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#HistFicThursdays - Escape of the Grand Duchess by Susan Appleyard - Author Interview

   Today's #HistFicThursdays blog is a brilliant interview with Susan Appleyard , as part of her  Yarde Book Promotion tour! I was very excited to be a part of this tour as Susan is a fellow member of the Historical Writers' Forum , too. Read on to find out about her influences, inspirations, and the thrilling story readers can expect to share in with Escape of the Grand Duchess . But first, let's meet the book... Blurb Escape of the Grand Duchess by Susan Appleyard is a gripping historical novel that shatters the notion that royalty is synonymous with privilege and ease. At its heart is Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, the youngest sister of Tsar Nicholas II—a Romanov who defied a doomed destiny and survived. Unlike her ill-fated brother and his family, Olga’s story is one of resilience, sacrifice, and daring escape. Trapped in a loveless marriage to a reckless gambler—who harbours secrets of his own—she finds hope in the arms of a dashing army lieutenant. But be...
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Book Review: The Stranger of Wigglesworth - Colby Hess

Blurb:

The arrival of a mysterious stranger in the happy village of Giggleswick causes a schism that disrupts their innocent, carefree existence. A brave, clever, freethinking boy then sets off on a quest to reveal the stranger’s deception and rescue his fellow villagers.


Review:


This is the story of how a stranger appears and starts telling happy, content people that they'll be more happy and content if they live their lives his way. When they refuse, things start going wrong in their joyful little village of Giggleswick. But all is not as it seems... there is a darker force at work!


I thoroughly enjoyed it. To me, it had elements of The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning, both in content and style. The story is written in a kind of gentle poetry which is more about rhythm than rhyme and that makes it a wonderful thing to read aloud.

The Stranger of Wigglesworth is a picture book for older children. It states clearly on the cover that it is for Ages 6-11, and it's important to keep this in mind when reading it. There are a lot of words in here which littler children wouldn't understand, and some parts of the story are very dark. The only slight issue I had with it was that, on one single occasion, the illustrations got so dark that I struggled to see what was happening, but that didn't spoil the overall reading experience for me.

This is a book to be read aloud where possible - and definitely one to be shared!

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