Therein Lies the Pearl by Catherine Hughes

Looking for a historical novel that pulls you straight into the intrigue of the medieval world while giving centre stage to voices history all but ignores? 

Therein Lies the Pearl by Catherine Hughes is a compelling and beautifully told story that deserves a place on your reading list.

✔️ Set in the turbulent years surrounding the Norman Conquest

✔️ Told through the eyes of two women on opposite sides of the Channel

✔️ Full of political tension, quiet courage, and hard choices

✔️ Perfect for readers who enjoy character-driven historical fiction

Check out the blurb:

History books record the experiences of the powerful, the rich, the famous. Their voices

dominate the pages, commanding us to accept their perspective as truth. But what if we could hear the whispers of those who were never given a chance to speak? How would this affect our understanding of the past?

Normandy, 1064

Celia Campion, a girl of humble background, finds herself caught in a web of intrigue when Duke William commands her to work as his spy, holding her younger sister hostage. Her mission: to sail across the sea to Wilton Abbey and convince Margaret, daughter of Edward the Exile, to take final vows rather than form a marriage alliance with the newly crowned king to the North, Malcolm III of Scotland. Preventing a union between the Saxons and Scots is critical to the success of the Duke’s plan to take England, and more importantly for Celia, it is the only way to keep her sister alive.  

In this sweeping epic that spans the years before and after the Conquest, two women from opposite sides of the English Channel whisper across the chasm of time to tell their story of the tumultuous days that eventually changed the course of history.  As they struggle to survive in a world marked by danger, loss, and betrayal, their lives intersect, and they soon come to realize they are both searching for the same thing--someone they can trust amidst the treachery that surrounds them.  

Together, their voices form a narrative never before told.

If you enjoy immersive historical fiction with emotional depth, moral complexity, and forgotten voices brought vividly to life, this is a book well worth checking out. Pick up your copy HERE.

Award winning writer, Catherine Hughes is a first-time author who, from her earliest years, immersed herself in reading. Historical fiction is her genre of choice, and her bookshelves are stocked with selections from ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Europe as well as those involving New England settlements and pioneer life in America. After double-majoring in English and business management on the undergraduate level, Catherine completed her Master's degree in British literature at Drew University and then entered the classroom where she has been teaching American, British, and World Literature at the high school level for the last thirty years.

Aside from teaching and reading, Catherine can often be found outdoors, drawing beauty and inspiration from the world of nature. Taking the words of Thoreau to heart, "It is the marriage of the soul with nature that makes the intellect fruitful," Catherine sets aside time every day to lace up her sneakers and run with her dog in pre-dawn or late afternoon hours on the beaches of Long Island. When her furry companion isn't busy chasing seagulls or digging up remnants of dead fish, she soaks in the tranquility of the ocean setting, freeing her mind to tap into its deepest recesses where creativity and imagination preside.

In Silence Cries the Heart, Hughes’s first book, received the Gold Medal in Romance for the Feathered Quill 2024 Book of the Year contest, the Gold Medal for Fiction in the 2024 Literary Titan competition, and the 2024 International Impact Book Award for Historical Fiction. In addition, the Historical Fiction Company gave it a five star rating and a Silver Medal in the category of Historical Fiction Romance. The book was also featured in the February 2024 Issue 31 of the Historical Times magazine and was listed as one of the Best Historical Fiction Books of 2024 by the History Bards Podcast. Therein Lies the Pearl is her second venture into the world of historical fiction.

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The Block Room by Lloyd Harvey

The Block Room
By Lloyd Harvey

Publication Date: 28th June 2025

Publisher: The Book Guild Ltd

Page Length: 560

Genre: Historical Fiction / Dual Timeline / Thriller

In a small Lancashire town, two lives intersect with secrets buried deep within a century-old mill.

After serving in the Gulf War, Dev opens a bakery in an abandoned wallpaper mill, seeking peace and purpose. Meanwhile, Dani, haunted by her family’s troubled history, leaves Manchester and moves in with her grandmother, whose own past is tied to a scandal at the mill dating back to 1915.

As Dani and Dev grow closer, they uncover dark secrets that link Dani’s family to the mill. A hidden room within its walls holds answers to long-buried mysteries, from a love affair with a spy to a shocking betrayal. As events unfold, Dani must confront her own buried guilt, while Dev faces his unfulfilled feelings.

When past and present collide, can Dani and Dev find peace, or will history’s sins consume them?

Praise

“The Block Room” by Lloyd Harvey is a mesmerising novel that enchants readers with its richly woven narrative. With strikingly vivid descriptions, readers can easily visualise the unique settings and emotions that unfold. The protagonists are not only compelling but also deeply relatable, navigating a journey filled with twists and revelations. The intricate plot expertly intertwines suspense and intrigue, ensuring an engaging and immersive reading experience that lingers long after the last page is turned.

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Lloyd Harvey

After a decade as an architect, Lloyd Harvey became a stay-at-home dad, supporting his wife and two sons. During this time, he worked part-time and pursued hobbies like baking for the Women’s Institute and building theatre sets. Lloyd rediscovered his love for writing, resulting in his debut novel, The Block Room.

Editorial Book Review: The Doomsong Legend by J. G. Harlond

The Doomsong Legend 

By J. G. Harlond

Publication Date: 20th December 2025
Publisher: Penmore Press LLC
Print Length: 293 Pages
Genre: Mythical Fantasy

Drawing on Northern and Celtic myth, The Doomsong Legend explores power, responsibility, and survival as old certainties collapse and new paths emerge.

With quiet assurance and mythic resonance, “The Doomsong Legend” unfolds as a work deeply attuned to the rhythms of fate, inheritance, and moral responsibility. J. G. Harlond draws upon Northern and Celtic myth not as a decorative backdrop, but as living narrative structures through which questions of power, belonging, and choice are explored. The result is a novel that feels both ancient in its sensibility and strikingly alert to the human costs embedded within legend.

From its opening passages, the novel establishes an atmosphere of watchfulness and foreboding. Norna Silveryarn’s mist-weaving aboard the Guillemot is not merely an arresting image, but a declaration of intent: this is a story shaped by unseen forces, by acts performed quietly and with consequence. The mist that conceals the ship becomes emblematic of the wider narrative, in which protection and peril are often indistinguishable, and where what is hidden may be as powerful as what is revealed.

At the heart of the novel lies the entwined journeys of Finn and Seren, whose paths converge around the sword Doomsong — also known as Truthteller — a weapon whose significance lies not in conquest, but in discernment. Finn’s inheritance of the sword initially appears to mark him as a conventional heroic figure, yet Harlond quickly unsettles this expectation. Finn is no triumphant warrior, but a reluctant bearer of responsibility, shaped more by storytelling and reflection than by violence. His struggle is not to wield power, but to understand the burden that power imposes.

Seren’s arc provides the novel with its deepest emotional and moral current. Taken from her homeland and returned to it by chance, storm, and design, she exists at the margins of visibility — a girl who survives by being overlooked. Her oak-knowing, her ability to listen and perceive what is not spoken, is rendered not as a convenient gift, but as a form of attentiveness born of endurance. Harlond treats this ability with great care, allowing it to develop gradually and organically, so that Seren’s emergence as a Sword Warden feels earned rather than ordained.

One of the novel’s great strengths lies in its understanding of power as something that moves between people, accumulating in unexpected places rather than residing solely in positions of rank. Authority resides not only in great leaders and warriors, but in seers, ship-mothers, wise-women, and those who control knowledge and movement. Figures such as Norna Silveryarn and Gamma Garland occupy an ambiguous moral space: protectors who manipulate, guides who withhold, women whose care is inseparable from calculation. The narrative resists simplifying these roles, instead presenting power as something exercised within constraints, shaped by history, necessity, and fear.

The treatment of displacement and refuge is particularly effective. The refugees from the Cold North are not idealised victims, but fractured communities carrying rivalries, resentments, and dangerous ambitions with them. The threat posed by Taft and Arnie emerges not from their strength, but from their entitlement — a reminder that betrayal often arises from within, rather than from the expected external enemy. Against this backdrop, Seren’s increasing visibility becomes fraught with risk, as being seen brings both authority and danger.

Harlond’s world-building is richly textured, grounded in the material realities of travel, hunger, weather, and labour. Rivers, islands, forests, and sacred places are imbued with presence, and the natural world functions as an active participant in the story rather than a passive setting. Moments of the uncanny — mist, runes, prophetic transformations — are handled with restraint, allowing them to retain their mystery and weight.

As the narrative moves towards open conflict, the novel resists the lure of spectacle. Battles are less important than their consequences; leadership is shown to be as much about protection and sacrifice as command. The question of who should wield Doomsong, and to what end, becomes inseparable from the question of who must bear the cost of its use.

“The Doomsong Legend” is a thoughtful and morally attentive work of mythic fantasy. It is patient where other novels rush, and serious about the responsibilities its characters inherit. Rather than offering a simple resolution, it leaves the reader with a sense of continuity — of stories handed on, of choices echoing beyond individual lives. In doing so, it honours the traditions it draws from while carving out a space that feels distinctly its own.

Review by Mary Anne Yarde
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J. G. Harlond

Secret agents, skulduggery, sea voyages and a touch of romance . . . 

Creator of the infamous Ludo da Portovenere, J.G. Harlond (Jane) writes page-turning historical crime novels set during the 17th Century and World War II. Each story weaves fictional characters into real events. 

Jane also writes Viking-age historical fantasy drawing on Norse myths and legends.

Prior to becoming a full-time fiction author, Jane was involved in international education and wrote a number of school textbooks. 

After travelling widely – she has visited or lived in most of the locations in her novels – Jane is now settled in her husband’s home province of Andalucía, Spain.

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A story about bravery, conscience, and the power of one voice.

 

Looking for a February read that goes beyond easy romance and speaks to courage, conscience, and standing up for what is right? This powerful historical novel is one of those unforgettable stories.

💘 Why This Book Will Stay With You

✔️ A powerful historical story set in 1920s America
✔️ A courageous young heroine learning when—and how—to use her voice
✔️ A gripping exploration of conscience, family loyalty, and moral courage
✔️ A deeply moving look at friendship and standing up to injustice
✔️ Perfect for readers who appreciate thoughtful, emotional historical fiction with heart

Check out the blurb:

All her life, Esther Hopkins has been told she has a mighty fine voice.

Still, she can't believe her luck when just days after moving to town, she's invited to sing a solo at the 1923 Independence Day picnic. But the group sponsoring the picnic is not the benevolent fraternal order they claim to be. Worse, they've recruited her father, the town's freshly ordained Baptist minister, to become their chaplain. When they target the immigrant family of her new best friend, Esther must risk her father's anger, the KKK's revenge, and her family's safety to follow her conscience, salvage her friendship, and find the strength to speak truth to power even if it costs all she holds dear.

If you’re looking for a Valentine’s read that honours love, integrity, and bravery in the face of hate, this is a story that truly matters.

Buy One Fine Voice today on Amazon and experience a powerful story of courage, conviction, and the strength it takes to stand up for what’s right.

Rebecca Langston-George is the author of nineteen books for young readers including the globally popular For the Right to Learn: Malala Yousafzai’s Story. Though she’s long been known for nonfiction, her newest titles are both works of fiction. One Fine Voice is her first middle grade historical fiction while Rover Rolled Over is her first fiction picture book. A retired teacher credentialed in both single subject language arts for upper grades and multiple subjects for younger grades, Rebecca is a popular school presenter for all ages, encouraging students to investigate and tap into their personal interests when writing. She serves on the board of The California Reading Association and is the Co-Regional Advisor for SCBWI Central-Coastal California, helping other writers achieve their dreams. She splits her time between California’s scenic coast and its agricultural heartland, writing (and mostly rewriting) at one mile per hour on a treadmill desk. Read more at Rebecca Langston-George | Children's Book Author.

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Bluesky

Escape of the Grand Duchess by Susan Appleyard

Celebrated last year as a Book of the Year award winner, Escape of the Grand Duchess stands as a testament to the enduring power of historical fiction — reminding readers why stories rooted in the past can feel so urgently alive. This is a novel that invites readers not only to witness history, but to feel it.

Publication Date: 27th July 2025

Publisher: Ingenium Books Publishing Inc.

Page Length: 412

Genre: Biographical Historical Fiction 

Escape of the Grand Duchess by Susan Appleyard is a gripping historical novel that shatters the notion that royalty is synonymous with privilege and ease. At its heart is Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, the youngest sister of Tsar Nicholas II—a Romanov who defied a doomed destiny and survived.

Unlike her ill-fated brother and his family, Olga’s story is one of resilience, sacrifice, and daring escape. Trapped in a loveless marriage to a reckless gambler—who harbours secrets of his own—she finds hope in the arms of a dashing army lieutenant. But before she can claim her own happiness, she must first endure the brutal realities of World War I, where she serves as a nurse on the frontlines.

As the Russian Empire teeters on the brink of collapse, the infamous Siberian mystic Rasputin tightens his grip on the imperial court, setting the stage for revolution. With the Bolsheviks seizing power and the Romanovs marked for death, Olga faces an impossible choice: risk everything to stay or flee into the unknown with her true love and their children.

Rich in historical detail and driven by an unforgettable heroine, Escape of the Grand Duchess is a sweeping riches-to-rags tale of survival, love, and the strength it takes to forge a new life in the face of unimaginable upheaval.

Pick up your copy of

Escape of the Grand Duchess

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Susan Appleyard

Susan was born in England, which is where she learned to love English history, and now lives in Canada in the summer. In winter she and her husband flee the cold for their second home in Mexico. Susan divides her time between writing and her hobby, oil painting, although writing will always be her first love. She was fortunate in having had two books published traditionally. Since joining the ebook crowd, she has published nine books, some of which have won various awards.

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Escape To The Maroons by Mike Weedall

 

Escape To The Maroons
By Mike Weedall

Publication Date: August 19th, 2025

Publisher: Historium Press

Pages: 275

Genre: Historical Fiction

In 1792, an escaped slave, raised and living as white, is discovered and forced to flee into the Great Dismal Swamp.

Barely escaping a bounty hunter, a Maroons community of fugitive slaves rescues him. Over time, Nathanial comes to accept his true identity while fighting to overcome the suspicions of his new community. Because of his pale skin, he becomes a conductor on the underground railroad, slipping runners onto ships going north. On one of his missions, fate intervenes and places Nathanial's community at risk.

This little-known chapter in American history tells how escaped enslaved people gave their all to live free while creating a community and economy in one of the world's most unforgiving environments.

Pick up your copy of

Escape To The Maroons

HERE!

Mike Weedall

As the author of three books, Mike’s passion is finding the little-known stories of history and bringing them to life. History in school is too often events and dates. Mike seeks to discover the people who lived those events and reveal why those individuals made the decisions they did. Ultimately, there are stories to be mined, and who doesn’t love a good story?

In his soon-to-be-released historical novel “Escape To The Maroons,” Mike tells the little-known story of 1791 self-liberated slaves who chose to struggle for survival in The Great Dismal Swamp in their determination to live free. The term Maroons delineates areas where escaped slaves fled and could not be recaptured. It’s estimated that over 2,000 survived deep in the swamp around the turn of that century. 

His first book “Iva: The True Story of Tokyo Rose” describes the tragic life of Iva Toguri. Trapped in Japan during World War II, this Japanese American woman was forced to work for Radio Tokyo. Although she never participated in propaganda, the racial animus of post-war America led to her being falsely labelled as Tokyo Rose and prosecuted for treason. Through her incarceration and the ongoing discrimination heaped upon her, Iva never lost her courage and determination.

“War Angel: Korea 1950” was his second book that followed a reservist nurse thrust into the carnage of The Korean War. Serving as an operating room nurse in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, the real MASH and strength of a woman is revealed.  

Mike resides with his family in the Pacific Northwest where they enjoy experiencing the outdoors.

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