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When a wounded captain of the Navarre army arrives on Faire Isle in 1572 and calls for an audience with Daughter of the Earth (aka healer, or witch) Ariane Cheney, he provokes the wrath of the eponymous queen of France, Catherine de Medici, in this readable historical romance by the author of The Bride Finder. The captain's queen, Jeanne of Navarre, has second thoughts about marrying off her son to Catherine's daughter (a union arranged to smooth troubled Catholic-Protestant relations); the next day, she's dead. Ariane reluctantly agrees to help the captain prove that Catherine murdered Jeanne with a cursed pair of gloves, although the healer has plenty on her plate already, what with caring for her two younger sisters, the innocent Mirabelle and the conniving Gabrielle, and fending off the advances of her new neighbor, the lusty, muscular Comte de Renard.

Skilled in passion, artful in deception, and driven by betrayal, she is the glittering center of the royal court–but the most desired woman of Renaissance France will draw the wrath of a dangerous adversary.

Paris, 1575. The consort of some of Europe’s most influential men, Gabrielle Cheney is determined to secure her future by winning the heart of Henry, the Huguenot king of Navarre. As his mistress, Gabrielle hopes she might one day become the power behind the French throne. But her plans are jeopardized by Captain Nicolas Rémy, a devoted warrior whose love Gabrielle desires–and fears–above all. She will also incur the malevolence of the Dark Queen, Catherine de’ Medici, whose spies and witch-hunters are legion, and who will summon the black arts to maintain her authority. With the lives of those she loves in peril, Gabrielle must rebel against her queen to fulfill a glorious destiny she has sacrificed everything to gain.

Alive with vivid period detail and characters as vibrant as they are memorable, The Courtesan is a sweeping historical tale of dangerous intrigues, deep treachery, and one woman’s unshakable resolve to honor her heart.

The Silver Rose: A Novel by Susan Carroll
(book 3 of 3)

From Brittany’s fog-shrouded forests to the elegant dark heart of Paris’s royal court, one woman must challenge a country’s destiny–and her own dangerous fate.

France, 1585. She is the youngest and most powerful of the “Sisters of Faire Isle,” women known far and wide for their extraordinary mystical abilities. Skilled in healing and able to forecast the future of those around her, Miri Cheney has returned to her ancestral home to take refuge from a land devastated by civil war–and to grieve for her family, driven to exile.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Would there be a whole spin-off industry if the original wasn't simply amazing? If you haven't read it yet (or lately), start here.

 

See all of our Jane Austen recommendations here

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The red tent is the place where women gathered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and even illness. Like the conversations and mysteries held within this feminine tent, this sweeping piece of fiction offers an insider's look at the daily life of a biblical sorority of mothers and wives and their one and only daughter, Dinah. Told in the voice of Jacob's daughter Dinah (who only received a glimpse of recognition in the Book of Genesis), we are privy to the fascinating feminine characters who bled within the red tent.

Not only authentic as history . . . .  It is convincing as fiction . . . .  The story of a sacrifice that had real meaning and will forever be remembered . . . .  A fine and important novel."
-- The New York Times

"Adventure and action, the suspense of danger, shocking,  touching human relationships...a climactic human  story." -- Los Angeles  Times.

The author of 20th-century heartstring dramas (Season of Shadows, 1991, etc.) travels back to prehistory (as in The Last Warrior Queen, 1983) to center her exemplary heroine in the Brittany of 4372 B.C.--and in the heart of Earth Mother goddess worship. To the east of the peaceful, creative peoples, however, are the patriarchal tribes of the steppes, where women--and life itself--are little valued. Doom is on the way, and lovers from two cultures find themselves in the thick of horror. 
-- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The sequel to Mackey's Year the Horses Came transports us to northeastern Rumania and western Ukraine some six to eight thousand years ago. Drenched in blood sacrifice and hatred, the villain Changar vows revenge against Marrah and her gentle lover Stavan, a prehistoric New Age man and rightful heir to the Hansi throne, which has been usurped by the dead chief Zuhan's evil bastard son Vlahan, a devotee of rape and destruction. In the spirit of ancient adventure novels, this fictional clash of good and evil abounds with visions, omens, and goddesses and, like its predecessor, is based on archaeologist Marija Gimbutas' goddess-centered studies of old Europe. With an ending that readies readers for another in a series, it deserves a place on the shelves next to the works of Jean Auel. Whitney Scott --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

In this third installment, Mackey (The Year of the Horses; The Horses at the Gate) continues to chronicle the life of her fifth-century heroine, Marrah, Queen of Shara and the matriarchal Motherpeople. Attention is shifted in this version from the adventures of Marrah and her nomadic lover, Stavan (of the bellicose patriarchal Hansi), to those of their children. The story opens with the kidnapping of Keru, Marrah's son, by her Hansi nemesis, Changar. The boy is spirited away and raised by Changar to live as a Hansi?the nomadic, bellicose, patriarchal enemies of the Motherpeople.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

When Charis learns that her father has betrothed her to the hated Roman governor Festinus, she enlists the aid of her brother and flees to Alexandria. There, disguised as a eunuch, she begins to study Hippocratic medicine under the tutelage of a patient Jewish physician. The young woman excels as a healer and her fame spreads. Political intrigues force her to frontier outposts of the Roman Empire where she practices as an army doctor. She succeeds in maintaining her disguise until she is captured and held prisoner by the Goths during their uprising against the Romans. Bradshaw has superbly re-created the political, social, and intellectual climate of the 4th century A.D. and the attitudes towards woman and medicine in this excellent work for most public libraries. Joan Hinkemeyer, Englewood P.L., Col.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Bestseller Gregory captivates again with this expertly crafted historical about the beautiful young Virgin Queen, portrayed as a narcissistic, neurotic home-wrecker. As in her previous novels about Tudor England (The Queen's Fool, etc.), Gregory amasses a wealth of colorful period detail to depict the shaky first days of Elizabeth I's reign. The year is 1558, an especially dangerous time for the nation: no bishop will coronate Henry VIII's Protestant daughter, the treasury is bankrupt, the army is unpaid and demoralized.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sisterly rivalry is the basis of this fresh, wonderfully vivid retelling of the story of Anne Boleyn. Anne, her sister Mary and their brother George are all brought to the king's court at a young age, as players in their uncle's plans to advance the family's fortunes. Mary, the sweet, blond sister, wins King Henry VIII's favor when she is barely 14 and already married to one of his courtiers. Their affair lasts several years, and she gives Henry a daughter and a son. But her dark, clever, scheming sister, Anne, insinuates herself into Henry's graces, styling herself as his adviser and confidant. Soon she displaces Mary as his lover and begins her machinations to rid him of his wife, Katherine of Aragon.  Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Philippa Gregory is one of the best historical novelists writing today, and she's at the top of her game with this book. As in the Meridon trilogy and "Wise Woman," she infuses her historical romance with a touch of mysticism. She takes the daring approach here of making Mary the sympathetic Tudor and Elizabeth the nasty one, and creates a most likeable heroine in Hannah Green, a Jewish clairvoyant in boy's garb who is a nice mixture of audacity and empathy.   ---K. McDermott

When her parents are killed by an earthquake, 5-year-old Ayla wanders through the forest completely alone. Cold, hungry, and badly injured by a cave lion, the little girl is as good as gone until she is discovered by a group who call themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear. This clan, left homeless by the same disaster, have little interest in the helpless girl who comes from the tribe they refer to as the "Others."  --Sara Nickerson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Auel's second installment in the Earth's Children series does start out fairly slow. Not only does the plot follow Ayla and her newly-found animal companions but it also focuses on Jondalar, the handsome blonde-haired, blue-eyed wonder, and his brother, Thonalon. Most of the first half of the book tends to make you want to skip pages to get to "the good part" however, again, there is a wealth of knowledge about the Ice Age throughout the pages. Auel even uses several pages to discuss flint knapping. For those of you who aren't interested in the historical perspective, you may find the book rather dull until Ayla and Jondalar finally meet.   -S. Duden

This first volume is a story of two young brothers and junior officers coming of age in the same Roman legion on the German frontier. While some words are devoted to the politics and history of the time (A.D. 72 under Vespasian), the focus is on the brother's' rivalry for honors and women. The problem is that if you read this you will wish there were many more volumes in the series, but I have a feeling something bad happened to author or publisher. The name for the 2nd vol., set in Britain, changed. Some reviewers pan the third volume. The series stops far short of having the Appius brothers fight their way through all the frontier provinces (as the broad maps imply), and over as many women, and eventually try for the Imperium? ---tertius3

This second book of Hunter's phenomenal trilogy ranges from Wales to Pompeii. Superb research supplies the setting for this exciting adventures, told by a master storyteller. I'd love to see reprints of these books issued.  -Linda A. Malcor

Quo Vadis for our times! Well, not exactly. It's been awhile since anyone tackled the Roman Empire as entertainingly as Gillespie has done in this book, a nearly-straight historical novel which should please readers of fantasy, too. Germanic Auriane is a combination of the noble, natural savage, and the heroine marked from birth for great deeds. Roman Marcus Julianus is the personification of the highest civilized, republican Roman values. Both are typical and atypical of their societies, fighting for what each believes to be just.

Gillespie (The Light Bearer) continues the adventures of her larger-than-life Germanic heroine, Auriane. In the first installment, Auriane, the daughter of a great "hero-chief" of her native Chattian tribe, was captured by the Romans and trained as a gladiator before being rescued by Marcus Arrius Julianus. Now, seven years later, Auriane and Marcus live in the frontier province of Germania Superior on a sprawling estate with their daughters, Avenahar and Arria Juliana. The idyllic interlude is interrupted when the Chattians, who are being threatened by another Germanic tribe, the Cheruscans, look to Auriane for their salvation. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.