Obsession, lies, and betrayal. The shocking story of the first great scandal in American history.

History brands Maria Reynolds an adulteress, harlot, extortionist, and consummate grifter. But the past is often told only through the narrow and biased lens of the men involved. Maria's real name was Mary Lewis, and this is her story.

Young, beautiful, and desperate, Mary arrives in Philadelphia with her young daughter in the summer of 1791. Her husband-a con-artist of dubious reputation-has left her, and her lover has recently passed away. Now going by the name Maria (pronounced Mariah), she turns to an ambitious lawyer and newly elected Senator, Aaron Burr, for help. Burr offers her an opportunity for independence and financial security, but it comes with a price: seduce Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, take him into her confidence, and find proof of financial misconduct.

Maria is successful in seducing Hamilton, and they begin a passionate affair. When her estranged husband returns unexpectedly, Maria is caught in the middle of a dangerous power struggle, one that will lead to a national scandal. A scandal so shocking it will forge a deadly rivalry between two powerful men and alter the history of the new nation.

Set in the early 1900s, Among the Beautiful Beasts is the untold story of the early life of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, known in her later years as a tireless activist for the Florida Everglades. After a childhood spent in New England estranged from her father and bewildered by her mother, who fades into madness, Marjory marries a swindler thirty years her senior. The marriage nearly destroys her, but Marjory finds the courage to move to Miami, where she is reunited with her father and begins a new life as a journalist in that bustling, booming frontier town. Buoyed by a growing sense of independence and an affair with a rival journalist, Marjory embraces a life lived at the intersection of the untamed Everglades and the rapacious urban development that threatens it. When the demands of a man once again begin to swallow Marjory's own desires and dreams, she sees herself in the vulnerable, inimitable Everglades and is forced to decide whether to commit to a life of subjugation or leap into the wild unknown. Told in chapters that alternate between an urgent midnight chase through the wetlands and extensive narrative flashbacks, Among the Beautiful Beasts is at once suspenseful and deeply reflective.

Author Bio:
Lori McMullen grew up in unincorporated Dade County, outside of Miami, and now lives with her family in Chicago. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, and her short fiction has appeared in the Tampa Review and Slush Pile magazine. Among the Beautiful Beasts is her first novel.

 

 Independently published with She Writes Press

"[A] brilliant recreation of the lives of inspiring heroines from seventh-century Northumbria." —Readers' Favorite

Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory's The White Queen and Sandra Gulland's The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.

Seventh century England is a hodgepodge of warring Anglo-Saxon states filled with shifting alliances and treacherous grabs for royal power. Kings rise and fall, depending on Woden's Luck. Northumbria, the damp kingdom north of the River Humber, is a state riven with rivalries and kings determined to expand at any cost.

Women have no obvious role in a warrior society, but by using their wits, four women—two queens and two abbesses—make monumental changes. One woman marries a pagan king and successfully converts him to Christianity before he dies in battle. One becomes the most powerful abbess in Northumbria and holds the Great Synod at Whitby Abbey, which brings the kingdom back to the Roman Church. Another becomes queen and keeps political alliances strong despite different religious denominations. The fourth woman ushers in a new age by negotiating with kings and churchmen to establish one united church in the Northumbrian kingdom.

Based on true events and people, this is the story of Northumbria through the eyes of the most important women of their time.

 

More Reviews:

"Old gods fall as Christianity rises across Northern Europe with a fair amount of help from the women behind the scenes, the wielders of true power." —Chanticleer Reviews

"...dramatically gripping novel... A captivating account of the lives of extraordinary women in perilous times." —Kirkus

"[A] fascinating story of upheaval in early Britain...Historical fiction readers will be absorbed by this intricate tale of memorable Northumbrian women fighting for change." —BookLife

"Men have had the first and last word for too long. In Sandra Wagner-Wright's Saxon Heroines, we get to hear from the powerful women of the early medieval world. Well researched, well detailed, and a compelling story make it an enjoyable fresh take on medieval historical fiction." —San Francisco Book Review

Author Bio:

Sandra Wagner-Wright holds the doctoral degree in history and taught women’s and global history at the University of Hawai`i. When she’s not researching or writing, Sandra enjoys travel, including a recent visit to Antarctica. She lives in Hilo, Hawai`i with her family and writes a blog relating to history, travel, and the idiosyncrasies of life. Ambition, Arrogance & Pride is Sandra's most recent novel.