Sunday, November 12, 2023

The Signare of Gorée - Cover Reveal


Before she could blink, she was 48 years old and pined for glimpses of her hometown. And it was just as well she was deep into 1840s Senegal, a world where few have traveled before, while those that have truly seen it are long gone. But we can make them return with a little imagination, can't we? We can create magical characters and spin a mystery. 

You must know that life is short and time is running out for me. This is why these days, my blog is sparse in content. All my efforts, you see, are poured into writing, researching, keeping myself fed, staying mildly connected to the increasingly narcissistic 21st century, and time-traveling to places that will hopefully inspire my future novels.

Not much to say, still working on honing my upcoming historical novel set in Senegal, but in the meantime, here is the full cover by graphic designer extraordinaire, Ross Robinson. 

I love it and hope you do too.

The Signare of Gorée will be released in September 2024 

You can already add it to your to-read shelf on Goodreads, and if you read books on Kindle, it is available for pre-order on Amazon, worldwide.



Folgar...on Gorée island.

  

Monday, July 10, 2023

The Signare of Gorée - a historical mystery set in 1840s Senegal


I have a new book coming out in 2024 and here is the cover. I hope you like it.  

1840s Senegal seems worlds apart from my current home in Brittany. While writing this book, I could not be further estranged from Victorian England where I set the first Maurice Leroux detective novel, Calista. 

This story takes place two years earlier than Calista. It is 1846 and Inspector Maurice Leroux finds himself on Gorée Island alongside my ancestor, Lieutenant Leopold Candeau who will be his Watson during the investigation.   

Nothing pleases me more than assembling puzzles and breathing life into historical figures: Gorée's métis mayor, Armand Laporte; his daughter, the signare Constance Laporte; her husband, the Bordeaux entrepreneur Hilaire Maurel; the famous signare Anna Colas Pépin (who inherited THE house you might have heard of whenever you read about Gorée); and glimpses of one of Senegal's first catholic priests, Abbé Boilat from whom we have acquired many illustrations from this period.

Yet I am most enthralled by my lead signare, Angélique Aussenac. The lady on the cover. She is already one of my favorite characters EVER! 

For months now, I have been researching my birth country's history, its people, their beliefs and that fascinating period existing between the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in 1817 (soon after the Congress of Vienna) and France's abolition of slavery in 1848. It is a period of shifting mentalities, of moral and economic reckoning, a period that would forever change the pulse and purpose of Gorée Island. 

I have spoken so little about this novel and its premise because it is still my secret place. I will try to add to this post over time. 

There is a trailer on Youtube for now. 


The rest I guard it close to my chest. 





Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Review: Order of the Dragon - Book One by Lisa J Yarde

A 15th century illustration depicting an equestrian figure 
previously identified as Cillei Borbála
one of the key founders of the Order of the Dragon


Order of the Dragon : Book One by Lisa J. Yarde is the fictionalised biography and character portrayal of Dracula's father, Vlad II Dracul, also known as Vlad the Dragon. Grand and colourful, this historical novel spans the years 1408 to 1432, from Vlad the Dragon's youth to his early years as a father. Those curious about the real Dracula or Vlad the Impaler might be tempted to skip this book and wait until the other book instalments, but this would be a mistake. The life and times of Vlad the Dragon are so richly fascinating that readers would miss out on a journey of epic scale.

This novel is beautifully written and what lingers most for me is the depth of language and insights. There are many quotes that moved me, like,

“What was life and a man’s existence, except a test of his faith and resolve?”

Because this is after all a novel about a historical male figure, I want to stress that I really enjoyed the accent on Vlad’s character study. A thoughtful quote from an antiquity philosopher introduces each chapter, hinting to the passage’s themes and the life lessons that are to be learned, presumably by Vlad. Our main character begins his arc as a discontented and impulsive youth who has yet to acquire patience, gratitude, and strategic acumen. Throughout many years he will nurse political ambitions over his brothers, deep resentment toward the Turks, and later pay heed to a prophecy announcing his betrayal. He will be wary, not only of his lifelong enemy but also of his best friend. This last trait imbues one of the final scenes with a power I rarely felt in any novel. The passage is extremely well-written in its suspense and the complex emotions it stirs. It was a well-executed climax, drawing together all Vlad had experienced, and rendering his reactions highly plausible. Be ready for a surprise.




Never perfect, but of admirable character is our Vlad. The book’s in-depth study has the quality of reinforcing our curiosity about the son. For what could cause a boy raised by a decent father to eventually become a monster, as hinted by a name like Vlad the Impaler? It is hard not be curious about how events will unfold in subsequent books, if only to answer this question.

But onto the story. It takes place in a period wrought with war between Christendom and the Ottomans and this same tension is palpable in Vlad's intense hatred for the Turks who wage regular attacks into his homeland of Wallachia.

When we first meet Vlad, he is attempting a daring escape from home with his beloved twin sister, Arina. There are many things Vlad reproaches his father, the Voivode of Wallachia, not least that Prince Mircea has sold Arina as a betrothed to secure an alliance with the Turks. Arina's fate will haunt Vlad for many years to come.


Buda Castle from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493

Vlad is sent to Buda Castle in Hungary where begins his lifelong servitude to King Zsigmond. Through training, battles, tournaments, banquets and more adventures, he befriends an incredible cast of historical characters and through his eyes, we live through key dramatic events in Eastern European history.

During his service to King Zsigmond, the wicked queen Cillei Borbála will taunt Vlad and cause him great harm. Yet I found this woman captivating for several reasons, one being that Vlad soon learns of the Order of the Dragon, a secret confederacy of knights at the service of King Zsigmond which according to rumours was jointly formed by the queen. In all, I grew to respect Borbála and hope to read more of her in the next book in the series.


Milena Olivera a Serbian princess, also known as Despina Hatun
 became the wife of Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I in a bid for peace.
Both were captives of Timur after the Battle of Ankara (1402)

Romance-wise the story delves wonderfully into Vlad’s conflicted relationship with two fascinating women, one of which is no other than Cneajna of Moldavia who is gifted with strange prophetic powers and fated to become Dracula’s mother. Yet what I found most touching was the novel’s reverence toward friendship. Each of Vlad’s friends – the awe-inspiring Polish black knight, Zawisza Czarny, the love-thwarted and later canonized Queen Jadwiga of Poland, the warm and mystical Milena Olivera (Mileva Olivera Lazarević) an ex-consort to an ottoman sultan, and the Bulgarian noble, Fruzhin - are each worth their own novel. They were a treat to discover because Lisa J. Yarde is adept at painting well-rounded peripheral characters.


Stibor of Stiboricz, a member of the Order of the Dragon 
who will train Vlad in combat.


Those who enjoy culture and travel through literature will find pleasure in Order of the Dragon. It begins in today’s Romania, moves onto Hungary, today’s Slovakia, spends a while in Konstanz in Germany, later in Bohemia or today’s Czech Republic, followed by Poland, depicts a major battle in Serbia, travels to what is now Nuremberg in Germany to finally end in the birth town of Dracula, Sighișoara in Transylvania.

A novel of this breadth and depth is never easily undertaken and this speaks volumes about the author’s talent and historical research skills. When the journey draws to a close, one feels both enriched and curious to know more about the period. Thank goodness, there will be other books in the series.


Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Le Secret de Chantilly - la biographie romancée du cuisinier Antonin Carême

 


Disponible à temps pour l'anniversaire de Talleyrand le 2 février 2023, cette nouvelle édition du Secret de Chantilly sera au rendez-vous pour la rentrée littéraire.

Chacune de ses pages revisitée avec amour et une nouvelle couverture aux couleurs de l'ancien régime : cette nouvelle édition sera en vente exclusivement sur Amazon. 

Description du livre :

Paris, 1792. Abandonné et livré à lui-même dans les rues de la capitale, Marie-Antoine Carême n’a que huit ans. Il s’aventure dans le monde de la restauration et au cours des années se distingue en pâtisserie.

Le mystérieux Boucheseiche, maître d’hôtel du ministre Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, promet à Carême de lui révéler le Secret de Chantilly.

Devenu chef de cuisine au château de Valençay, Carême tombe sous le charme de l'énigmatique Talleyrand. Il se plonge dans un conte de fées – un tourbillon de princes, de princesses, de sortilèges, et de châteaux.
Pâtisserie et scandale sont au rendez-vous.

Mais lorsqu' advient la chute de Napoléon, tout bascule. Carême devrait-il encore se fier à Talleyrand, cet être insaisissable, ce diable boiteux pour qui personne ne paraît compter ?

Orphelin de la Terreur, génie assailli par le doute, Carême attendra des années avant de découvrir enfin, le Secret de Chantilly.

Ce roman est le récit d’un enfant qui releva le défi de sa naissance pour devenir une légende de la gastronomie française. Il raconte surtout l’amitié inimaginable entre deux êtres appartenant à deux mondes entièrement différents.

De Paris à Valençay, du congrès de Vienne à Londres, Carême nous fait voyager à travers ses aventures parfois piquantes, souvent teintées d’humour, mais qui incarnent la France – son histoire, son patrimoine et son grand art culinaire.

 

Le Secret de Chantilly est également disponible en anglais (paru 28 novembre 2021).







Friday, October 28, 2022

The Signare of Gorée - my new historical mystery

Suddenly it is almost 2023 and you awake with a new historical mystery in the works.

Why not, you think. Why did I not think of it before? I'll return to the place of my birth, in a different time. 

Senegal, you fill my thoughts. I am loving the research and the return to the familiar.

I have called this novel The Signare of Gorée

The setting is the 1840s on the French colonial island of Gorée and detective Maurice Leroux is a touch younger than he was in my gothic novel, Calista.

Summoned by the French navy to investigate a series of horrific murders, Maurice is soon haunted by the strange deaths on the island. 

One...by one...

The undeserving must die.