New Books Network

Historical Fiction October 11, 2021

God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen

Rhys Bowen

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Back in the days when brick-and-mortar bookstores were common in suburban America, I was browsing the shelves at my local Borders when a title caught my eye: Her Royal Spyness …

Historical Fiction September 13, 2021

No Accidental Death

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Despite the deluge of novels about World War II that has characterized the last few years, the period leading up to the war on the Pacific Front has received far …

Historical Fiction September 7, 2021

The Collector's Daughter

A Novel of the Discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb

Gill Paul

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings almost a century ago revolutionized the study of ancient Egypt and its pharaohs. The splendors that surrounded the burial …

Literature August 31, 2021

What Passes as Love

Trisha R. Thomas

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

Today I talked to Trisha R. Thomas about her new novel What Passes as Love (Lake Union Publishing, 2021).In 1850, at age six, Dahlia Holt is taken from the only home she …

Literature August 10, 2021

Devil by the Tail

Jeanne Matthews

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

Today I talked to Jeanne Matthews about her new novel Devil by the Tail (D.X. Varos, 2021) It’s 1867, and a 20-something civil war widow has just set up a detective agency …

Historical Fiction August 6, 2021

The La Motte Woman

Mary Martin Devlin

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Jeanne de St.-Rémy has a grudge against the world. Born into the French royal family—if admittedly by a somewhat labyrinthine route—she spends years of her childhood so disinherited and ignored …

Literature July 20, 2021

The Book of Lost Light

Ron Nyren

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

Ron Nyren’s The Book of Lost Light—winner of Black Lawrence Press’s 2019 Big Moose Prize and finalist in the 2020 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction—tells the …

Historical Fiction July 5, 2021

The Play's the Thing

Jessica Barksdale Inclán

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

In a sense, those of us who love historical fiction live vicariously in the past. Many of us also fantasize about traveling in time—meeting our favorite writers in the flesh …

Asian Review of Books July 1, 2021

The Flower Boat Girl

A Novel Based on a True Story

Larry Feign

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

It can be easy to forget amongst the glistening skyscrapers, bustling streets and neon lights, but the Pearl River Delta used to be a haven for banditry and piracy. As …

Literature June 9, 2021

Lilacs in the Dust Bowl

Diana Stevan

Hosted by Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed

Author Diana Stevan's sequel to the award-winning Sunflowers Under Fire. Lukia's story continues in Lilacs in the Dust Bowl (Peregrin Publishing, 2021), an inspirational family saga about love and heartache during …

Historical Fiction May 28, 2021

Lady Be Good

The Life and Times of Dorothy Hale

Pamela Hamilton

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

The name of Dorothy Hale is not well known these days. In the 1920s, she enjoyed a career on Broadway as a dancer, including in a leading role with Fred …

Literature May 18, 2021

The Lines Between Us

Rebecca D'Harlingue

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

Today I talked to Rebecca D’Harlingue about her novel The Lines Between Us (She Writes Press, 2020). A widow in 17th century Spain discovers that her beloved niece, Juliana, has suddenly disappeared. Juliana …

Historical Fiction May 4, 2021

Three Locks

A Sherlock Holmes Adventure

Bonnie Macbird

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Sherlock Holmes is one of the rare literary characters who has achieved a kind of cultural immortality. As Bonnie MacBird notes in this interview, display an image of a deerstalker hat …

Historical Fiction April 5, 2021

The Sky Worshipers

F. M. Deemyad

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

There have been more than a few contenders for the title of “World Conqueror,” but eight hundred years after the fact, Genghis Khan’s claim to the title remains unmatched. Over …

Literature March 23, 2021

Prospects of a Woman

Wendy Voorsanger

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

When Elisabeth Parker and her husband leave Massachusetts and arrive in California to join her father, she quickly learns that her father is not who she thought he was. It’s …

Buddhist Studies March 18, 2021

Yasodhara and the Buddha

Vanessa R. Sasson

Hosted by Luke Thompson

By combining the spirit of fiction with the fabulism of Indian mythology and in-depth academic research, Vanessa R. Sasson shares the evocative story of the Buddha from the perspective of …

Historical Fiction March 12, 2021

Band of Sisters

Lauren Willig

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Kate Moran, a graduate of Smith College, has been making her living tutoring students in French when her college friend Emmie Van Alden appears out of the blue and talks …

Literature February 16, 2021

The Lost Shtetl

A Novel

Max Gross

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

Today I spoke with Max Gross about his book The Lost Shtetl (HarperCollins, 2020). Imagine a Jewish village hidden in the forests of Poland that somehow escapes the Holocaust. Eighty years …

German Studies February 11, 2021

Berlin

Jason Lutes

Hosted by Michael O'Sullivan

In his pathbreaking graphic novel, Berlin (Drawn and Quarterly, 2018), Jason Lutes creates a multifaceted exploration of urban life during the Weimar Republic. The book contains a variety of mostly fictional …

Historical Fiction February 9, 2021

Vindicated

A Novel of Mary Shelley

Kathleen Williams Renk

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Mary Godwin Shelley had yet to reach her nineteenth birthday when she had the dream that gave rise to the classic Gothic horror tale Frankenstein. The daughter of a dissenting …