Author: Patricia Furstenberg

Patricia Furstenberg writes with passion about history that blends with fiction, about war heroes, human or canine, while her poems and children's books are uplifting and humorous. Welcome to her blog, Travel, History, Fiction ~ Romania & South Africa ~ 'For what is wind, but the amassed power of words long ago uttered?'
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Reading Over the Weekend: ALL THAT WAS TAKEN by Lisette Brodey

Reading over the weekend with Patricia Furstenberg

Welcome to Reading Over the Weekend with Lisette Brodey’s All That Was Taken, a psychological suspense novel where love and healing emerge from the shadows of loss, secrets, and danger.

Some books ask to be analysed. Others ask to be noticed. And then there are those that make you pause halfway through a page and say, I want to remember that.

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Following Vlad III in Moldavia and Transylvania: Exile and New Alliances, 1449–1456, Part 4

The years Vlad III spent in Moldavia and Transylvania, exiled, perhaps at the Edirne Ottoman court too, are the ones we now the least about-almost no records were left. These are the years that sparked my imagination writing the historical fiction saga Blood of Kings, Heart of Shadows.

So what exactly do we know about the time Vlad III spent seeking refuge at the Ottoman court an then exiled at the Moldavia court and in Transylvania? He was not yet calling himself Vlad Dracula, and not yet called Vlad the Impaler either.

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Slow Gun Poetry: Romanian Words That Endure

Zlatari Church, square photo

Slow Gun Poetry, as Romanian Words That Endure, is inspired by this year’s theme of the Bucharest International Poetry Festival Slow Gun Poetry — Poezie cu bătaie lungă (Long-Range Poetry) inspired by poet Cezar Ivanescu’s reflection on the force of a single mark on a sheet of paper: how a single word can spark ideas, shape consciousness and even ignite revolutions.

This International Poetry Festival is at its 16th edition and takes place in Bucharest, 14-20 September 2026. All images in this blog post depict Bucharest.

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Reading Over the Weekend: Fifteen First Times by D.G. Kaye

Reading over the weekend with Patricia Furstenberg

Welcome to Reading Over the Weekend about that first kiss. First heartbreak. First driving lesson. First European adventure. First real Christmas tree – in Fifteen First Times by witty D.G. Kaye

Some books ask to be analysed. Others ask to be noticed. And then there are those that make you pause halfway through a page and say, I want to remember that.

Continue reading “Reading Over the Weekend: Fifteen First Times by D.G. Kaye”