I am delighted to feature Isabella Mancini's time-slip historical novel, The Violinist's Apprentice which was released by DarkStroke Books on January 5th. I also have an extract to tempt you with and a great giveaway. Details on how to enter are at the foot of this post.
A dark journey through time.
It’s on a group trip to Rome that something terrifying and
mysterious happens, whirling musical Clementina back in time to 17th century
Italy. Amidst court intrigue and creaking carriages, Rome becomes a chiaroscuro
backdrop to her growing feelings for young violin-maker Antonio Stradivari. But
soon he discovers that Clementina is not all she appears. She must surely be a
witch. How can she return to the 21st
century again? Meanwhile, in an icy corner of the Arctic, a professor plots.
Here's a short extract to whet your appetite...
Tina
found the pillars, the ones underneath the archway, but as she ran through them
searching for that elusive handkerchief, something very strange happened. She found herself growing dizzy. She put her clammy hand up to her head in an
effort to still the throbbing vein in her temples, but it made no
difference. She suddenly felt worse,
much worse. The whole world had started
to spin in an anti-clockwise direction, herself in the centre. She felt as though she was in the middle of a
giant tornado, in the very eye of the needle, twirling, twirling, round and
round. Everything went first grey, then black, as she was flung helplessly
along.
Every
so often, the twisting fabric of her life would pick up elements of years gone
by. Images of people, their thoughts,
collided in a quickening and roaring pace, each phase superseded by another,
then another.
Hours
passed, days disappeared, followed by years, then centuries, as the loose
sheets of the world’s calendar were torn off one by one. And still she spun in that vortex, like a
helpless spider being sucked ever downwards into the giant plughole of time.
In a
fleeting moment of consciousness she kept repeating to herself, over and over,
in a never-ending mantra:
Where
am I?
What
am I?
Where
am I going?
Why?
Soon,
very soon, she would find out.
It
would be like nothing she had ever experienced before.
My Thoughts
I am always intrigued by timeslip novels and found the parts of the story which were set in 17th Century Rome to be the most enjoyable chapters. There is a lovely link between the present day Colosseum and the past and all the sections which described the teeming city were full of atmosphere and detail.
In addition, there is plenty of scope for several further novels to continue the quests. I found the added theme of the need to save the planet from global warming to be both surprising and thought inducing. If only there could be a dose of magical realism to sort it all out!
In short: Atmosphere and intrigue across the centuries
About the Author
Isabella Mancini is the nom de plume pf prolific Olga Swan, published by Crooked Cats Books. She has a BA Hons (Open) in Emglish Lianguage and Literature and a lifelong love for writing and language. For 12 years she lived in SW France, but returned to the UK in 2017, where she now lives in the West Midlands with her husband and elderly French rescue dog, Bruno.
Previous
books by Olga Swan:
An
Englishwoman in America
From
Paradis to Perdition
Pensioners
in Paradis
The
Mazurek Express
Lamplight
Vichyssoise
3rd
Degree Murder
Thanks to Isabella Mancini, DeepStroke Books and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Check out these brilliant bloggers!
Giveaway (Open Internationally)
To win a signed paperback of An Englishwoman in
America (Open INT) just follow the link below and good luck!
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box
below. The winner will be selected at
random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter
and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random
Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all
entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal
data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and
will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’
information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for
fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete
the data. I am not responsible for
despatch or delivery of the prize.
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