Historical Fiction Diary

Remarkable Diaries traces the history of the diary in all its forms, from ancient times to the present day. It brings together historical and literary diaries, artists' sketchbooks, explorers' journals, and scientists' notebooks. Discover what is was life to build a pyramid, sail the seas with Magellan, travel into the heart of Africa, or serve on the Western Front. Find out how writers and artists planned their masterpieces and how scientists developed their groundbreaking theories.

Lord Darcy is the quintessential Englishman: wealthy, titled, impossibly proper, and horrified that a pack of Americans has inherited one of England's most respected dukedoms. But his manners, his infamous self-restraint, and his better judgment fly out the window when he finds himself with the maddening American girl next door.

Thus begins Mycroft Holmes’s valiant, if irregular, attempt to chronicle his doings. Rediscovered in 1976 and now fully translated from an obscure code, Mycroft’s diaries reveal that a brother’s lot is not always a happy one, especially when that brother happens to be London’s only consulting detective. In this humorous look at the world of Sherlock Holmes through Mycroft’s eyes, one question always remains: will Sherlock ever get a proper job?

This unique and gripping document contains the recently discovered diaries of a German businessman, John Rabe, who saved so many lives in the infamous siege of Nanking in 1937 that he is now being honored as the Oskar Schindler of China. As the Japanese army closed in and all foreigners were ordered to evacuate, Rabe mobilized the remaining Westerners in Nanking and organized an "International Safety Zone" which guaranteed safety to all unarmed Chinese by virtue of Germany's pact.

It's been a decade since Kate and Cecelia foiled Napoleon's plot to reclaim the French crown. The cousins now have estates, children, and a place at the height of wizarding society. It is 1828, and though magic remains at the heart of the British Empire, a new power has begun to make itself felt across England: the steam engine. As iron tracks crisscross the countryside, the shaking of the locomotives begins to disrupt the workings of English magic, threatening the very foundations of the Empire.

When an earthquake brings Annie Lark's Missouri house down on top of her, she finds herself pinned under the massive roof beam, facing certain death. Rescued by French fur trapper Jacques Ducharme, Annie learns to love the strong, brooding man and resolves to live out her days as his "River Wife". More than a century later, in 1930, Hedie Rails comes to Jacques' Landing to marry Clement Ducharme, a direct descendant of the fur trapper and river pirate.

In the wake of her father's death, Rose Newlin finds solace in her work as a book restorer. Then, one rainy Connecticut afternoon, a struggling painter appears at her door. William Lomazzo brings with him a 16th-century treatise on art, which Rose quickly identifies as a palimpsest: a document written over a hidden diary that had purposely been scraped away. Yet the restoration sparks an unforeseen challenge when William - a married man - and Rose experience an instant, unspoken attraction.

What if Eve, the mother of all humankind, had blogged? What if she had shared her discoveries of the newly formed world, her experiments as the first scientist, and her travels as the first explorer? What if she shared the secrets of assisting the first man without damaging the first fragile male ego? What if we could enjoy with her the first falling in love? Perhaps she did. Perhaps we can. Perhaps somehow Mark Twain plucked that first "blog" out of the cosmic ether....

England, 1441: Lady Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester, hopes to become Queen of England before her interest in astrology and her husband's ambition leads their enemies to accuse her of a plot against the king. Eleanor is found guilty of sorcery and witchcraft. Rather than have her executed, King Henry VI orders Eleanor to be imprisoned for life.

Elizabeth and Gordon Tregowarth begin their married life on Duffield Station in Skippers Canyon in 1887. When tragedy strikes, Elizabeth’s life spirals into an unimaginable horror. The story then jumps a hundred years to the current owners of Duffield Station and follows their turbulent, traumatic and ever changing life on the high country station. A chance discovery, by a visitor to the farm, creates a link to the past. This helps to unravel the mystery of the tragedy that Elizabeth and Gordon suffered hundred years earlier.

Can their love withstand the trials of war? Georgiana Darcy and Edward Fitzwilliam want only to be together. But when the former Emperor Napoleon escapes from his exile on the Isle of Elba, Britain is plunged into renewed war with France...and Edward is once more called away to fight. To be with the man she loves, Georgiana makes the perilous journey to Brussels, in time to witness the historic downfall of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

Love Letters of Great Men follows hot on the heels of the film and collects together some of history's most romantic letters from the private papers of Beethoven, Mark Twain, Mozart, and Lord Byron. For some of these great men, love is "a delicious poison" (William Congreve); for others, "a nice soft wife on a sofa with good fire, & books & music" (Charles Darwin). Love can scorch like the heat of the sun (Henry VIII), or penetrate the depths of one's heart like a cooling rain (Flaubert).

Margaret Dashwood learned from her older sisters - sensible Elinor and romantic Marianne - that the path of true love is rarely easy or smooth. And yet Margaret grew up dreaming of one day finding love and romance of her own. Now, smarting from the pain of a broken engagement, Margaret has traveled to stay with her now-married sisters in order to heal.

It is after knowing countless women that Don Juan is convinced by the Marquis to keep a diary, and it is here within its pages that he reveals his greatest adventures and the Arts of Passion he mastered. But what finally compels him to confess everything and risk losing his life, livelihood, and honor is the most perilous adventure of all: the irresistible fall into the madness of love with the only woman who could ever make him forget all others.

Written with a lively pace, plenty of action without being bogged down. A deliciously fun read of adventure, insights into the human condition, full of sarcasm and wit. Have a look inside and come on this journey with a reluctant alien time traveller, imprisoned on Earth. I have been writing all my life, a fan of Douglas Adams, Tolkien and their ilk. This is my first novel, in short novel format, and I hope there will be many more. I would love your feedback.

Emmaline MacKenzie, only daughter to the famed MacKenzie family that founded McLeary, Iowa, grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth. She was groomed to be an asset to any man who was chosen by her father. Having graduated from finishing school in the early 1900s, Emmaline was the epitome of a well-behaved woman even though in her heart she leaned toward the values of the suffragettes who marched so that modern women could enjoy equality. It wasn’t long after the marriage to her father’s business partner that Emmaline found out the hard way that life was not a happily ever after fairytale.

As headmistress of the Scarfield Academy for Young Ladies, Miss Charlotte Boscastle is tasked with keeping her charges free from notoriety. But when Charlotte's diary goes missing, she can't imagine having her most intimate secrets fall into the wrong hands. Although the confessions in the diary he found spark his interest, the Duke of Wynfield has every intention of returning the journal. But when Gideon's encounter with Charlotte takes on an unexpectedly passionate nature, his indiscretion causes a scandal that only marriage can cure.

From the million-copy-selling author of The Roman Mysteries comes a nail-biting time-travel adventure in Roman London - where past meets present. Billionaire Solomon Daisy is obsessed with the skeleton of a blue-eyed girl from Roman London. He has managed to invent a time machine so that he can go and find her, but it's estimated that for each hour spent in the past, the time traveller's life will be shortened, so Solomon recruits a potential child time traveller: Alex Papas, a 12-year-old boy who knows a smattering of Greek and Latin.

While on his first hunt with his father, young Kimbo is kidnapped from the jungles of Africa to become part of the 19th-century Virginia slave trade. Sold like property to various masters, he makes his escape after he's entered into a boxing match against a big man named Barnyard Willie. In the midst of his escape, he comes upon a lost little White girl, and as he tries to help her, a family of kidnappers descend upon them and grab both him and the girl, until "nobody" sets them free.

A Pandora's box opens when reporter Andy Carmichael, too light skinned for acceptance by blacks and too dark skinned for acceptance by whites, is sent to Georgia to interview Miss Penbrook, an icon of Southern literature. From her deathbed, the mysterious Miss Penbrook gives Andy journals that reveal a surprising twist - her story and his own meld into one.