Cynthia Sally Haggard was born and reared in Surrey, England. About 30 years ago she surfaced in the United States, settling in the Mid-Atlantic region as she wound her way through four careers: violinist, cognitive scientist, medical writer, and novelist.
In June, 2015, Cynthia graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University, Cambridge MA.
Her first novel, "Thwarted Queen," a frustrating tale (hence the title) of a woman who was nearly crowned Queen of England, was shortlisted for many awards, including the 2012 Eric Hoffer New Horizon Award for debut authors. To date, sales have surpassed 38,000 copies.
Her second novel, "Farewell My Life," a Cinderella-ish tale with not-so-charming princes who inhabit the edgy setting of 1920s and 1930s Berlin during the rise of the Nazis, won a Pinnacle Award for Historical Fiction (2019) and was a Distinguished Favorite for the 2019 New York City Big Book Awards.
It is easy to see that Lawrence Durrell started life as a poet, for his prose is magnificent. But his strongest suit is his brilliant evocation of time and place, in recreating […]
He leaned across that huge desk as if to reach for my hand, but his arm lay on his side of the desk, his fingers hovering in the air, disconnected. He spoke […]
As a professional writer myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the way that Jodi Picoult began this tale. What better way to introduce a character and her situation by having her lose her memory? […]
May everyone find something to be thankful for during this very difficult year….
Author Jodi Picoult writes with such empathy and this novel was well supported by Cassandra Campbell’s superb narration. Here is the tale of a young woman who marries up into a family […]
Jodi Picoult’s debut novel is not a particularly easy read. It doesn’t help that we have FIVE point-of-view characters, and that one of those characters – teenager Rebecca Jones – is telling […]
And so our friendship began, with regular visits to the office hours he used to hold once a week for each class. It wasn’t hard for me to become his star student. […]
I don’t normally read non-fiction, but my husband raved about this book and so I picked it up. It was absolutely fascinating. Mr. Woodard’s thesis is that far from being a confederation […]
As many have noted, HAMLET’S MILL is not an easy read. It is written by scholars who are fluent in many languages (French, German, Latin and Greek) and because this was published […]
Did the familiar children’s fairytales of today exist in the ancient world? Were there ancient Cinderellas, Twelve Dancing Princesses, Sleeping Beauties and Pusses in Boots? The answer: Maybe. In FAIRYTALE IN THE […]
