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.
This is another alliterative title (#15) from Simon Brett’s Fethering series. Here we find out two beloved friends, Jude (who has many surnames and whose past is obscure) and her rather pent-up […]
This volume finds Jude entangled in a passionate love-affair with a silver-tongued gentleman by the name of Piers Targett. Carole Seddon, hurt at being abandoned by her friend & neighbor for a […]
She retreated, back into the safe darkness of the bedroom, when he raised his well-shaped head and looked at her. “What is it this time?” Helena paused. “I have dreams.” “You mean […]
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 […]
What another wonderful book to add to THE SEVEN SISTERS family. This time, we deal with youngest sister Electra, who is just as fiery (and out-of-control) as her name suggests. This is […]
How I loved the concept of this book. The idea that an elusive billionaire (Pa Salt) adopted six baby girls and named them after the Pleiades, the seventh one, Merope, mysteriously absent. […]
The dreams started once Helena stopped seeing him. His laughter chimed with some unfathomable feeling as he drew something from his pocket. The chain gleamed in the sunlight as it swung in […]
Eventually, Robert came downstairs, a small bag in his hand. “I’ll make sure she sends our new address.” “There is no need,” I remarked stiffly. “I personally have no objection to your […]
Pat Barker writes with such empathy. Imagine you are a high-born girl, married at 15 to some man of your father’s choosing. You become Queen of your husband’s dominion. Then the fortunes […]
It never occurred to me that Homer and the Greeks could have anything to do with the Steppe Nomads or the likes of Genghis Khan, until I read Adam Nicolson’s WHY HOMER […]
I was first introduced to Jeff Wheeler via STORM GLASS (#1 in the series,) which came highly recommended by the Historical Novel Society, of which I am a member. I don’t usually […]
She puffed on her cigarette, her eyes hard. “What I want you to understand, both of you,” I let my gaze sweep over that arrogant youth, “is that I will not countenance […]
Jassy is one of those Norah Lofts novels set in East Anglia around the fictional town of Baildon, patterned on the real one of Bury St. Edmunds. The landscape is bleak, flat […]
Is it Marianne, or Marguerite? Poor William could never remember the names of the two sisters, even though they had very different personalities. Marianne was a fiery independent woman, who would not […]
GOOD EVENING MRS CRAVEN by Mollie Panter-Downes is a series of wartime stories set in Britain during the Second World War. Like most British people, Ms. Panter-Downes writes fluently and well, and […]
“You must be aware of the industrial strife that is now sweeping England.” “Aye. We know.” “This is an incitement to violence. Your overly inflated language is going to stir up trouble.” […]
THE GLASS ROOM by Simon Mawrer is the story of a fabulous house (based upon the Villa Tugendhat in Brno) built in Czechoslovakia in the late 1920s for a young couple. When […]
I do not usually care for biographies, they often seem to consist of the boring trivia of a person’s daily life. But GEORGE, NICHOLAS, WILHELM: THREE ROYAL COUSINS AND THE ROAD TO […]
