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Sunday, March 30, 2014

Why I Write the Way I Do

I love historical fiction. 

In fact, I love all types of historical fiction, from epic Gone With the Wind-type sagas to historical mysteries like Gary Corby's The Pericles Commission to read-through-the-night dramas in the style of Kate Quinn's Mistress of Rome or Stephanie Dray's Lily of the Nile trilogy. I read A LOT of historical fiction, and have since I was in high school, maybe even before

But why do I write historical fiction? And why do I write it the way I do?

For the same reason I teach high school history: to make people care about history. 

It would be a whole lot easier for me to hand out worksheets on Julius Caesar or pop in a History Channel special on the French Revolution. Instead, I doodle-lecture the fall of Rome and run simulations where I get to cut off my students' heads via guillotine. (The guillotine is made of cardboard and yarn... No students were really harmed in the making of this simulation.)


As for the writing side, I once had an agent reject the manuscript for Daughter of the Gods because she claimed that Hatshepsut's story was too fast-paced and dramatic. 

My response: To cackle with glee. 

Why? Because that was precisely what I'd intended. I want readers glued to the pages of my novels like an episode of The Borgias or Game of Thrones. 


People like Hatshepsut, Theodora, Genghis Khan, and Alexander the Great led incredible lives, and I want my readers to curse me in the morning for all the sleep they lost when they were instead reading about the slaughter at the Nika riots, Genghis pouring molten silver down someone's throat, or Alexander's mass wedding celebration at Susa. (I swear he could have submitted to Guiness for that one.)  

Do I focus on violence, romance, and any other weird-things-that-sound-stranger-than-fiction but actually happened? 

Hell yes.   

Now what about accuracy? All that little stuff like what the heck people ate in 13th century Mongolia or what kind of linen Hatshepsut wore? It would be so much simpler if I didn't have to research the exact layout of 4th century BCE Tyre for Alexander the Great to siege, or which beauty products his various wives might have used to soften their skin.  (Swan fat, ground lentils, and powdered deer antler, in case you're wondering.) But what's the point of writing history if you're not going to get the details right? (Side note: my final revision before I send the manuscript to my editor is one solely to insert crazy historical facts I've found while researching. That is, hands-down, my favorite part of writing.)

So I do my absolute best to be accurate about the big events and the tiny details, write in a way that won't make modern readers feel like they're slogging through Shakespeare (who I love, but honestly, Hamlet doesn't make for a really fun read), and if I'm lucky, make people walk away from my books with an appreciation for a period in history they might not have known much about. 

And that's why I write historical fiction.  

Monday, March 10, 2014

5 Star Review: Girl on the Golden Coin




My Review: I've been eagerly awaiting the release of Girl on the Golden Coin since last year, and this book definitely delivered all the drama, romance, and intrigue I was expecting! Frances Stuart is portrayed as honorable and virtuous, yet she's able to manipulate not only King Louis XIV and Charles II along with a whole host of courtiers. I've read several other Restoration-era novels, but this was the first one that really brought the full cast of historical characters fully to life: not only the kings and Frances, but also Barbara Palmer, Queen Catherine, and even the future King James. A remarkable and well-written novel!

Synopsis (From the publisher): Impoverished and exiled to the French countryside after the overthrow of the English Crown, Frances Stuart survives merely by her blood-relation to the Stuart Royals. But in 1660, the Restoration of Stuart Monarchy in England returns her family to favor. Frances discards threadbare gowns and springs to gilded Fontainebleau Palace, where she soon catches King Louis XIV’s eye. But Frances is no ordinary court beauty, she has Stuart secrets to keep and people to protect. The king turns vengeful when she rejects his offer to become his Official Mistress. He banishes her to England with orders to seduce King Charles II and stop a war.

Armed in pearls and silk, Frances maneuvers through the political turbulence of Whitehall Palace, but still can’t afford to stir a scandal. Her tactic to inspire King Charles to greatness captivates him. He believes her love can make him an honest man and even chooses Frances to pose as Britannia for England’s coins. Frances survives the Great Fire, the Great Plague, and the debauchery of the Restoration Court, yet loses her heart to the very king she must control. Until she is forced to choose between love or war.

On the eve of England’s Glorious Revolution, James II forces Frances to decide whether to remain loyal to her Stuart heritage or, like England, make her stand for Liberty. Her portrait as Britannia is minted on every copper coin. There she remains for generations, an enduring symbol of Britain’s independent spirit and her own struggle for freedom.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Review: The Debt of Tamar


Synopsis
 During the second half of the 16th century, a wealthy widow by the name of Doña Antonia Nissim is arrested and charged with being a secret Jew. The punishment? Death by burning. Enter Suleiman the Magnificent, an Ottoman “Schindler,” and the most celebrated sultan in all of Turkish history. With the help of the Sultan, the widow and her children manage their escape to Istanbul. Life is seemingly idyllic for the family in their new home, that is, until the Sultan’s son meets and falls in love with Tamar, Doña Antonia’s beautiful and free-spirited granddaughter. A quiet love affair ensues until one day, the girl vanishes.

Over four centuries later, thirty-two year old Selim Osman, a playboy prince with a thriving real estate empire, is suddenly diagnosed with a life-threatening condition. Abandoning the mother of his unborn child, he vanishes from Istanbul without an explanation. In a Manhattan hospital, he meets Hannah, a talented artist and the daughter of a French Holocaust survivor. As their story intertwines with that of their ancestors, readers are taken back to Nazi-occupied Paris, and to a sea-side village in the Holy Land where a world of secrets is illuminated.

Theirs is a love that has been dormant for centuries, spanning continents, generations, oceans, and religions. Bound by a debt that has lingered through time, they must right the wrongs of the past if they’re ever to break the shackles of their future.

My Review
I'm fascinated by anything set in Turkey so I was eager to read this unique take on Suleiman the Magnificent's assistance to the European Jews. Dweck has a lovely way with words that truly brought Istanbul to life: a villa on the Bosphorus, the lush gardens, and even the synagogues. There are several intertwined stories within this novel, taking the reader from Lisbon to Istanbul and then to Paris, and I actually found myself wanting to spend more time with many of the characters before moving onto the next storyline. All in all, The Debt of Tamar is an enjoyable story about faith and love across the decades. 
 

Buy the Book

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About the Author

Nicole Dweck is a writer whose work has appeared in newspapers and magazines across the country.
As a descendant of Sephardic (Spanish) refugees who escaped the Inquisition and settled on Ottoman territory, Dweck has always been interested in Sephardic history and the plight of refugees during the Spanish Inquisition. The Debt of Tamar, her debut novel, was a two-time finalist in the UK’s Cinnamon Press Novel Award Competition.
For more information visit Nicole’s website. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Ice Cream Cake with Five Famous Women

In honor of Women's History Month, I thought I'd invite five famous historical women to talk about politics, world conquest, and men over for peanut butter chocolate ice cream cake.

Barring myself from inviting the usual suspects (Hatshepsut, Theodora, Sorkhokhtani, etc.), here are my invitees and why they're on the exclusive guest list:

1. Catherine the Great: Why? Because she's a freaking rock star. We all know she had scads of affairs, but she also likely had a hand in overthrowing her (loser) husband, oversaw the downfall of Pugachev's rebellion, and was pen pals with Diderot and Voltaire (who I absolutely adore).



2. Boudicca: I first came across Boudicca when reading Manda Scott's glorious novels on the woman warrior. Granted, Boudicca's story doesn't have a happy ending, but the woman stood up to all of Rome. That alone entitles her to a slice of ice cream cake.



3. Berenice, daughter of Herod Agrippa I: Daughter of one king, sister to another, and mistress to Emperor Titus... What's not to love? In addition, there's the salacious rumors that she had an affair with her brother, leading me to suspect she's yet another powerful woman maligned by history.



4. Roxana, wife of Alexander the Great: Okay, I have an ulterior motive for this one, seeing as how Roxana is one of the main characters in my fourth book. I'd dearly love to gossip with her about Alexander and his pal Hephaestion, and how Roxana ended up being such a ruthless witch after Alexander died. 


5. Roxelana, wife of Suleiman the MagnificentYet another not-so-kind woman in history, I'm fascinated by her because she's from Istanbul (well, originally from the Ukraine) and she made Suleiman fall madly in love with her and then became one of the most powerful women in Ottoman history.


So tell me, which women would you invite to your dessert smorgasbord?