Tides of War: A Novel by Stella Tillyard

TIDES OF WAR: A Novel
Stella Tillyard
On Sale: October 30, 2012
Picador
Historical Fiction

For a review copy (US and Canada only) or to schedule an interview with Stella Tillyard, please email gabrielle.gantz [at] picadorusa.com

PRAISE FOR TIDES OF WAR
“[A] welcome and entertaining contribution to the genre… In this novel, as in its many predecessors, the Napoleonic era is seldom dull….The book is a page turner.”—Charles McGrath, The New York Times

“As a historian, Tillyard brings a good deal of expertise to her subject. She sees those tendrils of the war that have reached into our time: the effectiveness of guerrilla action, the perils of worker unrest, the appeal of technological innovation, the dangers and promises of medical curiosity. Above all, she depicts the drive toward independence by women of all classes and types.”—Jane Smiley, The Washington Post

“Historian Stella Tillyard’s passion for the Regency Period shines through in her first novel, which is as painstakingly detailed as any piece of nonfiction….The descriptions of the era, from the battlegrounds of the Peninsula War to the lab that captivates Harriet back in England, are enchanting.”—USA Today

“This sophisticated, unusual portrait of Regency society will appeal to all readers of historical fiction, especially admirers of Bernard Cornwell.”—Library Journal, Starred Review / A Top 10 Book of 2011

“Tillyard is at her best with historical figures and when depicting the era; readers share Harriet’s discovery of the waltz, Jane Austen, and ice cream, and witness cutting-edge battlefield surgeries under real-life Surgeon Gen. James McGrigor.”—Publishers Weekly

ABOUT TIDES OF WAR
An epic novel about love and war, set in Regency England and Spain during the Peninsular War (1812-15), by the acclaimed historian and bestselling author of Aristocrats

Tides of War opens in England with the recently married, charmingly unconventional Harriet preparing to say goodbye to her husband, James, as he leaves to join the Duke of Wellington’s troops in Spain.

Harriet and James’s interwoven stories of love and betrayal propel this sweeping and dramatic novel as it moves between Regency London on the cusp of modernity—a city in love with science, the machine, money—and the shocking violence of war in Spain. With dazzling skill Stella Tillyard explores not only the effects of war on the men at the front but also the freedoms it offers the women left behind. As Harriet befriends the older and protective Kitty, Lady Wellington, her life begins to change in unexpected ways. Meanwhile, James is seduced by the violence of battle, and then by love in Seville.

As the novel moves between war and peace, Spain and London, its large cast of characters includes the serial adulterer and war hero the Duke of Wellington, and the émigrés Nathan Rothschild and Frederic Winsor who will usher in the future, creating a world brightly lit by gaslight where credit and financial speculation rule. Whether describing the daily lives and desires of strong female characters or the horror of battle, Tides of War is set to be the fiction debut of the year.

ABOUT STELLA TILLYARD
Stella Tillyard has been described by Simon Schama as “dazzling . . . a phenomenally gifted writer.” Her books include Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox, 1740-1832; Citizen Lord: Edward Fitzgerald, 1763-1798; and most recently A Royal Affair: George III and his Troublesome Siblings. She has lived in the United States and Italy and now lives in London.

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Emperor of Lies: A Novel by Steve Sem-Sandberg

Emperor of Lies
Steve Sem-Sandberg
Translated from the Swedish by
Sarah Death
On sale: July 3, 2012
Paperback
Fiction / Historical Fiction

PRAISE FOR EMPEROR OF LIES
“Fiction of true moral force, brilliantly sustained and achieved…I find it difficult to think of any book that has had such an immediate and powerful impact on me…Brave and brillant.”—Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies

“Was Rumkowski a sinner or a saint? Collaborator or a liberator? It is around this central question that The Emperor of Lies swirls, providing along the way. . . cinematic detail that invites immersion in the way few contemporary novels of serious ambition do.”—Daphne Merkin, The New York Times Book Review

“A resolute masterpiece, The Emperor of Lies looks for truths in the great domain of dissolving syntax and shadows we call history….A great achievement.”—Sebastian Barry, Salon

ABOUT EMPEROR OF LIES
In February 1940, the Nazis established what would become the second-largest Jewish ghetto in the Polish city of Lódz. Its chosen leader: Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, a sixty-three-year-old Jewish businessman and orphanage director. From one of Scandinavia’s most critically acclaimed and bestselling authors, The Emperor of Lies chronicles the tale of Rumkowski’s monarchical rule over a quarter million Jews. Driven by a titanic ambition, he sought to transform the ghetto into a productive industrial complex and strove to make it —and himself — indespensable to the Nazi regime. Drawing on the chronicles of life in the Lódz Ghetto, Steve Sem-Sandberg captures the full panorama of human resilience and asks the most difficult questions: Was Rumkowski a ruthless opportunist, an accessory to the Nazi regime driven by a lust for power? Or was he a pragmatic strategist who managed to save Jewish lives through his collaboration policies?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Sem-Sandberg was born in 1958. He divides his time between Vienna and Stockholm.

More Information
Emperor of Lies on the Picador website
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For a review copy, please email gabrielle.gantz [at] picadorusa.com

Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg

Island of Wings
Karin Altenberg
Penguin Paperback Original
On Sale:  December 27, 2011
eGalley available through NetGalley 

Praise for ISLAND OF WINGS
“Drawing on historically accurate roots, including real-life figures Neil and Lizzie MacKenzie, Altenberg creates a mesmerizing tapestry that will surely linger in the reader’s mind.”
—Booklist 

“Altenberg’s book is deeply entrenched in historical detail, vivid in its descriptions of geography”
—Publishers Weekly 

 “With scrupulous attention to place, history, and the natural world, ISLAND OF WINGS tells a story washed by a clean and lovely kind of sorrow.”
—Anne Enright, Man Booker Prize–winning author of The Gathering 

“Karin Altenberg… combines scrupulous research with psychological acuity in exploring the marital and pastoral struggles of Reverend Neil Mackenzie, minister of St Kilda from 1829 to 1844. His flock is essentially pagan: they worship their ancestors, not Christ. Yet they accept their sufferings with an implacable serenity that highlights Mackenzie’s demons and doubts, driving him to the brink of madness.”
—The Economist “Pick of Summer Fiction”

“It isn’t easy for a contemporary writer to get inside a Calvinist mind, or to depict how people could live with any dignity in such a primitive place … By respecting the details of religious history and the natural world, Altenberg does both beautifully.”
—Guardian (UK)

About ISLAND OF WINGS
Sailing west from theHebridesto the islands of St. Kilda in July of 1830, everything lies ahead for Lizzie and Neil McKenzie. Neil is to become the minister to the small community of islanders and Lizzie, his new wife, is pregnant with their first child.

ISLAND OF WINGS is a voyage mixed with adventure and redemption. Neil’s journey is evangelical: a testing and strengthening of his own faith against the old pagan ways of the St. Kildans as well as a passage to atonement. For Lizzie—bright, beautiful and devoted—this is an excursion into the unknown. Her only certainty is her loyalty and love for her husband, both of which will be sorely tested in the years to come.

About Karin Altenberg
Born and brought up in southern Sweden, Karin Altenberg moved toBritainto study in 1996. She holds a PhD in Archaeology from the University of Reading. Her thesis was published in 2001 and won the Nordenstedska Foundation Award. She is currently senior advisor to the Swedish National Heritage Board and is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. ISLAND OF WINGS is her first novel. She is currently working on her second.

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Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I by Margaret George
Viking / On-Sale: April 5, 2011

Praise for ELIZABETH I

“This is Margaret George’s best novel yet, and a true masterpiece.  Her Elizabethis unforgettable.”
—Sharon Kay Penman

“This is one of the best historical novels I have read in ages, a stunning tour de force. It conveys a vivid and authentic sense of Elizabeth Tudor and her world. Extensively researched with the highest integrity, and deeply engaging, it sets a new benchmark for the genre. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”
—Alison Weir

“George’s mastery of period detail and her sure navigation through the rocky shoals of Elizabethan politics mean this lengthy novel never flags.”
—Booklist (starred)

“Like her heroine, George possesses an eye for beauty and a knack for detail, creating a vibrant story that, for nearly 700 pages, enables readers to experience firsthand Elizabeth’s decisions, triumphs, and losses. Rather than turn Elizabeth I into a romantic heroine, George painstakingly reveals a monarch who defined an era.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred)

“Nicely bloody and byzantine.”
—Kirkus

“The epitome of a well-researched book. . . . This novel is by far the most human look at Elizabeth[and] an absolute must read for ElizabethI fans.”
—Dallas Examiner

“This is a magnificent, stay-up-all-night page-turner. . . . Margaret George dazzles.”
—GoodReads (Movers & Shakers feature)

 “Illuminating. . . . An up-close-and-personal view of Elizabeth’s inner life and private circle: at court, in parliament, and as commander-in-chief of the world’s greatest empire.”

—Book Reporter

“A richly fleshed out story [and] a tantalizing glimpse into what Elizabeth may have been like.”
—San Jose Examiner

“By carefully blending the rich historical detail that is available with her own equally rich imagination, George presents a fascinating portrait of a smart, brave and politically savvy leader who was nevertheless also human and emotional”
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

About the Book:
More than 400 years after the death of Elizabeth I, the last and longest-reigning of the Tudor monarchs, the dynasty continues to fascinate us, living on in Hollywood blockbusters like “The Other Boleyn Girl,” television series like Showtime’s “The Tudors” and books like Hilary Mantel’s award-winning Wolf Hall. ELIZABETH I (Viking; ISBN: 9780670022533; On-sale Date: April 5, 2011; Pages: 688; Price: $30), by Margaret George, one of our premier writers of historical fiction, is one of the few works to explore England’s most famous queen at the height of her powers, picking up where other books leave off—just as the Spanish Armada is about to invade. In truth, the Armada was the beginning of a great era, not its finale.

About Margaret George:
Margaret George is the author of several bestselling novels, including The Autobiography of Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scotland & the Isles, The Memoirs of Cleopatra, Mary, Called Magdalene, and Helen of Troy. She travels widely to research her novels

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