Columbus assured Spain’s Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand that he’d conquer “Española” with little opposition from its inhabitants, but he soon discovered the promise ominously false. A historical novel, Columbus and Caonabó 1493-1498 Retold dramatizes his invasion of the island on his second voyage and the bitter resistance mounted by its Taíno peoples, led by […]

Amsterdam, 1943. Sophie was once a librarian. Now she’s a ghost. She is a Jewish forger who officially no longer exists. By candlelight, her artist’s hands create the documents that smuggle children past the Gestapo. One slip of the pen means death. Three-year-old Hannah calls her “Mommy.” But Sophie isn’t her mother, she’s the woman […]

Two women. Lives they didn’t choose. A friendship that dares them to want more. Miami, 1933. Mary Simons was supposed to fill her scrapbook with photos of her baby’s first smiles, locks of fine hair, and handwritten milestones. Instead, she records respiration rates and temperatures, hoping science can save what love can’t. When her baby […]

A fractured family. A wounded nation. A traitor in the ranks. Spain, 1973. General Franco has ruled for decades but his grip on the country is weakening as his health deteriorates. When terrorists assassinate his prime minister, all eyes turn to Franco’s anointed successor, the inexperienced Prince Juan Carlos. Despite being groomed by Franco from […]

After 525 years, the traditional literature recounting the history of Columbus’s epic voyage and first encounters with Native Americans remains Eurocentric, focused principally, whether pro, or anti-Columbus, on Columbus and the European perspective. A historical novel, Encounters Unforeseen: 1492 Retold now dramatizes these events from a bicultural perspective, fictionalizing the beliefs, thoughts, and actions of […]

When a child is separated from his mother, what is left to him to tell her how much he loves her? The city was breaking. The streets were no longer safe. The rooms were small and warm and full of fear. The adults listened before they spoke. Doors closed softly. Bread was counted. Windows were […]

‘Small, very talkative, ready enough to do evil, shrewd and jocular, extremely cruel and daring.’ Orderic Vitalis on Mabel de Belleme. Mabel is the daughter of William de Belleme, known as Talvas, the Hard Shield, for his fierceness in battle…and at home. When William murders Mabel’s mother, he is expelled from his castle into exile, […]