In her historical fiction debut, The Double Standard Sporting House, historian and novelist Nancy Bernhard tells the story of a 19th century brothel nurse, Nell “Doc” Hastings, who fought to protect and aid girls trafficked in the sex trade. Set in New York City, her upscale brothel, named The Double Standard Sporting House, catered to wealthy and influential men, but Read More
In her debut novel, Whistling Women and Crowing Hens, former CPA turned novelist Melora Fern compels readers with a story inspired by her grandmother’s time as a traveling musician in the 1920’s. In this historical novel, readers follow Birdie Stauffer, a young woman who performs as a musical whistler with a train-traveling roadshow. In an effort to get away from Read More
In The Mad Wife, New York Times bestselling author Meagan Church takes readers back to 1950’s suburban America where we meet Lulu Mayfield, a young, married woman who is trying to keep up appearances by being the perfect mother and the ideal housewife. As the story unfolds, Lulu’s life begins spiraling following the birth of her second child, and even Read More
In The Women of Artemis, award-winning author Hannah Lynn writes a captivating retelling of a Greek myth about Otrera, the first Amazon queen. As readers learn, Otrera first marries at the tender age of fourteen with dreams of sharing a life with an affectionate and devoted husband. However, her hopes are shattered when her husband becomes abusive and alcoholic, eventually Read More
National bestselling author of historical fiction, Erika Robuck, chats with Writer’s Voices to discuss her exciting new historical novel, The Last Assignment: A Novel of Dickey Chapelle. In it, she writes about the life of award-winning combat photojournalist, Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle, who was one of the first female war photographers in U.S. history and whose career spanned from World War Read More
In The Wayward Girls, New York Times bestselling author, Susan Wiggs, writes a poignant historical fiction that takes readers back to 1968 in Buffalo, New York. Based on a true story, the book follows six teenage girls, Mairin, Angela, Helen, Odessa, Denise, and Janice, who are sent to the Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school, for behavior that society deemed Read More
In The Scrapbook, award-winning author, Heather Clark, writes her debut novel, a historical fiction set in 1996 that follows Anna, a Harvard graduand, who falls in love with a visiting German student named Christoph. As their relationship grows, Anna travels back and forth to Germany to visit Christoph and while it’s known that both their grandfathers were part of WWII, Read More
New York Times bestselling author, Martha Hall Kelly, joins Writer’s Voices to discuss her latest novel, a historical fiction set in Martha’s Vineyard, titled The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club. Based on her own family’s history, the story is told in dual timelines, with one set in 2016 and the other during WWII in 1942. The book begins in Read More
In Sleeping in the Sun, award-winning poet, Joanne Howard, presents her debut novel set in Midnapore, India, in the 1930’s during the last years of the British Raj. Told from two points of view, the story follows Gene Hinton, a 12-year-old boy who’s lived in India all his life with his American missionary family, and his Indian servant, Arthur. When Read More
In The Anatomy of Exile, Israeli-born fiction writer, Zeeva Bukai, presents her debut novel about an Israeli family who moves to the United States following a terrible family tragedy that occurs in the period after The Six Day War of 1967. Bukai explains, “…A beloved aunt is killed in what appears to be a terror attack, but is actually a Read More
In A Wolff in the Family, award-winning author, Francine Falk-Allen, writes her first published novel, a historical fiction, based on real events that took place in her family in the early 20th century. The book tells the story of Frank and Naomi Wolff, a young married couple, who live in Ogden, Utah. Throughout the years, they had many children and Read More
French American author, Aurélie Thiele, joins Writer’s Voices to talk about her debut novel, a historical fiction titled The Paris Understudy. Set in Paris in the time before, during, and after WWII, the book tells the story of two rival women, French opera extraordinaire, Madeleine Moreau, and her understudy, a novice named Yvonne Chevallier. When Madeleine is given the opportunity Read More
Bestselling historical fiction author, Greer Macallister joins Writer’s Voices to discuss her newest historical novel, The Thirteenth Husband. Set during the Gilded Age, the book tells the story of a real-life Bohemian heiress named Aimee Crocker. According to Macallister, “She was an heiress from a well-to-do, California family. Her father was actually the lawyer for the Big 4 who built Read More
New York Times bestselling author and professor of English literature, Eloisa James, joins Writer’s Voices to discuss her newest historical romance, Viscount in Love. The first novel in her Accidental Brides series,Viscount in Love tells the story of Viscount Dominic Kelbourne, the caregiver of two orphaned twins, who has intentions of marrying his fiancée Leonora, but when she unexpectedly elopes, Read More
In his second novel, Familiaris, author David Wroblewski writes the precursor to his #1 New York Times bestselling book, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. Chosen as Oprah’s Book Club Picks, both books follow members of the Sawtelle family and their life on a farm in northern Wisconsin. This story, however, delves into the origin of the family and explores their Read More
Former lawyer and politician, Leo Daughtry, stopped by to share his debut novel, Talmadge Farm. Set in North Carolina in the 1950’s, Talmadge Farm follows the lives of Gordon Talmadge, a wealthy landowner, and the two sharecropping families who reside and tend to the tobacco farm on his property. As readers delve into the novel, they learn how these three Read More
In Flightless Falcon, debut author, James Charles Smith, writes a coming-of-age, historical novel set during the Vietnam War and tells the story of a young man named Sam Roberts. It begins in April of 1969 and Sam, who disagrees with the U.S.’s stance on the Vietnam War, has just resigned from the Air Force Academy after being there only a Read More
The writing duo of Jaima Fixsen and Regina Sirois, who write under the pen name Audrey Blake, joins Writer’s Voices to discuss their latest historical novel, The Woman With No Name. Set in England in the 1940’s and based on a true story, the novel is about Yvonne Rudellat, a French woman in her mid-40’s who’s estranged from her husband Read More
In Once We Were Home, award-winning author, Jennifer Rosner, writes a compelling novel following four children who were displaced and sent into hiding during WWII, how their lives changed in the aftermath of war, and their emotional journey back to their roots. While the characters are fictionalized, their experiences were true of many Jewish children during this time. For Rosner, Read More
National bestselling and award-winning author, Katherine Reay, joins us to talk about her 11th published book and newest historical novel, The Berlin Letters: A Cold War Novel. The story centers around Luisa Voekler, a CIA code breaker, who was separated from her father as a young child after the rise of the Berlin Wall, but travels back to East Berlin Read More
USA Today bestselling author, Heather Webb, sits down with us to discuss her latest historical fiction and 9th published novel, Queens of London: A Novel. Set in London in 1925, Queens of London tells the story of Alice Diamond, aka “Diamond Annie,” the leader of the notorious Forty Elephants gang, the first all-female crime syndicate in Britain. Hot on her Read More
Medical doctor and assistant professor of pediatrics at The George Washington University, Mojgan Ghazirad, sits down with us to talk about her autobiographical, historical fiction novel, The House on Sun Street. Set in Iran, The House on Sun Street tells the story of a young girl named Moji and the hardships her and her family went through during the time Read More
New York Times bestselling author and award-winning historian, Katherine Howe, chats with us to discuss her latest pirate adventure tale, A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself. A True Account is a dual narrative, historical fiction that begins in 1726 in Boston, Massachusetts. Hannah Masury, a young woman in her late teens, is the protagonist, Read More
Lawyer and university administrator at Troy University, Allen Mendenhall, visits Writer’s Voices to discuss his debut novel, A Glooming Peace This Morning. Categorized as Southern Gothic, the story is set in the 1970’s in the fictional town of Andalusia in fictious Magnolia County. Mendenhall explains, “It’s really a retelling of Greek tragedy and more specifically, the drama between the characters Read More
Canadian bestselling author, Lesley Crewe, joins us to discuss her heart-warming, new novel, Recipe for a Good Life. Set in 1955, Recipe for a Good Life follows the life of Kitty, a mystery novelist living in Montreal, Canada, who is suffering from writer’s block and decides she is done writing any more detective novels. This news sends her publishers into Read More
In Down the Steep, Chicago author, A.D. Nauman, takes us into 1960’s Virginia during the Jim Crowe era and tells the story of young Willa McCoy, a 13-year old girl who deeply admires her father, a member of the Klan, but comes to learn the reality of what he actually stands for. Nauman elaborates, “So in the book, Down the Read More
In The Human Trial, award-winning novelist, Audrey Gale, tells the remarkable story of Randall Archer, an underprivileged adolescent-turned-Harvard student with great ambitions of becoming a pathologist. Set in the 1930’s Depression era, “The story is about a young man from a violently abusive home who happens to be absolutely brilliant… he’s finished high school by the age of 16… and Read More
In Brother Maria, poet and playwright who writes under the pseudonym of Brother Ludovico, tells a story set in 14th century Italy during the time of the largest and most fatal pandemic in recorded human history, the Black Death. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by publisher Rodney Charles, the tome is a medieval historical fiction and follows a pious, reverent Read More
Multi-award winning novelist, Hannah Lynn, visits us to discuss her first historical fiction novel, Athena’s Child. Her story, which is a retelling of the myth of Medusa, was the 2020 Gold Medalist at the Independent Publisher’s Award. As for what drew her to write this version of the ancient tale, Lynn said, “…I was drawn to it because, I think, Read More
Writer, speaker, educator and amateur baker, Aimie Runyan, chats with us to discuss her seventh published novel, A Bakery in Paris. Set in dual timelines, Runyan’s story follows Lisette Vigneau, a baker in 1870’s Paris, and Micheline Chartier, a student enrolled in a famous baking academy post World War II. ” Runyan explains, “A Bakery in Paris deals with women Read More
Romance and women’s fiction author, Donna Hill, chats with us to discuss her newest novel, a historical fiction, titled I Am Ayah: The Way Home. The story begins in Manhattan where we meet aspiring photographer, Alessandra Fleming, who receives an unexpected phone call one day that her estranged father is in the hospital. Alessandra decides she must go back to Read More
Internationally bestselling author, Bryn Turbull, visits Writer’s Voices to share her latest historical fiction, The Paris Deception. Set in Nazi-occupied Paris, her novel follows two women, Sophie, an art conservator, and her estranged sister-in-law, Fabienne, a bohemian artist, as they work together to replace stolen “Degenerate” art, a collection of modern art specifically hated by Hitler and the Nazis, with Read More
Litigator and author, Logan Steiner, joins us to share her fascinating debut novel, After Anne: A Novel of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Life. Her story is a fictionalized account of the life of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the famed Canadian author of the beloved Anne of Green Gables series, and tells of Maud’s marriage to a Presbyterian minister, the personal struggles she Read More
In The Hidden Life of Aster Kelly, Katherine A. Sherbrooke tells the alluring tale of Aster Kelly, a runway model, who heads to Los Angeles with aspirational dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Inspired by her own mother, the story is told in dual timelines, beginning in the late 1940’s to the mid 1970’s, and set in both old Hollywood Read More
Award-winning author, Elizabeth Shick, stops by to discuss her debut novel and winner of the 2021 AWP Prize for the Novel, The Golden Land. A historical fiction set in dual timelines, “The story is about…Etta, she’s the narrator. It’s first person and she’s grieving the death of her grandmother, her Burmese grandmother, who she had a very complicated and difficult Read More
Author of Boston Globe’s best-selling novel, Clover House, Henriette Lazaridis, shares with us her newest book, Terra Nova. Set in 1910, Terra Nova is a historical fiction that chronicles the incredible tale of Edward Heywoud and James Watts, two Antarctic explorers who are racing to the South Pole, and Edward’s wife, Viola, the woman who loves them both. While the Read More
Author of book reviews, essays, and short fiction, Martha Anne Toll, visits us to talk about her debut novel, Three Muses. Three Muses is the esteemed winner of the Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction and tells the story of John, a Holocaust survivor, and Katya, a prima ballerina, and the fateful events that led them to one other. “The Read More
Author, painter, and sign language interpreter, Eileen Brill, joins us to discuss her debut novel, A Letter in the Wall. The idea for the novel came in 2007, when her and her family moved into her current home and an electrician stumbled upon a letter he found within the wall. The letter was addressed to a person in New Jersey Read More
J Fremont’s historical novel, Magician of Light, tells the story of renowned French jeweler and glass designer, Rene Lalique. “He was just such a prolific artist that you could just go on and on and on about everything that he did and so that was one thing when I wrote this is I had to, kind of, pick and choose Read More
Author and internal medicine physician, Lydia Kang, joins us to talk about her WWII, historical spy novel, The Half Life of Ruby Fielding. Her story follows the lives of brother and sister, Will and Maggie Scripps, both of whom work for the war effort in 1940’s New York City. “One of the characters, Will Scripps, in the book he is Read More
Award-winning author, Vanessa Hua, joins us to discuss her bestselling, historical novel, Forbidden City. Set in 1960’s China, Forbidden City takes place in the time before, during, and after the Cultural Revolution, and is centered around Mei Xiang, a young villager, who is recruited to be a dancer for the Chinese Communist Party leader, Chairman Mao. “So the novel begins Read More
Author of two acclaimed memoirs, Annette Libeskind Berkovits, joins us to discuss her debut novel, The Corset Maker. The story follows the life of 12-year old Rifka Berg and tells of her extraordinary journey beginning in pre-World War II Poland, then to Palestine, through the Spanish Civil War, and finally to post-war Paris, all the while facing antisemitism and violence. Read More
Ruta Sepetys – I Must Betray You
In I Must Betray You, New York Times best selling author, Ruta Sepetys, writes a historical fiction thriller set in communist Romania in 1989. Sepetys said, “…it follows the story of a 17-year old high school student, who is blackmailed by the Romanian secret police to become an informer for the Communist regime. They expect this young man to betray Read More
“For anyone who has been intrigued by this time period and these people from the Hamilton musical or from other books about that time period, biographies of Hamilton or Adams, this is a different take; a look from a feminine perspective and really a lot of fun.” Love, Theodosia, Goldstein’s historical fiction debut, tells of the romance between Theodosia, the Read More
The Silence of Scheherazade, written by Turkish novelist Defne Suman, was first published in 2015 in Turkey and Greece. It made its English language debut in August of 2021. Set in the ancient city of Smyrna, the story is about four families whose lives intertwine during the decline of the Ottoman Empire, as told by a mysterious narrator named Scheherazade. Read More
“Beheld is very timely for this time of year because we’re coming right up on Thanksgiving… which in our, sort of, culture is a celebration of a myth of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and that is the subject matter of this historical novel, Beheld.” The story centers around the death of Dorothy Bradford, first wife of governor William Bradford, Read More
In the Bohemians, Jasmin Darznik writes about Dorathea Lange, the great American documentary photographer known for her Depression-era work and her iconic photograph, Migrant Mother. Her story begins with the arrival of Lange in San Francisco in 1918, where her passion for photography was just growing. “She came to San Francisco as a young woman and she was a bohemian Read More
Galia Gichon joins Writers Voices for a lively discussion of her novel – The Accidental Suffragist “What has come up in so many of these conversations, like I did a podcast in Georgia, I did a podcast in Texas just really around the book … and they say “How’s this book relevant today?” – because it really did happen a Read More
Liza Nash Taylor – All in Good Faith
Historical novelist Liza Nash Taylor talks about her latest work – All in Good Faith – and how she manages writing from two perspectives. ” It’s funny for me My writing process is – I’ll sit down and some days I feel like I can write dialog , I can write a scene in dialog. And some days I feel Read More
Alka Joshi – The Secret Keeper of Jaipur
Alka Joshi returns to Writers Voices with the second installment of her historical fiction trilogy – The Secret Keeper of Jaipur. She talked with us about her novels and her writing process. ” I am not a good person for routines. I’ve never been good with routines. So for me the best thing to do is just sit with the Read More