Patricia Furstenberg, Writer of Historical Fiction, Children's Books
Travel via Stories
Here you can discover inspiring stories, timeless travel paths, and the rich folklore of Romania.
Come and celebrate with me the publication day of When Secrets Bloom, my latest historical fiction novel set in medieval Transylvania.
I have a special offer for you: the e-book is only 99c / 99p over all Amazon platforms until 31st August AND you can read it even if you don’t have an e-reader or a kindle: link to Amazon free app under the buy now button below or read in your browser.
Continue reading “When Secrets Bloom: It’s Publication Day #NewRelease”
Between oath and silence, two outcasts carry a kingdom’s oldest secret.
I’m thrilled to share that my newest historical fiction novel, Where Secrets Bloom, is now available for pre-order from Amazon worldwide for 0.99c / 0.99p!
Journey to 15th-century Transylvania, where Kate – a Saxon healer – faces accusations of witchcraft, and Moise – a young printing apprentice – finds himself entangled in a perilous weaving of secrets and shifting loyalties.
The e-book is ready for pre-order today from Amazon. Publication day: Friday 27 June!
I’ll keep you updated the moment the paperback and audiobook editions are released too.
Join me on a wintry pilgrimage through the heart of Romania. Snow on the Tracks: Shadowing Vlad the Impaler to Sighișoara is a travel essay close to my heart, recently featured as a finalist in the Pilgrimages writing competition on Intrepid Times. This journey by train, from Bucharest to the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, the medieval town of Sighisoara, threads through snow-dusted forests, ancestral echoes and the pulse of a country still shaped by its legends.
It’s a story of looking out the window. And into the past.
Read the full piece here: Snow on the Tracks: Shadowing Vlad the Impaler to Sighișoara.
With thanks to Intrepid Times for publishing my travel story and to my wonderful husband for supplying those gorgeous pictures.
History is often told through the stories of kings, rulers or warriors, yet behind these grand narratives are countless women whose lives shaped the country in profound and often unsung ways. We saw the surprising ways in which medieval Romanian queens shaped history, what strange laws defined women’s lives and what their life entailed.
But what about the unknown women from Romania’s prehistory, the classical era, and even modern times? The commoners who might not have held thrones or led armies but played pivotal roles in preserving traditions, influencing culture and driving change? You can read about them in my book Dreamland, which honors the legacies of these remarkable women whose impact, though often quiet, echoes through the pages of Romania’s history. Yo can discover a few of them here, on Women’s History Month.
Continue reading “Romanian Heroines from Dreamland, Women Whose Stories Made History”
The great halls of Wallachia’s courts echoed with the deep voices of rulers, their boyars and foreign envoys hammering out treaties, forging alliances and, more often than not, deciding the fates of women before they were old enough to understand their worth beyond the ink of a marriage contract. In Moldavia, daughters of noble houses were bartered like fine silks, their marriages securing fragile truces with the Poles, the Hungarians, the upcoming Russians and even Sultans. In Transylvania, a land where Saxon merchants, Székelys warriors and Hungarian lords vied for influence, the Romanians or Vlachs out of the way, noblewomen walked a careful line between tradition and opportunity, sometimes inheriting estates or trading privileges—but always within the confines set by men.
Continue reading “Daring Queens and Their Surprising Influences in Medieval Romania”