Bluebells

Thank you to everyone who took advantage of last week's offers on Most Beautiful Princess - I hope you enjoy the book!

The bluebells are out at Temple Newsam and the woods are awash with them, like a beautiful blue ocean! My Bichon, Bertie, had a lovely walk in the spring sunshine...and rolled in 'duck muck' by the lake...

Today

Today for UK Kindle readers MOST BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS - A NOVEL BASED ON THE LIFE OF GRAND DUCHESS ELIZABETH OF RUSSIA, available for only 99p between 8 a.m. and midnight!

For UK Kindle Readers...

As the last special offer of Most Beautiful Princess - A novel based on the Life of Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, applied only to US Kindle readers, I have been able to arrange a similar offer for UK Kindle readers on Saturday, 26th April. The book will be available for only 99p between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Happy St. George's Day!

Happy St. George's Day!

Special offer on the Kindle version of my novel, Most Beautiful Princess, based on the life of Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, running today for 24 hours from 8 a.m. P.S.T. 

The book will be available to American readers for just 99 cents - a saving of over $8 ; and, all being well, a similar reduction will be available for readers in the UK.

 

 

 

 

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

As tomorrow, 23rd April, is the feast of St. George - patron of both England & Russia - I am running a special offer on the Kindle version of my novel, Most Beautiful Princess, based on the life of Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia. For 24 hours from 8 a.m. P.S.T. the book will be available to American readers for just 99 cents - a saving of over $8 ; and, all being well, a similar reduction will be available for readers in the UK.

The Enclosures & Children at Work

 

 The Fields Laid Waste - Available on Easter Sunday for only 99 cents on Kindle!

Easter Offer

As a special offer for Easter, on Easter Sunday, 20th April, between 12.00 a.m. and 11 p.m. P.S.T., my historical novel, THE FIELDS LAID WASTE will be available for Kindle readers in the U.S. and hopefully the U.K. for just 99 cents! Please feel free avail yourself of this Easter offer!

The Truth About Queen Victoria

I am partway through a fascinating book, “Censoring Queen Victoria” by Yvonne M. Ward, which tells of the two men who were chosen to edit the earliest editions of Queen Victoria’s letters – and clearly, you could not have chosen two less appropriate characters! These two men, Esher and Benson, in the sway of Edward VII, had no understanding whatsoever of women, and certainly no understanding of the Queen, and therefore omitted virtually all her maternal references to her children, which show her concern for them, concentrating instead on the men who played an important role in her life. In fact, so misogynistic were they that they more or less reduced the important role she played not only within her own family but also in the country at large to something quite minor. It is a fascinating book, which I highly recommend! My own forthcoming book, in which I aim to demonstrate that, far from being tyrannical, neglectful or cruel parents, Victoria and Albert were forward-thinking and in many ways ahead of their time, will soon be available. With this and the fascinating ‘Censoring Queen Victoria’, I sincerely hope that the era of constantly criticising Albert and Victoria is drawing to an end and making way for a more realistic and accurate picture of these well-meaning and imaginative parents!

The Crimson Field

What a brilliant opening episode to the new BBC Drama series “The Crimson Field” – a story of the volunteer nurses in the First World War. So little has been presented in the past about these women, many of whom came from backgrounds that left them ill-prepared (but then who could be prepared for such horror?) for the work they were about to undertake. I had never thought before of the resentment felt towards these volunteers by the trained nurses who were already working in the field, and the entire programme rather reminded me of the amazing work of the little-known Marie Simon, a woman from Dresden who overcame a great deal of opposition from the military authorities to establish female nurses in the base hospitals during the Franco-Prussian War. History is written by the victors, but much of history was, in the past, also written by men who often overlooked the part played by courageous women in major events. This series looks set to be absolutely enthralling – thank you to the writers, the actors and to the BBC for such a wonderful programme!

Thank you!

Thank you so much to every single one of the lovely people who bought "Queen Victoria's Granddaughters" yesterday! Thanks to you, the book made it to Number 8 in Amazon's overall rankings and well over 2,000 copies were sold in the first few hours alone. I am deeply grateful to everyone who bought it, and to everyone who has previously bought it or any of my other books (or who will in the future). It is a very beautiful experience to know people are reading your words and I deeply appreciate every reader.
 
Thank you so very much!

Special Offer on Queen Victoria's Granddaughters

Available Here

Today for one day only Amazon is holding a promotion of my book 'Queen Victoria's Granddaughters 1860-1918' for Kindle readers in the UK...Only 99p - do please avail yourself of this opportunity!

A Lovely Description of the Empress Frederick

I just received a wonderful gift of an original article from the Strand Magazine from 1895, which is an interview with Empress Frederick (Vicky) about her beautiful home at Kronberg (as in the previous post). Every one of the books on the library shelves, it says, was placed there only after the Empress had read it, and there is, too, a wonderful description not only of the many charitable works she carried out virtually unnoticed but also of her appearance and voice.

“Her Imperial Majesty’s appearance is not now so familiar in England as that of other members of the Royal Family; and, in my opinion, photographs do not do justice to her. She possesses a charming geniality of expression and a particularly kindly look about the eyes in which respect she resembles the Prince of Wales. When moved by the recital of some sorrow or trouble, sympathy imparts great pathos to her voice – at all times a pleasant tone.”