Historical Fiction
Reading history allows us to understand what happened. Reading historical fiction allows us to care what happened. Even after we know the facts, we continue to search for sense and meaning; historical novels expose the reader to the inner lives of people across time and place, to experience the complexity and deep emotions of those lives.
What is real, and what is imagined? I try to create an authentic reality by researching and understanding the concrete world in which my characters live and interact—so I can make that world come alive for you.
“History, and science too, help put our small lives in context. But if we want to meet the dead looking alive, we turn to art.”
Lethal Alliances
Set during the reign of King Philippe le Bel, this panoramic novel shares the passions and politics of medieval France in a tale rich with adventure, turmoil, and heartbreak. When three girls betrothed to Philippe’s sons arrive at the French court, they are soon swept up by palace intrigue and deadly betrayals. In the short period from 1301 to 1315, Phillipe will orchestrate the murder of a pope, drive the Jews from France, ensure the destruction of the Knights Templar, and thwart the love affair of his daughter, Isabelle—who, as queen of England, helps trigger the Hundred Years’ War.
Readers who like authors such as Tracy Chevalier, Candace Robb, Ellis Peters, and Ken Follett will enjoy Lethal Alliances.
“The richness of detail and authenticity of the times may be attributed to de Beauvoir’s background, but it truly takes a literary hand to capture these historical nuances in such a manner that the fictional side of the story remains completely engrossing even to those with no prior knowledge of or interest in French history.
Lethal Alliances crafts an engaging account that is as much about French politics of the times as it is about romance and intrigue. Winding these into the historical facts surrounding the political forces that clash with one another creates a moving, absorbing account which is educational, riveting, and hard to put down.”
“A master of suspense, de Beauvoir is renowned for creating authentic, compelling characters. Her nuanced, knowledgeable, and passionate portrayal of real-life individuals not only brings their stories to life but also reveals the machinations of a troubled time all too reminiscent of our own.”
Our Lady of the Dunes
In 1942, Boston teenager Jessica Stanfield is learning about life and its complexities in a time of war as she sees her German housekeeper Anna harassed and threatened. Her parents, anxious for Jessica’s safety as well as Anna’s, send them to spend the summer in one of the dune shacks of the backshore of Cape Cod.
Jessica is enchanted by her new independence as well as by the wild nature that she discovers in the dunes. She is befriended by a local girl, Sophie, the daughter of a fisherman, and as time passes the girls’ special friendship deepens. But the summer isn’t just idyllic: rumors of camps in Europe, the presence of U-boats off the coast, and dangers even closer to home put Jessica’s newfound strength to the test. And when she’s called upon to make decisions about what is right and what is wrong, she finds that she has to grow up… quickly.
This coming-of-age novel thrills with its descriptions of Provincetown and the Outer Cape during WWII, but also challenges assumptions and underlines the moral ambiguity present at any age during wartime.