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Historical Fiction Author Spotlight

Take a trip back through time with these novels that blend fact and fiction. The titles in our Historical Fiction Author Spotlight feature stories that unfold against the backdrop of some of history’s most prominent events, with protagonists interacting with some of the world’s most famous, fascinating and fearsome personalities.

Eva Stachniak, author of The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great is one of history’s most fascinating rulers --- a monarch whose 34-year reign brought Russia into the modern industrial world, whose affairs were the scandal of her court, and who truly embodied the ideals of the Enlightenment. Drawing on letters, diaries, and on-the-ground research in St. Petersburg, Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo, award-winning author Eva Stachniak delivers a passionate novel that illuminates the early life of one of history’s most enigmatic and powerful women.

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Sharyn McCrumb, author of The Ballad of Tom Dooley: A Ballad Novel

A literary triumph --- what began as a fictional re-telling of the historical account of one of the most famous mountain ballads of all time became an astonishing revelation of the real culprit responsible for the murder of Laura Foster.

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Francine Rivers, author of Her Daughter's Dream

Growing up isn't easy for little Carolyn Arundel. With her mother, Hildemara, quarantined to her room with tuberculosis, Carolyn forms a special bond with her momma, Marta, who moves in to care for the household. But as tensions between Hildie and Marta escalate, Carolyn believes she is to blame.

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Sharyn McCrumb, author of The Devil Amongst the Lawyers: A Ballad Novel

 In 1935, when Erma Morton, a beautiful young woman with a teaching degree, is charged with the murder of her father in a remote Virginia mountain community, the case becomes a cause célèbre for the national press.

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Mitchell James Kaplan, author of By Fire, by Water

Luis de Santángel, chancellor to the court and longtime friend of the lusty King Ferdinand, has had enough of the Spanish Inquisition.

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Francine Rivers, author of Her Mother’s Hope

The first in an epic two-book saga by beloved author Francine Rivers, this sweeping story explores the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters over several generations.

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Sandra Brown, author of Rainwater

From acclaimed bestselling author Sandra Brown comes a powerfully moving novel celebrating the gifts, generosity and foresight of a great bygone generation.

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Jeanne Kalogridis, author of The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine De Medici

Confidante of Nostradamus, scheming mother-in-law to Mary, Queen of Scots, and architect of the bloody St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Catherine de Medici is one of the most maligned monarchs in history.

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Louis Bayard, author of The Black Tower

Welcome to Paris, c. 1818. After the execution of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, and the death of their son, the Dauphin, the Bourbon monarchy has at last been restored.

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C. W. Gortner, author of The Last Queen

Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country’s throne, has been for centuries an enigmatic figure shrouded in lurid myth. Was she the bereft widow of legend who was driven mad by her loss, or has history misjudged a woman who was ahead of her time?

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