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A Plea for Freedom
A Plea for Freedom, by Raymond Hackney, is a historical novel set during the American Revolutionary War that follows fifteen-year-old Daniel Asbury as he leaves his Virginia home and embarks on a journey filled with danger, hardship, and unexpected challenges that test his courage and shape his understanding of what it means to be free. At its heart, this work of historical fiction is about the cost of freedom, not just as a national idea, but as something felt in the body, tested in fear, and reshaped by suffering.
Hackney writes Daniel’s story in the first person, and that choice gives the novel the feel of a remembered life rather than a polished legend. Daniel is brave, yes, but he is also young, impulsive, frightened, and often unsure of himself. That makes him a highly relatable character. The early scenes on the family farm, with meals, chores, church gatherings, hunting trips, and arguments with his parents, ground the story before it moves into danger. It gives the later hardship more weight because we know what Daniel has left behind. The writing can be plain and direct, sometimes almost old-fashioned, but that style fits the story’s journal-like shape. It does not try to be flashy. It tries to carry a life across time.
The book is clearly invested in history, but it is also trying to handle difficult material with care, especially in its portrayal of Native American characters and frontier violence. Some scenes are hard to read. The punishment of Tories, the captivity, the prison conditions, and the violence along the frontier all push against any simple idea of heroism. That was one of the stronger parts of the novel for me. Freedom is not treated as a clean slogan. It becomes complicated, even uncomfortable. Daniel wants liberty, but he has to learn that everyone is living under some kind of pressure, whether from war, loyalty, hunger, fear, grief, or faith. The novel does lean into faith more strongly as it moves toward its conclusion, and readers who enjoy spiritually framed historical fiction will likely find that meaningful.
I would recommend A Plea for Freedom to readers who enjoy historical fiction rooted in real lives, family memory, Revolutionary War history, frontier survival, and stories of faith under pressure. It’s best suited for someone who doesn’t mind a steady, earnest style and who appreciates a novel that feels less like a modern thriller and more like sitting beside someone as they tell you what happened, what hurt, and what stayed with them.
Pages: 296 | ASIN : B0GX2NDFG8
Rituals and Prayers
Under Two Flags follows a young Jewish woman who leaves Boston for Berlin in search of an amazing new life, but instead finds herself in the throes of World War I. Where did the idea for this novel come from?
I discovered Josephine Marzynski’s memoir, With Old Glory in Berlin, when my brother showed up on my doorstep with an original 1918 edition he’d pulled from his bookshelf, and tucked alongside copies of our grandfather’s novels. Although Josephine’s name graced the cover, the foreword was written by the book’s editor, Eliot H. Robinson, our grandfather. As I read the book, it became clear he had done far more than edit. The voice, cadence, and style mirrored his fiction so closely that I surmised he had essentially ghostwritten the memoir.
Josephine’s voice — literally her singing voice — functions as both passion and protection. What does opera represent to you in this story?
Whenever Josephine dared to use her voice, on and off the stage, she spoke and sang of her passions. The arias I chose to include in different scenes underscored the tension and emotional responses of the characters. Josephine found her solace in the beauty of those arias. I sprinkled them in to give her comfort during dark times. For example, I had Josephine sing “Habanera” from CARMEN during her first class at the conservatory in Berlin. The aria is written for a mezzo-soprano, which was within Josephine’s range as a confident and strong woman. Within the libretto, the words mirror Josephine, “Love is a rebellious bird – that none can tame.” Her rebellious nature shines through even with the choice itself. She sings Bizet’s opera in its original French, a language forbidden in Germany at that time during the war.
Were there moments in your research that surprised you or changed the direction of the novel?
After reading Josephine’s memoir, With Old Glory in Berlin, I was struck by what Josephine didn’t include, namely, any reference to her faith. In my research, I discovered she identified as a Jewish woman. Whether she felt it wasn’t relevant or chose to omit it amid the growing undercurrents of antisemitism in 1918, we can’t know. But I found that silence fascinating. In moments of fear and homesickness, people often reach for the rituals and prayers of their faith to anchor them. It felt authentic that she would have done the same, so I wove those quiet expressions of faith into the story to deepen her emotional landscape and sense of identity.
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?
Although I can’t reveal too many details because I’m deep into the research phase, I can share that a hint of the historical event I’ll be writing about is alluded to in Under Two Flags. It’s also set during World War I, alternating between Boston and a foreign city. The expected release date is December 2, 2027. The date is significant in Boston.
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In October 1916, eighteen-year-old Josephine Therese Marzynski leaves Boston for Berlin to pursue her dream of studying opera at Germany’s most prestigious music conservatory. Living with family friends and immersing herself in German culture, she finds unexpected beauty and friendship in the heart of enemy territory.
But when America enters the Great War in April 1917, Josephine’s world transforms overnight-from welcomed student to enemy of the state. Trapped in Berlin as rationing tightens and suspicion mounts, Josephine must navigate daily police check-ins, bureaucratic interrogations, and the constant threat of internment. Her survival depends on German friends who risk their own safety to protect her, while she struggles with divided loyalties between her American identity and the people who have become her chosen family.
Based on the true story from Josephine’s memoir and set against the backdrop of a city slowly starving under the weight of war, Under Two Flags is a gripping tale of resilience, moral complexity, and the transformative power of music in humanity’s darkest hours. As Josephine fights to secure passage home, she confronts impossible choices that will test everything she believes about loyalty, survival, and the true meaning of patriotism.
Under Two Flags: A Novel of World War I
Under Two Flags by Janis Robinson Daly is historical fiction that reads like a staged memoir: Josephine Therese Marzynski, a young Jewish woman from Boston, goes to Berlin in late 1916 to study opera, only to find herself living inside the tightening grip of World War I, where suspicion, rationing, propaganda, and fear seep into everyday life. The book opens in 1918 with Josephine back in Boston, preparing to tell her story with the help of a publisher, framing everything that follows as a deliberate act of witness and persuasion.
What grabbed me first was how Daly builds Josephine’s inner life through concrete moments instead of speeches. The arrival sequence is a gut check. We watch Josephine get inspected like a threat, even while she’s carrying “harmless sheet music,” and we feel the private defiance of her sewing an American flag into her skirt and later hiding it in her pillowcase. The writing leans into bodily details, the hot embarrassment, the cold air, the nervous calculation of what to say and what to swallow. It makes the big theme of “patriotism” feel small and personal, like something you tuck into a hem and hope no one notices.
I also liked the author’s structural choice to treat the novel like an opera in itself, with an Overture, Acts, Scenes, and even musical notations sprinkled in. It could have felt gimmicky, but for me it mostly works because it matches Josephine’s mind. She hears life in cues and crescendos, and she uses performance as survival. There’s even room for humor when it fits, like the bitter, half-laughing talk among women who are stuck eating carrots over and over, trying to make scarcity feel normal for one more day. Those lighter beats do not erase the dread. They just make the dread more believable, because that’s how people cope.
What stayed with me after I closed it was the tension baked into the title. Josephine is always balancing, not just between nations, but between versions of herself: dutiful daughter, ambitious musician, “good girl” who knows when to wink and when to keep quiet. The book is also honest about how identity can be both shelter and target. She’s American, she’s Jewish, she has German roots, and none of those labels stay simple once the war machine starts deciding who gets to be “safe.” I appreciated the grounding too: Daly is upfront that this is fiction inspired by real events and tied to a memoir (With Old Glory in Berlin) connected to her own family, which adds a quiet sense of responsibility to the storytelling.
If you enjoy historical fiction, especially stories that zoom in on one woman’s day-to-day choices inside a huge world event, this one is worth your time. I’d recommend it most to readers who like war-era settings without wanting only battlefield scenes, and to anyone curious about the intersection of art and survival, like how a voice trained for opera can double as armor. If you want an immersive, human-scale WWI novel with music in its bones, you’ll heartily enjoy Under Two Flags.
Pages: 290 | ISBN : 978-1685137328
Female Agency
Lady of Lincoln follows noblewoman Nicola de la Haye, who defies gender, betrayal, and political chaos to defend Lincoln Castle during one of England’s most violent and unstable eras. How did you balance staying true to the historical record while giving Nicola a vivid inner life?
I was first introduced to Nicola de la Haye’s story when I visited Lincoln Castle as a tourist, and they talked about their famous constable, ‘The Woman who Saved England,’ and the first ever female sheriff. I was determined to write about her, but realised fairly quickly that it would be a mammoth task.
I started by immersing myself into her story, that of England in the hundred years before her time (the Norman conquest, and ‘the Anarchy’ and her family’s involvement in both, as well as the history of England, Normandy, and the Angevin empire over the whole of her life and just after. I paid particular attention to her family, neighbours, the city of Lincoln, and the royal and church infighting at the time.
Having, after months of careful research, enough to go on, I mapped out the whole character story and arc that would fit with the known facts and that would explain her motivations for what she did.
Only then did I start to write. But with every chapter, there was the need for more research – what did the abbey it was set in look like? What was happening in the city England, or with the dispute with the church, at that exact time? How did the chroniclers describe the appearance (if at all) of the characters, and what personality traits did they assign to them?
I don’t believe I wrote anything that conflicts with the known history, and I tried to record that known history if it was relevant to the story. The art was to fill in the gaps, determine the personalities involved, and their motivations.
Nicola is both dutiful and defiant. What aspects of her personality felt most important to get right?
Nicola would be a woman who was considered exceptional by chroniclers. She defied conventions by ruling a castle, becoming the first female sheriff, holding out in important sieges, and commanding the loyalty of her vassals and her garrison. She also stayed loyal to a king who had been abandoned by most of his barons. She didn’t take the easy path, and she didn’t shirk her responsibilities. To me, that meant she needed a unique mix of loyalty, obligation to duty, and an ability to defy and stand her ground. That is the woman who Nicola became, and that is what the story in Lady of Lincoln, the first in the series about her, would help her become.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Female Agency in a Patriarchal World: The novel explores Nicola’s struggle to exert authority and make her own choices in a society where women are viewed as little more than property. Her journey from a girl who must be “taught her duty” to a woman who commands a castle siege exemplifies this theme.
Duty vs. Desire: Nicola is torn between her duty to her family name, her people, and the King, and her personal desires for love, freedom, and self-determination.
The Nature of Honour: The story contrasts different interpretations of honour. For Nicola’s father and Gerard de Camville, honour is tied to loyalty, duty, and justice. For characters like William FitzErneis, Ralph de la Haye, and Alured of Pointon, honour is a flexible concept, often sacrificed for personal ambition, wealth, or status. This conflict shapes Nicola’s understanding of true leadership.
How does this first book set the stage for the rest of Nicola’s journey?
In Lady of Lincoln, Nicola discovers her agency both as a baroness but also with her relationships. She is challenged by the effect of the Great Rebellion (a civil war) on her family, her people, and her inheritance. In the next two books she will be further challenged in terms of both her relationships (the middle years of a marriage, growing children, and widowhood) and the effect of significant external events (the Third Crusade, the plot by Prince John against King Richard the Lionheart, then Magna Carta, the Baron’s War, and the French invasion) that impact directly on herself and all that she holds dear. By the time she holds out against the French invasion, she has truly grown into the person who was ‘the Woman who Saved England.’
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12th-century England. Nicola de la Haye wants to do her duty. But though she’s taught a female cannot lead alone, the young noblewoman bristles at the marriage her father has arranged to secure her inheritance. And when an unexpected death leaves her unguided, the impetuous girl shuns the king’s blessing and weds a handsome-but-landless knight.
Harshly fined by Henry II for her unsanctioned union, Nicola struggles to salvage her estates while dealing with devastating betrayals from her husband… and his choice to join rebels in a brewing civil war. Yet after averting a tragedy and gaining the castle garrison’s respect, she still must face the might of powerful men determined to crush her under their will.
Can she survive love, threats, and violent ambition to prove she’s worthy of authority?
In this carefully researched and vividly human series debut, Rachel Elwiss Joyce showcases the complex themes of honour, responsibility, and freedom in the story of a remarkable heroine who men tried to erase from history. And as readers dive into a world defined by violence and turmoil, they’ll be stunned by this courageous young woman’s journey toward greatness.
Lady of Lincoln is the gritty first book in the Nicola de la Haye Series historical fiction saga. If you like richly textured female heroes, courtly drama, and fast-paced intrigue, then you’ll adore Rachel Elwiss Joyce’s gripping true-life tale.
Buy Lady of Lincoln to celebrate ‘the woman who saved England’ today!
Lady of Lincoln: A Novel of Nicola de la Haye, the Medieval Heroine History Tried to Forget (The Nicola de la Haye Series Book 1)
Lady of Lincoln follows Nicola de la Haye across the turbulent decades of the late 12th and early 13th centuries. She grows from a spirited girl in a world designed to restrain her into a formidable woman who defends Lincoln Castle through riots, betrayals, and war. The story blends intimate personal struggles with sweeping political upheaval. It paints a vivid picture of a society built to ignore women and yet, wonderfully, shows how Nicola breaks through those limits with sheer will. The book traces her early life, the danger around her family’s lands, the rising violence against Jewish residents, and the complicated loyalties that define her fate. It ends by revealing her as a leader who stands firm when England itself seems ready to fall.
I was swept up by the writing. It carries a cinematic quality that shifts easily between tense action and quiet emotional moments. I loved how the scenes inside Lincoln Castle felt alive. The author’s choices made the world vivid without drowning the story in heavy historical detail. The conflicts felt real, especially the fear and confusion inside Aaron the Jew’s house during the riot, which is handled with a sense of urgency and sorrow drawn straight from the text. I was rooting for Nicola not only because she faces danger, but because she thinks and feels her way through it. Her frustration with the role forced on her, her longing for freedom, and her unshaken loyalty to the people under her protection gave the novel a beating heart.
Even more than the action, the emotional through line stayed with me. Nicola’s struggle against the constraints of her gender, her grief, and her desire to shape her own future felt honest and raw. The writing invites empathy without begging for it, and the characters around her carry their own weight. The novel does not hide the cruelty of the age. It does not soften the violence, the discrimination, or the smallness of the choices available to women. At the same time, it shows joy. Friendship. Humor. The warmth inside Bella’s home. Those bright moments made the darker ones hit harder. I appreciated the balance. It felt real.
Lady of Lincoln is emotional without turning sentimental, rich without turning dense, and dramatic without losing grip on the people at its center. I’d recommend Lady of Lincoln to readers who enjoy character-driven historical fiction, especially those who like stories that highlight overlooked women. It will appeal to anyone who wants a tale of resilience and grit told with warmth, energy, and heart. A vivid, emotionally charged tale that turns a forgotten heroine into an unforgettable force.
Pages: 493 | ASIN : B0G1ZCJ4ZX
The Communist Question
Jeanne The Woman in Red is a work of biographical fiction based on the life of Jeanne Tunica Y Casas, a fiery, uncompromising political activist, feminist, communist, and a woman of courage. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
If I had written a non-fiction account of Jeanne’s life and work, it would have sounded robotic and lacking in truth. Fiction was the only way to delve deep into her life and times. Many people she knew and worked with had passed away or were reluctant to speak or give any information. I understand and respect that, but facts, figures, and exact dates would have been missing. There is not much out there in English, and the work done, predominantly by a New Caledonian historian, provided a solid foundation from which to write. I had access to her articles, tracts, and speeches, and I was able to integrate this into the story as they had been written—typos and all.
I have always been inspired by strong characters in fiction and non-fiction. I was drawn to Jeanne straightaway. I had just arrived in New Caledonia for three years, and I was browsing its history, and I came across Jeanne. I wanted to visit her at the cemetery, pay my respects, but I discovered she had been buried in a common grave. I could not believe it. Disheartened but determined, I contacted the administration and decided that writing the book is only half of it. I wanted her recognised with a plaque. She fought for the rights of exploited peoples, and I wanted to fight for her legacy. Her remains were located, and a plaque now recognises her at a local cemetery. It has been a hard but satisfying journey.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
Her relationship with her lover turned husband, Paco. The communist question. How much or how little did she know about Stalin’s atrocities? The right of women to vote. I wanted back-and-forth chapters where her life in the nursing home meets the past.
Did you find anything in your research of this story that surprised you?
I was surprised that she had lived in Australia for a while and opened up a restaurant in Sydney. Her continual battle with the authorities. She never gave up. I was also disappointed with a few reactions as if writing about a communist makes the writer a communist. This is not the case, and I could never have placed 2020 eyes on Jeanne’s life and get away with writing her story.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from Jeanne The Woman in Red?
That she, like many others, must be remembered for inspiring and encouraging change without violence, and that history, far from being cancelled, should be remembered and studied – the good and the bad and learn the lessons on how to move forward. I am not just talking about feminists and politicians, but people who did not have a public role but were instrumental in shaping future generations.
The book has been translated into French and will soon be released.
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Ida Chatfield
The book follows the life of Ida Chatfield and tells her story from childhood on the Missouri River to her disappearance in Aspen in 1886. It mixes historical records with imagined moments that fill in the spaces between the facts. It feels like a full life unfolding, even though her real life ended at only eighteen. The book also weaves in real news articles that reported her missing and later confirmed her death. The mix of truth and imagination gives the whole thing a strange and lingering weight.
While reading, I often felt pulled into Ida’s voice. The writing felt warm at times and then cold in a way that mirrors frontier life. I found myself caring for Ida as if she were someone I’d once known. Her memories of Nebraska and Colorado felt vivid and earthy. The sadness around the deaths in her family hit me harder than I expected, especially the loss of her sister Jennie. The author sits close to Ida’s emotions and lets her tell the story in a plain and honest way. That plainness worked on me. It made the mystery of her final night feel personal.
The book pushes you to think about how people in the past were misunderstood, especially women. It shows how easily a person’s life can be shaped and misshaped by the stories others tell. The newspapers tried to fit Ida into neat explanations that never felt right. Reading those old clippings frustrated me. They felt careless and quick to judge, and it hurt to see how little room she had to define herself. At the same time, the fictional pieces brought her back to life with softness and patience. I loved that contrast because it made me think about how we all want to be remembered for who we were, not for the blur of a headline.
By the end, I felt a quiet ache for Ida and for every forgotten person whose life was cut short or brushed aside. The book works for readers who enjoy historical nonfiction but want more heart in the telling. It also works for readers who crave a mystery that will never be perfectly solved yet still offers something meaningful. I would recommend it to anyone who loves frontier history, family stories, and character-driven tales filled with emotion.
Pages: 280 | ASIN : B0FHJVCV7V
Sousanna: The Lost Daughter
In the aftermath of World War II, the world was in a state of flux. Countries devastated by the war faced the daunting task of rebuilding while their citizens grappled with profound changes in their lives. Greece, in particular, was further battered by the onslaught of a Civil War, compounding the struggle for survival. Amidst this backdrop of turmoil and rebuilding, America emerged as a symbol of hope and prosperity, an idyllic destination promising a life free from hunger and deprivation.
Sousanna: The Lost Daughter delves into this historical context, narrating the poignant tale of a young girl named Sousanna, caught in the crosscurrents of hope and despair. The memoir unfolds with Sousanna’s father, driven by a blend of hope and desperation, making the heart-wrenching decision to send his youngest daughter to America. This decision, born out of a belief in temporary separation, spirals into years of longing and heartache for Sousanna and her family back in Greece. The narrative poignantly captures the family’s clinging to the hope of Sousanna’s well-being, juxtaposed with her struggle to maintain her identity in a foreign land brimming with abundance.
Set between the 1950s and 1970s, the novel offers a compelling exploration of the complexities surrounding international adoptions, particularly from economically challenged countries. It insightfully presents the perspectives of the biological family, the adoptive family, and most crucially, the child at the heart of these life-altering decisions. The book sheds light on the controversial practices that led to the adoption of thousands of Greek children by American families, often under dubious circumstances.
Sousanna: The Lost Daughter, by Sousanna Stratmann, is a thought-provoking and relevant exploration of themes that resonate as much today as they did in the mid-20th century. The narrative is a testament to the enduring human spirit and the quest for identity in the face of overwhelming odds. This book is highly recommended for its insightful portrayal of a little-known chapter of history and its moving reflection on the human experience.
Pages: 272 | ASIN : B07JKBN66Y
