Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week. And I am adding what I purchased, swapped, etc.Okay you might be getting sick of Susan Howatch, since here I am with the third mailbox of Susan Howatch. I myself will be upset if I don't like Susan Howatch. But after four books, this will be all of my Susan Howatch editions for awhile until I get a chance to READ them, which I don't foresee until next Spring.
Misfit says she's good, and my mom has borrowed some, so we'll see what Mom says. When I gave my mom the books from last week, she said "NO MORE QUEENS!" which is why she took the Howatch books. Poor thing, I think I've ruined her for life, I hope I can sneak in some more royalty books to her at a later date but I'll let her enjoy her reprieve.. for now.
Here we go:
From Paperbackswap:
The Wheel of Fortune, Volume 1 & Volume 2 by Susan Howatch "At its center is Oxmoon, the family manor of the Godwins, which for four generations, from the glittering years before the first Word War to the present time, obsesses and haunts every member of the family, turning brother against brother, son against father, its changing fortunes inexorably linked to their, its decline mirroring the family's descent from Edwardian prosperity and social position to the straitened circumstances of middle-class life.For each member of the Godwin family, Oxmoon remains a prize, a challenge, a dangerous obsession, for its memories, its beauties and the power and wealth its possession conveys. When at last a Godwin heir restores it to its former grandeur, he does so at the cost of a crime that eventually leads him to his own mysterious death-a mystery that will be resolved only when a later Godwin sets out to seize Oxmoon for himself..."
The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette by Carolly Erickson "Imagine that, on the night before she is to die under the blade of the guillotine, Marie Antoinette leaves behind in her prison cell a diary telling the story of her life—from her privileged childhood as Austrian Archduchess to her years as glamorous mistress of Versailles to the heartbreak of imprisonment and humiliation during the French Revolution. Carolly Erickson takes the reader deep into the psyche of France’s doomed queen: her love affair with handsome Swedish diplomat Count Axel Fersen, who risked his life to save her; her fears on the terrifying night the Parisian mob broke into her palace bedroom intent on murdering her and her family; her harrowing attempted flight from France in disguise; her recapture and the grim months of harsh captivity; her agony when her beloved husband was guillotined and her young son was torn from her arms, never to be seen again.Erickson brilliantly captures the queen's voice, her hopes, her dreads, and her suffering. We follow, mesmerized, as she reveals every detail of her remarkable, eventful life—from her teenage years when she began keeping a diary to her final days when she awaited her own bloody appointment with the guillotine."
From the publisher, I finally received Susan Higginbotham's Hugh & Bess (thank you!)
"As the eldest daughter of the new Earl of Salisbury, young Bess de Montacute is anticipating a suitable match. When King Edward III and her father choose Hugh le Despenser, the son and grandson of disgraced traitors, as her husband, she is aghast. Meanwhile, Hugh must give up the woman he loves in order to marry the reluctant Bess. Far apart in age and haunted by the past, Hugh and Bess must somehow make their marriage work. But just as they grow closer together, they are threatened by a merciless enemy that endangers all whom they hold dear. Set against the chivalry and pageantry of the fourteenth-century court of Edward III, Hugh and Bess is a story of love and loss, of letting go of the past-and of embracing the future."
I won from A Reader's Respite (thanks, Michele!):
American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White: The Birth of the "It" Girl and the Crime of the Century by Paula Uruburu "Recounts salacious details of an early-twentieth-century crime that both shocked and gripped the collective public consciousness. A superstar by turn-of-the-century standards, Evelyn Nesbit, model, actress, and advertising creation, represented an idealized version of American womanhood. When her unbalanced millionaire husband shot and killed her lover, renowned New York architect and man-about-town Stanford White, the stage was set for a virtual media circus. All the decadent details revealed at the trial were devoured by a public just as hungry to see young, beautiful, and successful women crash and burn as they are today. Uruburu draws some valid comparisons between then and now in this tell-all biography of one of the first in a long line of tarnished “It Girls.” --Margaret Flanagan"
This post is scheduled to run a little early because I wanted to make room for the FANTABULOUS Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table Event which is starting today. WOO HOO Giveaways.. Interviews.. Guest Posts... Historical Fiction Fun for an ENTIRE WEEK! So check out the next posts to be bombarded with all sorts of Royal things! I've got Seven books up for grabs this week, each running for a week only. And open to book bloggers only.. so stay tuned, and enjoy my self-induced historical fiction madness this week from today till the 18th!
Amy of the BBAW wrote that for today's Daily blogging activity for the BBAW:
"The first day of BBAW, Monday September 14th, we encourage you to write a post thanking and spotlighting your favorite blogs that didn’t make the shortlists."
And that is what this whole week is about. Having fun with my fellow HF Bloggers with the special guest Posts and Interviews, and the giveaways open to book bloggers only! Enjoy!
I want to especially thank all the members participating in the inaugural event of the Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table. Thank you to taking my one little idea and making it into something big and rewarding for all of us. Biggest thanks goes out to Ms. Lucy to Enchanted by Josephine by constructing much of the technicalities of our event.
Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table Charter Members:
(The Burton Review) plus: Allie at Hist-Fic Chick, Amy at Passages to the Past, Arleigh at Historical-Fiction.com, Heather at The Maiden's Court, Lizzy at Historically Obsessed & Lucy at Enchanted by Josephine
Along with all my fellow Charter Members of HF Bloggers Round Table, I want to also thank the following HF Blogs for their continued inspiration, you are all the best HF blogs as well, & I am sorry that you did not get short-listed on BBAW, but you did in our eyes:
Best Historical Fiction Blogs:
And a couple of my favorite specific era related:
Marie Antoinette's Gossip Guide to the 18th Century
And an up-and-coming Best New Blog:
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