Elisabeth Grace Foley

Historical Fiction Author

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Forgotten Authors I’ve Rediscovered

by 8 Comments

Time for another edition of Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly book-themed meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today is another “freebie,” where participants choose their own theme, so I thought it would be fun to highlight a number of the more obscure authors whose books I’ve rediscovered over the past couple of years, mostly since getting my Kindle gave me access to the treasure-trove of the public domain. I’ve been like a kid in a candy shop! Here are my favorites—clicking the linked names will take you to any reviews or other posts related to these authors that I’ve done here on my blog:


1. B.M. Bower
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time you’ve probably seen many mentions and reviews of Bower, my favorite Western author. Though she had a long and successful writing career, her name is not as well known, except perhaps by real fans of the genre.

2. Booth Tarkington
Tarkington seems to be often dismissed as a second-rate classic by the critics…but since when do I listen to the critics? I’ve enjoyed his novels much more than some supposed to be better, and I especially enjoy their flavor of the times they were written.

3. Anna Katharine Green
An early American mystery author, who wrote from the 1870s until shortly before WWI—sometimes called the “Mother of Detective Fiction,” but again, not well known outside fans of the genre. Her books are intricately plotted and filled with delicious period atmosphere and melodrama.

4. Kathleen Thompson Norris
An early-20th-century author of popular fiction whose charming, heartfelt stories of family life and romance I’ve been absolutely loving lately. (I reviewed a short story collection of hers here just the other day.)

5. Melville Davisson Post
Another lesser-known American mystery author, with a lush, beautiful writing style and often unique settings for his stories.

6. Cornelia Meigs
Though she was a Newberry Medal and three-time Newberry Honor winner (best known for a biography of Louisa May Alcott), much of Meigs’ historical fiction for children and young adults seems to have fallen by the wayside. I’ve always been captivated by her beautiful writing and was delighted to learn recently that she wrote many more books than I was aware of.

7. Henry Herbert Knibbs
Another early Western writer whose books I’ve enjoyed, enough to make him a solid secondary favorite for me in the Western genre.

8. Christopher Morley
I’ve only read three of Morley’s books so far (I have a knack for choosing books and authors unheard-of by my local library), but I found them all charming, and am planning to try and track down some more.

9. Myrtle Reed
Another writer of popular romantic fiction from the early 1900s—I’ve read a couple of her books which I liked and one that I loved.

10. Mary Roberts Rinehart
The only reason I’m putting Rinehart last is that she’s not exactly forgotten or unknown, especially to mystery readers. Actually, I’ve only read one of her mysteries so far. But I have read and enjoyed several of her non-mystery works, which I think do fit the definition of ‘forgotten,’ and it’s for those that I’m including her in this list.

Have you read any of these authors? Who are some of your favorite obscure or forgotten writers?

Summer Reading, So Far

by 2 Comments

It happens to be exactly two months since I posted my summer reading list on this blog, so I thought I’d share an update on my progress. These are the books I’ve read so far (with a link to my review where there is one):

Lavender and Old Lace by Myrtle Reed
Jim Waring of Sonora-Town by Henry Herbert Knibbs
The Glass-Blowers by Daphne du Maurier
Kathleen by Christopher Morley
When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart
The Casebook of Monsieur Jonquelle, Prefect of Police of Paris by Melville Davisson Post
Son of a Hundred Kings by Thomas B. Costain
Elsie: Adventures of an Arizona Schoolteacher 1913-1916 by Barbara Anne Waite
Fool’s Goal by B.M. Bower
Behold, Here’s Poison by Georgette Heyer
The Divine Fire by May Sinclair
The Turmoil by Booth Tarkington

A Summer Day by Charles Louis Baugniet

I requested a couple titles that I was looking forward to the most—High Rising by Angela Thirkell and Clearing Weather by Cornelia Meigs—at the library way back in June, but interlibrary loan hasn’t found them yet. And I’m trying to figure out the best way to get a readable file of Silverwood by Margaret Junkin Preston onto my Kindle, since it’s only available on Google Ebooks and Internet Archive. So that leaves me with just The Highgrader by William MacLeod Raine and The Lookout Man by B.M. Bower.

But the funny thing about me is…I don’t just stick to my reading lists. I always end up reading other books in between. So since I posted that list in June, I’ve also read these:

Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery
Letters On an Elk Hunt by Elinore Pruit Stewart
Starr, of the Desert by B.M. Bower
Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers
Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers
The Daffodil Mystery by Edgar Wallace
Ladies in Waiting by Kate Douglas Wiggin
The Filigree Ball by Anna Katharine Green
The Flirt by Booth Tarkington
Mother Carey’s Chickens by Kate Douglas Wiggin

My favorites out of these lists were Elsie, Fool’s Goal, Letters On an Elk Hunt, Kathleen, The Glass-Blowers and both the Tarkingtons. Least favorite goes to The Daffodil Mystery (closely followed by Behold, Here’s Poison, which I described to my mother as “three-quarters squabbling family and one-quarter detection.”).

How’s your summer reading going? Have you read any of the books I mentioned here?

Top Ten Tuesday: Classic Adventure Novels

by 5 Comments

I was feeling in the mood for a blog meme of some sort, so I dropped by The Broke and the Bookish to see what was on the menu for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday. Turns out that this week is a “freebie,” where everyone picks their own theme. So I decided to shine the spotlight on an old favorite genre of mine—classic novels of adventure! The big, thick, swashbuckling sort, with colorful historical settings, a large cast of characters and plenty of battles and excitement. So without further ado, here’s my top ten in the order of favorites:

Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley
If I had to pick just one favorite novel, it would probably be this one. A tale of English explorers in the Elizabethan era, its multifaceted storyline, memorable characters and sparkling dialogue are just as good every time I re-read it.
The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter
I don’t know how close this book is to to the actual exploits of William Wallace and Robert Bruce, but it sure is a good story. Capturing of castles, a treacherous countess, a heroine with an unrequited love, and lots more.
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
And more of the same. The best thing about a big thick novel is the way the various storylines intertwine and supporting characters turn up again in unexpected places. I loved the appearance by Robin Hood, and the comic relief provided by Athelstane, Wamba and Friar Tuck.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The very definition of the classic adventure story! This was a family read-aloud of ours years ago, and everyone’s attention was riveted from start to finish.

Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne
Verne is mainly known for his science fiction, but this is my favorite of his books. Michael Strogoff, the courier of the Czar, must make a perilous trek across Russia during a Tartar rebellion with an important message. Again, there’s some great comic relief from a pair of rival newspaper correspondents who turn up every now and then along the way.
The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This one follows a young English squire and his companions as they travel to France and Spain with a company of archers to fight in the Hundred Years’ War—with battles at sea, jousting, the siege of a castle, and other adventures along the way. The author of Sherlock Holmes knew how to write a good historical adventure too.

The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson

Set during the Wars of the Roses, a tale involving a villainous guardian, a mysterious outlaw band bent on avenging wrongs, and changing of sides between York and Lancaster.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
I’ve never viewed this one as typical Dickens. It’s a lot more exciting, and has a somewhat more focused plot than his other sprawling novels. I think perhaps it’s the story’s centering around a particular historical event in the French Revolution that makes the difference.
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

A small group of characters traveling through forests thick with hostile Indians during the French and Indian War, the search for the colonel’s kidnapped daughters…and incidentally, I guess the presence of David Gamut proves that comic relief is an essential ingredient in an adventure story.

Robin Hood by Paul Creswick
This version of Robin Hood is interesting because it takes a different track than the most familiar legends—an original twist on the story of how he became an outlaw, with some newly invented characters and different interpretations of others.
Have you read any of these? What are your favorite classic adventure novels?