Hurrah for March. Spring is here and, wow, my lemon tree is flowering. I also have news. THE SCANDALOUS LIFE OF NANCY RANDOLPH is now available to pre-order for your kindle (with paperback pre-order option coming soon):
Nancy Randolph was one of seven sisters and this novel focuses on the particularly turbulent relationship between two of them. Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
A compelling retelling of the first great scandal to shake America.
Victim? Temptress? Murderer?
October 1792. At Glentivar Plantation, Virginia, it is rumored enslaved workers have found the body of a white baby hidden amongst logs.
Judy and Richard Randolph along with Nancy, Judy’s eighteen-year-old sister, are staying at the plantation. The Randolphs are one of America’s most wealthy and influential families.
Screams were heard coming from Nancy’s room during the night.
Gossip quickly spreads throughout Virginia society: Nancy Randolph had given birth to a child by Richard, people whisper. Together they murdered the child to protect their reputation.
Richard is tried for murder and the sensational trial shakes the new American nation to its core.
The events of that night ripple down the years.
Who was Nancy Randolph?
A calculating seductress and murderer? Or an unwilling victim, groomed and manipulated by her devious brother-in-law?
In this retelling of one of America’s greatest scandals, Kate Braithwaite brings Nancy Randolph’s extraordinary story to vivid and memorable life.
Although I’m all about Nancy and Judy in the novel, other Randolph sisters also led interesting lives and I’ll be writing about them in the lead up to publication day on May 2. If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, I hope you’ll consider pre-ordering Nancy, and if you just can’t wait until May 2, feel free to grab an ebook of my novel The Plot for only 99c/p!
In this month’s substack, I’ve talked about the Hesse sisters in What began as a fairytale (prompted by my read of The Romanov Brides by Claire McHugh) and revisited one of my favorite sister novels, Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale in The sisters that nearly weren’t.
I’ve also read Hannah Lynn’s Queens of Themiscrya, and know a whole lot more about the Amazon queens Hippolyte and Penthesilea, and their sisters Antiope and Melanippe, all of which I’m saving up for a future post.
But I’m going much more modern for my March giveaway. Definitely one of my top ten favorite sister novels, My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite is a black comedy. It’s super sharp and witty, and I loved it. Here it is with my aforementioned lemon tree…
For a chance to win, simply hit reply to this email or comment wherever you read the post. Sorry - I can only send to US readers. Last month I sent a copy of Rebecca Rosenberg’s fizzy novel Madame Pommery to Georgia.
Happy spring, happy reading,
Kate