Patricia Furstenberg, Writer of Historical Fiction, Children's Books
Travel via Stories
I was invited to write for Women Writers, Women’s Books about one of my enduring fascinations in historical fiction: the silent power of objects to carry story, memory, as well as emotional truth. Barbara, thank you!
Why Objects Matter in Historical Fiction by Patricia Furstenberg
Continue reading “Why Objects Matter in Historical Fiction, Writing Tips”
Yesterday our historical fiction anthology Courage: Tales of History, Mystery & Hope was published and today the celebration continues.
I’m delighted to be visiting Helen Hollick’s blog, where I’m talking about my contribution to the anthology, Kate’s Letter, and sharing an excerpt.
Continue reading “Now With Helen Hollick: What Happens When One Story Might Be True”
In the Carpathian lands wood was never only material. It was a way of life, forest turned into geographical landmark (Transylvania, Trans-silva, the land beyond the forest). Wood was shelter and church, and then it became memory.
With the arrival of German Saxons in Transylvania during the middle of the 12th century, the craft tradition of painted furniture started out of with necessity before it became decoration. Colours arrived later, as an afterthought to survival.
And yet it is colour that outlived so much else.
In my novels When Secrets Bloom and Beneath the Snow I draw on this medieval Saxon tradition: not as background detail, but as silent architecture beneath the lives of my characters. Because painted wood is never passive. It tells as much as it remembers.
Continue reading “Saxon Painting and its Hidden Language in When Secrets Bloom”
Some conversations are like a shared meal: nourishing, layered with memory and meaning. When Robbie Cheadle speaks about the books she reads she does so, with generosity. With Robbie, reading and cooking meet at the same table.
In her thoughtful feature of When Secrets Bloom on Latinos USA simple pleasures take centre stage: the turning of a page, the slow preparation of food, the way both acts bind us to history and to one another.
Continue reading “Simmering Stories: Robbie Cheadle Reviews When Secrets Bloom and I Share a Historical Recipe”
“I step where I am needed… even when the ground burns beneath me.” I like this quote because it represents Kate Webber, the main character from When Secrets Bloom. Kate does not act because she believes she will win. She acts because not acting is unthinkable.
And her choice sets the course of everything that follows.
Continue reading “I step where I am needed, even when the ground burns beneath me – When Secrets Bloom”