Historical Fiction | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Uri Full of Light by Holly Sortland

Capturing the root, growth and revelations of romance during a tumultuous time in history, Uri Full of Light by author Holly Sortland is a vivid cultural snapshot and a delicate exploration of personal evolution.

Readers are immediately introduced to Hannah and Uri, the former a bold young woman with a penchant for white lies and profanity, and the latter being one of the few Jewish boys in his school – well-trained in letting conflict roll off his shoulders, to a point. This first impression is an important foundation, setting the tone for much of the authenticity that bubbles over throughout […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-11-16T05:57:14+02:00November 15th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Historical Fiction|

Review: Plagues and Princes: The Great Mortality by Thomas Schultz

Destiny-starred lives collide in Plagues and Princes: The Great Mortality, a dark historical fiction novel set in medieval England. A powerful tale of death and betrayal boasting exquisite language, unforgettable characters, and a tangled knot of a plot, author Thomas Schultz delivers a bold first piece of his new trilogy.

Thomas de Parr is a free-thinking young man in a world that crushes such spirits; he is faithful to his maker, but also insatiably curious, and dangerously independent. Surviving human history’s most horrific plague is only the beginning of this unpredictable adventure, which pits this young nobleman against the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-11-24T08:05:31+02:00October 23rd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction|

Descent Into Hell by F. Della Notte

F. Della Notte opens a door to the rich traditions of old New York in Descent Into Hell, a captivating new novel about the Italian-American experience and the bonds that link us all.

Buddy, an unlikely half-Irish, half-Italian cop in the 1940s, is thrown into his own backyard to tackle a massive crime ring. The powerful family ties of this complex story make for a suspenseful tangle, while the relentless pace of the story will keep you gripped to the very end. As one might expect, it isn’t long before his new career and his own blood clash violently, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-10-23T02:13:12+02:00October 22nd, 2020|Categories: New Releases|Tags: F. Della Notte, Historical Fiction, Thriller|

Review: Summer in Gettysburg by Evelyn Landane

A brother and sister duo find themselves at the heart of their family’s oldest mystery in Summer in Gettysburg, a paranormal, time-jumping whirlwind by Evelyn Landane.

More than a century earlier, Summer Walker is trying to find some sense of peace in the bubbling cauldron of the Civil War, while also navigating the blushing waters of youthful romance. This richly written novel is set in two primary timelines, but the narrative arcs are tied closely by blood and family and an ancient house that holds many secrets, and more than a few ghosts.

The present-day plot feels like a […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-11-17T05:57:53+02:00October 9th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction|

Harvest Moon (By the Light of the Moon Book 4) by Jenny Knipfer

Two lost souls in search of timeless answers leave all they have known behind in Harvest Moon, Book 4 in Jenny Knipfer’s immersive and emotional By the Light of the Moon series.

The dual stories of Maang-ikwe and Niin-mawin show their vastly different experiences as indigenous people, but as their lives entangle, their natural alliance emerges. While navigating the perils of new social situations and cities, they both struggle to find a genuine balance between where they came from and who they are becoming.

Supported brilliantly by strong secondary characters and foils that leap off the page, rather than […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-09-22T03:34:23+02:00September 21st, 2020|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Historical Fiction|

Review: The Secret Diaries of Juan Luis Vives by Tim Darcy Ellis

Steeped in court drama, forbidden love, and the tension of dark history, The Secret Diaries of Juan Luis Vives is the swirling, beautifully penned new novel from Tim Darcy Ellis. Based largely on true events and figures, this intense tale shines a new light on the motives and machinations of English royalty in the mid-16^th century.

Juan Luis Vives, a “New Christian” fleeing from the shadow of the Spanish Inquisition, and the anti-Semitism that flowed so freely in the 1500s, is trying to survive and stay outside of suspicion in Bruges. A chance encounter with Sir Thomas More upends […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-09-24T07:10:10+02:00September 3rd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Historical Fiction, Tim Darcy Ellis|

Between Justice and Time by Victor P. Unda

Author Victor P. Unda masterfully blends genres in the tumultuous, Nazi-hunting thriller in Between Justice and Time. What begins as a young man’s childhood reflections on family and the uncertainty of growing up in the 1930s becomes a spiraling drama of survival and purpose in a war-torn world.

From a childhood in California and Chicago to young adulthood in Spain, readers watch the narrator grow up in awe of his father, the legendary Rick, and the mystique around his secretive work grows as the narrative shifts. Focusing more on Rick’s work, the novel bounces from Paris and Spain to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-07-30T05:44:58+02:00July 30th, 2020|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Historical Fiction, Thriller|

Sorrow Ledge by Kenneth Arbogast

America’s old scars and the fresh wounds of emotional turmoil are on full display in Sorrow Ledge, a visceral and beautifully penned novel by author Kenneth Arbogast. Set more than a century ago, in those fragile decades following the Civil War, this character-driven drama centers on an eclectic and unexpected collision of worlds – old enemies with persistent grudges, new allies, and a bleak landscape at a far edge of the world.

Ben and his wife Rebecca live on an isolated island off the coast of Maine, satisfied in their insular world after Ben’s bloody descent into the Southern […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-07-03T03:08:11+02:00July 2nd, 2020|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Historical Fiction|