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The Saint Laurent Muse by C.W. Gortner

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  The Saint Laurent Muse brings to life the Paris of the 70s with the greatest names in fashion, their rivalry, nightlife, glamour and vanity. Loulou de la Falaise comes from aristocratic family. Her childhood wasn’t nurturing. It involved divorced parents, foster families, boarding schools, and unloving grandparents. It led her into unhappy marriage at young age, followed shortly by divorce. But there was one crucial lesson which her mother, Maxime, instilled in her that it was important to create one’s existence. Her mother always looked forward, never backwards, and understood that the key to happiness was to find something you love to do. For Maxime, it was fashion collections in Paris where she also took Loulou who was mesmerized by the clothes. Loulou’s career path takes her from assisting at in-store fashion shows in Europe to some odd fashion jobs in NYC. While visiting a friend in Paris, she is invited to a Saint Laurent couture fashion show. And that’s when everything...
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Follow Me to Africa by Penny Haw

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  Follow Me to Africa imagines real story of Mary Leakey who became one of the world’s most distinguished paleoanthropologists despite not having formal education. Her passion, determination, curiosity and hard work earned her numerous prestigious awards and four honorary doctorate degrees. Her story runs alongside a fictional character which purpose was to question “What would you tell your younger self?” The story begins in 1983 when Grace arrives in Tanzania at Olduvai George where she feels unwelcomed by Dr. Mary Leakey. When Grace arrives at the archeological dig’s camp with her father from England, she is still in a state of sorrow after losing her mother. When Mary lost her father at a young age, she found her strength in following her passion for archeology. Thus, Mary, knowing that Grace lost her mother, recognizes the need for mentorship for Grace who is lost in her sorrow and doesn’t have any goals in her life. When a cheetah in a dire state approaches the camp, she crea...
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Boy by Nicolle Galland

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  The Boy reimagines the story of Alexander Cooke who played the female roles of Shakespeare’s plays. Alexander “Sander” Cooke is the most celebrated boy player in the Chamberlain’s Men, William Shakespeare’s theatre company. His portrayal of female roles made him the toast of London. But now at the cusp of adulthood his future is uncertain. Sander’s theatrical triumphs catch the first attention of Francis Bacon – philosopher and one of the greatest minds of their time. But what catches his next attention is Sander’s original question, only to discover quickly the truth that Sander is not his would-be acolyte. It’s someone else. Joan Buckler is Sander’s best friend. While Sander wishes for more than friendship, she craves knowledge. Something that is unattainable for a woman of her time. From childhood, she had interest in botany and using plants for medicinal purposes. She became an experimental botanist under a guide of two experts, who already recognized her early on as a ...
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The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

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  The Queens of Crime bring five powerful women crime writers who demand recognition of their mystery genre. It is inspired by a true story of Dorothy Sayers’ own life. London, 1931. The five great female writers come together and form Detection Club - an organization of mystery writers created due to lack of consideration for their work as literature. Dorothy L. Sayers leads the group which includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. Their goal is to elevate the mystery genre so the detective novels are seen as good as literary fiction. But in the male dominated world, their club rather causes them to be even more ostracized. To prove their worth, they decide to solve a real-life murder. Recently, the murder case of May Daniels, a young English nurse, resurfaced as her body was found in a park in France. Four months earlier, she disappeared into thin-air in France, after stepping into a bathroom at the train station before bounding for England...
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Let's Call Her Barbie by Renee Rosen

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  Let’s Call Her Barbie reimagines the story of Ruth Handler and her best known invention namely Barbie doll. She was ahead of her time with an idea of a doll that wouldn’t imitate mothers but rather bold women who could be anything. Los Angeles, 1956. Ruth Handler gathers a team of engineers and designers to create a unique doll. She’s had this idea for quite some time and almost gave up on it when she saw this kind of doll in Switzerland. Now, with an example in her hand, she presents it to the team what she wants to recreate. She strongly believes that there is a marketplace for it which is untapped. Along the way, there are many setbacks, but Ruth’s vision is unwavering. After three years of hard work, it doesn’t get any easier at the Toy Fair in NYC. The buyers are not convinced about a doll that looks like a woman. The Barbie launch is a colossal failure, but Ruth strongly believes in TV commercial. When most would give up, despite the Fair failure, she proceeds with commerci...
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Queen of Diamonds by Beezy Marsh

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  This book 3 of trilogy, which can be read as a stand-alone, is based on the leader of a notorious gang of shoplifters, Alice Diamond of the Forty Thieves. She was inspired by the first Queen of Thieves, a daring girl from the London slums of the 1880s, called Mary Carr. London, 1900. The story begins with Lady Harcourt venturing into the dangerous alleyways of Seven Dials, despite the warnings to avoid the area. As an artist, her curiosity wins out, leading her to explore the lives of ordinary people, which she captures in her sketches. In Seven Dials, while watching her brother play at the fountain, Mary notices a lady in a fancy dress. The woman offers Mary a coin and asks her to show her around. The encounter sets Mary on a new path. She begins to pose in ragged clothes for Lady Harcourt and later, secretly, for her husband. Mary is a quick learner and observes how people look at her differently when she wears fine clothing. This realization sparks an idea. Alice grew up in Se...
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The Lotus Shoes by Jane Yang

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    Set in 1800s China, Little Flower is sold into slavery to a wealthy family of Fong. The father of the Fong family arranges a marriage for his daughter Linjing. The father chooses a progressive family who doesn’t want a bride with bound feet. This creates jealousy as Little Flower has bound feet as her mother hoped that would help her in the future. Not only that, Little Flower is excellent at embroidery, the talent that Linjing lacks. A betrayal leads to dire consequences for Little Flower, scaring her physically for life. And Linjing’s arranged marriage makes her rethink her strategy as she will need a loyal ally in the new household of her future husband. She starts seeing the right ally in Little Flower, but is it too late to tilt the scale and gain her confidence? Little Flower tries to put the grief and loss aside and reach a new harmony in her life, but can she get passed sufferings to trust Linjing? At the same time, Linjing suffers unexpected betrayal from the pers...
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