Discovering Diamonds | Independent Review Blog promoting quality Historical Fiction
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I decided to open this review blog because I am passionate about assisting good indie and self-published authors of historical fiction to get noticed, I am also a keen reader of the historical novel and have written a few of my own - both indie and traditional mainstream.
Discovering Diamonds | Independent Review Blog promoting quality Historical Fiction
1y ago
July 31st 2022
Discovering Diamonds is now closed - but our previously reviewed books will remain on this site for you to browse and enjoy
To find a book by subject, era or location
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AUTHORS
alphabetical order by surname
novels written by more than three authors
appear under Various Authors
(separate heading under 'V')
Non-fiction books are listed at the bottom
Reviewer's Choice
Our Reviewer's Choice selections
(previously Book of the Month): highlighted in green
Book of the Year : highlighte ..read more
Discovering Diamonds | Independent Review Blog promoting quality Historical Fiction
1y ago
Discovering Diamonds opened on January 1st 2017 with the aim of helping good indie and self-published authors of historical fiction to get noticed. Good reviews of good books, however they are published, are always welcomed by readers who do not particularly care how a book is produced as long as the reading experience is rewarding, satisfying and entertaining. Our aim was to showcase well-written historical fiction for readers to enjoy. I think we achieved our goal.
But it is with sad regret that I am announcing Discovering Diamonds is to no longer continue. I have ..read more
Discovering Diamonds | Independent Review Blog promoting quality Historical Fiction
1y ago
An Agents of Room Z Novel
Reviewer's Choice
Amazon UK
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Goodreads
Mystery
1930s
London, England
"London, 1935, and the Blackshirts of the British Union of Fascists are on the march. Disgraced army officer Hugh Clifton is recruited by MI5 to infiltrate the Blackshirts, but unwittingly becomes a hero of the movement. Drawn into street battles against communists he uncovers a plot to bring mayhem to Britain and undermine the government. He is being watched by the sinister fascist intelligence unit Department Z and decides the best way to beat them is to j ..read more
Discovering Diamonds | Independent Review Blog promoting quality Historical Fiction
1y ago
REVIEWER'S CHOICE
Amazon UK
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Goodreads
Dual Timeline
WW1/Modern day
Hong Kong
"In 2016, Patricia Findlay leaves a high-powered career to move to Hong Kong, where she hopes to rekindle the bonds of family and embrace the city of her ancestors. Instead, she is overwhelmed by feelings of displacement and depression. To make matters worse, her father, CEO of the family bank, insists that Patricia’s duty is to produce an heir, even though she has suffered three miscarriages.
In 1912, when Isabel Taylor moves to Hong Kong with her husband, Henry, and their youn ..read more
Discovering Diamonds | Independent Review Blog promoting quality Historical Fiction
1y ago
Reviewer's Choice
Amazon UK
Amazon US
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Amazon AU
Goodreads
Nautical adventure
WWII 1940s
Europe
#2 of The Wolves WW2 Series
“Summer 1941 - Hitler launches his surprise assault on the Soviet Union. As German Panzers drive deep into the heart of Russia, the Red Army is desperate for help that can only be delivered through convoys of Allied merchant ships sent through the bitter Arctic. But appalling weather and deadly cold are not the only dangers awaiting the crew of the little escort ship HMS Protea. They must run the gauntlet of attacks by German aircraft and surface rai ..read more
Discovering Diamonds | Independent Review Blog promoting quality Historical Fiction
1y ago
REVIEWER'S CHOICE
Amazon UK
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Goodreads
Fictional Drama
1600s
Scotland
Purely as a matter of personal preference, occasionally a book has it all for me. To this happy list I add Donna Scott's marvelously crafted The Tacksman's Daughter. It ticks all the boxes. Set in Scotland? Check. Deals with a heretofore under-fictionalized historic event? Check. A cast of full-bodied, three-dimensional characters, both endearing and despicable? Check.
The author had me with at the first line: "February 2, 1692, Alt Na Munde, Glencoe, Scotland." Anyone passingly famil ..read more
Discovering Diamonds | Independent Review Blog promoting quality Historical Fiction
1y ago
Amazon UK
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Goodreads Not found
Fictional drama/LGBTQ
1914
England
"Ellen and Kate were best friends and committed suffragettes. On the eve of the Great War, Kate and another suffragette burned down a church as part of a suffragette protest under the “Deeds not Words” banner. A man died and Kate disappeared. Sixteen years later, Ellen and her brother Freddie have rebuilt their lives after the trauma of war and loss. She is overjoyed when Kate reappears, but Kate is consumed by remorse over the death. They enlist the help of Alec, Freddie's ex-lover, to find out ..read more
Discovering Diamonds | Independent Review Blog promoting quality Historical Fiction
1y ago
Amazon UK
Amazon US
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Goodreads
Fictional drama/ Nautical
1800s
In September 1884, the Royal Navy ship HMS Wasp set out for Inishtrahull, Ireland’s most northerly inhabited island, carrying men whose work it was to evict the inhabitants of this tiny island who had not paid their rent to their distant absentee landlord. The Wasp didn’t make it, nor did most of its crew and passengers, foundering in the narrow strait between Toraigh Island and the mainland.
Around this historical event, author Tom Sigafoos has written a plausible and entertaining novel beautifully ..read more
Discovering Diamonds | Independent Review Blog promoting quality Historical Fiction
1y ago
Amazon UK
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Goodreads
Biographical Fictional Drama
1100s
Kent, England
"‘There is no me; there is no you.
There is only us.’ The Maids of Biddenden is inspired by the real-life story of conjoined twins Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst, born in 1100 into a wealthy family from a small Kent village. Joined at the hip, the sisters overcome fear and hostility to grow into gifted and much-loved women – one a talented musician and song-writer, the other a caring healer and grower of medicinal plants. Entangled in the struggles for power and influence of the great Kent no ..read more
Discovering Diamonds | Independent Review Blog promoting quality Historical Fiction
1y ago
Reviewer's Choice
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Amazon CA
Amazon AU
Goodreads
Fictional drama / LGBTQ
1940s/1950s - post-WWII
England
“Theo Lawder and Zac Bonneval meet in the army at the outbreak of World War II. They survive the horror of Dunkirk and become lovers. Theo goes to work at Bletchley Park, where he becomes friendly with Alan Turing. After the war he joins the Foreign Office, while Zac works for MI6. They make a good life together. But this is a time when homosexuals are criminalised, and the pressure of being outcasts in society takes a terrible toll. Zac becomes deeply de ..read more