Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

A Race to Splendor Author:  Ciji Ware Publisher:  Sourcebooks Pub Date: April 2011 Synopsis: Inspired by female architect Julia Morgan, this is the riveting tale of a race against time to rebuild two luxury hotels after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed 400 city blocks and left 250,000 homeless. Morgan's fictional protegee Amelia Bradshaw and client J.D. Thayer will sacrifice anything to see the city they love rise from the ashes; in the process, they can't help but lose their hearts. My thoughts:  I have a been a longtime fan of Ciji Ware's contemporary and historical fiction, so when I was offered the chance to review her first novel in ten years I jumped at the chance.  Not only was the book set in San Francisco, a city that I feel is criminally underused in historical fiction but the story is set against the aftermath of the great earthquake of 1906.  I've only been to San Francisco once, for the RWA Conference in 2008, but I've long been fa...

"Men fell in love with Gilda, but they wake up with me." - Rita Hayworth Movie star Rita Hayworth (1918 - 1987) was at a personal and professional crossroads in her life when she took off for Europe in the summer of 1948. She was feuding with Columbia studio boss Harry Cohen. After short-lived affairs with David Niven and Howard Hughes, she had realized that she was still in love with her estranged husband Orson Welles. But Orson had moved on, he'd fallen in love with a fiery Italian actress. This time there would be no reconciliation. Heartbroken, Rita wasn't interested when society hostess Elsa Maxwell begged her to attend a party at the Summer Casino in Cannes. Elsa insisted that she just had to attend, urging Rita to buy a new dress, preferably white, and to arrive fashionably late. A real life Prince would be amongst the guests. The Prince in question was 37 year old Aly Khan, son of the Aga Khan III, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam, a...

Scandalous Women is pleased to welcome historical fiction author Sarah Bower to the blog. Sarah is the author of the new novel SINS OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA, which was published by Sourcebooks Landmark earlier this month.  What perfect timing with Showtimes new series The Borgias premiering next month. SINS OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA is one of the best historical fiction novels that I've read this year. It is a meaty character study of the Borgia's seen through the eyes of an outsider, a young jewish woman named Esther who converts to Christianity. Here are what the critics are saying: The sheer grandeur of the papal and Ferrara courts, and the spectacle of the Borgia and Ferrara siblings' rivalries and revenges form a glittering take on one of the most notorious families of the Italian Renaissance. (Publishers Weekly ) Bower brilliantly merges history with politics and convincing characters to draw readers into a lush and colorful tapestry of Renaissance life... This powerf...

So to promote Scandalous Women, I've been on a bit of a blog tour.  Today I'm over at Historical Tapestry talking about Books of a Lifetime .  Stop by and let me know what are your Books of a Lifetime.  For further stops on the tour, please check out the Events page on the blog or the sidebar.

Diane (1956) Produced by: MGM Directed by:  David Miller Screenplay: Christopher Isherwood based on a story by John Erskine. Cast: Lana Turner - Diane de Poitiers Pedro Armendáriz - King Francis I of France Roger Moore - Prince Henri (later King Henry II) Marisa Pavan - Catherine de' Medici Sir Cedric Hardwicke - Ruggieri Torin Thatcher - Count de Brèze Taina Elg - Alys John Lupton - Regnault Henry Daniell - Gondi Ronald Green - The Dauphin Sean McClory - Count Montgomery Geoffrey Toone - Duke of Savoy Michael Ansara - Count Ridolfi Melville Cooper - Court Physician Synopsis (from Wikipedia): The action is set in 16th century France. Diane de Poitiers (Lana Turner), mistress of Prince Henri (Roger Moore), the future King Henry II, rises to a position of absolute power through her manipulation of the men in her life. Those men include King Francis I (Pedro Armendariz) and Diane's husband, the Count de Brèze (Torin Thatcher). Diane's principal foe is the...

To commerate the 100th anniversary of The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, Scandalous Women is pleased to welcome Guest blogger Leanna Renee Hieber to talk about Clara Lemlich. I had never heard of Clara until Leanna told me about her, and I'm so glad that she was able to take the time to stop by and share a little of her story with us. Born March 26, 1886 in Gorodok Ukraine to a Jewish family, Clara Lemlich was one of America’s most influential women of the Union movement in the early 1900s. Her family came to New York in 1903 after a pogrom (an anti-Jewish riot) in Kishinev. Clara quickly found work in the garment industry, which had intensified in hours and in danger with the advent of industrial sewing machines. In November 1909, her rousing speech at the Cooper Union (despite nursing broken ribs from rough treatment by the New York Police Department breaking up Union protesters) called for a general strike. She led the Uprising of the 20,000 in which 20,000 of New York C...

Tomorrow from 8 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., TCM has programmed 4 movies about Joan of Arc, which I'm calling Joanapalooza. After spending time researching Joan of Arc for SCANDALOUS WOMEN, I'm eager to see at least 2 of these films (I don't know if I have the stamina to watch all 4!).  I was familiar with George Bernard Shaw's play St. Joan and the French playwright Jean Anouilh's play The Lark, but I have never seen any of these four films. First up at 8:00 p.m. is the 1948 film Joan of Arc , directed by Victor Fleming (The Wizard of Oz, GWTW) and starring Ingrid Bergman as Joan and Jose Ferrer as the Dauphin.  The film is based on the Maxwell Anderson play which was in blank verse like several of his other plays including Anne of the Thousand Days. This was one of the last Hollywood films that Ingrid Bergman did until 1956, due to her scandalous love affair with director Roberto Rossellini, while she was still married to her first husband. She was actually denounced on t...

Yesterday, I went with my friend, the lovely and talented Hope Tarr , to The Grolier Club here in New York to see the new exhibit, The Enchantress: Emma, Lady Hamilton. Founded in 1884, The Grolier Club is a private club for bibliophiles and enthusiasts of the graphic arts.  It is America's oldest and largest club of its kind. To be a member, you have to be nominated, that just shows you how exclusive it is.  Still the exibitions are open to the public and more importantly they are free. Since I wrote about Emma in Scandalous Women , I was eager to see the exhibition. Although the exibit is small, it is lovely.  The exhibition features the collection of Jean Kislak who has spent years collecting manuscripts, books and art related to Emma and her era, including the events that shaped her life as well as the men who loved her, her husband Sir William Hamilton and her lover Lord Nelson. Among the many amazing items in the exhibit are oil paintings of Emma by Romney...

The winner of the Scandalous Women giveaway is.... Miz Waller Congratulations! I will be sending you an email to get your address. Thanks to everyone who entered, or tweeted, or posted the details about the giveaway. I really appreciate it.  There will be other opportunties to win a copy of the book as I continue by blog tour in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I hope you all will keep following the book because I have some exciting posts coming up, about some very interesting women!

In New York, you have to take your history where you can find it.  The city has changed so much over it's 400 years of existence and much has been lost, particularly when it comes to Scandalous Women.  The building where Evelyn Nesbit spent on Stanford White's red velvet swing collapsed a few years ago, the original Madison Square Garden no longer exists, and the Vanderbilt and Astor mansions have long since been torn down for high rise buildings. However, one thing you can do is eat scandalously. The following eateries pay homage to some of the Scandalous Women that I have written about in the past. The photo above is the Lillie Langtry room at Keen's Steakhouse which is located a stone's throw away from Macy's Department store.  Keen's has been around since 1885, which makes it one of the oldest restaurants in NYC and one of the few that still exist from the 19th century.  Lillie Langtry was the first woman customer at Keen's and i...

THE TIN TICKET:  The Heroic Journey of Australia's Convict Women AUTHOR:  Deborah J. Swiss PUBLISHER:  Berkeley Publishing PUB DATE:  October 2010 This month's Book of the Month is THE TIN TICKET: The Heroic Journey of Australia's Convict Women.  Since March is Women's History Month, and the theme this year is Survivors, I thought it more than appropriate.  The only convict's story that I was familiar with before reading this book was Mary Bryant's, a young Cornish woman, who managed to escape the penal colony and make her way back to the UK. These are the untold stories of the women who were not able to do that.You can find out more at the author's website: http://www.deborahswiss.com/ Synopsis:  Historian Deborah J. Swiss tells the heartbreaking, horrifying, and ultimately triumphant story of the women exiled from the British Isles and forced into slavery and savagery-who created the most liberated society of their time. Agnes McMillan and Janet H...

Today is the release day for Scandalous Women, and I'm tremendously excited. It's been a year and a half since I sold the book in August 2009, and it's been a long journey from blog to book. Seven months of writing, and three months of revisions to produce the finished book. But at long last it's here and in a bookstore near you! And I'm very happy to announce that the book has been chosen as RT Book Reviews Non-Fiction pick of the month in the April issue.  I'm working on trying to scan the article into my computer but until then the issue is at your local Barnes and Noble or Borders Bookstore.  I'm also pretty chuffed that the blog was also chosen as one of the Top 50 History Blogs by Zen College Life.  The book has also gotten rave reviews from BookPage as well as The Trades. Please check out the News and Reviews page to read them. In honor of the release, I'm giving away an autographed copy of Scandalous Women to one lucky winner. Here are the...