Of Merchants, Mythology, & Mercians: My Top Books of 2023

Nancy Goldstone’s Daughters of the Winter Queen is a remarkable biography about five different women: Elizabeth Stuart, princess of England and Queen of Bohemia, and her four daughters: Elisabeth, Louise Hollandine, Henriette, and Sophia. This is one of those rare multi-character biographies where the author effortlessly and successfully weaves their stories together into a compelling and enthralling narrative.

The Merchant from Sepharad continues the excellent The Sugar Merchant series with the travels of Joshua ben Elazar who is tasked with establishing a mercantile presence between Europe and Asia. From Portugal to India, in a world brimming with political and religious upheaval, Joshua must contend with his crisis of faith and other external factors to ensure his journey’s success amidst a volatile period in history.

Vera Bell takes readers on a time travel journey through past life regression in Through the Veneer of Time. Experience parallel story lines as Siena Forte and Neave McConway fight for their loves and survive the horror of a terrible enemy in this spell-binding tale. From the bustling streets of Washington D.C. to the rolling Irish hills, this is a story you won’t want to miss.

Not Pink follows the story of Mary Therese Panos, a troubled young woman caught between her Greek patriarchal upbringing and the roaring counterculture of the ’60s. This hard-hitting but highly readable novel explores Mae’s demons and how she struggles to overcome them. Will she succumb to them? Or will she learn to address them in order to be a better mother for her daughter?

Tim Clarkson’s biography of Æthelflæd, daughter of King Alfred the Great and the Lady of the Mercians, fills in a gap in the historiography of Anglo-Saxon women. Æthelflæd is perhaps among the best known of Anglo-Saxon women, especially in holding power on her own after the death of her husband in 10th-century England. Clarkson does an admirable job of recognizing the limitations in primary documentation while still effectively pulling together the known facts and reasonable speculation into a lively illumination of this incredible woman.

In Of White Ashes, Constance Hays Matsumoto and Kent Matsumoto tell the tales of two individuals and how their lives intertwine during one of the most horrific times in history: World War II. Based on the true stories of Mr. Matsumoto’s parents, this utterly captivating novel represents historical fiction at its finest, and most heartbreaking.