Showing results by publisher "Black Rose Writing" in Biographical Fiction

In 1941, Manila, Philippines was the hidden gem of the Far East and set to become an independent sovereignty in a few short years. On December 8, 1941, immediately following the Pearl Harbor attack 5,200 miles away in Honolulu, the Japanese Imperial Army bombed the city of Manila and began an occupation that would last more than three years and culminate in a battle for the capital city that would go down as one of the deadliest in World War II history.

March, 1366. Amid the chaos of a war-torn Spain, Geoffrey Chaucer—page to King Edward III and the son of a wine merchant—finds himself thrust into the heart of a boiling conflict between two brothers: King Pedro the Cruel of Castile and his half-brother, Enrique Trastámara. But Chaucer’s task is far from simple. Sent as a reluctant spy by the king, he must locate the elusive mercenary Sir Hugh Calveley and persuade him to change sides in a war that could alter the fate of kingdoms.

Land Where My Fathers Died is the story of a young man's search for identity, love, and his place in the world. While incarcerated six years for a murder he never committed, Jo Shelby Ferguson lost his only family in a highway accident. Upon his release from the Mississippi state penal farm, a trunk, the only earthly possession left to him, yields several bundles of old letters. Upon reading the first letter, he discovers they are written by his great-great-great grandmother.

Beginning in 1930s Germany and based on their real lives, four cousins as close as siblings—Bettina, Trudi, Gustav, and Gertrud—share the experiences of the young, including first loves, marriages, and children. Bettina, the oldest, struggles to help her parents with their failing business. Trudi dresses in the latest fashions and tries to make everything look beautiful. Gustav is an artist at heart and hopes to one day open a tailoring shop. Gertrud, the youngest, is forced by her parents to keep secrets, but that doesn’t stop her from chasing boys.

From a working-class family, Scotsman Andrew Cunningham stewards for wealthy travelers aboard elegant cruise ships of the early 20th century, but he resents those who flaunt their inherited wealth. New Yorkers Florence and Bradley Cumings, first-class passengers traveling aboard Titanic, are the exception, and the three discover an ancestral connection.

The family of Lord Francis Seaforth lives under the shadow of a dark prophecy. Over a century ago, Coinneach Odhar, known as the Brahan Seer, foresaw the demise of the Seaforth line. There is little doubt among Scottish Highlanders that the end of the dynasty is drawing near. Mary Mackenzie, eldest daughter of Lord and Lady Seaforth, is determined to enjoy the privileged life which seems her birthright. But after her father accepts the British governorship of Barbados, Mary experiences an awakening of conscience.

When 16th-century printers Henri and Bertrand Dubois find a stack of letters among their grandmother's memorabilia, they realize their lives are about to change, for in those missives is incontrovertible proof that the legend of the lost chronicles of King Alfred is no legend at all. Publishing those chronicles would be the coup of a lifetime, elevating not only the brothers' prestige among publishers in two kingdoms but also their position in society. But first, they have to find them.

England, 1787. Mary Wollstonecraft is an avowed spinster. At 28, she moves to London to live independently as a writer. With her publication of A Vindication for the Rights of Woman a few short years later, she emerges as a leading figure for women's equality. But when a humiliating faux pas threatens her reputation, Mary travels to Paris to write about the French Revolution, where she unexpectedly falls in love with American adventurer Gilbert Imlay.

When dreams collide with war, survival becomes the ultimate performance. In October 1916, eighteen-year-old Josephine Therese Marzynski leaves Boston for Berlin to pursue her dream of studying opera at Germany's most prestigious music conservatory. Living with family friends and immersing herself in German culture, she finds unexpected beauty and friendship in the heart of enemy territory. But when America enters the Great War in April 1917, Josephine's world transforms overnight-from welcomed student to enemy of the state.

In 1877, the Paris art scene is very competitive for men but nearly impossible for thirty-three-year-old Mary Cassatt, an American woman. Bored by traditional methods of painting, she admires the work of avant-garde painters, especially Edgar Degas. So, when Edgar visits Mary's studio to view her paintings, she is exhilarated by his invitation to join him, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and other Impressionists in the collective.

Hannah Bloom dreams of the day she’ll have chased away all those doubts and worries that plague her and be free to call herself a poet. In her everyday life, she works in the business she and her husband, Jake, founded together. While their two young daughters are away at summer camp for the first time, Hannah expects to have time for her poetry. But life has other ideas.

If you loved Landscape of a Marriage by Gail Ward Olmsted, you'll absolutely adore Katharine's Remarkable Road Trip. In the fall of 1907, Katharine decides to drive from Newport, Rhode Island to her new home in Jackson, New Hampshire. Despite the concerns of her family and friends that at the age of 77 she lacks the stamina for the nearly 300-mile journey, Katharine sets out alone.

Vivienne Holland, an enormously talented yet mentally fragile woman, comes of age in mid-century America and dreams of becoming a famous writer. However, trapped by the restrictions of pre-feminist society, a scientifically limited medical system unprepared to cope adequately with her mental illness, and her own tragic family background, she faces daunting obstacles.