Spun Stories ~ Tales from the Past

FAREWELL MY LIFE: What would you do if your sister became engaged to a mysterious suitor? Drink in a dark historical about a hidden murderer mostly set in 1920s Berlin. A SURPRISING […]

This novel is the third of three about the younger generation, the sons and daughters of Ceridwen, Sidroc, Gyric, Godwin, and Aelfwin. The first of these three (SILVER HAMMER, GOLDEN CROSS) ends […]

Instead of being in the foreground of WILDSWEPT, as one might expect, the war formed a slightly edgy backdrop to a story about the relationships that the heirs to Ceridwen, Sidroc, Godwin, […]

Fifteen-year-old Ceridwen faces a plight common to most girls of her age: the unpalatable choice between taking a man she finds repulsive as a husband, or taking the veil and living a […]

As the only woman in the room myself during my 15-year career as a cognitive scientist, I was very taken by the premise of this volume. And I was not disappointed, at […]

This is a haunting book about domestic violence and the power of belief set in the remote backcountry of rural Alaska in the 1970s and 1980s. Leni Allbright is only 13 years […]

THE END OF CHILDHOOD: What if your Master begins flirting? Would you be able to refuse? A tale about my 5 times grandmother set in 1809 during the Napoleonic wars. SHADES OF […]

As everyone knows, PILLARS OF THE EARTH is a huge novel that takes place in England over a 50-year period from about 1121 to 1172. The novel begins and ends in violence: […]

Despite its flaws, I absolutely loved this novel. From the very beginning, I found protagonist Clara Kelley compelling, and I loved the way that author Marie Benedict introduced a flavor of danger […]

Having absolutely loved 1421, I had to see what author Gavin Menzies would make of the mystery surrounding Plato’s Atlantis. For some reason, I was not expecting a compelling argument, nor was […]

I hadn’t intended to write about the war in Ukraine, but as the conditions there have deteriorated, as they have become beyond shocking, I decided I couldn’t just ignore what was going […]

I have never heard of Lauren Willig before, so when I picked up THE SUMMER COUNTRY, I honestly thought I was reading a tale about an Anglo-Saxon person’s journey to the afterlife. […]

Like many readers, I found this volume disappointing after Gavin Menzies’ stunning debut 1421. For starters, this book was a great deal dryer than 1421, filled as it was with descriptions about […]

How utterly fascinating it was to read about a long-forgotten Ming Emperor of China, who, in 1421, sent off a flotilla of 800? 900? huge ships, built of teak, their red square […]