Book Launch Spotlight: The Women Who Clothed the Stuart Queens: Gender and Work in the Royal Wardrobe and the Fashion Marketplace by Sarah A. Bendall

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

This study explores for the first time the changing professions and roles of the women who worked to clothe six Stuart queens between 1603 and 1714: Anna of Denmark, Henrietta Maria, Catherine of Braganza, Mary of Modena, Queen Mary II and Queen Anne.

Queen Anne of Great Britain by Michael Dahl, typically dated to around 1702

Beautifully illustrated in full colour throughout, and using a wide range of written, visual and material sources, this book explores how changing patterns of work and consumption saw women become key producers, retailers and consumers of fashion during the 17th century, and illuminates the strong connections between the royal courts and London's fashion marketplace.

From royal wardrobes, workrooms and laundries to workshops and retail premises in London's bustling streets, Sarah A. Bendall highlights the integral role that women of multiple backgrounds played in the creation and maintenance of elite dress. The royal accounts show that this work was facilitated by migration, global trade, familial networks and changing guild structures, and that the patronage of queens and elite women was integral to supporting and promoting women's rise in the fashion trades as celebrated silkwomen, tirewoman, milliners and mantua makers.

The Women Who Clothed the Stuart Queens challenges understandings of women's work in the court, the household and the fashion marketplace, and shows how clothing played a key role in women's economic participation in 17th and 18th-century England more broadly. It offers fascinating insights for all those interested in the history of women and gender, fashion, material culture and consumption, and, of course, to all those interested in Stuart history.

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About the Author

Sarah A. Bendall FRHistS is an historian of fashion, material culture and women. Her work focuses on the production, trade and consumption of global commodities and fashionable consumer goods, particularly during the long 17th century. She also has expertise in historical dress recreation methodologies. She is a Senior Lecturer at ACU and was appointed as a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2023. Her work has been profiled in several media outlets including the Australian Financial Review, The Conversation and Daily Mail Online. She regularly appears as an historical fashion expert on Australian radio. Find out more at https://sarahabendall.com/ and find Sarah on Instagram, Twitter/X and Bluesly @sarahabendall.bsky.social

Historical Fiction Spotlight: Outlaw Knight (III): Romanslayer by David Pilling

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

The Roman Empire is shattered. Constantinople has fallen, and the armies of the Fourth Crusade march unchecked. Nothing seems able to halt their advance.

AD 1205. Philip of Cognac—bastard son of Richard the Lionheart—stands in the path of disaster. The Roman armies are scattered and broken. From the crumbling refuge of Nicaea, Philip and Theodore Laskaris struggle to rebuild an empire on the brink.

Sent on a perilous mission, Philip sails west to seek alliance with Bulgaria. Its ruler, Tsar Kaloyan—feared as the Romanslayer—is a ruthless warlord who despises the Romans. To save the empire, Philip must persuade him to set aside old hatreds before the crusaders strike the final blow.

Together, the fallen kingdoms may stand. Divided, 

they will be destroyed.

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About the Author

David Pilling is a writer and researcher, addicted to history for as long as he can remember. The medieval era has always held a fascination for him, perhaps because he spent much of his childhood exploring the misted ruins of castles in Wales. David also has a keen interest in the Byzantine Empire, the post-Roman period in Britain and the British & Irish Civil Wars. Follow David on Facebook, Twitter @RobeH2 and on Bluesky @robeh1979.bsky.social

New Book Launch: Jane Seymour: Patronage, Material Culture and Image Crafting (Lives of Royal Women) by Elizabeth Norton

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, was queen of England for only seventeen months, something which has accounted for the little interest shown in her by historians. In her lifetime, however, she was a significant political figure, while her legacy and memorialization extended beyond her early death following childbirth in October 1537.

Jane Seymour: Patronage, Material Culture and Image Crafting is the first full length academic study of Jane’s life and queenship. Using extensive archival research, it pulls together all of the surviving information to provide both a biographical and a thematic account. 

Chapters include a consideration of Jane’s queenship and political role, her material cultural environment, her household, her financial position and her religion, before also considering her afterlife and attempts to commemorate her both officially and unofficially. In doing so, the book banishes many myths that have grown up around the queen, most notably ideas of her passivity and powerlessness and also often repeated (but unsubstantiated) claims of her conservative religious outlook. This book presents a picture of Jane as an active and highly political queen consort.

The book is a valuable resource for students and established scholars since it adds considerably to knowledge of the queen and re-inserts her into the heart of the dynasty, while also drawing pertinent conclusions on sixteenth-century queenship.

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About the Author

Dr Elizabeth Norton lives in Kingston upon Thames, near Hampton Court Palace, with her husband and two sons. As well as her books she is carrying out academic research at King's College, London into the Blount family of Shropshire, contributing journal articles and giving papers at academic conferences and has appeared as an expert on television, including programmes for Sky Arts and the National Geographic channel.  Find out more as her website http://elizabethnorton.co.uk/ and find her on Twitter @ENortonHistory and Bluesky ‪@enortonhistory.bsky.social‬

Special Guest Post by Pam Lecky, Author of The Wild Atlantic Murders (2 book series)

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

From Book 1: Welcome to Westport, where the wild beauty of Ireland’s western coast 

hides deadly secrets…

Inspiration for The Wild Atlantic Murders Series

Talk about the past catching up with you! In a way, it has. Don’t get me wrong; I love historical fiction and will continue to write in that genre. However, when I recently contemplated ‘what’s next’, I couldn’t resist thinking about my roots, not only my family ones, but my reading habits as well.

Crime fiction has always fascinated me, but strangely enough, it wasn’t Agatha Christie’s books that caught my attention; it was PD James. I was a teenager when I read the first one, probably Cover Her Face. I was hooked straight away and continued to devour her books. Then I discovered Elizabeth George and Inspector Lynley. 

And when my father introduced me to Dorothy L Sayers and Lord Peter Wimsey, my addiction to crime fiction was complete. To this day, I love a good crime story or thriller. Interweaving characters, plots, and settings isn’t easy, but those authors whose work I fell in love with all those years ago had one thing in common: they did it effortlessly. Much as I love writing my Lucy Lawrence Mysteries, I wanted a new challenge, and so attempting contemporary crime fiction felt like the right direction to go in.

My original idea was a female PI series based in Dublin, with my main character visiting locations all over Ireland as she pursued cases. After much discussion with my editor, however, we agreed that my protagonist would be an amateur sleuth instead and would be based in a small rural community. And that is how Ali Brennan (landscape designer with a surprising talent for solving crime) and the village of Glenfinn came into being. In the first book, 

Ali moves to Mayo to set up a branch of the family business, but also to escape a disastrous relationship break-up with DI Aidan Cahill. She is soon joined by her nephew, Gavan, who has just dropped out of college.

Why a landscape designer, you ask? I wanted my protagonist to be a professional, running her own business, and as I studied horticulture and design with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), and had even built a show garden at the Bloom Festival in the Pheonix’s Park in Dublin, it is a world I am familiar with. It also offers a host of interesting scenarios that I fully intend to exploit (for murderous intent, of course!).

But when it came to location, I didn’t have to think twice. My mother hailed from a small village in Co. Mayo, in the west of Ireland. As a child, I loved to go there and have always felt it was my spiritual home. Over the years, I have explored and come to love the wild and rugged coast of The Wild Atlantic Way, of which Co. Mayo is only a small part. But again, links to family meant that the area around Westport and Clew Bay drew me in the most. 

There are many lovely villages and towns on the shore of the bay in which I could have landed my characters, but none had all the ingredients I was looking for. Glenfinn, although completely fictional, is a small coastal village located close to Ireland’s holy mountain, Croagh Patrick, and is inspired by many of those wonderful real places. It is now home (at least in my head!) to a whole host of interesting characters, some of whom may not live for very long… sadly!

Like most crime writers, for me the puzzle is everything. I wanted to create a locked-room type scenario, which is why the victim in The Clew Bay Detectives dies alone on a small island in the middle of Clew Bay whilst seal watching. On the surface, it looks like an unfortunate accident. John Clifford-Murphy was a diabetic and died because of it. But was that really what happened? 

When Ali is approached by the man’s wife, who can’t accept the Gardaí’s assertion that her husband’s death was a tragedy and nothing more, Ali’s innate curiosity gets the better of her, and she starts to ask questions. The ripples from the murder continue to affect the close local community, and once hidden secrets emerge, the danger to Ali and Gavan escalates. Then just when Ali thinks they have the answers, she is forced to confront a past she thought she had left behind, with near-tragic results.

The second book in the series, Murder in County Mayo, will be published in November, and pre-order is now available. When Grace Clark vanishes from an isolated farmhouse on the windswept County Mayo coast one bitter January morning, the Gardaí have their suspect within days: her partner, Cormac. But Ali Brennan is certain he's been framed. When a second body is discovered, she has only days to untangle a decades-old grudge before she becomes the killer's next victim...

The Body at Kincora Estate, the third book in the series, will be published in June 2027.

I hope readers will come to love this part of Ireland as much as I do, and over the course of the series I will explore the area too. Although this series is essentially cozy crime, it is at the harder end of the scale and reflects modern Ireland and its issues.

Pam Lecky

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About the Author

Pam is an Irish author of historical and contemporary crime and mystery, published by Storm Publishing and Avon Books UK (Harper Collins). Pam's bestselling Victorian murder mystery series features Lucy Lawrence, along with her trusty maid, Mary, and the enigmatic investigator, Phineas Stone. Lucy solves some nasty crimes along the way and although she is often a magnet for trouble, she invariably comes good in the end. The books are set in the UK and Europe during the late Victorian period. 

The Sarah Gillespie espionage series (trilogy) features an Irish woman working for MI5 during WW2. Pam has also written a standalone WW2 murder mystery, Under A Lightning Sky, set during the Blitz. 

The Bowes Inheritance, Pam’s debut novel, was awarded the B.R.A.G. Medallion; was shortlisted for the Carousel Aware Prize 2016; made 'Editor's Choice' by the Historical Novel Society; long-listed for the Historical Novel Society 2016 Indie Award; and chosen as a Discovered Diamond in 2017.

Pam’s current project is The Wild Atlantic Murders series, a contemporary Irish crime series (cozy crime with a bit of an edge!). The first book, The Clew Bay Detectives, was published in June 2026 and is set in Co. Mayo and features a landscape designer, Ali Brennan, who discovers she has a surprising talent for solving crime. Murder in County Mayo is slated for release in November 2026 and the third book, A Body at Kincora Estate, will be published in June 2027. Pam is represented by Thérèse Coen at Susanna Lea Associates Literary Agency, London. Pam is a member of the Historical Novel Society, The Crime Writers' Association and the Society of Authors. Find out more at https://pamlecky.com and find Pam on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky @pamlecky.bsky.social

Special Guest Post by Alison Morton, Author of HEROICA: Three women, three centuries, three reckonings (Roma Nova Thriller Series Book 12)

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Even the strongest state is vulnerable to its past: Three stories of the women of the Mitela family, descendants of the founders of Roma Nova, bound by blood and courage.

“What inspires you?” is a question I’m frequently asked in many guest posts, in podcast interviews, or at conferences. Perhaps the people asking are writers themselves, or wish to make a connection on an artistic and creative level or want to know the answer to life, the universe and everything. That last one’s easy: 42. (Apologies to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.) 

Let’s be serious. Well, for a moment.  I dread this question, not because I don’t want to reveal the secret identity of my silken-gowned muse, nor divulge her equally secret pearls of wisdom. Am I frightened she might run away, never to be seen again? No, I don’t want to let readers down with my answer. 

I confess – I don’t know. 

An inspiring thought or emotion can be anything and come from anywhere. For me, it’s like being ambushed. I often don’t have a clue until it drops into my head. When it does, it’s something shallow and mundane like being held on the phone in a queue, spotting a bargain or scoffing at a mistranslation at a tourist site. 

The long burn 

The Roma Nova books originated from a decades’ long fascination with Ancient Rome and women’s roles in the modern world but given it took more than thirty years to get the first words onto the computer screen (bypassing the typewriter), it can hardly be called a *moment* of inspiration. It was a slow-growing, but persistent, climbing plant. 

Fortuna, Capitoline Museum, Rome (Author photo)

Like all authors, whether they admit it or not, I drew on events, people and experiences from my life up to that moment to write that first book, INCEPTIO. We are all shaped by these experiences and by our background and values. 

Alison in the military 

There will always be a little bit of the author in her book however much any author claims to deny it. And if we don’t show that in our main character, we switch it into another prominent secondary character. We all live in our own little world at the centre of which is our own delightful/dreadful ego, so any self-expression like writing is bound to reflect it. 

Readers and bets 

After nine Roma Nova thrillers featuring tough and lively heroines, my readers demanded I write the foundation story of Roma Nova. Thus inspired, that spilled out into two books – JULIA PRIMA and EXSILIUM – set in the fourth century. 

In between, I wrote three modern thrillers based on Mel/Mélisende, a dual national Franco-British special forces heroine working for a European security service. Writing them was triggered (inspired?) by a bet from fellow author Conn Iggulden who had given me a fabulous front of cover endorsement for the fifth Roma Nova thriller, INSURRECTIO. 

So…HEROICA, out today(!) 

This new book of three stories was a case of inspiration via curiosity. I wanted to write a story featuring my original heroine, Carina, in one of her investigations. Her professional life wasn’t spent entirely on saving her country, but like most law enforcers had its fair number of routine cases. Of course, being Carina, the case turned out to be anything but routine.  

Why isn’t Revolution? a full-length novel? Because the story ended when it did. We can’t always insist on dragging a story out to 100,000 words when it doesn’t naturally end at 24,000. But what to do with it? It’s too long to be a short story and compared to my two novellas – CARINA (38,000 words) and NEXUS (39,000 words) – not enough for a novella. So I thought about adding a couple of historical long short stories from Roma Nova’s past, but staying within Carina’s family in order to have a connecting thread running through them.  

Honoria’s Battle is set near Vienna when that city was being besieged for the second time by forces from the Ottoman Empire. It was hailed as an existential fight by Christian Europe against the tide of Moslem Turks. Historians continue to disagree about the battle’s significance but to people of the time it was one of survival. Of course, Roma Nova was going to be involved! Researching characters such as the ebullient John Sobieski, King of Poland and the best commander of his day, was fascinating. 

The Idealist connects with Giuseppe Mazzini’s attempt to form a new Roman Republic and unite Italy in the nineteenth century – another time of crisis and transition. It’s also the story of unrealistic expectations, family secrets and pragmatism. The inspiration was curiosity about the past and wondering what a terrible threat of the past coming back to bite those in the present would do to them. 

In brief 

Inspiration for me is a formless cloud, wisps, really, wafting around in my mind with no fixed abode. It takes something to come along – a bad film, five words in an email from a Very Famous Author, idle attention to a television report of a coup – to get the cloud to clump and produce a bolt of lightning. Usually, it’s a little crackle at the back of the sky that grows into a steady blaze. 

Alison Morton

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About the Author

Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers featuring tough but compassionate heroines. Her twelve-book Roma Nova series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women who face conspiracy, revolution and heartache but use a sharp line in dialogue. She blends her fascination for Ancient Rome with six years’ military service and a life of reading crime, historical and thriller fiction. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA in history. Alison lives in Poitou in France, the home of Mélisende, the heroine of her two contemporary thrillers, Double Identity, Double Pursuit and Double Stakes For the latest news, subscribe to her newsletter at https://www.alison-morton.com/newsletter/ and receive 'Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’ as a thank you gift.  Connect with Alison on her World of Thrillers site: https://alison-morton.com and Alison’s writing blog https://alisonmortonauthor.com/. You can find Alison on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky @alisonmorton.bsky.social and Twitter/X: @alison_morton

Book Review: The Orphan from Verona, by Siobhan Daiko

Available for pre-order from 

Amazon UK and Amazon US

Verona, 1944. When an air raid strikes Elisa's home, she is left with nothing but the clothes on her back, the teddy bear clutched in her arms and her beloved older brother. Traumatised into silence, six-year-old Elisa can no longer speak and relies on Robi to guide her through this war-torn world.

Siobhan Daiko’s The Orphan from Verona balances human drama with an atmospheric sense of a city steeped in history. Set against the lingering shadows of the past, the novel offers an immersive exploration of identity and family secrets.

At the heart of the novel is a cast of compelling, related characters, and their journey through grief and personal awakening. Their relationships are portrayed with sensitivity, capturing the tension between desire and duty.

I particularly liked the details of life in occupied Verona, the counterpoint of past and present storylines and interwoven character arcs. The gradual revelation of secrets keeps readers guessing, as the plot unfolds at an engaging pace, weaving together intimate, character-driven moments with elements of mystery. 

The Orphan from Verona is a well-paced, memorable novel with a sophisticated narrative that explores the complexities of human resilience. Highly recommended.

Tony Riches

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About the Author

Siobhan Daiko is a British historical fiction author. A lover of all things Italian, she lives in the Veneto region of northern Italy with her husband, a Havanese dog and a Siberian cat. Siobhan was born of English parents in Hong Kong, attended boarding school in Australia, and then moved to the UK — where she taught modern foreign languages in a Welsh high school. She now spends her time writing page-turners and living the dolce vita sweet life near Venice. Her novels are compelling, poignant, and deeply moving, with strong characters and evocative settings, but always with romance at their heart. You can find more about her books on her website www.siobhandaiko.org and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @siobhandaiko

Book Launch Spotlight: The Falcon's Triumph: A novel of Anne Boleyn (The Falcon's Rise Book 3) by Natalia Richards

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

A novel of ambition, love, and betrayal in the Tudor court

A broken heart. A shattered dream. A future she never expected…

Fresh from her time in the dazzling courts of Europe, Anne Boleyn returns to England with charm, wit, and an ambition she dares not reveal. Her place at court and her future in Ireland seem secure. But when a forbidden love affair threatens scandal, Anne is dismissed and disgraced.

Then King Henry VIII takes notice.

Captivated by Anne’s beauty and boldness, the king is determined to have her—not as his mistress, but as his queen. Yet his wife, Queen Katherine of Aragon, stands in his way… and so does the Church. In a kingdom still firmly Catholic, Henry’s obsession with Anne now acts as a smouldering tinder, igniting a political and religious fire that threatens to tear England apart.

Set against the glittering and dangerous backdrop of Tudor England, The Falcon’s Triumph is a gripping tale of love, power, and the woman who would change history.

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About the Author

As a curator and historian for over 30 years, Natalia has worked in many museums in Derbyshire and later in London. She also worked free-lance for the History Channel USA as researcher, co-ordinator, and interviewer on the award-winning production 'Secrets of War.' However, her passion since a very early age has been the study of the Tudors, particularly Anne Boleyn and the court of King Henry VIII.  She did not begin writing seriously until around 2008 and originally wanted to write about Anne Boleyn at the English court. However, a great deal had already been written about this period, and Natalia began to look at her earlier life from around 1500 to 1521. The result of her research was 'The Falcon's Rise,’ set at the court of Margaret of Austria. She then followed this up with part two 'The Falcon's Flight'. This second book covers Anne's time at the French court, with Queen Claude, and ends as she is about to return to England. In her spare time, Natalia loves travelling, gardening, rambling, and visiting historic houses, as well as constantly reading and researching the Tudor period. She spends her time between Derbyshire and Chelsea, in London. Find out more at Natalia's website https://www.nataliarichards.com/ and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @nat_wieczorek