Read the latest posts by Martha Shelley
Feminist, researcher, and author of historical fiction.
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Our So-Called Civilization—Part IV
As I reported in a previous post, the trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo after World War II were essentially victor’s justice: the courts were organized by the victors and went only after people on the losing side. Outside…
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Our So-Called Civilization—Part III
*The photo above was taken in an air-raid shelter in Dresden, after the firebombing. The massive firestorm sucked oxygen out of the room and replaced it with carbon monoxide and other lethal gases. In my two previous posts…
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What We Call “Civilization”–Part II
In this post I’m going to focus on attempts to create peace among nations, and the gap—a Grand Canyon, really—between the hopeful words of these attempts and the actual deeds of those nations. In a previous post we…
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Writers and researchers, historical fiction from a feminist view. We are women-owned publishers focused on engaging feminist literature with historically accurate details.
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Martha Shelley’s latest book of poetry: Released From the Wheel
“Like all great poets, Shelley’s poems are about life and death—how imminent and inevitable death really is and therefore, how precious, how amazing, is each moment of our lives. She covers it all, from insect life to the stars—to the very galaxies, but she also covers politics, heroism, religion, cramped airplanes, and childhood memories of summers at the beach. Released from the Wheel is a pleasure and a wonder to read.”
–Phyllis Chesler
A Meteor Shower
A novel by Martha Shelley
In this third book of the Jezebel trilogy, Tamar steals away from Shomron and crosses the desert to find and ransom Bez in Assyria. While passing through war-ravaged lands she meets a child orphaned by the retreating army and buys her, changing both of their lives forever.
Jezebel grieves the loss of father, husband, and son, and then an unexpected relationship brings her new life and joy. Elijah passes the mantle of prophecy to his disciple Elisha, who vows to complete the work the master began—but at what cost? Yoram, now king of Israel, fulfills his father’s dream of recapturing a lost territory, but finds that his invincible Captain Jehu is a two-edged sword.
Our characters’ lives are braided together as they struggle to survive wars and sieges, drought and epidemic, and one final, fiery summer.
The Stars in their Courses
A novel by Martha Shelley
An unusual love story embedded in an epic tale: Religious massacres. Sexual politics. Rapacious rulers and landless laborers. The clash of empires in the ancient Middle East. A story as old as the Bible, as fresh as today’s wars. Fans of The Red Tent will adore this book.
In this second book of the Jezebel trilogy, Tamar pursues a medical education, only to discover that her skills are in greater demand on the battlefield than in the birthing room. Elijah accidentally engineers a massacre and becomes the most wanted criminal in Israel. Bez, the palace guard, finds success as an artist but not in love. When Jezebel’s husband, the king of Israel, goes to war, she learns to take the reins of power.
Our character’s lives entwine and come unraveled, but eventually they must join forces against Assyria, the mightiest and cruelest empire in the world.
The Throne in the Heart of the Sea
A novel by Martha Shelley
In the 9th century BC, the king of Tyre builds a maritime empire that will come to control the entire Mediterranean. The despot of Assyria declares himself “sovereign of the four corners of the earth,” backed by the mightiest army the world has ever seen.
In these perilous times, three young people struggle to realize their ambitions. The king’s daughter Jezebel believes the gods intend for her to rule Tyre. Tamar, the daughter of a poor fisherman, longs to be a scribe. And Elijah, an Israelite farmboy, swears bitter vengeance against the king who caused his father’s death. Driven by their passions – sexual, political, and religious – they tangle and fly apart, again and again.
This astonishingly well researched book, the first volume of the Jezebel trilogy, takes you deep into their world, a world as real as your own. This is what was, and what might have been.