A NEW PIECE BY KATHLEEN HERBERT

This is a little morsel- but a tasty one. A single, richly complex, chocolate; a perfectly formed truffle dish; a minute crystal glass of a rare ice-wine-

We are privileged to be the custodians of all Kathleen's literary papers, and are gradually trawling through to see what there is of general interest. This retelling of Guinevere's story is a little gem. Written at the end of the last century, you could say it embodies Kathleen's ideas about feminism, and the almost completely male perspectives handed down to us in legend and history.

 The Once and Future Queen is just a foretaste of riches yet to come.

Ironic cover image

The background image for the cover is based on this lovely pre-Raphaelite painting by John Collier: Queen Guinevere's maying.  Of course, what you will find inside is an altogether tougher Guinevere than this traditional image would suggest.

A PATH TO AUSTRALIA

I woke up this morning to another great book review, this time for Paths of Exile: it's on Smashwords here, but I print an extract below:

The author very cleverly paints a crisp, clear glimpse of an opaque period of Britain’s history. This is where historical fiction - the active, conjecturing mind of an author who is familiar with all the available facts of a certain period - does what no amount of history lessons can ever achieve: it brings an era to life.

This tale of loyalty, treachery, murder, revenge, escape and pursuit, in 7th century post-Roman, pre-Norman Britain (sometimes known as the early ‘Dark Ages’) also has just a smidgen of romance thrown in for good measure. The story is woven around some authentic historical characters (filled out to full living colour), including the main protagonist, along with some vivid entities from the author’s fertile imagination. With great attention to detail (the author is certainly au fait with this period); this is a beautifully crafted story.

T D McKinnon

I feel very proud to be associated with authors of such quality, and although our small family business cannot publish more than a handful of titles a year, these two recent reviews have convinced me that I am right to stick with historical novels of the very highest quality.

T D McKinnon is an Australian writer: his website is here Cheers TD- how about taking a look at other Trifolium Books titles? The Boy with Two Heads will be available on Kindle very soon, and for those of you who live a little nearer to Trifolium Books' heartland, Julia Newsome will be signing copies in Wigton, Penrith and Carlisle on 20th and 21st June- when the Olympic torch comes through those towns. Details of times and venues later.