What They Said About Luisa
An enchanting telling of the complex life of Luisa, who forges a new life after freedom from slavery in colonial Mexico.
Luisa Abrego, a slave in Seville, is set free on her master’s death and marries a white man. After boarding Luisa’s illegitimate child with the nuns of Saint Clare, the couple sets out for Mexico. There Luisa is accused of bigamy and tried in the court of the Inquisition.
This is, however, not Luisa’s own story: the narrators are witnesses to her life, people who encountered her, from nuns to silver miners to Inquisitors. These are European voices, the recorded voices of history, in whose accounts a fractured portrait of a fascinating and complex woman emerges, like glimpses of a figure moving past a mirror.
Based on 16th century trial records of the real Luisa, this novel is not just one woman’s life in fragments, but a carefully researched imagining, told in vivid, distinct voices, of how the Inquisition affected the Spanish colonies.
The Loneliness of the Time Traveller
A time-slip novel set in contemporary Los Angeles and eighteenth-century London - - a story of love, crime, and adventure combined with fantasy, a little bit of Jane Austen-style irony, and a healthy serving of social criticism.
Evita and Me
"So you've seen the Broadway musical and know all about Evita? No, you don't.
For example, where are her jewels?
They seem to have disappeared. Mona, Evita's confidante, and Pierre, her bodyguard, can tell you where they are -- in a vault in the Swiss Alps. Like Evita herself, Mona comes from a broken family and has to make her own way. Perhaps that's why the two women feel close. Evita is at the pinnacle of success but already in the grip of a fatal illness. We see her life through the eyes of Mona and Pierre, two people she trusts -- and who betray her in the end. Or can theft and murder be justified?"
The Road to Gesualdo
Like so many noble women before her, Leonora d’Este had no say in her marriage arrangements. She did her duty and married Prince Carlo di Gesualdo, a man of wealth and standing, who was useful to her family. It was only after taking her vows that she learned that Carlo had murdered his first wife and her lover in a jealous rage. Leonora understood it was an honor killing permitted by the laws of the land and forgave Carlo. But soon she noticed odd behavior in her husband. Was he slipping into madness? Was he bewitched? Could she help her husband and protect herself at the same time?
This vivid drama of noble life in 16th century Italy plays out through the eyes of Leonora’s faithful lady-in-waiting and friend, Livia, who has her own romantic problems. She is in love with the courtier Pietro, but their case is hopeless. She has no dowry, and he is promised to another. Will Leonora and Livia find happiness on The Road to Gesualdo?
Three Women and Alfred Nobel
Three women are after Nobel. Ida wants revenge for the death of her lover, who has been killed in an accident at Nobel's factory. Sophie wants compensation for the abuse she suffered as Nobel's mistress. Bertie wants Nobel to atone for his lethal invention and spend the profit on a Peace Prize.
Set in fin-de-siècle Vienna, THREE WOMEN AND ALFRED NOBEL explores the social constraints placed on women, the traumatic effects of war on soldiers, and the ethnic tensions that lead to the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
Erika Rummel reading at Ben McNally's -Follow