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.
“Ifyoutakemetoyourfavoritecafe,” I remarked to the desk, “I’llorderthemostexpensivethingthere.” His silence was deadening. Unable to hold back any more, I lifted my face to his as a flood of giggles washed over me. He […]
I loved this retelling of the TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES. Jessica Day George adds some features that fill in the spaces and add logical sense to the gaps in the tale. We learn […]
While THE MISTS OF AVALON, the first volume in this series was set in Britain in the five hundreds CE, when the Romans left, the Anglo-Saxons arrived and Christianity was ascendant, PRIESTESS […]
This novel is three stories in one, and serves to bridge the time period between FOREST HOUSE which takes place from 86 to 96 CE, to 452 CE when Viviane takes over […]
I was a young lady, and wanted to be treated as such, so I wore my church clothes, a black skirt that came to mid-calf and made me look older, the white […]
It is around 86 CE. Eilan, a 14-year-old grand-daughter of Ardanos, the Arch-Druid of Britannia, can already see visions and hears the call of the Goddess. All might have gone smoothly with […]
To many, three is a sacred number. It is the sign of the Trinity. Three Norns twine the threads of Fate. And in this re-telling of the King Arthur Legend (told from […]
ENTWINED is author Heather Dixon’s retelling of the twelve dancing princesses set in a castle in the nineteenth century. At the beginning, the eleven sisters are faced with a double tragedy, the […]
“I’ve never met a woman like you before.” I held my breath as I cast my eyes down, willing my heart to stop dancing its jagged rhythm. For the first twenty years […]
Although this novel got off to a slow start, I loved discovering the courage, heroism and leadership of a couple of characters I had never heard of before. King Baldwin IV of […]
Ben Hubbard knows how to tell a good story, and starting his book about MBS (Mohammed bin Salman, the current Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia) by conveying his tutor’s impressions of him […]
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. […]
