Désirée by Annemarie Selinko

Desiree by Annemarie Selinko is a biographical novel about Désirée Clary who was Napoleon Bonaparte's first true love.  In this re-issue by Sourcebooks, readers will be highly entertained by one of the most comprehensive and detailed novels of France during the 18th and 19th centuries.  The scope of this novel is amazing and follows the rags to riches life of the Bonaparte family as they gained power throughout all of Europe.

Told through the eyes of Désirée Clary, it is a beautiful first person narrative about a strong, wise, courageous, and often eccentric young woman who never aspired to prestige.  Yet, destiny nudged her into the highest ranks until she found herself an unwilling and unpopular queen.  

If there is one book that will tell all about this fascinating era in history, this is it.  And what a fascinating woman Désirée was.  Well written, full of historical detail, it is an education in itself, carefully disguised as a pleasant novel.  For a fascinating insight into this very intriguing woman, I highly recommend this novel to readers.   

Désirée Clary

Before Napoleon fell in love with the beguiling Josephine, his heart belonged to Désirée Clary, the daughter of a wealthy silk manufacturer and merchant in Marseille, France. As was the mode in pre-revolutionary France, she entered a convent to receive her education. When her convent was closed because of the French Revolution, Désirée returned home to her parents.

After the death of her father, the revolutionaries arrested her brother. Désirée went to see Joseph Bonaparte who was in charge of the prisoner to beg for his release.

Joseph Bonaparte

It worked and a grateful Désirée introduced Joseph to her sister, Julie, and they were soon married.

Julie Clary

Through Joseph, Désirée met and fell in love with Napoleon Bonaparte and they became engaged.

Napoleon Bonapare

It was during their engagement that Napoleon met Josephine de Beauharnais. He broke off his engagement with Désirée and married Josephine instead.

Josephine de Beauharnais

Heartbroken, at first, Désirée returned to live with her mother in Genoa and later she lived Julie and Joseph in Rome. She was briefly betrothed to General Léonard Duphot, but on the eve of their marriage, he was killed in a riot in Rome.

After her return to France, she met and married General Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte and together they had a son whom they named Oscar.

Bernardotte was a leading general in the French Napoleonic army.  Désirée maintained a very good relationship with the Bonaparte Imperial family, as well as with the Empress Joséphine.  When Josephine was crowned Empress, Desiree held her train.  

Désirée enjoyed a busy and comfortable social life in Paris during her husband's long absences.  Bernardotte rose in power and acclamation.  He became Prince of Pontecorvo and later was elected to the throne of Sweden.   

Throughout her life, Désirée was not interested in politics, but because of her good connections, she was often used for political purposes by her husband and Napoleon.  

Unlike her husband, Désirée did not like politics and she remained in Paris for most of his career.  Désirée visited Sweden, but struggled with court intrigues, the cold weather, and was treated with disdain.  She never wanted to be a queen and hated to be so far away from her family.

The Swedish Dowager Queen found her spoiled and undignified, and Désirée's ladies, made matters worse by encouraging her to complain about everything. 

Dowager Queen Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte

She further described Désirée as good-hearted, generous and pleasant when she chose to be and not one to plot, but also as immature and a "spoiled child" who hated all demands and was unable to handle any form of representation.  She described Désirée as "a French woman in every inch," who disliked and complained about everything which was not French, and "consequently, she is not liked."

Désirée departed from Sweden for health reasons and returned to her beloved Paris where she remained for twelve years, leaving her husband and her son behind. 

In Paris she did her best to avoid politics during the difficult period when Sweden was at war with France. However, her house at rue d'Anjou was watched by the secret police, and her letters were read by them.

When Napoleon was defeated in the year 1814, she gave refuge to her sister, Julie.  Bernadotte came to Paris, but once more returned to Sweden without her.  He left behind Count de Montrichard at Désirée's household as his spy to report to him if she did anything which could affect him.

While in Sweden, Bernadotte took a mistress, the noble Mariana Koskull.  Dubbed Desideria by the Swedes, Désirée held receptions in Paris as the queen of Sweden on Thursdays and Sundays, though she still used the title of countess.  After many years of separation from her son, they were briefly reunited in 1822 in Aachen.

Crown Prince Oscar Bernadotte

In 1823, Désirée returned to Sweden together with her son's bride, Josephine of Leuchtenberg; the visit was initially to be but a short one.

Josephine of Leuctenberg

On 21 August 1829, Désirée was crowned Queen at her own request.  She was the first commoner to become queen since Karin Månsdotter in 1568.

She did her best to be active as a queen, a role she had never wanted to play, partaking in balls and parties and royal appearances.  Désirée soon grew tired of her royal status and wanted to return to France. However, Bernadotte refused to allow her to go.  

She liked spending her summers at Rosersberg Palace and visited Swedish spas. The court was shocked by her informal behaviour.  Every morning, she visited Bernadotte in her nightgown, even though he often met with his council in his bedchamber at that time of day.  Désirée was always late to dinner so they stopped having meals together.  Bernadotte preferred to have his meals alone.  She kept late hours, going to bed late, and waking up late each day.

The Swedish court never became endeared to her and they considered her eccentric.  At Rosersberg Palace, she liked to take walks in the park at night, but because she was afraid of bats, she instructed her ladies-in-waiting to walk ahead of her dressed in white to detract the bats from her.

Her eccentricities

When Bernadotte died in 1853, she wanted to return to Paris, but remained in Sweden due to her intense fear of sea travel.  During this time she became even more eccentric.  She went to bed in the morning, got up in the evening, ate breakfast at night, and drove around in a carriage through the streets, in the courtyard, or wandered around the corridors of the sleeping castle with a light.  Désirée made unannounced visits, and sometimes she would take in children from the streets to the palace and give them sweets even though she could not speak a word of Swedish.  On the day she died, she entered her box at the Royal Swedish Opera just after the performance had ended.

Désirée died in Stockholm on 17 December 1860 and was buried in the church at Riddarh. 

Interview with Helen Hollick

Today I'm really excited about a visit with Helen Hollick, Author of The Forever Queen.  If you haven't had a chance to read this novel yet, I encourage you to do so.  It's a fabulous recounting of the life of Emma of Normandy. 

1. Welcome to History and Women, Helen. Can you tell us a little about your novel?

The year is 1002 and a young girl, Emma, is sent from Normandy to become the wife of a man more than twice her age, Æthelred II, King of England. The moment they meet Emma knows that she loathes him. Despite his ineptitude as king, his indifference and sometimes cruel treatment, Emma bore him two sons, Edward and Alfred, and a daughter, and discovered the inner strength to survive. Her position as Queen became to be the most important thing to her; her crown becomes something to cling to at whatever cost. And the cost proves to be high, for Emma must face Danish invasion and exile – and to remain queen, send her sons to Normandy, knowing she will probably never see them again.

Her life is tough, full of tragedy and trauma, despair and danger – but with her second husband, Cnut of Denmark, she is to find the love she craves, and a new beginning as his queen.

Until sorrow, again, hits hard.

2. What inspired you to write a novel about a woman in this period of history?

I “discovered” Emma while writing I Am the Chosen King (to be published by Sourcebooks in March 2011, first published as Harold the King in the UK) – the 1066 story of the Battle of Hastings. I became fascinated by her and decided to write her own story as A Hollow Crown, which eventually became The Forever Queen when Sourcebooks published it this month.

Emma was a shrewd woman who learned to manipulate her power in order to maintain England's peace and prosperity, as well as her own position of authority. I found her to be every bit as interesting as that more famous queen – Eleanor of Aquitaine, yet few people had ever heard of Emma. I thought it about time someone put that right!

3. What hardships did women face in this particular century and what lessons can today's woman learn from it?

Probably the greatest hardship was childbirth. The mortality rate for women – until very recently – was something like four out of ten women died while giving birth. With no birth control or pain killer for labour, a woman had no choice but to endure – for the begetting as well as the birthing!

Marriage was often contracted when a girl was quite young; age 13 – 15 was quite common. Life was hard for a woman throughout history – I don’t think we realize just how much easier it is for us today!

4. Where do you get your inspirations for a novel?

It depends on what I am writing. The Forever Queen came from writing Harold the King/I Am the Chosen King – which in turn came from wanting to set history right about what we think we know about the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Much of that history was written as propaganda by the Norman Conquerors. I wanted to write the English version – which is probably nearer the truth.

For my Sea Witch novels (pirate-based history adventure, think Sharpe mixed with Indiana Jones but at sea), I became interested in the history of pirates after falling for Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow. While I enjoyed researching the 1700’s and the “Golden Age of Piracy,” I couldn’t find any novels to satisfy the “fun” side, as depicted in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movies, The Curse of the Black Pearl. There were plenty of “straight” nautical fiction, but most was based around the Napoleonic wars. Beyond Frenchman’s Creek, there was nothing that consisted of good, adventure fun, or had a touch of believable fantasy. So I decided to write my own. Jesamiah Acorne was born because I couldn’t find the books I wanted to read!

5. Can you describe a typical writing day?

I’m an owl not a lark, so I rarely get out of bed before 9.30 – and I often stay there listening to BBC Radio 4 of a morning, The Today Programme, the Book of the Week and Woman’s Hour. I am also a keen Archers fan, a Sunday morning lie-in treat when the omnibus edition is aired. The Archers is a long running radio drama centered around typical English village life.

I always answer my e-mails first, then check Facebook, have a quick chat on Twitter and ensure all is well on my various blogs – adding a new post as necessary. After lunch I’ll perhaps write a new blog, my monthly journal, and update my Weather Wise Diary Blog (a quick daily entry about the passing seasons). Then to work, depending on what needs doing – editing The Forever Queen and I Am the Chosen King has rather taken up my time recently, but I have also been researching the history of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1719 for the fourth Sea Witch Voyage – as well as researching the history of North Devon, where this story is mostly located.

I usually write until late at night/early hours of the morning. I rarely watch TV unless there is something worth watching!

6. Can you tell us about any other novels you are working on?


I plan to do a follow-up to I Am The Chosen King which will make this and The Forever Queen a trilogy. I’ve been putting this off because I loathe Duke William of Normandy and did not have the enthusiasm to write a novel about the aftermath of Hastings.

However, Sourcebooks bringing these first two novels out and giving them a new lease of life has inspired me to carry on.

I intend to start researching (and then writing) next year, after I have finished Ripples in the Sand, the fourth Sea Witch Voyage.

In this forthcoming Sea Witch book, Captain Jesamiah Acorne is in trouble again (trouble follows him like a ships wake) He gets entangled in a smugglers’ ring and the uprising of a new Jacobite rebellion – there are people who would prefer t see James III on the throne, not George I.

Meanwhile his woman, Tiola Oldstagh who has the Craft of a Wising Woman (a white witch) must try to discover why Jesamiah’s life is being threatened by the Goddess of the Sea, Tethys, who wants him for herself. To do so, Tiola must look into the past –where she makes some dangerous, and traumatic discoveries.

While there is an element of “fantasy” in my Sea Witch tales, I prefer to keep it within the bounds of plausability. Tiola is described as a Witch, but not the Harry Potter wand waving kind, she is more in touch with the natural elements of the Earth, a healer and a midwife.

Historical adventure to be enjoyed but not taken seriously. A full to the scuppers sailor’s yarn adventure!

THE FOREVER QUEEN BY HELEN HOLLICK – IN STORES NOVEMBER 2010

What kind of woman becomes the wife of two kings, and the mother of two more?

Saxon England, 1002. Not only is Æthelred a failure as King, but his young bride, Emma of Normandy, soon discovers he is even worse as a husband. When the Danish Vikings, led by Swein Forkbeard and his son, Cnut, cause a maelstrom of chaos, Emma, as Queen, must take control if the Kingdom—and her crown—are to be salvaged. Smarter than history remembers, and stronger than the foreign invaders who threaten England’s shores, Emma risks everything on a gamble that could either fulfill her ambitions and dreams or destroy her completely.

Emma, the Queen of Saxon England, comes to life through the exquisite writing of Helen Hollick, who shows in this epic tale how one of the most compelling and vivid heroines in English history stood tall through a turbulent fifty-year reign of proud determination, tragic despair, and triumph over treachery.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helen Hollick lives in northeast London with her husband, daughter and a variety of pets, which include several horses, cats and two dogs. She has two major interests: Roman / Saxon Britain and the Golden Age of Piracy--the early eighteenth century. Sourcebooks Landmark will release the next chapter on Helen’s 1066 saga, I Am the Chose King, in Spring 2011. For more information, please visit http://www.helenhollick.net/.

The Princess of Nowhere by Prince Lorenzo Borghese

Scheduled for release in December 2010, The Princess of Nowhere is a wonderful portrayal about the tempestuous life of Princess Pauline Borghese, sister of the infamous conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte.

Pauline Bonaparte Borghese

Pauline was born into the most humble of beginnings in Corsica. Their family was large, boisterous, and very poor. Possessed with great beauty and spirit, she was a woman who reached out for life wherever and whenever she could find it. In the year 1793, when the French Revolution made Corsica unsafe, the Bonaparte family moved to France. Her brother, Napoleon, was young, ambitions, and had the highest of dreams.

Napoleon Bonaparte in his study

As he rose through the military ranks and gained fame and wealth, he made sure to pull every member of his family out of the dregs of poverty with him. And Pauline was no exception.

When she was seventeen years old, Napoleon arranged for her to marry a fellow officer named Victor Emmanuel Leclerc.

General Leclerc

She soon bore him a son who they named Dermide. When her husband was posted to the West Indies, she gladly followed him there. But life in the world was fraught with trouble. Life was not easy there and Victor suffered numerous military losses. He soon fell ill with yellow fever and died, leaving Pauline a very young widow. Pauline and her young son returned home with the body of her husband.

In the spring of 1803, Napoleon introduced her to Prince Camillo Borghese and they were married a year later.

Prince Camillo Borghese

With her young son, Pauline travelled to Rome where she and Camillo began their lives together in the beautiful Villa Borghese.

Camillo commissioned a statue of Pauline from the great sculptor Canova, the now-famous portrait of Pauline as the goddess Venus.

Their marriage, however, was not always happy, even though a deep love and strong physical attraction existed between them.

When her son, Dermide died in childhood of fever, Pauline’s life fell into a slow painful decline and she and Camillo became estranged. Pauline lived in France (with a series of lovers) and Camillo remained in Italy taking a mistress of his own. It was a bitter separation, but one that still bore the fruits of their love.

The Princess of Nowhere is the beautifully told story of the life of one of the most passionate women of the 19th century. And who better to share the intimate details of her life than the direct descendant of Camillo Borghese, Prince Lorenzo Borghese. This easy to read tale unfolds with beautifully decorated pages at the start of each chapter. The story is told with understanding and tolerance in a non-judgmental way so that the reader is sympathetic towards both Pauline and Camillo while understanding the culture and social norms of the times. It is rich with detail and beautiful of voice – a novel worth lingering over, as full of passion as the woman it portrays.

Puncetto Lace

"Puncetto lace” is traditionally from the Valsesia area, a mountain valley in northern Italy. 

Its exact origins are not known, but it is believed the lace came about as a result of the invasion of Saracens in the 10th century because it closely resembles the delicate filigree decorative patterns of Arab art from that time. 

The first known example of puncetto lace dates from the 16th century when a man named Gaudenzio Ferrari, a very famous and reknowned artist from Valsesia adorned a statue of the Virgin Mary with this lace. 

Years later, artists working in the Varallo Sacred Mountain Chapel painted examples of this lace to embellish the plain costumes the figures appearing in the popular every day life scenes they were creating. 

The popularity of the lace reached its height during the XIXth century, when Queen Margaret of Savoy, an admirer of Valsesia district, introduced it at her court, among her ladies-in-waiting.  The lace soon spread to France and Great Britain. 

Centuries later, puncetto remained well known only in Valsesia Valley.  Women continued to make the lace to decorate their clothing or mothers made it to refine their daughter's trousseaus.  

Most recently, puncetto is enjoying a re-emergence in part due to the interest of local public institutions and of many other people fond of this lace who are keeping this 450 year old art alive. 


  

Top 50 History Blogs

I'm thrilled to announce that History and Women has been included in a prestigious list as one of the top 50 world history blogs.

It is always humbling and rewarding to be recognized.  It makes the hours spent researching fascinating women worth it. 

This blog has been very rewarding.  I'm fascinated by the follies or wisdom of the women who have come before us.  There is much to learn from them. 

If you'd like to read the entire list and see what other blogs were included, please visit:

Masters in History Top 50 History Blogs

or visit their home page at: 

Masters of History Blog

Amelia Earhart

Encyclopedia of World Biography on Amelia Mary Earhart

The American aviator Amelia Mary Earhart Putnam (1897-1937) remains the world's best-known woman pilot long after her mysterious disappearance during a round-the-world flight in 1937.

Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, the daughter of Edwin and Amy Otis Earhart. Until she was 12 she lived with her wealthy maternal grandparents, Alfred and Amelia Harres Otis, in Atcheson, Kansas, where she attended a private day school. 
Her summers were spent in Kansas City, Missouri, where her lawyer-father worked for the Rock Island Railroad.

In 1909 Amelia and her younger sister, Muriel, went to live with their parents in Des Moines, Iowa, where the railroad had transferred her father. Before completing high school she also attended schools in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Springfield, Illinois, while her father fought a losing battle against alcoholism. His failure and its consequent humiliation for her were the root of Amelia's lifelong dislike of alcohol and desire for financial security.

Amy Earhart left Edwin in Springfield in 1914, taking her daughters with her to live with friends in Chicago, where Amelia was graduated from Hyde Park School in 1915. The yearbook described her as "A.E.--the girl in brown (her favorite color) who walks alone."

A year later, after Amy Earhart received an inheritance from the estate of her mother, she sent Amelia to Ogontz School in Philadelphia, an exclusive high school and junior college. During Christmas vacation of her second year there Amelia went to Toronto, Canada, where Muriel was attending a private school. In Toronto Amelia saw her first amputees, returning wounded from World War I. She immediately refused to return to Ogontz and became a volunteer nurse in a hospital for veterans where she worked until after the armistice of 1918. The experience made her an ardent, life-long pacifist.

From Toronto Earhart went to live with her mother and sister in Northampton, Massachusetts, where her sister was attending Smith College. In the fall of 1919 she entered Columbia University, but left after one year to join her parents, who had reconciled and were living in Los Angeles.

In the winter of 1920 Earhart saw her first air show and took her first airplane ride. "As soon as we left the ground," she said, "I knew I had to fly." She took lessons at Bert Kinner's airfield on Long Beach Boulevard in Los Angeles from a woman--Neta Snooks--and on December 15, 1921, received her license from the National Aeronautics Association (NAA). By working part-time as a file clerk, office assistant, photographer, and truck driver, and with some help from her mother, Earhart eventually was able to buy her own plane. However, she was unable to earn enough to continue what was an expensive hobby.



In 1924, when her parents separated again, she sold her plane and bought a car in which she drove her mother to Boston where her sister was teaching school.

Soon after that Earhart re-enrolled at Columbia but lacked the money to continue for more than one year. She returned to Boston where she became a social worker in a settlement house, joined the NAA, and continued to fly in her spare time.

In 1928 Earhart accepted an offer to join the crew of a flight across the Atlantic. The flight was the scheme of George Palmer Putnam, editor of WE, Charles Lindbergh's book about how he became, in 1927, the first person to fly across the Atlantic alone. The enterprising Putnam chose her for his "Lady Lindy" because of her flying experience, her education, and her lady-like appearance. Along with pilot Wilmer Stultz and mechanic Louis Gordon, she crossed the Atlantic (from Newfoundland to Wales) on June 18-19, 1928. Although she never once touched the controls (she described herself afterward as little more than a "sack of potatoes"), Earhart became world-renowned as "the first woman to fly the Atlantic."

From that time Putnam became Earhart's manager and, in 1931, her husband. He arranged all her flying engagements, many followed by often strenuous cross-country lecture tours (at one point, 29 tours in 31 days) for maximum publicity. However Earhart did initiate one flight of her own. Resenting reports that she was largely a puppet figure created by her publicist husband and something less than a competent aviator, she piloted a tiny, single-engine Lockheed Electra from Newfoundland to Ireland to become--on May 20-21, 1932, and five years after Lindbergh--the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

During the scarcely more than five years remaining in her life, Earhart acted as a tireless advocate for commercial aviation and for women's rights. The numerous flying records she amassed included:

1931: Altitude record in an autogiro

First person to fly an autogiro across the United States and back

1932: Fastest non-stop transcontinental flight by a woman

1933: Breaks her own transcontinental speed record

1935: First person to fly solo across the Pacific from Hawaii to California

First person to fly solo from Los Angeles to Mexico

Breaks speed record for non-stop flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City to Newark, New Jersey

1937: Sets speed record for east-west crossing from Oakland to Honolulu

Honors and awards she received included the Distinguished Flying Cross; Cross of the Knight of the Legion of Honor, from the French Government; Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society; and the Harmon Trophy as America's outstanding airwoman in 1932, 1933, 1934, and 1935.

On July 2, 1937, 22 days before her 40th birthday and having already completed 22,000 miles of an attempt to circumnavigate the earth, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared over the Pacific somewhere between Lae, New Guinea, and Howland Island. The most extensive search ever conducted by the U.S. Navy for a single missing plane sighted neither plane nor crew. Subsequent searches since that time have been equally unsuccessful. In 1992, an expedition found certain objects (a shoe and a metal plate) on the small atoll of Nikumaroro south of Howland, which could have been left by Earhart and Noonan. In 1997 another female pilot, Linda Finch, recreated Earhart's final flight in an around the world tribute entitled "World Flight 97." The event took place on what would have been Earhart's 100th birthday. Finch successfully completed her voyage, the identical route that Earhart would have flown, around the world.

The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick

In the newly released novel, The Forever Queen, Hellen Hollick vividly recreates the life of Emma of Normandy.

As the daughter of the Richard I, Duke of Normandy and the sister of Richard II, Emma was raised to take her place as a royal queen one day. At a young age, she was married to King Æthelred of England, a political alliance struck to bring peace between their two countries. Stoically, Emma embraced her new role and swore her loyalty to England with heart and soul. It was a promise she upheld with her every action and to her dying breath.

As the second wife of King Æthelred, Emma soon discovered her husband was nothing more than a bungling, ineffectual man whom she instantly disliked. Despite his ineptitude as king and his occasional brutal treatment of her, Emma bore him two sons, Edward and Alfred, and a daughter named Goda. At the Danish invasion of England, Emma and her children fled to the safety of Normandy.

While Æthelred unsuccessfully fought the Danes, Edmund, his son by his first marriage, challenged his throne. But Æthelred was ill and when he died, Edmund became king and continued the battle for control of England against King Cnut of the Danes. After a brutal battle, Cnut and Edmund agreed to peace and divided England so that each would rule half. Unfortunately, Edmund died, and Cnut inherited all of England, thereby putting Emma's wealth and landholdings at risk of loss.  

Emma suddenly found herself with no rank and in a most precarious position.  She faced a dim future. No longer queen, if she returned to Normandy, she would be forced to abandon everything she owned and would become wholly dependent on her brother once more.  He would likely arrange another marriage for her. 

Faced with such a dilemma, the ever courageous Emma took matters into her own hands and approached Cnut the now King of England to marry her. Her boldness impressed Cnut and he was quick to see the advantages of their union. He readily agreed. As part of their betrothal contract, Cnut pledged that any sons born out of their union would also be heirs to his Danish sovereignty. Emma was more than pleased. Not only were they content with each other in their marriage, but it united their two realms and ended any hostility. She was the only woman in history to reign as queen to two kings, mother to two others, and was the great aunt of William the Conqueror.

Helen Hollick has created an epic tale of a shrewd queen who learned to wield her power through influence, manipulation, and force in order to maintain England's peace and prosperity. In this sweeping book, Hollick has included all the important personages of the time; a mix of antagonists and protaganists that will keep the reader turning the pages.  Rich with violence, love, and betrayal, Emma's story does not disappoint. Brilliant prose, historical accuracy, and rich detail bring this violent era to life. The Forever Queen stands as a well-detailed biographical account of one of England's strongest, most determined queens.

I truly enjoyed this book and learning about Emma of Normandy?  If you want to learn more about her and the era in which she lived, there's a book club tour scheduled for the month of November.  Here's a schedule of appearances.  I'll be following along and hope you will too.   

November 1


http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/

http://calicocritic.blogspot.com/

November 2

http://www.passagestothepast.com/

http://lifeinthethumb.blogspot.com/

November 3

http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/

http://www.luxuryreading.com/

November 4

http://yankeeromancereviewers.blogspot.com/

http://historicallyobsessed.blogspot.com/

November 5

http://booksbythewillowtree.blogspot.com/

http://www.historyandwomen.com/

November 8

http://www.rundpinne.blogspot.com/

http://www.bookwormsdinner.blogspot.com/

November 9

http://debsbookbag.blogspot.com/

http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/

November 10

http://literatehousewife.com/

http://carpelibrisreviews.com/

November 11

http://web.me.com/quirion/Bookaddict/Welcome.html

http://bibliophile23.wordpress.com/

November 12

http://www.brokenteepee.blogspot.com/

http://www.read-all-over.net/

November 15

http://writesthoughts.blogspot.com/

http://celticladysramblings.blogspot.com/

November 16

http://www.jennylovestoread.blogspot.com/

http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/

November 17

http://bookalicio.us/

http://themaidenscourt.blogspot.com/

November 18

http://pushersink.blogspot.com/

http://marthasbookshelf.blogspot.com/

November 19

http://theroyalreviews.blogspot.com/

http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/

November 22

Book Club Chat on http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/
7pm-9pm EST