Patricia Furstenberg, Writer of Historical Fiction, Children's Books
Travel via Stories
The road curled around the valley like a silk ribbon that time itself could have dropped. And maybe it did. It was up to me to pick it up and discover where it will lead.
Continue reading “The Unique, Medieval Church of Sântămăria Orlea, Transylvania, Romania”
Red and white color my thoughts well ahead of 1st of March. In the Romanian tradition, on the first day of spring (in the Northern hemisphere), twined together, threads of red and white spring forward on Mărțișor day, quiet yet insistent. Unassumingly simple. Deceptively small. A charm no heavier than Spring’s first breath.
But red and white are never accidental. They’ve followed humanity across centuries and continents like faithful companions.
So why do red and white spell Spring?
Continue reading “Why Red and White Became the Colors of Mărțișor on March 1st”
In fifteenth-century Transylvania, marriage was not a private affair. It was a public instrument. A legal mechanism. A way of (finally) being seen.
Continue reading “A Proven Historical Pressure Cooker: Marriage as Surveillance”
We are creatures of imagination and we understand the world by telling stories about it. Before chronicles hardened into dates and rulers. Before ink fixed memory into law. Stories softened fear, explained loss, they gave shape to grief. In Transylvania, where mountains fold memory into stone and winter teaches patience, stories do not merely entertain. They endure.
Continue reading “If History Forgets, Who Remembers? Hidden Truths in When Secrets Bloom”
Venture through the gates of ages, dare to time-travel and choose one journey to one of the 18 cities where history still breathes. Pick a historical fiction novel from the list below and walk the streets of ancient Rome or Athens; jump into the middle ages in Copenhagen, Jerusalem, Madrid; explore Renaissance in London, Florence, Prague; enjoy early modern life in Amsterdam or Geneva, Victorian Edinburgh or fin-de-siècle Vienna and Venice; read yourself into post-WW1 Moscow, or WW2 Lisbon and Paris, or deep-dive into the historical fiction of Dubrovnik and Budapest as if you belonged there. And if you are ready for more, there’s also a bonus read.
Continue reading “18 Cities to Travel Back in Time and the Historical Fiction Books Opening Their Doors”