The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton "The funeral is supposed to be a quiet affair, for the deceased had no friends. But words are water in Amsterdam, they flood your ears and set the rot, and the church's east corner is crowded." My daughter gave me The Miniaturist as a Christmas present and when I began …
Category: Historical Fiction
Banks Don't Change!
A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett Banks and bankers are in the news a lot. Usually it's bad news: the directors and presidents get obscene bonuses; they manipulate the tax system; they crash and leave millions of people out of pocket. Rarely do the newspapers carry stories about the honest bankers and their shareholders - …
In the Fortress of the Assassins
First Love Today, I'm posting another extract from my novel The Tiger and the Cauldron " Two figures detached themselves from the shadows of the lower terrace and climbed the steps towards him. 'Hassan.' It was Sayyid’s voice. 'The Captain has commanded me to relieve you.' 'An hour, no more, Sayyid,' said Doquz who accompanied …
Witches and Castles
"There shall not be found among you anyone who practises divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or necromancer.' The Secret Diary of Eleanor Cobham by Tony Riches History and historians have been unkind to women, giving them at best a minor role, at worst demonising them and even, …
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett A Review My choice of title has nothing to do with the Robert Wise classic sci-fi film of 1951, or indeed the inferior remake of 2008. Instead, it refers to the day - 22nd November 1963 - when the world was rocked with the news that US President John …
The Tiger and the Cauldron
Extract - The Contest " The fight hung in the balance. Attack from either side was followed promptly by counter-attack, both defended ably. Hassan was beginning to tire. The muscles of his arms ached and his right palm was raw and stinging from contact with the sabre hilt. His bruised left elbow was stiff and …
The Legend of the Su-asti
(adapted from my novel The Dark Side of the Fylfot. Fourteen-year-old Gretl is eager to hear the story behind the talisman her grandfather wears at his throat) 'Jemshid, son of Tahmuras, ruled Persia for seven hundred years. He was a wise and just monarch, skilled in forging weapons, weaving fine cloths, and shaping ornaments from …
In the Name of our Fathers
Turn of the Tide by Margaret Skea A Review The story is set in Scotland during the final years of the sixteenth century. Like Romeo and Juliet, it portrays the feud between two noble families whose names, by coincidence, begin with the same letters of the alphabet as Shakespeare's warring Veronese. Instead of the Montagues …
Confession Time
Readers of my recent blogs may have noticed me dropping a name, nothing really to do with the books I was reviewing. So, just in case you're wondering, I'll drop it again - Alexandre Dumas - one of the greatest storytellers who ever lived. And for me, as a devotee of historical fiction, he is …
Magda Green Books 