Patricia Furstenberg, Writer of Historical Fiction, Children's Books
Travel via Stories
How did the boy born in Sighișoara, Transylvania, come to spend most of his youth among the people who threatened his homeland?
1442 – 1448: Captive in the Ottoman world, while his life hung in balance, young Vlad’s fate depended not only on the actions of his older brother and father, but also on the shifting alliances and ambitions of European powers beyond his reach.
Continue reading “Young Vlad III, Part 2: Captive in the Ottoman World – Where He Lived”
Following young Vlad Dracula through 15th century Transylvania and Wallachia to: Sighișoara, Târgoviște, Gallipoli and Eğrigöz.
When we picture Vlad the Impaler, or Vlad Dracula, we tend to picture him in a castle: dark stone, narrow windows, a throne, perhaps the mountains rising behind him. Vlad did not spend his life in one castle, one principality, or even one political world. Not even on one continent.
To follow Vlad’s life is to follow a landscape of shifting power: Târgoviște, the princely capital; Transylvania and its fortified towns; the roads crossing the Carpathians; the Ottoman world where he was held hostage; the Hungarian royal court; and, eventually, the battlefields and forests through which he fought his way, always back to Wallachia.
Each left something behind: a language, an allegiance, a military lesson, a memory of captivity, or an enemy who would later become an ally.
Continue reading “Where Did Vlad the Impaler Live? Part 1: Sighișoara, Târgoviște, Gallipoli, and Eğrigöz”
Celebrate with me the publication day of The Book That Should Have Been Lost !
1450: Walk beside the young Vlad Dracula and Kate Webber (When Secrets Bloom) from Roman Fortress to Kronstadt before history became legend.
Continue reading “The Book That Should Have Been Lost – It’s Publication Day!”
Over the moon to share with you the cover for my new novella The Book That Should Have Been Lost, another companion read to the Blood of Kings, Heart of Shadows historical fiction saga set in medieval Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia – today Romania, my birth country.
The Book That Should Have Been Lost – Some books tell history. One remembers the truth.
Continue reading “Cover Reveal: The Book That Should Have Been Lost”
Summer in Transylvania is more than slopes awash with wildflowers and forests deep in green. Long before books recorded their stories, flowers and herbs carried legends from one generation to the next. They healed the sick, protected homes, foretold love, and reminded people that nature was alive with mysteries.
Continue reading “The Meadow’s Secrets: from Summer Flowers to Poison in Medieval Transylvania”