Historium Press

"Meek never fails to stun and impress with his evocation of scenes and events, of sights and dialogue, and of peoples' reactions to them." - HFC ReviewsThe Dream Collector immerses the reader into the exciting milieu of late 19th Century Paris when art and medicine were in the throes of revolution, art turning to Impressionism, medicine turning to psychology. In 1885, Julie Forette, a self-educated woman from Marseilles, finds employment at the infamous Salp tri re, hospital and asylum to over five thousand disabled, demented and abandoned women, a walled city ruled by the famed neurologist and arrogant director, Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot. Julie Forette forms a friendship with the young, visiting intern Sigmund Freud who introduces her to the altering-conscious power of cocaine. Together they pursue the hidden potential of hypnotism and dream interpretation. After Freud receives the baffling case of the star hysteric, Sabrine Weiss, he is encouraged by Julie to experiment with different modes of treatment, including "talking sessions." Their urgent quest is to find a cure for Sabrine, Princess of the Hysterics, before Dr. Charcot resorts to the radical removal of her ovaries. In Paris, Julie finds a passion for the new art emerging, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and forms friendships with the major artists of the period, including Pissarro, Monet, and Degas. Julie becomes intimately involved with the reclusive Cezanne only to be seduced by the "Peruvian Savage" Paul Gauguin. Julie is the eponymous 'Dream Collector' collecting the one unforgettable, soul-defining dream of the major historical figures of the period. "When R.w. Meek submitted his manuscript THE DREAM COLLECTOR for our contest I thought it was some sort of a joke. Not because it was badly written but because it was so well written - along the lines of George Saunders and Tolstoy I was certain it was a literary friend posing as a contestant. Our judges too said this was hands down the best submission we ever received in ten years of the Palm Beach Book Festival. A masterpiece in every sense of the word." - Lois Cahall, Founder Palm Beach Book Festival"Tribute must be paid to the obvious and clear literary skills of the author R.w. Meek and to his ability to invoke historic personages and the Belle poque he so evidently adores." - Julian de la Motte, award winning author of Senlac

"Meek never fails to stun and impress with his evocation of scenes and events, of sights and dialogue, and of peoples' reactions to them." - HFC ReviewsThe Dream Collector immerses the reader into the exciting milieu of late 19th Century Paris when art and medicine were in the throes of revolution, art turning to Impressionism, medicine turning to psychology. In 1885, Julie Forette, a self-educated woman from Marseilles, finds employment at the infamous Salp tri re, hospital and asylum to over five thousand disabled, demented and abandoned women, a walled city ruled by the famed neurologist and arrogant director, Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot. Julie Forette forms a friendship with the young, visiting intern Sigmund Freud who introduces her to the altering-conscious power of cocaine. Together they pursue the hidden potential of hypnotism and dream interpretation. After Freud receives the baffling case of the star hysteric, Sabrine Weiss, he is encouraged by Julie to experiment with different modes of treatment, including "talking sessions." Their urgent quest is to find a cure for Sabrine, Princess of the Hysterics, before Dr. Charcot resorts to the radical removal of her ovaries. In Paris, Julie finds a passion for the new art emerging, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and forms friendships with the major artists of the period, including Pissarro, Monet, and Degas. Julie becomes intimately involved with the reclusive Cezanne only to be seduced by the "Peruvian Savage" Paul Gauguin. Julie is the eponymous 'Dream Collector' collecting the one unforgettable, soul-defining dream of the major historical figures of the period. "When R.w. Meek submitted his manuscript THE DREAM COLLECTOR for our contest I thought it was some sort of a joke. Not because it was badly written but because it was so well written - along the lines of George Saunders and Tolstoy I was certain it was a literary friend posing as a contestant. Our judges too said this was hands down the best submission we ever received in ten years of the Palm Beach Book Festival. A masterpiece in every sense of the word." - Lois Cahall, Founder Palm Beach Book Festival." Tribute must be paid to the obvious and clear literary skills of the author R.w. Meek and to his ability to invoke historic personages and the Belle poque he so evidently adores." - Julian de la Motte, award winning author of Senlac

"Who She Left Behind" is a captivating historical fiction novel that spans multiple generations and delves into the emotional lives of its characters. Set in various time periods, from the declining days of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey to Armenian communities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts during the 1990s, the book provides a deep immersion into a lesser-known era. The story revolves around themes of survival, motherhood, and love, drawing inspiration from the author's own family history. The narrative is framed by a mysterious discovery of Armenian dolls at Victoria's grave many years later, which leads her on a quest for redemption as an immigrant, wife, sister, and aunt.

If you loved Ken Follett's "A Column of Fire," take another journey into 17th-century England with the 5-star reviewed alternate historical fiction novel, "Blood and Ink." History shows Kit Marlowe died in a tavern brawl in Deptford in 1593, but did he? England is torn apart by religious metamorphosis and espionage. The stages of England and bright intellectual boys are used to bolster Queen Elizabeth I's reign and propagate the rising Protestant faith. At the age of eight, Christopher Marlowe, the muse's darling, is sucked into the labyrinth of secret spy rings, blood, murder, and betrayal, while his own ambition to become England's favorite playwright drifts further from his grasp. As Christopher grows to manhood, he sinks further into the darkness, and a chance meeting with an unknown actor from Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare, sets him on a path of destiny - a fate of forced exile and the revelation that the real enemy is not an assassin of Rome, but a man who stared into his eyes and smiled. One he did not expect... Read the editorial review by the Historical Novel Society here: https: //historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/blood-and-ink/"The dialogue is as rich as a Shakespeare sonnet, the darker moments, as terrible as the Massacre of Paris, and the lighter moments as amusing as anything that William wrote. I adored the interpretation of both Marlowe and Shakespeare. So although this is very much Kit's story, there would not have been a story without William's running along side it. This book asks many questions and D. K. Marley has tried to give plausible answers. And although we will never know if Kit really did die in that dreadful fight in a house in Deptford, or if William really did pen the worlds most beloved plays, this story has something for anyone who is interested in these poets and the world in which they lived in. If you were to read only one book this year, then let it be this one." - 2018 Bronze Winner for Book of the Year from The Coffee Pot Book Club, Mary Anne Yarde

Intrigue, espionage, and romance in the midst of the American Civil War. Maddie Cronin's game is seduction with plenty of bodies left in her wake - men of wealth, senators, generals, and even the vice president of the United States. Maddie has always been able to sidestep true love in her quest for power, until Arnett. Arnett McCann is heart sore and heart sick. All he wants is to be left alone to do his job. But that is no way to live. As a U. S. Marshal for the Justice Department under President Lincoln, Arnett has always seen the law in black and white. You are either a criminal or you are not. Yet, with the looming Civil War and the attack on Fort Sumter, no one or nothing has shaken Arnett's sense of justice and he's kept his mind focused; that is, until Maddie Cronin walked into his life. Now he is out to get her and her associates, the notorious outlaws, Frank and Jesse James, before they and the secret organization, The Knights of the Golden Circle, bring down the federal government.

Historium Press Classics collector's edition with a foreword by Kate Westwood, Historical Regency author of "Woodston: a sequel to Northanger Abbey" and "A Scandal at Deptford"A new edition of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, originally published posthumously in 1818. Northanger Abbey is the story of seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland, one of ten children of a country clergyman, whose wild imagination and excessive fondness for Gothic novels (especially Ann Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho) has skewed her worldview and interactions with others to great comic effect. Fundamentally a parody of the Gothic fiction that was so popular in Austen's formative years, Northanger Abbey is a uniquely significant work, in that it shows Austen's departure from those conventions and tropes -- featuring three dimensional heroines, who were not perfect people, but flawed, rounded characters who behaved naturally and not just as the novel's plot demanded.

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope... I have loved none but you." ― Jane Austen, PersuasionPersuasion is the last novel fully completed by Jane Austen. It was published at the end of 1817, six months after her death. Persuasion has been the subject of several adaptations, including four made-for-television adaptation, theatre productions, radio broadcasts, and other literary works. The story concerns Anne Elliot, a young Englishwoman of twenty-seven years, whose family moves to lower their expenses and reduce their debt by renting their home to an Admiral and his wife. The wife's brother, Navy Captain Frederick Wentworth, was engaged to Anne in 1806, but the engagement was broken when Anne was "persuaded" by her friends and family to end their relationship. Anne and Captain Wentworth, both single and unattached, meet again after a seven-year separation, setting the scene for many humorous encounters as well as a second, well-considered chance at love and marriage for Anne in her second "bloom". The novel was well-received in the early 19th century, but its greater fame came later in the century and continued into the 20th and 21st centuries. Much scholarly debate on Austen's work has since been published. Anne Elliot is noteworthy among Austen's heroines for her relative maturity. As Persuasion was Austen's last completed work, it is accepted as her most maturely written novel, showing a refinement of literary conception indicative of a woman approaching forty yearsage. Her use of free indirect discourse in narrative was in full evidence by 1816. Foreword by Mirta Ines Trupp, the Historical Regency author of "Celestial Persuasion"

Special Collector's edition from Historium PressForeword by Catherine Kullmann, the author of "A Comfortable Alliance" and "A Suggestion of Scandal". Pride And Prejudice, the story of Mrs. Bennet's attempts to marry off her five daughters is one of the best-loved and most enduring classics in English literature. Excitement fizzes through the Bennet household at Longbourn in Hertfordshire when young, eligible Mr. Charles Bingley rents the fine house nearby. He may have sisters, but he also has male friends, and one of these-the haughty, and even wealthier, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy-irks the vivacious Elizabeth Bennet, the second of the Bennet girls. She annoys him. Which is how we know they must one day marry. The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and Darcy is a splendid rendition of civilized sparring. As the characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, Jane Austen's radiantly caustic wit and keen observation sparkle.

Special collector's edition published by Histoirum Press, with a foreword by Regency author, Jeanette Watts, the author of "My Dearest Miss Fairfax". Beautiful, clever, rich-and single-Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships.

Special collectors edition by Historium Press with a foreword by Regency author, Arabella Brown. First published in 1814, "Mansfield Park" is Jane Austen's third published novel, the story of Fanny Price, an impoverished young girl who at the age of ten is sent away by her overburdened family to be raised by her wealthy aunt and uncle, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, at their estate, the titular Mansfield Park. This classic coming of age story follows the young lives of Fanny and her four cousins, Tom, Edmund, Maria, and Julia. When Sir Thomas incurs a large debt he is forced to rent out the Mansfield Park parsonage which has been recently freed up by the death of the family's Uncle Norris. Clergyman Dr. Grant and his wife take up residence in the parsonage and the aristocratic Crawford family from London joins them soon after. The arrival of the wealthy and fashionable Crawford family enlivens life at Mansfield Park and begins to spark romantic entanglements amongst its residents. While largely ignored by critics during her lifetime, "Mansfield Park" has since been recognized as one of Austen's most mature works. The greatest financial success of Austen's literary career, "Mansfield Park" is a brilliant and satirical depiction of the lives of the upper class in England during the early 19th century. With a foreword by Regency author, Arabella Brown, the author of "The Wastrel's Daughters".