A self-serving political player in sixteenth-century Rome is caught up in the ruthless and powerful Borgia family’s deadly intrigues of murder and betrayalIt is known as the City of God—but Rome at the dawn of the sixteenth century is an unholy place where opulence, poverty, and decadence cohabitate sinfully under the ruthless rule of Rodrigo Borgia, the debauched Pope Alexander VI. Englishman Nicholas Dawson is secretary to the ineffectual ambassador of Florence and, as such, finds himself linked to Borgias’ murderous machinations, specifically the brutal power plays of the warlord Cesare, the pope’s bastard son. A skilled liar, conspirator, spy, and manipulator—a man drawn to power and the pleasures of excess—Dawson coolly plays his part in Rome’s draconian political dramas with an eye to personal gain and no true allegiance to any side or player. But his attraction to a beautiful and very dangerous young man soon threatens to bring Dawson’s secret enterprises crashing down around him, dooming him to a brutal and ignoble fate.
The great Cecelia Holland is acclaimed as one of America’s premier creators of historical fiction. With City of God she brings a remarkable epoch and a legendary family of scoundrels and murderers to breathtaking life—the corrupt patriarch pope; the suspiciously widowed and incestuous daughter, Lucrezia; Cesare, the bloodthirsty conqueror; and the tragically imprisoned and damned Caterina Sforza. Holland has written a stunning tale of betrayal, deception, and blood.
Buy the eBook of City of God at Amazon or iTunes.
A breathtaking novel of primitive England and the astonishing birth of the miracle called Stonehenge In a time before recorded history, on an island that many centuries later would come to be known as Britain, Moloquin, the Unwanted One, dreams of a pathway to the heavens. Cast out as a child, he survives by his wits alone on the fringes of tribal society and grows into manhood driven by one powerful and unshakable ambition: to build a link between the earthly and the spiritual worlds through the raising of an impossible structure. But to accomplish such a momentous feat in this primitive age of stone will not only require superhuman strength, it will entail unraveling the very fabric of life. Still, Moloquin will not be deterred in his quest, and he will stand courageously against all enemies, court untold disaster, sacrifice what he must, and remake his entire world to see his great vision gloriously realized.
One of today’s foremost historical novelists, Cecelia Holland explores the strange and enduring mystery of Stonehenge, one of the true wonders of the ancient and modern world. A breathtaking speculation, Pillar of the Sky is an unforgettable tale brimming with action, colorful characters, vivid detail, intelligence, and wonder, while presenting a possible history of the man-made miracle on Salisbury Plain that confounds scientists, scholars, and archaeologists to this day.
Buy the eBook of Pillar of the Sky at Amazon or iTunes.
In the early years of the ninth century, the road home from Jerusalem winds through Constantinople for two Frankish noblemen-warriors. But when an encounter with a young woman running for her life results in the murder of Hagen the White’s brother, he vows to find the perpetrators, no matter how highborn or powerful, and take his revenge. His hunt will carry him into the royal circle of the Basileus Irene, a ruthless despot who blinded her own son to force him off the throne. The beautiful and calculating empress is fascinated by this supposed barbarian who has sworn allegiance to the great Charlemagne, and she welcomes him into the imperial court—and into the dangerous fires of countless royal conspiracies. Suddenly Hagen must tread carefully through a vipers’ nest of plots, lies, and bloodthirsty power plays, for if the stranger trusts the wrong serpent, he will certainly die.
One of the world’s premier purveyors of historical fiction, acclaimed novelist Cecelia Holland ushers the reader into a thrilling, exotic, and colorful world ruled by one of history’s most complex and fascinating women. The Belt of Gold is a stunning tale of power and vengeance set against a breathtaking backdrop of Byzantine opulence, from the conspiracies of the empress’s court and the intrigues of the bedchamber to the heart-racing clashes of champions in the public arenas where famed charioteers seek ultimate glory before the eyes of an adoring populace.
Buy the eBook of The Belt of Gold at Amazon or iTunes.
The remarkable story of the courageous young pioneer who endures the hardships of the wilderness to become the first American woman to enter California
A hard life in the Missouri wilderness has made young Nancy Roberts Kelsey strong, fearless, and ready for anything. In the year 1841, the seventeen-year-old wife and mother joins her husband, Ben, and with an infant in her arms, sets off in pursuit of the dream called California. Halfway across the continent, with the worst of the journey still to come, most of their party opts for the safer passage to Oregon, but the Kelseys and their friends choose a more direct route to the western coast—a fateful decision that will lead them across the Great Basin and over the Sierra Nevadas, through confrontations with native tribes and merciless weather. But a different sort of peril awaits them at farthest edge of the frontier from the powerful Mexican dons who view all new arrivals as threats to their sovereignty—setting a seemingly ordinary woman on an extraordinary path that will ultimately change the course of American history.
Based in part on the actual letters and writings of Nancy Kelsey, An Ordinary Woman is a stunning tale of courage, determination, and grand adventure that celebrates the remarkable life and achievements of a little-known but essential character from the pages of history—yet another masterful blending of fiction and fact from Cecelia Holland, one of America’s premier historical novelists.
Based in part on the actual letters and writings of Nancy Kelsey, An Ordinary Woman is a stunning tale of courage, determination, and grand adventure that celebrates the remarkable life and achievements of a little-known but essential character from the pages of history—yet another masterful blending of fiction and fact from Cecelia Holland, one of America’s premier historical novelists.
An enthralling fictional account of Howard Carter’s famous search for the tomb of King Tut and the mystery behind the tragic death and disappearance of ancient Egypt’s child ruler
In ancient times, a boy king occupied the throne in a troubled desert land. His name was Tutankhamun. Both his reign and his life were shockingly brief, and his burial place was unknown—mysteries that would intrigue the inquisitive for centuries to come.
An English archaeologist irresistibly drawn to Egypt and her secrets, Howard Carter arrives in the Middle East in the second decade of the twentieth century to uncover the hidden final resting place of the tragic child pharaoh. But from the outset his search is plagued by misfortune and obstruction—a corrupt and unbending Egyptian bureaucracy, a British lord and patron more interested in profit than in knowledge, and Carter’s own inability to connect with his fellow human beings. Still, he will not be deterred from his obsessive hunt for the answer to one of the most astonishing puzzles in the history of the world.
In her magnificent novel Valley of the Kings, Cecelia Holland has created two worlds, brilliantly re-creating Egypt in the 1920s and in the time of Tutankhamun. A stunning tale of determination and discovery, brimming with color, mystery, and life, it confirms her standing as one of the true masters of historical fiction.
Readers, have any of you read Cecelia Holland before? If so, do you have any favorites?
Thank you for the post. The Ordinary Woman would be perfect for my friend in California! Unfortunatelty, she doesn't have an e-reader so I hope that it comes out in print later on.
ReplyDeleteHi Carol!! Does your friend have a computer or any other electronic device she could put the Kindle app on? I've got the Kindle app on everything from my phone to my computer to my iPad mini...I never want to be away from my books for too long :)! I did a search on Amazon and they do have the novel in print but they are all used copies from secondary sellers (no prime for that particular book!).
Delete