join my community and help support the show on Patreon!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Purchase Alison’s historical novel, One Traveler (affiliate).

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

Today's episode features my conversation with bestselling, Christy Award winning author Amanda Barratt. Her latest novel, The Warsaw Sisters, released on Tuesday. Along with the new book, Amanda and I discussed the Polish Underground, the Warsaw Uprising, the Wola Massacre, and the network of women that worked together to rescue Jewish children in Warsaw. There is so much to learn through this book and through my conversation with Amanda.

Here's a description of The Warsaw Sisters:

On a golden August morning in 1939, twin sisters Antonina and Helena Dąbrowska send their father off to defend Poland against the looming threat of German invasion. The next day, the first bombs fall on Warsaw, decimating their cherished city and shattering the world of their youth.

When her beloved Marek is forced behind ghetto walls along with the rest of Warsaw’s Jewish population, Antonina knows she cannot stand by and soon becomes a key figure in a daring network of women risking their lives to shelter Jewish children. Meanwhile, Helena finds herself drawn into the ranks of Poland’s secret army, joining the fight to free her homeland from occupation. But the secrets both are forced to keep threaten to tear the sisters apart—and the cost of resistance may prove greater than either ever imagined.

Shining a light on the oft-forgotten history of Poland during WWII and inspired by true stories of ordinary individuals who fought to preserve freedom and humanity in the darkest of times, The Warsaw Sisters is a richly rendered portrait of courage, sacrifice, and the resilience of our deepest ties.

Purchase The Warsaw Sisters on Amazon (affiliate).

Purchase My Dearest Dietrich on Amazon (affiliate).

Check out Amanda's website, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Subscribe to my mailing list to receive free book recommendations and samples of my writing!

Join my community and help support the show on Patreon!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Purchase Alison’s historical novel, One Traveler (affiliate).

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!

Often called the “Queen of Historical Christian Fiction,” Tracie Peterson is an ECPA, CBA and USA Today best-selling author of more than 110 books, most of those historical. Her work in historical fiction has earned her a myriad of awards. On today's show, Tracie and I talk about her upcoming novel, Knowing You, which releases next week and is the final installment in her Pictures of the Heart series. We discuss the themes of racism, forgiveness, and finding yourself, as well as her research process and the gift she has for collaborating with various coauthors.

Here is a description of Knowing You:

Could a captivating art exhibit hold the key to truth—and love?

Budding artist May Parker is captivated by the Japanese exhibits at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition and longs to know more about her mother's heritage--which her mother refuses to speak of because of the heartache she left behind in Japan. Wanting to experience more of the exhibits, May works as a Camera Girl—but her curiosity leads her into danger when a suit of samurai armor becomes the target of an elusive art forger.

After ten years apart, May is reunited with her childhood friend Lee Munro, a police detective assigned to keep a watchful eye on the exposition. Their friendship immediately begins to blossom with hints of something more, but when they become entangled in a dangerous heist involving the samurai armor and their love is threatened, can they overcome the odds against them?

Purchase Knowing You on Amazon (affiliate).

Check out Tracie's website, and follow her on Facebook

Also mentioned:

Browse some of the old Heartsong Presents books (affiliate)

Read more about the Kodak Brownie camera.

Subscribe to my mailing list to receive free book recommendations and samples of my writing!

Join my community and help support the show on Patreon!

Join the Historical Fiction: Unpacked Podcast Group on Facebook!

Be sure to visit my Instagram, Facebook, and website.

Follow the show on Instagram!

Purchase Alison’s historical novel, One Traveler (affiliate).

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, you help support my work without paying any more for the product. Thank you for your support!