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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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GIVEAWAY: An Adventure for All

 

Our focus book this week is

Taking Wing

by Clemency Crow


(Picture)

Taking Wing is a gripping fantasy adventure, written for middle grade readers but enjoyed by adults too! Published in 2019, it was rejuvenated in 2025 when the sequel Doorway to the Sunset was published.


Humans were once protected by guardians...with feathers.

Twelve-year-old Freya enjoys karate and is the only one in her class who’s trusted with a part-time job. But everything changes when she meets a boy with yellow eyes. She learns about the guardians, and how an age-old fight has prevented them from fulfilling their purpose. Freya finds new friends in the Crow tribe, but not everything in the castle is blissful. A destructive shadow lies within her and all she needs to do to release it is close her eyes.

But as the guardians’ war rages on, Freya realises that, although the shadow’s power can be useful, it can’t create peace. To do that, Freya and her friends must solve the mysterious crime that began the war. Can they bring the guardians together before they destroy each other?

Giveaway


Crowvus is running a giveaway! You can win a copy of Taking Wing, and a Caithness bird mug, by either heading over to our Tiktok, BSky, Facebook or Instagram pages on Wednesday, liking the Giveaway post and following Crowvus, or by subscribing to our monthly email newsletter here just now.

Or, if you can't wait to get your copy, you can buy Taking Wing here.


Praise for Taking Wing on Amazon

"This was one of my favourite reads in a long time. I got totally lost in the story and I am genuinely going to miss Freya, Winnie and Elialdor so much.

One of my favourite things to do... as a child and an adult - is believe magic is out there and there is more to life than what we are now. This was a perfect novel to capture that thought in me and let my mind run so far away from reality and truly get lost in it. I loved it. From the highs and the rather dark lows. Everything."

"I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be looking out for the future instalments in the story.

Over the years I have read many children’s books from all the different genres and have found that the ones that capture children the most are those where the child can envisage themselves as part of the story and I think that would be very easy with this book. There are so many aspects that children can relate to including bullying and being bullied, being different to everyone else and having the feeling that everyone else understands what is going on but you as an example. Added to this is a cracking story with liberal amounts of magic and adventure in which the human is the one with the most power and how could you resist? I don’t want to give any of the storyline away but I would totally recommend this if you enjoy stories of fantasy and magic with very likeable and relatable characters."


And, if that weren't enough, Taking Wing is a red ribbon winner from The Wishing Shelf Book Awards!


A standalone companion book, Carnwennan, is being published in June this year. Check out the cover reveal tomorrow!

Carnwennan cover reveal tomorrow, 20th January, on this blog

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