New and Wonderful Books
Today I want to recommend three excellent—and very different!—new books by friends of mine: Solo Camino: An Empowering Guide for Women, by Renée Hartleib; The Secrets of Thorndale Manor, by Syrie James; and The Arrows of Fealty by Jill MacLean.
Before I get into the details, I want to add a reminder about the upcoming event “Jane Austen in the Public Gardens: A 250th Birthday Celebration” here in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Sunday, August 17th at 4:30 p.m.
Readers include Janet Brush, Charlene Carr, Sheree Fitch, Darcy Johns, Sheila Johnson Kindred, Hugh Kindred, Stephens Gerard Malone, Jan Parker, Anne Thompson, Carole Thompson, and the Rev’d Canon Dr. Paul Friesen, Rector of St. Paul’s Church. I’m the MC, and Adria Jackson, harpist, will provide music from Austen’s time.
RSVP on our Facebook event page.
Now to the book recommendations!
The first one I want to recommend is Solo Camino: An Empowering Guide for Women, which was published in May. Renée’s new book is beautiful, thoughtful, and inspiring. I read it in one sitting, enthralled by the stunning colour photos and the story of her experience of walking the Camino, dealing with challenges large and small along the way, and adjusting to ordinary life after the journey.
If you don’t already get her fabulous monthly newsletter, I encourage you to subscribe.
I don’t typically read historical mysteries but am delighted to have discovered Syrie’s Audacious Sisterhood of Smoke & Fire series. I admire her heroines, the three Taylor sisters (Diana, Athena, and Selena), and their passion for justice. Book 2, The Secrets of Thorndale Manor, which was published in June, is a powerful and memorable love letter to books and reading as well as a deeply satisfying novel of mystery and romance.
It was an honour to be asked to write an endorsement for Jill MacLean’s new novel, The Arrows of Fealty, which is coming out next month. Here’s what I said:
In this stunning sequel to her equally powerful novel The Arrows of Mercy, Jill MacLean asks us to consider questions about where we pledge our loyalties and why, and whether the efforts of one person can ever make a difference in the fight against injustice and tyranny—issues as pressing in our own time as they were in 14th century England. Her vivid portrait of Haukyn and his experiences of the horrors and resounding effects of war is deeply affecting and thoroughly convincing.
The launch for The Arrows of Fealty is on Sunday, September 21st at 3:30 p.m. at the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia in Halifax. Hope to see you there!
If you enjoyed this post, I hope you’ll consider recommending it to a friend. If you aren’t yet a subscriber, please sign up.
Here are the links to the last two posts, in case you missed them:
“Its enchantment has never faded” (L.M. Montgomery Birthplace Museum)
“It blooms as if it meant it” (quotations from L.M. Montgomery and Jane Austen, with photos from a lavender farm in Prince Edward Island)
My debut novel, The Austens, will be published by Pottersfield Press on September 15th. Now available for pre-order!
Copyright Sarah Emsley 2025 ~ All rights reserved. No AI training: material on http://www.sarahemsley.com may not be used to “train” generative AI technologies.
