Bøger af Cecelia Holland

In this YA novel, Holland shows us a raging San Francisco during the beginning of the 1849 Gold Rush. Many different types of people are flocking to California. Preachers, con men, miners, Mormons, army deserters, and Native Americans are trying to start over. Here are Frances Hardhardt, an escaped slave whose goal is to never be controlled again as she has been controlled; Daisy, a gorgeous singer who is Hardhart's protegee and tool; and Mitya, an Aleut Indian with a troubled past whose talent as a builder creates the central locale of the book, the Shining Light Saloon. That location becomes the glue that binds people and story together in a multicultural drama.

Guided and guarded by an angel, a young Spanish knight saves Paris from the Vikings during one of the darkest eras of Christendom-and turns out to be a girl.

Sixteen-year-old Jenny Dolf hates being a girl. She resents the restrictions on her life, and she just feels wrong, and trapped, in her female's body. When the Revolution breaks out, she takes her father's musket and poses as a boy named Jack, to join George Washington's army on the heights of Long Island. From the first terrible losses, to the great victory at Trenton, in savage battles and long hard marches, Jack learns the value, and the cost, of freedom.

When the Mongols sack Baghdad in the year 1258, the renegade Templar Knight Rikart al-Shah'b-Rikart the Ghost-escapes the city. He tries to save two others as well-the Arab boy Daud and Dinah, the teenage daughter of a Jewish scholar-but they are separated in the chaos. Rikart and Daud make their escape separately, but Dinah is captured by the Mongols. In the time that follows, as the Mongols continue to overwhelm Heart of the World-what a later age would call the Middle East-Rikart tries to persuade whichever Muslim or Christian leaders he encounters to unite against the invaders from the steppes. Eventually, he and Daud are reunited and together they liberate a captive Egyptian Mameluke leader whom they believe could lead the needed resistance. Dinah, meanwhile, has been taken into the household of the wife of Hulegu Khan, brother of the Mongol emperor and leader of the Mongol army. Over time, a love affair develops between her and Nikola, one of the great khan's sons. All of their lives will come back together at the great battle of Ain Jalut, where the Mamelukes and their allies make a desperate stand against the mighty forces from Central Asia who seek to conquer Heart of the World.

The year is 1846, and war is brewing between the United States and Mexico. Under the pretext of a scientific research expedition, Lt. John C. Fremont arrives in Sutter's Fort with Kit Carson, famous Indian Scout, and a few men. Also arriving in Sutter's Fort is Cat Reilly, who has been widowed on the long trip west and is now in desperate circumstances. She becomes romantically involved with a Russian count as well as in Fremont and Carson's political scheming and maneuvers. Soon, she is plunged into a political maelstrom as Fremont sets up a California Republic and later brings California into the union.

Introducing Grow by Cecelia Holland - a gripping novel that takes you on a thrilling journey into the heart of a close-knit northern California community, where secrets smolder and danger lurks in the shadows. In this captivating tale, Jenny Meek, an unexpected heroine, navigates a world fraught with peril. As a pot-growing grandmother, she treads a fine line between the law and her livelihood, all while grappling with the specter of forest fires that threaten to consume her cherished home. But Jenny's challenges are far from over, for a sinister string of murders rocks her peaceful enclave, shattering the tranquility she once knew.Amidst the chaos, the return of her long-lost daughter adds a layer of complexity to Jenny's life. With the past and present colliding, she must summon her inner strength to confront the truth, protect her family, and unearth the dark secrets that threaten to consume her community.Experience a tale of suspense, resilience, and redemption in Grow - a riveting novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

In the thirteenth century the Mongols burst into the Middle East, determined to conquer it. With the largest and most powerful army in the world, they swept through Syria, took Baghdad and Damascus and Aleppo, and turned toward Cairo. The fragmented and leaderless states of the Levant could not stand against them. One man struggled to raise an opposition to them, and the great battle of Ain Jalut changed the course of history.

From the acclaimed author of Pillar of the Sky: "A great study of a character in conflict and a recommended read for lovers of Irish history." --Historical Novel Society Set in Ireland during the eleventh century, The Kings in Winter follows the life of a clan chief torn between opposing factions in his own land while war with the Danes looms on the horizon. The chief of the ó Cullinanes, Muirtagh is a man of short stature but great heart. Though his father was killed and his whole clan wiped out by the mac Mahon twenty years ago, he took an oath when he was anointed chief that he would not seek revenge. His younger brother, a renowned warrior known as the Danekiller, is barely in control of his own lust for vengeance and rails against Muirtagh's decree. As the High King faces threats from his nemesis, who has allied himself with the Danes in his quest for power, Muirtagh is maligned for his neutrality. Although he refuses to resurrect the feud with the mac Mahon, Muirtagh will defend what is his against the Danes. But when the mac Mahon finally strikes, slaughtering someone close to him, Muirtagh chooses his fate as an outlaw and oath-breaker without a clan or a name--untamed by both king and country . . . Praise for Cecelia Holland "A first-class storyteller." --People "Holland packs her pages with action and historical detail. She remains in the front ranks of the genre along with Mary Stewart, Dorothy Dunnett, and the late Mary Renault." --Chicago Sun-Times "A literary phenomenon." --The New York Times "A master storyteller." --Houston Chronicle

Eleanor of Aquitaine seized hold of life in the 12th century in a way any modern woman would envy! 1151: As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor grew up knowing what it was to be regarded for herself and not for her husband's title. Now, as wife to Louis VII and Queen of France, she has found herself unsatisfied with reflected glory-and feeling constantly under threat, even though she outranks every woman in Paris. Then, standing beside her much older husband in the course of a court ceremony, Eleanor locks eyes with a man-hardly more than a boy, really- across the throne room, and knows that her world has changed irrevocably... He is Henry D'Anjou, eldest son of the Duke of Anjou, and he is in line, somewhat tenuously, for the British throne. She meets him in secret. She has a gift for secrecy, for she is watched like a prisoner by spies even among her own women. She is determined that Louis must set her free. Employing deception and disguise, seduction and manipulation, Eleanor is determined to find her way to power-and make her mark on history.

A novel set during the reign of Genghis Khan and his Mongol Empire from the acclaimed author of Ghost on the Steppe, ';a master storyteller' (Houston Chronicle). Cecelia Holland's historical fiction is well known for its immersion in exotic cultures, andUntil the Sun Falls, one of her most successful books, takes the reader into the heart of the Mongol horde during the conquest of Russia and eastern Europe in the thirteenth century. Genghis Khan had told his people they were destined to rule the world, and by his death they had made an impressive start. His four sons followed him to the leadership of the enormous new empire and continued the expansion. His eldest son, Batu, launched the conquest of the WestRussia and Europe. In a few years of devastating warfare, the Mongols reached as far as Vienna, mowing down every army that dared face them, like an irresistible force of nature. Until the Sun Fallsstars a Mongol general, Psin, whose battles against the enemies of the Kha Khan sometimes seem easier than his struggles with his wives and his son. Wise, brave, and bloody-minded, Psin embodies the passions and dreams of the greatest conquerors the world has ever seen, at the height of their power.

With a young king facing death, a warrior of the Knights Templar struggles to maintain Christian control of the Holy Land in this ';masterful ... great read' (Publishers Weekly). Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed Nomine Tuo da gloriam. ';Not to us, O Lord, but to Your Name give glory.' This motto highlights the vows of chastity and humility taken by the Knights Templar. But, it also speaks to their role as ferocious warriors, passionately and bloodily seeking out glory for their God. Set in the Holy Land in 1187 A.D., Cecelia Holland's historical novel masterfully explores the conspiracies and political maneuvers leading up to the Third Crusade. Following a stunning victory at the Battle of Ramleh, Norman Templar Rannulf Fitzwilliam must negotiate a truce with the enemy and determine the order of succession to the throne of Baudouin, the young Christian king dying of leprosy. However, Rannulf's instincts are for battle, not diplomacy. Temptation and betrayal await him around every corner. The question is not whether he can survive on the battlefield, but whether he can survive the politics and protocol of the royal court. ';Hollands masterful layering of subplots, historical detail and multiple perspectives makes for a great read.' Publisher's Weekly ';She brings as much suspense to political intrigue as to the sprawling battle scenes at which she excels.' The New York Times Book Review

In the far future, an Earth-born woman must negotiate with a fearsome mutant race: ';On a par with Ursula LeGuin or Arthur C. Clarke' (Chicago Tribune). Two thousand years into the future, runaway pollution has made the earth uninhabitable except in giant biodomes. The society is an anarchy, with disputes mediated through the Machiavellian Committee for the Revolution. Mars, Venus, and the moon support flourishing colonies of various political stripes. On the fringes of the solar system, in the gas planets, a strange, new, violent kind of human has evolved. In this unstable system, the anarchist Paula Mendoza, an agent of the Committee, works to make peace and ultimately protect her people in a catastrophic clash of worlds that destroys the order she knows.

A seminal feminist SF novel of the highest literary quality, comparable to the works of Joanna Russ and Ursula K. LeGuin.