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Weekly Roundup of History, Archaeology and Writing Wisdom Dec 8-14

Around the web this week: Doggy humor, HF author news fr James Rollins, Rebecca Cantrell, Jess Steven Hughes, Shona Patel, Odysseus’s journey & why historical fiction matters.

Review of Daughters of the Nile, by Stephanie Dray on NYJB

“Intimacy amidst the giants”– Stephanie Dray’s novel about Selene, Cleopatra’s daughter, set during the Augustan Age, ranges between Rome and the kingdom of Mauretania in northern Africa. My review published in the New York Journal of Books.

Review of Covenant with Hell by Priscilla Royal

Priscilla Royal’s latest mystery finds Prioress Eleanor and Brother Thomas on a pilgrimage to Walsingham to mend Eleanor’s troubled soul. Royal takes on the notion of self-righteous religiosity that’s used to cover personal failings and sins. She also deals with a more subtle theme that she’s explored before—how to live true to oneself when who you are is rejected by your world.

Weekly Roundup of History, Archaeology and Writing Wisdom Nov 9-16

Mummies, hemlock & other poisons, ancient libraries, tracking folktale origins and an excellent WWI book by Elizabeth Speller. Everything that caught my interest on the web this week.

Review of Shadow on the Crown, by Patricia Bracewell

At age fifteen in 1002, Emma came from Normandy to marry the much older King Aethelred. Bracewell brings back to life this often forgotten English queen through Viking invasions and jealous rivalries.

Weekly Roundup of History, Archaeology and Writing Wisdom Oct 6-13

Here’s what I found interesting this week–a varied assortment from good historical fiction reading to foodie history to writing advice to archaeology, and a bit of humor thrown in.