Bestselling author Alka Joshi returns to discuss her newest historical fiction novel, Six Days in Bombay . Inspired by the enigmatic life and mysterious death of Indian painter Amrita Sher-Gil—dubbed the Frida Kahlo of India—Joshi weaves a rich narrative through the eyes of a fictional nurse, Sona, who cares for a dying artist and embarks on a journey across 1930s Europe to fulfill the artist’s final request. With vivid research, immersive sensory detail, and reflections on identity, loss, and a...
Jun 26, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 72
In this episode of Historical Happy Hour , bestselling author and host Jane Healey sits down with debut novelist Joanna Miller to discuss The Eights , a richly imagined and impeccably researched historical novel about the first women to study alongside men at Oxford University in 1920. Joanna shares how the novel was born during lockdown, how real archives and immersive research shaped the vivid setting and layered characters, and why this untold story of female friendship, ambition, and societa...
May 24, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 71
New York Times bestselling author Kristina McMorris joins Jane Healey again to talk about her latest novel. In The Girls of Good Fortune, set in 1888 Portland, Oregon, Celia—a young woman of mixed Chinese and white heritage—awakens in the city's infamous Shanghai Tunnels, realizing she's been abducted and is on the brink of being shipped off as forced labor. Navigating a society rife with anti-Chinese sentiment, Celia's journey unfolds from her time as a maid entangled in a goldminers' massacre ...
May 20, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 70
New York Times bestselling author Sarah Penner is Jane Healey's guest to discuss her latest novel. The Amalfi Curse is an enthralling story of secrets, shipwrecks, and sea-witches set along the Amalfi Coast that alternates between 1821 and present day Positano. Set against the dazzling backdrop of the Amalfi Coast, this bewitching novel shimmers with mystery, romance, and the untamed magic of the sea.
May 14, 2025•35 min•Season 1Ep. 69
New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig is our guest! Join us to discuss her new novel, The Girl from Greenwich Street . The Girl from Greenwich Street is a gripping historical thriller based on a real 1799 murder case that united bitter political rivals Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in an explosive courtroom drama. When young Elma Sands disappears just before Christmas and is later found dead, public outrage targets a local carpenter—forcing Burr and Hamilton into an uneasy alliance...
Apr 24, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 68
New York Times bestselling author Natasha Lester joins Jane Healey to talk about her latest novel. The Mademoiselle Alliance tells the remarkable true story of Marie-Madeleine Méric, a glamorous Parisian mother who defied convention to become the leader of the largest spy network in Nazi-occupied France. From daring car rallies in Morocco to covert operations across Europe, she risked everything for freedom, resilience, and an unexpected love that bloomed in the shadows of war....
Apr 11, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Elize Hooper joins Jane Healey on the podcast again to discuss her latest novel. The Library of Lost Dollhouses is dual-timeline historical fiction about a mysterious collection of dollhouses that reveal the secrets of the women who once owned them. Spanning the course of a century, The Library of Lost Dollhouses is a warm, bright, and captivating story of secrets and love that embraces the importance of illuminating overlooked women....
Apr 05, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Emily Critchley joins Jane Healey on Historical Happy Hour to talk about her latest novel. The Undoing of Violet Claybourne is a haunting tale of ambition, betrayal, and family secrets set in 1938. When lonely boarding school student Gillian Larking is drawn into the glamorous yet shadowed world of her enigmatic roommate Violet Claybourne and her family estate, Thornleigh Hall, she discovers a sinister reality beneath its grandeur. Entrapped by the sisters’ dark manipulations after a tragic acci...
Mar 22, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Debut author Jane Yang joins us to talk about her exciting new novel, The Lotus Shoes . This novel is based in China in the 1800s and follows the lives of two young girls. It begins when family tragedy causes Little Flower to be sold into slavery to Linjing’s wealthy family. From childish jealousy they two girls grow into womanhood and have to decide if they’re going to be arch rivals or friends in order to secure a future for them both....
Mar 05, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Suzanne Nelson, renown author and foodie joins us to talk about her latest novel, The Librarians of Lisbon . The Librarians of Lisbon is a riveting tale of love, espionage, and friendship set in the glittering yet perilous backdrop of Lisbon during WWII. Best friends Selene and Bea, recruited as Allied spies under the guise of librarians, navigate treacherous webs of deception, danger, and forbidden romance. Inspired by real historical figures, Suzanne Nelson’s meticulously researched novel is a...
Feb 17, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 63
In our latest episode, we are talking with Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, and Chris Crabtree about their new gripping novel, Hold Strong . Hold Strong is a tale of love, sacrifice, and survival during World War II. Sam Carlson endures unimaginable hardship as a POW aboard the ill-fated Arisan Maru, while Sarah Haber uses her brilliance as a codebreaker to protect her country—unaware their lives will collide in a devastating way. Based on a remarkable true story, this novel is a powerful explorati...
Feb 12, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Karissa Chen is our guest! Join us to discuss her new novel, Homeseeking. Homeseeking is an epic and intimate tale of one couple across sixty years as world events pull them together and apart, illuminating the Chinese diaspora and exploring what it means to find home far from your homeland.
Feb 03, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 61
New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis is our guest! Join us to discuss her new novel, The Stolen Queen. She delights readers with a story centered on the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its famed Met Gala, while for the first time, exploring a territory beyond New York City—Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.
Jan 07, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 60
For our last Historical Happy Hour of 2024 Jane takes any and all questions you have about any of her books, the writing life, my pets - anything! We discuss authors our readers like to see in the coming year. Jane also shares a little sneak peek about her upcoming Cold War era novel, The Women of Arlington Hall, coming July 2025 and available for pre-order now.
Dec 30, 2024•43 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Marjan Kamali joins Jane Healey to talk about her latest novel, The Lion Women of Tehran . From the nationally bestselling author of the “powerful, heartbreaking” (Shelf Awareness) The Stationery Shop, a heartfelt, epic new novel of friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran....
Dec 17, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 58
International bestselling author Aimie Runyan is our guest! Join us to discuss her new novel, Mademoiselle Eiffel . Claire Eiffel, the brilliant daughter of architect Gustave Eiffel, becomes her father’s confidante and indispensable assistant, supporting his ambitions until she’s pushed aside by a young protégé, Adolphe Salles, who later becomes her husband. As the Eiffel Tower rises, Claire’s devotion is tested by scandal and her father’s imprisonment, forcing her to fight for both her family’s...
Dec 09, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Kimberly Brock joins Jane Healey to talk about her latest novel, The Fabled Earth . Southern mythology and personal reckoning collide in this sweeping story inspired by the little-known history of Cumberland Island when a once-in-a-century storm threatens the natural landscape. Faced with a changing world, two timelines and the perspectives of three women intersect where a folktale meets the truth to reveal what Cumberland Island has hidden all along....
Dec 04, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Tracey Enerson Wood is Jane Healey's guest! Join us to discuss her new novel, Katharine, the Wright Sister. It's a vibrant historical novel about the unsung hero behind the groundbreaking aeronautical achievement of Wilbur and Orville Wright: their sister. Perfect for fans of Marie Benedict and Fiona Davis it reveals the story of one of the most consequential women to ever live and the incredible, courageous choices she made so that others might fly.
Nov 18, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Tosca Lee joins Jane Healey to discuss her latest novel. Inspired by true stories, The Long March Home is a gripping coming-of-age tale of friendship, sacrifice, and the power of unrelenting hope. International Book Award Winner in Historical Fiction.
Nov 03, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Samantha Woodruff is our guest to talk about her latest novel, The Trade Off. It's the tale of a young Jewish woman with a gift for math and numbers who wants to become a broker on Wall Street. But, because she is Jewish and female she can't. She finds a way as the woman behind the man for her twin brother, but when she sees the Great Crash coming, will anyone listen?
Oct 27, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Emily Bleeker is Jane Healey 's guest to talk about her latest novel When We Chased the Light. A Hollywood legend. A legacy of secrets. An epic and emotional novel about forgiveness, fame, family, and truly unconditional love by the bestselling author of When We Were Enemies.
Oct 20, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Lynda Cohen Loigman, the bestselling author of The Two-Family House and The Wartime Sisters is Jane Healey 's guest again on the podcast to talk about her latest novel, The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern. This novel follows Augusta, a retired pharmacist, as she reconnects with her first love and reflects on her past, including her childhood experiences with her aunt, a woman with a deep knowledge of herbal remedies and a seemingly magical touch.
Oct 11, 2024•44 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Joy Jordan-Lake, bestselling author of Under a Gilded Moon, joins the podcast to talk about her latest novel, Echos of Us. Echoes of Us weaves together the past and present as descendants of three unlikely World War II allies—an American farm boy, a Jewish student, and a German POW—clash over the future of their shared company. Hired to organize a family reunion, sisters Hadley and Kitzie uncover deep secrets and old wounds, revealing the story of a courageous woman who binds their histories tog...
Oct 05, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Crystal King, bestselling author of The Chef's Secret and Feast of Sorrow, is our latest guest on Historical Happy Hour to discuss her latest novel, In the Garden of Monsters. A woman with no past... In post-war Italy, a beautiful model with no memory of her past is drawn into a mysterious world when she becomes the muse of Salvador Dalí at the eerie Sacro Bosco, the Garden of Monsters. As she poses as Persephone, she grapples with unsettling connections to the enigmatic garden and its dark host...
Sep 19, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Donna Jones Alward is Jane Healey's guest to talk about her new novel, When the World Feel Silent. A story of loss, hope and redemption against impossible odds… 1917. When tragedy strikes in Halifax Harbour, nothing for nurse Nora Crowell or war widow Charlotte Campbell will ever be the same again. Their paths will cross in the most unexpected way, trailing both heartbreak and joy its wake…
Sep 13, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Greer Macallister is Jane Healey 's guest! Join us to discuss her new novel, The Thirteenth Husband. It's the story of scandalous heiress Aimee Crocker, who lit up the Gilded Age tabloids with her devil-may-care attitude and worldwide adventures.
Sep 12, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Sara Goodman Confino and Jennifer S. Brown are our guests to discuss their upcoming novels! Behind Every Good Man - A wronged wife goes toe to toe with her cheating husband at the polls in this hilarious and heart-lifting novel by the bestselling author of Don’t Forget to Write. The Whisper Sister - In 1920s NYC, Minnie Soffer’s father opens a soda shop; the American dream is within reach. However, the soda shop isn’t what it seems; it’s a front for a speakeasy. When tragedy strikes, Minnie inhe...
Aug 31, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 46
New York Times bestselling author Beatriz Williams is Jane Healey's guest on Historical Happy Hour to discuss her new novel, Husbands & Lovers. Husbands & Lovers blends a contemporary love story with a fascinating, mysterious past. When single-mom Mallory Dunne receives the phone call no parent ever wants to receive – her son Sam is in kidney failure after ingesting a poisonous mushroom at camp – she must face the two biggest secrets of her life in order to save him: Monk Adams, Sam’s bi...
Aug 17, 2024•44 min•Season 1Ep. 45
In this bonus crossover episode of Historical Happy Hour, bestselling British novelist Kate Thompson, bestselling author and host of the popular From the Library with Love podcast , and Jane Healey interview each other. They discuss their mutual passion for historical fiction, focusing on their recent World War II novels. Kate Thompson talks about her book The Wartime Book Club and shares the fascinating history and story behind it, while Jane Healey delves into her novel, Goodnight from Paris ,...
Jul 28, 2024•46 min•Season 1Ep. 44
New York Times bestselling author Erika Robuck is Jane Healey's guest! Join us to discuss her new novel, The Last Twelve Miles . It's based on the true story of two brilliant women on two sides of the law: Coast Guard Cryptanalyst Elizebeth Smith Friedman and South Florida Rumrunner Marie Waite. Fans of Robuck's women in intelligence novels and her Key West set HEMINGWAY'S GIRL will enjoy this catch-me-if-you-can-style fusion....
Jul 15, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 43
