GIVEAWAY!! "The Chalice" by Nancy Bilyeau~Tudor/Reformation Historical Fiction

THE SUMMARY :  
 

In the midst of England’s Reformation, a young novice will risk everything to defy the most powerful men of her era.

 

In 1538, England’s bloody power struggle between crown and cross threatens to tear the country apart. Novice Joanna Stafford has tasted the wrath of the royal court, discovered what lies within the king’s torture rooms, and escaped death at the hands of those desperate to possess the power of an ancient relic.

Even with all she has experienced, the quiet life is not for Joanna. Despite the possibilities of arrest and imprisonment, she becomes caught up in a shadowy international plot targeting Henry VIII himself. As the power plays turn vicious, Joanna realizes her role is more critical than she’d ever imagined. She must choose between those she loves most and assuming her part in a prophecy foretold by three seers. Repelled by violence, Joanna seizes a future with a man who loves her. But no matter how hard she tries, she cannot escape the spreading darkness of her destiny.

To learn the final, sinister piece of the prophecy, she flees across Europe with a corrupt spy sent by Spain. As she completes the puzzle in the dungeon of a twelfth-century Belgian fortress, Joanna realizes the life of Henry VIII as well as the future of Christendom are in her hands—hands that must someday hold the chalice that lies at the center of these deadly prophecies. . . .

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Published by:  Touchstone/Simon & Schuster
Pages:  482
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Author:  Nancy Bilyeau
Visit Author's website:  http://www.NancyBilyeau.com
Purchase this book:  Barnes & Noble  or Amazon


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nancy Bilyeau has worked on the staffs of InStyle, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Ladies Home Journal. She is currently the executive editor of DuJour magazine. Her screenplays have placed in several prominent industry competitions. Two scripts reached the semi-finalist round of the Nicholl Fellowships of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Her screenplay "Zenobia" placed with the American Zoetrope competition, and "Loving Marys" reached the finalist stage of Scriptapalooza. A native of the Midwest, she earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. The Crown is her first novel.
Some earlier milestones: In 1661, Nancy's ancestor, Pierre Billiou, emigrated from France to what was then New Amsterdam when he and his family sailed on the St. Jean de Baptiste to escape persecution for their Protestant beliefs. Pierre built the first stone house on Staten Island and is considered the borough's founder. His little white house is on the national register of historic homes and is still standing to this day.
Nancy lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

 AN INTERVIEW WITH NANCY :

Nancy, I'm so excited to have you here at A Bookish Libraria today..you have no idea.  I'm such a fan of your writing.  First, I want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in your series, "The Crown" and encourage all my readers to get a copy of that book and read it, as well.   I'll leave everything else to my review below.  So, let us begin the interview...  Welcome!

1) First of all, please tell us a special something about what makes you “tick.”  When you aren’t writing, what are you doing?

I’m a mom of a son, Alex, and a daughter, Nora, so they keep me extremely busy when I’m not at the office, where I’m a magazine editor, or writing my books. The Sunday before The Chalice came out I should have spent every second promoting and blogging the imminent release, but Alex had a science project due that involved comparing temperatures, so I ended up running around with him all afternoon in the col getting the readings. Ha.

Of course this means I don’t get a chance to watch my favorite shows until weeks later. I taped the season finale of Downton Abbey and then couldn’t watch it until a month afterward. Talk about dodging the spoilers.

 

2) We’re always curious about where a writer chooses to write.  Could you tell us about your favorite place to write?  Describe it in detail…what’s on your desk, what do you see from the window if any…do you have a favorite lucky charm?

I don’t have a study, writer’s room or even a desk, I’m afraid. I wrote my first book, The Crown, at the kitchen table or at Starbuck’s. For The Chalice I was approved to work in a writer’s study in the New York Public Library: long wooden tables in a small room. Occasionally I would take my laptop to the Cloisters Museum and write in the corners of the rooms, soaking in inspiration.

 

 

3) Bronte or Austen?  Hemingway or Hawthorne?  Why?

I love both, but the Bronte sisters’ books are darker, which is more to my taste--and I can never say no to the moor.

 I am a big Hemingway fan for his amazing power of description. The beginning of A Farewell to Arms is breathtaking.

 

4) Which author(s) most influenced your love of books?

I fell in love with Daphne du Maurier early on and I think she still influences me In high school in Livonia, Michigan, my creative-writing teacher read aloud passages from “Ragtime” and it had a huge effect on me.

 

 

5) Read any good books in the past 6 months?

Yes! I read the entire Ariana Franklin series back to back, the Mistress of the Art of Death books, and they were wonderful. I also read an advance galley of Elizabeth Fremantle’s “Queen’s Gambit,” about Catherine Parr, and I highly recommend it. Right now I’m reading Thomas Penn’s “The Winter King,” a non fiction book about Henry VII—rich, writerly prose.

 

6) Choose 4 guests from any era for dinner.  Who would they be and what would you choose for a topic of conversation?

Queen Zenobia

Boudicca

Elizabeth I

Mary Wollstonecraft

Topic: women’s independence.

 

7) There’s a song that goes along with your book, what is it?

Anything by composer Trevor Morris, who has written music for “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Pillars of the Earth,” “The Tudors,” and “The Borgias.” I am especially moved by The Death of Jane Seymour, in Season 3 of The Tudors.

 

8) If you could cast your book for a movie, who would you choose for your 2 main characters?

Eva Green and David Oakes for the leads, and Ralph Fiennes for Bishop Stephen Gardiner.

 

9) Worst habit you have while writing?

Checking twitter. I honestly don’t know what we did before Twitter—I’ve met so many people this way and learned a great deal. And laughed. But it is a time destroyer.

 

10) How much research did you do before and during writing this book?

I have a home bookshelf filled with books on the 16^th century, based on being interested in the Tudors since I was 11 years old. For my first book, The Crown, I researched life in a priory and the history of relics in England and other specific areas for five years while I wrote it. For this book, The Chalice, I did a month or so of research and then I started outlining the book. I like to research as I go. Also I traveled to England and visited Dartford and London and interviewed various experts.

 

11) Psychologists tell us the thing we think we’d most like to grow up to be when we’re ten years old is our avocation.  What did you want to be?

A writer. Sorry to be so predictable

 

 

You're anything but predictable, Nancy!  Thanks for this interview.  I learned a good deal about you, and look forward to your next book.

 

 

 

 

THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

 

As you can already see Nancy Bilyeau is one of my favorite historical fiction authors.

This dark and dreamy book of hers is just a scrumptious read.  It carries us through the Tudor Reformation on the legs of Joanna Stafford a beautiful, aristocratic, displaced nun who is chased by prophesies.  Like enticing pieces of dark chocolate, this book kept me hungry to read chapter after chapter into the night.  It's one of those books that takes hold in an insidious way...before you know it, you're completely hooked.

 

Nancy Bilyeau's writing is full of historical detail, but it isn't dry reading.  Her work is like a tapestry that's interwoven with dark and light threads that balance the whole causing your eye to move easily throughout the story.  It draws you along and keeps you intrigued.  While Henry VIII is mentioned, he isn't a major figure in this book, but a shadow figure whose dictates play upon the central ones.  A refreshing look on the Tudor period!

 

Characters in "The Chalice" are alive and exciting!  I loved each one in their roles.  Joanna Stafford is a wonderful, strong young woman with a mind of her own and a little temper that walks her on the edge of real trouble, adding to the anxious elements of the story.  Other characters are beautifully created, too.  I enjoyed the love interests here, and their commitments to church and Joanna.  Those involved in necromancy and prophecy are eye-opening!

 

This is a book that stands alone in historical fiction today.  It's a great read, and one you shouldn't miss.  Although you can read it as a "stand alone," I would still recommend getting the first book in the series, "The Crown."  Both of the books are rich in detail and storyline.  Couldn't put this one down.

 

A dark and rich mystery, and a story of the Reformation through the eyes of a very early feminist, "The Chalice" is one book to have this Spring!

 

5 stars!!              Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

 

 

This review and interview are sponsored today by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours.  Please go to the site to see more about Nancy Bilyeau, her books and to find more reviews, interviews, guest post and giveaways!  http://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com

 

 

                                                 GIVEAWAY!!!!

 

  A giveaway of "The Chalice" will be held on

 

                    March 31st  for the US only

 

*To enter:  Please 1) follow me on Twitter

 

@thebookish dame, 2) be a follower of our blog,

 

and 3) please leave your email so I can contact you!!!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today!   Deborah  :]

 

 

 

*READ MY EARLIER REVIEW OF "THE CROWN" AND ANOTHER INTERVIEW OF NANCY BILYEAU ON THE BLOG HERE:  http://abookishlibraria.blogspot.com/2012/03/crown-by-nancy-bilyeauauthor-with.html

 

It's the Nuns Who've Taught Most of Us to Be Writers!

In The New York Times, under the Sunday Review section, there's an interesting article by Mr. Kristof entitled:  "We Are All Nuns."

You can visit the site here:   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/kristof-we-are-all-nuns.html?_r=1

In a nutshell the article discusses Pope Benedict coming down on nuns and their focus on the poor and social services rather than on abortion and gay marriages.

The matter of the priests and Bishops and their recent abhorrent behaviors with regard to the rape of young children in the Church seems to have been brushed away beneath dusty pews.

Mr. Kristof's article ends with the happy note that nuns are receiving an overwhelming vote of confidence and support from parishioners and people throughout the country, and worldwide.  It seems they want the Pontiff to know that the work nuns are doing to serve children, mothers, the poor and needy all over the world means a great deal more and is more in keeping with God's purposes as expressed in the Bible.


Here's my take on things:

Let's first discuss the nun as teacher:

There have been teaching nuns children have made fun of, and young adults have cringed about when they've remembered them, for centuries. 

There are old "nun" tales that crop up when Catholic-schooled people get together sometimes, and reminisce about their growing up years.

Everyone has a "Sister So & So" story that can make even the most stoic and sour of people laugh

 'til they're red in the face and gasping for air!

Many a nun is a comedian.  Many a nun is a humorist.  And, many a nun will take your brain and shake some sense into it by the sheer terror of her presence!

Not to mention that many a nun has the reputation of holding

a vicious "ruler" in her desk that she used

on many a child in the past...and that she's not afraid to pull out

for your sake!

She was the mother away from home.

As we left early childhood education and climbed the steps to college,

those of us who were educated, mentored, and tutored by a nun, learned well our lessons...

we'd better, or we'd better have a doctor's excuse for being run over by a truck and being in the hospital through first period!

Our dear Sisters were known to call our houses, speak to our parents,  and make personal visits, even when we were in our 20's and living on our own.

We who were educated

at the feet of our own Sister Marie's have come to realize the gift we

share:  a magnificent education; excellence couched in as close to perfection as we can get it on every side, attention to detail, concentration,

reflection and research, and an ever present questioning of moral and ethical value in what we choose to do and how we encounter it in our lives. 

When you are "raised up" and educated by a nun, you are

lifted to another level of expectation.

Your life becomes one with an awareness of a greater purpose.

There's an understanding that everything you do...

even reading and writing reviews,

holds a level of importance above and beyond its

temporal comprehension.

Because we're called to excellence and serving others; and, that is a calling that will guide others to hear and to be enlightened.

We knew we were in the presence of superior beings when we were with the nuns; educators, devout and dedicated women who meant to teach us to be the best we could be, and who led by example. And we knew we wouldn't get away with less than our personal best.

Case in point: of course, Anne Rice had her nuns and she still keeps them around her in  life-sized statuary, along with the saints and holy Father images. 

Ms Rice was vividly influenced by her Catholic education.  All of her works of fiction exude her up-bringing under the nuns.  Excellence, education, women in medicine and business, and personal responsibility rings through her books...spiritual struggles haunt her vampires, her angels, her priests and her weres.

Today, she lives a life working toward spiritual

peace and consciousness, and she

continues to try to find a way to write about

the moral struggles that beset earthbound beings whether fictitious or real.

We know that it's nuns who have fed the poor, bound up the wounds and cared for the sick and injured for centuries. 

Nuns were the first welfare workers and the first nurses.  It's nuns who have helped the homeless, pregnant mothers without anyone to turn to, children abandoned and abused, the alcoholic and drugged, and those who are mentally ill or with no family and no hope in the world.

When he was most despondent, and at his lowest at heart about being mentally ill, my dad told me it was the nuns who prayed with him

that brought him the first peace he'd had in his life.

And he converted to Catholicism...the only one in many a

generation of Southern Baptists!

Nuns...we are all nuns in some form, I hope.

When it's spoken of the Church (meaning the Catholic Church as a whole) in recent years, its saddest moments are reflective of what many of the priests have managed to accomplish:

rape and abuse, and destroying the confidence and trust of young boys

and young girls

in God and the church.

The hierarchy in the Church as men...Pope, Cardinals and priests have given themselves a "pass" on this issue.  Money has changed hands.

Apologies have been handed out with strings attached.

But, the perpetrators of crimes against young people have yet

to be publicly dealt with.

The Pope and the Church leaders have still not

taken responsibility for their priests.

And, yet, there is criticism of the nuns, when for much of this past 25 years, nuns have not even been able to be a part of the Sunday mass!

The Church is so steeped in tradition, it fails to expel criminals because they are priests, but it is able to make a

conscious and on-going expulsion of nuns from even helping with mass!

Let us all be nuns, then.

Let's be educated, dedicated to excellence, serving and caring of others, giving of ourselves and our resources, reaching out when others need a helping hand, and upholding what's good and right in our world.

We're all nuns, or we can be.

Thanks for stopping by.  I know you're busy today.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Needle In The Blood" by Sarah Bower~Bayeux Tapestry & Passion!

Hearken all art historians, needlewomen and readers of historical fiction:  this is an expansive, comprehensive, beautifully conceived novel that will make you want to hold it close to your heart long after you read the last lines.  The Bayeux Tapestry comes to life!  The fine art of needlework and honor due to the craft is inspiring.  Passions of war, religion, and romance leaps from these pages.  The lovers entwined and inhibited by the history of the Normans and Saxons will capture your imagination.

"The Needle in the Blood" is a novel for your personal bookshelf.  It's a keeper.

Summary:

His lust for power gave him everything. But it might cost him the love of his life.

The Bishop hired her for a simple job: embroider a tapestry. It is an enormous work, a cloth trophy of the conquest of England. But her skill with a needle and thread is legendary. It would be uncomplicated.

She plans to kill him as soon as she gets the chance. He and his brother, William the Conqueror, murdered her King and destroyed her world. Revenge, pure and clean. It would be simple.

But neither planned to fall desperately in love. As the two become hopelessly entangled, friends become enemies, enemies become lovers, and nothing in life—or the tapestry—is what it seems. An unlikely love story born of passion and intensity, crafted by critically acclaimed historical novelist Sarah Bower,The Needle in the Blood is a "story of love, war, and the tangled truth of England's birth."


Reviews of Ms Bower's Other Books:

Praise for Sarah Bower's Sins of the House of Borgia

"Sizzling."
—USA Today

"The sheer grandeur of the papal and Ferrara courts and the spectacle of the Borgia and Ferrara siblings' rivalries and revenges form a glittering take on one of the most notorious families of the Italian Renaissance."
—Publisher's Weekly

"Bower brilliantly merges history with politics and convincing characters to draw readers into a lush and colorful tapestry of Renaissance life...This powerful piece of fiction ranks with some of the finest of the genre."
—RT Book Reviews

Excerpt from The Needle in The Blood :

Odo himself fights beside his brothers, as he has been taught, with the club that is the weapon of priests, having no cutting edge. He stands in his stirrups to make best use of his height and lays about him, twisting his upper body this way and that, throwing its weight behind the blows. He is aware of nothing but the working of his body, the linkage of muscles from groin to waist to shoulders and arms, the flexing of joints in wrists and elbows, sweat running between his shoulder blades, the flow of the horse between his thighs. He splits skulls, cracks open breastbones, splinters vertebrae. A fragment of memory comes to him later, a strange and shaming impression that he was thinking, not of the lives of the men he killed and maimed, nor even of his own life, but of Tacitus' Agricola: "...atque ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant."

He is everywhere in the battle, yet he is off the field, changing horses behind the lines, when news reaches him of the death of Godwinson.

"Shot in the eye, my lord," says the page with relish, eyes shining in his grubby face. What is he? Ten, eleven maybe? Shortly to become a squire, dying to be a knight.

"In the eye, eh?" Good, fitting, though surprising it should be fatal. Blinding is how poachers are punished. Odo winks at the boy. "Thank you for your news, boy. Go safely. No, wait." He wants to give the boy something, out of gratitude for his good tidings. He feels he has not shown sufficient elation. The fact is, he is worn out. All he feels is relief, and a desire to sleep.

"My lord," says the boy. Odo fishes inside his hauberk and unclasps the brooch fastening the neck of his shirt. It is silver and amethyst, Celtic workmanship. He hands it to the boy, noting how warm it is to the touch. The boy beams as he takes the bishop's gift, a little too quickly perhaps, afraid that it might be withdrawn.

"For your pains, boy. Now off you go with your news." The boy runs off, grinning, and is soon lost to view among the tents.

Odo mounts, takes helmet and shield from his squire and a mouthful of gritty water from the skin the young man offers him, and rides off westward at an easy canter. It is almost sunset, and the dead cast long shadows on the trampled ground. The last residue of fighting has moved away from the Norman lines to the far side of the ridge so the shouting, the clash of arms, are muffled by distance. Crows flap lazily into the air as he passes. Camp fires are beginning to flare, their glow competing with the bloody remains of the sun pushing between the horizon and the canopy of cloud stretched above it. The homely scent of woodsmoke overlays the stench of carrion.

It's over, he thinks. We've won. William and Robert and I have won. I've won. I've won. He tries to savour the moment, but his mind runs on. This is only the beginning. There will be so much to be done. Roads must be laid, fortifications built. There must be churches and abbeys, laws and inventories. Forests must be cleared and wildernesses claimed. The might of Christ will drive out wood sprites and water nymphs; His light will shine in the darkness. There will be order. Today they have dug a foundation only.

And now he is thinking of home, of his palace in Bayeux, of the plans for his great new cathedral of Notre Dame spread on the table in his dark, empty hall, weighted down with an assortment of plates and goblets, and a mottled pink stone Adeliza found on the seashore, years ago. Now he will be able to complete it, once William has kept his promises.

He finds William, together with Robert and several other lords, close to the tree where Godwinson had raised his standard at the beginning of the day. How long ago? Six, seven hours at least, to judge by the sun. Feels like more, feels like less. The men are staring at the ground, contemplating something. A corpse, naked, recently mutilated. Only now does he notice the shockingly intimate, meaty smell of butchered men. His gorge rises as he approaches. Sweat breaks on his top lip, and saliva floods his mouth. He removes his helmet, pushes back the hood beneath it, and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, noting he needs a shave, hoping he isn't going to throw up.

"Shot in the eye, I was told," he says, drawing rein. His horse, unnerved by the stench, tosses its head and dances beneath him. He pulls its ears and talks nonsense to it until it settles.

"Might have been. We haven't found the head yet," says William.

"How do we know it's him, then?"

"She says it is." William nods toward the tree. Now he notices the women standing in the shade of its gnarled branches. There are four of them, Saxons, two ladies of high rank from their dress, and two others he supposes to be ladies in waiting.

"She?"

"Godwinson's whore. The young one. You know her, don't you? The other's his mother for God's sake."

Odo gives a grim laugh. "How does she know? The part she's most familiar with is missing, as far as I can see."

William shakes his head. "Marks on the body known only to her, she says. How would I know? But that's his standard lying beside him. That'll do for me. The women want him for burial."

"Will you let them?"

"No."

Particulars:

Published by:  Sourcebooks

Pages:  544

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Author:  Sarah Bower
Website:  http://www.snowbooks.com/sarahbower/index.html

About Ms Bower:

In her own words~

Writer, journalist and teacher of creative writing. My specialism is historical fiction. My novel, 'The Needle in the Blood' is about the making of the Bayeux Tapestry, and I am currently working on a second which deals with the fate of the Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. I also edit the Historical Novels Review, a quarterly publication of the Historical Novel Society.

The Dame's Review :

In my other life, I'm a needlewoman.  I love fine needlework, and have been embroidering, cross stitching and needlepointing alone and in Guilds for over 30 years.  It's through needlework that I've had some of the most satisfying times of my life and made some of my most cherished friends.  I know the intimacy and the terrors of handwork.  I know the perils of making a mistake...blotting a piece of linen that's been so precious and so long stitched upon.  Oh my goodness...I know the feeling of fine wool and needles, and the beauty of hand-dyed linen, silk and threads.  And, I know the stories that tapestries tell.  I know they tell more than the outward eye, or the untrained eye can tell.  They hold secrets known only to the needle worker or those who have been intimately involved in the making of the tapestry...those who conceived of the design, created the pattern for the design, and those who worked the design itself.  I know a misstep can cause a change in the intended design, or an extra stitch can cause a design to say or mean something else entirely.  Such is the essence of "The Needle in the Blood."

This is a novel that can't fail to intrigue you.  I picked this one because I had an idea it had to do with stitching, but I had no idea it would be so engrossing.  Sarah Bower is a gifted writer who has painstakingly rendered the warring's of a people, a Prince, a woman and man, religious life vs common life; and a tapestry of other things, into this large and wonderful book.  It is a long book with over 500 pages.  That's a show-stopper for many readers, but it never seemed that long a journey for me.

Major characters such as: 1) Gytha, a maid-in-waiting in the fallen King Harold the Saxon's household, who becomes a central needlewoman working on the Bayeux Tapestry and the love interest of 2) Odo, the Earl and priest/brother of King William the Conqueror. Odo was the originator of 3) the Bayeux Tapestry, a character in and of itself.  4)  Sister Jean/Agatha, the sister of King Willam and Earl Odo...nun, a woman of secret desires, artist who drew the scenes for the Tapestry that Odo described to her, 5)  the needlewomen who worked on the Tapestry... and so many others.

Absolutely fascinating stories interwoven amidst the history of the building of England during the 9th century.  I loved all the details about the making of the Bayeux Tapestry, of course, but that wasn't the primary focus of the book.  It was well balanced with the romance, actually, the very hot and exotic romance between Gytha and Odo; conflicted and inhibited sex and love is always so much better!  And, the stories of all the figures involved in the making of the new society, the church, buildings and needlework were captivating.  I was really drawn in by this book and found it difficult to stop thinking about even when I had to stop reading it to go on to other things and other reviews.

It was fortunate for me that I received a netgalley copy of "The Needle in the Blood," but I will tell you frankly that I'm buying my own hard cover copy this week.  I want to reread it at a more leisurely pace.  I want to keep a copy in my own library.  I really loved this book.

Having said all that, I need to evaluate it also on the basis of whether it's a book for a general reader.  I'd remark that it isn't.  Those who have a love of historical fiction at its finest, a love of needlework, a love of big books with lush stories such as Ken Follet's "The Pillars of the Earth," will love this book!

5 stars

Thank you for spending time with me today.  I know you're busy and you have other places you need to be....

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Crown" by Nancy Bilyeau~Book & Author We've Just Heard the First Of!!

An aristocratic nun, a crown and a mysterious omen...

all this captured in a novel that's heart-stopping!

Published by: Simon and Schuster

Pages:  402

Genre:  Fiction/Christian/Historical

Author's blog: http://www.nancybilyeau.com/ 

Synopsis :

An aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father—and preserve the Catholic faith from Cromwell’s ruthless terror. The year is 1537. . .
Joanna Stafford, a Dominican nun, learns that her favorite cousin has been condemned by Henry VIII to be burned at the stake. Defying the sacred rule of enclosure, Joanna leaves the priory to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with the king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, is sent to the Tower of London.
The ruthless Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, takes terrifying steps to force Joanna to agree to spy for him: to save her father’s life she must find an ancient relic—a crown so powerful, it may hold the ability to end the Reformation. Accompanied by two monks, Joanna returns home to Dartford Priory and searches in secret for this long-lost piece of history worn by the Saxon King Athelstan in 937 during the historic battle that first united Britain.
But Dartford Priory has become a dangerous place, and when more than one dead body is uncovered, Joanna departs with a sensitive young monk, Brother Edmund, to search elsewhere for the legendary crown. From royal castles with tapestry-filled rooms to Stonehenge to Malmesbury Abbey, the final resting place of King Athelstan, Joanna and Brother Edmund must hurry to find the crown if they want to keep Joanna’s father alive. At Malmesbury, secrets of the crown are revealed that bring to light the fates of the Black Prince, Richard the Lionhearted, and Katherine of Aragon’s first husband, Arthur. The crown’s intensity and strength are beyond the earthly realm and it must not fall into the wrong hands.
With Cromwell’s troops threatening to shutter her priory, bright and bold Joanna must now decide who she can trust with the secret of the crown so that she may save herself, her family, and her sacred way of life. This provocative story melds heart-stopping suspense with historical detail and brings to life the poignant dramas of women and men at a fascinating and critical moment in England’s past.

Meet the Author :

Nancy Bilyeau has worked on the staffs of Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Good Housekeeping. Most recently, she served as deputy editor at InStyle magazine. Her screenplays have placed in several prominent industry competitions. Two scripts reached the semi-finalist round of the Nicholl Fellowships of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Her screenplay "Loving Marys" reached the finalist stage with Page International Screenwriting Awards and Scriptapalooza. A native of the Midwest, she earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. The Crown is her first novel, and she has finished writing the sequel to The Crown, which is called The Chalice.

Interviewing Nancy :
Hello, Nancy! Welcome to A Bookish Libraria!
I’m so delighted you’ve agreed to allow us to get to know you and your book better. I have several questions:
　1) First, please tell us a special something about what makes you "tick." When you aren’t writing, what are you doing? (Aside from being a dad/mom) That is a big aside, because I have two children. Ha. Well, I love the movies and will see anything. Despite the overpriced popcorn and 10 minutes of commercials, I still enjoy that feeling of anticipation when the lights go down. I also like to take long walks in the park, listening to music on my shuffle. I especially thrive on walks in the snow; for some reason I get a lot of ideas then. But this winter has been so mild, I hope that doesn’t mean I never got good ideas! And I adore going to art museums and photo exhibits. I just saw a wonderful exhibition at the International Center of Photography—it was of the work of New York City 1940s crime-scene photographer Weegee. I liked it so much I bought a T-shirt in the giftstore with his photo and the words "Murder is My Business." I tried to wear it on our recent vacation in Florida, but my children wouldn’t allow it.
2) You chose a specific genre, a place and time to write about, what made you choose it? I’ve always been fascinated with Tudor England, so when I decided to write a novel, I had to choose that time. I also love thrillers, so I came up with the idea of a historical thriller set in the late 1530s.
3) Bronte or Austen? Hemingway or Hawthorne? Why? OK, I have to stop everything and say that Bronte versus Austen is the toughest question anyone has asked me! How can I possibly choose? Since you’ve given me no option, I will say Austen by a hair. I get a bit more enjoyment from re-reading her novels, though arguably the Bronte sisters have influenced me more. As for the second, that is easier. I am a huge Hemingway fan. I just re-read "A Farewell to Arms," his descriptive passages are masterful. He is very very good with first-person narrative.
4) In your opinion, what makes a book a great one? If it transports you into the mind and emotions of characters and creates a feeling that you’ve walked through the rooms or wandered the fields of the story, then it is great. You should still be thinking of the themes and surprises of the novel weeks, even months, later.
5) Which author(s) most influenced your love of books from childhood? That would have to be Norah Lofts and Daphne du Maurier.
6) Read any good books in the past 6 months? I just finished Robert K Massie’s Catherine the Great biography and it’s fantastic. I enjoyed Anne Barnhill’s "At the Mercy of the Queen: A Novel of Anne Boleyn." I’m halfway through The Sister Queens, by Sophie Perinot, which is a riveting historical novel of sisters who sat on the thrones of England and France in the 13^{th century.}
7) Choose 4 guests from any era for dinner. Who would they be and what would you choose for a topic of conversation? I’d choose Queen Zenobia, Bouddica, Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great. Topic: Can a woman rule as well as a man?
8) Which of your characters is most like you? Gosh, I guess it would have to be Sister Joanna Stafford, my protagonist. She has my strengths—I love learning and I can think on my feet when I have to—and my weaknesses. I have been known to speak too quickly, and I have NO sense of direction.
9) If you could cast your book for a movie, who would you choose? I just can’t pick an actress for Sister Joanna, I’ve tried to imagine one. Impossible. But I would like Ralph Fiennes for my antagonist, Bishop Stephen Gardiner.
10) Worst habit you have?Getting up too early in the morning. I’ve got so much on my mind lately, I can’t sleep past 5 a.m. but then there’s often a terrible crash in the afternoon.
11) How much research did you do before and during writing? I had a home library of books on the 16th century before I started writing because of my obsession with the Tudors. But I needed five years to research the people and practices in The Crown, as well as write it. I also corresponded with curators and historians in England.
12) Tell us a secret about your book we wouldn’t otherwise know, please!I used the last name of my first college boyfriend for one of the friars in the book. Which is a little messed up.LOL  That's the best use I can think of for that!  So great to meet you and to get this opportunity to know the woman behind your novel, Nancy.  Thanks for joining us on The Bookish Libraria!

*Listen!!  To read an excerpt of "The Crown"~go to http://www.nancybilyeau.com/   Nancy also has a video trailer there that's amazing, and more information on her book    :]

The Dame's Review: 
It was apparent immediately that I had the makings of a time-drifting adventure ahead of me when I opened the pages of "The Crown."  Do you know what I mean when I talk about a writer's voice?  Well, Nancy Bilyeau's voice rings out in storytelling definition from her first sentences, just listen:

" When a burning is announced, the taverns off Smithfield order extra barrels of ale, but when the person to be executed is a woman and one of noble birth, the ale comes by the cartload.  I would ride in one of those carts on Friday of Whitsun week, the twenty-eighth year of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, to offer prayers for the soul of the condemned traitor, Lady Margaret Bulmer."


I could hear the lisp of the narrator's English accent, the conspiratorial tone of her voice as she revealed the secret story's beginning, and I settled down in my chair for the reading.  I'm mad for a book and an author who can not only write an interesting historically referenced book, but one that can transport me in time and give me characters to love and cheer for along the way.  This is the strength and beauty of "The Crown" and Nancy Bilyeau.


This book has some of the elements that originally brought me to reading historical fiction in the first place.  It has the secretive qualities of a Daphne du Maurier novel (and I know the poor woman's name has been tossed about too much lately, so I don't use that reference lightly), and it has substance.


I think "The Crown" will be noted on all the best lists this year. It will appeal to many on several levels.  And, I personally can't wait to get my hands on the sequel, "The Chalice."  I also have a feeling this won't be the last we hear of Nancy Bilyeau by a longshot.  I predict she will become one of the major historical fiction writers of this decade.


Highly recommended with a 5 star review.


Please see the Historical Fiction Virtual Tour website for  more reviews and insights into this book: http://hfvirtualbooktours.blogspot.com/

Thanks for spending time with Deborah/TheBookishDame