Historical Fiction Episodes

Renee and I discuss her new book The Social Graces, how she decided to write about the legendary feud between Caroline Astor and Alva Vanderbilt, the research she conducted, the way her title and cover came about, and much more.

Karen and I discuss her new book The Last Night in London, her inspiration for this story including her time living in London, how the title of this book came about, highlighting the unsung heroes of World War 2, Tradd …

Lisa and I discuss her new book Eternal, the secret reason she named the book Eternal, what she learned when switching genres, how Philip Roth helped inspire her to write this story, how her research led her to purchase a …

Stephanie and I discuss The Women of Chateau Lafayette, writing three timelines and weaving them together, what she discovered while researching one of the characters for this novel that required her to rewrite the book several times, the highlight of …

Danielle and I discuss Glimmer As You Can, bringing 1960s Brooklyn to life, the inspiration for the Starlight, women’s experiences in the 1960s, her reading recommendations, and more.

Patti and I discuss her latest book Surviving Savannah, how she found a door into this story, the way the Pulaski and its passengers spoke to her, how Friends and Fiction came about and what the group is doing now, …

Kate and I discuss her latest book The Rose Code, writing about the unsung women code breakers at Bletchley Park who helped shorten the war by at least two years, the amount of secrecy required of those who worked at …

Lauren and I discuss her latest book Band of Sisters, how she learned about this courageous group of women, how often women’s stories have been erased from the historical narrative, the one issue that almost broke the Smith College group, …

Jennifer and I discuss her book The Yellow Bird Sings, her impetus for telling this story, the significance of the violin and the color yellow in the book, what she learned on her research trip to Poland and how that …

Bella and I discuss The Diabolical Bones, the Brontë novels that inspire the books in this series, the Brontë sister who influenced her pen name, the joy she feels writing these books, how she came up with the word detectors, …

Susan and I discuss her latest novel The Nature of Fragile Things, the unexpected book that inspired her to write this story, her interest in the mail-order bride phenomenon, the fragility of San Francisco’s infrastructure prior to the 1906 earthquake, …

Erika and I discuss her latest novel The Invisible Woman, bringing Virginia Hall to life, highlighting the everyday people who contributed to the French Resistance, touring the CIA Museum, how readers are looking for stories of redemption during the pandemic, …

Julia discusses her latest book The Last Garden in England, the pros and cons of choosing a popular topic like gardening to write about, the importance of creating a strong sense of place, and recruiting her father to help her …

Sadeqa discusses her latest novel Yellow Wife, how the story spoke to her, switching from contemporary fiction to historical fiction for this book, tackling a tough and timely topic, how she loves to hike when she has free time, and …

Molly discusses her novel The Heiress, writing Austen-inspired fiction, creating a story around a fictional character from Pride & Prejudice, her favorite Jane Austen book, researching Regency-era England, and much more.