Stacking the Shelves #70

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Reading Reality. It's a place to showcase any books I have purchased, borrowed, or been lucky enough to have been given an advance copy of. 

Hope you find something that looks interesting to you or that makes you remember a favorite book you need to finish. Happy reading ya'll!

The Doctor's Wife by Myra McIlvain (A German Family Saga Book One)

Kindle Points: 99 Cents

This just looked interesting. It's about a woman who travels to Galveston, Texas and is abandoned by her employer. She ends up marrying the ship's physician and settles into the German population. Being from Texas myself and loving Galveston I thought I'd enjoy this. The author has written for many Texas publications and is a several generations Texan. It just looked unique and full of history. It's also part of a series which appeals to me. 

A Precarious Homecoming by D.S. Lang (Arabella Stewart Historical Mystery Book One)

Kindle: Free this week

This is part of a series and I hadn't heard of the books or the author. The covers are really unique and pretty and the story looks interesting. Arabella, the heroine returns to her hometown to save her family resort and ends up working on a murder with her childhood friend who is now the Constable. It is set just after WW1 which I prefer over WW2 stories. There is another series by the author called Doro Banyon which she says is a little cozier than this more serious one. 

The Virgin Widow by Anne O'Brien

Kindle: Free with points

I know this author well but hadn't heard of this book. It is about Anne Neville, Richard III's wife and Queen of England. I don't know why but I just love anything about her and really enjoyed my last book I read by Jean Plaidy. This is a popular author so I'm hoping I like this one. With my huge TBR file I don't know when I'll get to it but I'm glad to have it. 

Can't Wait Wednesday: The Formidable Women Who Shaped Medieval Europe: Power and Patronage at the Burgundian Court by Susan Abernethy

 

For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at the book blog, Wishful Endings, I'm featuring, The Formidable Women Who Shaped Medieval Europe: Power and Patronage at the Burgundian Court, by Susan Abernethy. This book is all about the Burgundian women of Europe who shaped politics through their connections with the rulers of the Valois dynasty in Burgundy. 

Before you think this is boring and worth skipping (I would have too at one time), consider that these women were instrumental in and all around Europe in the 14th-16th Centuries and involved in politics that carried to the players in the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor dynasty and on. I would not ever have thought I'd be interested in what happened in Burgundy or France but over time have seen how the history there was the beginning of these other more well known stories of Edward IV and Henry Tudor. 

I'm sure to learn a lot from this very unique book. I have a really hard time finding anything about the time period from 1400's-1600's France and Burgundy. I'm excited to see what new things I can learn. Trying to get it on NetGalley as an ARC. Fingers crossed!

History/Medieval History

 October 31, 2025

Book description courtesy of NetGalley

The formation of the Burgundian Empire by the four Valois Dukes of Burgundy would not have happened without the formidable royal and aristocratic women in their lives. These women, the wives, daughters, nieces, granddaughters and great-granddaughters, were vigorously engaged in the administration of the Burgundian empire, acting as governors and regents, making appointments, securing and making strategic marriages, raising taxes, negotiating treaties, engaging in cultural, religious and political patronage, giving birth to heirs and aiding in the military endeavours of their husbands. The history of these women involves numerous countries in Europe, including England, Scotland, France, Brittany, the Low Countries, Italy, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and many others.

Some of these women lived in luxurious comfort, and others were bullied and badgered into turning over some or all of their patrimony, allowing these all-powerful men to build an influential and powerful new state comprised of a numerous and varied collection of territories in Western Europe that existed from the late fourteenth century until the early sixteenth century.

We will meet women who were the daughters of kings, emperors, dukes and counts and even a queen regnant and a saint. The Valois dukes fully entrusted their wives with ruling in their stead while away fighting military and political wars. They used a deliberate policy of making marriages for their daughters and other female relatives into the many houses of Europe for political and territorial gains. In the end, the last Valois duke, Charles the Bold, put in motion a marriage for his daughter Mary, which would eventually bring about the end of the mighty Burgundian state, allowing it to be ruled by the House of Habsburg and absorbed into the Holy Roman Empire.