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Summary

The stories of four famous women (Nannerl  Mozart, Jane Austen, Martha Washington, Elizabeth Barrett Browning), thoroughly researched and then told in a fictional manner, as if in their own words. 

Stats

Genre: Adult historical fiction

Series length: Four standalones

Violence: Light

Magic/Supernatural: None

Romance: Light to moderate 

Christian/spiritual element: Overt elements threaded throughout

Recommendation: Those who enjoy biographies and learning about the stories of real people

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Opening Lines:

My brother was dead and I couldn't find his body. 

I walked among the bleak mounds of the cemetery, pulling my cape close with one hand while clasping the hood tightly around my head with the other. it was too cold to be beyond the city gates of Vienna in this awful place, yet it was fitting that I was here under conditions. To search a graveyard on a sunny day seemed wrong. Perhaps if I'd known where he lay and was bringing him a fresh spray of flowers, the sun would have been an appropriate prop. but knowing his exact resting place, and fearing that I'd never know...cold air and skies that threatened rain were essential ingredients to my inner gloom. mirroring my regret. Sustaining my sorrow. Sostenuto. Expressivo. An elegy for the dead.

Mozart's Sister (Ladies of History)
by Nancy Moser

Is the recognition she so longs for the truest measure of her gifts? 

Nannerl Mozart's early days seem to be a fairy tale come to life--traveling far and wide, performing piano concerts with her younger brother, Wolfgang, before the crowned heads of Europe. But behind the glamour lurk dark difficulties--the hardship of travel, agonizing bouts of illness, and the constant concern over money. Their father, Leopold, is driven by a desire to bring his son's genius to the attention of the world. 

But what about Nannerl? Is she not just as talented? In a world where women's choices are limited, what hope does she have of ever realizing her own dreams? 

In this lovingly crafted novel, author Nancy Moser unveils one of history's hidden heroines. 

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Opening Lines:

It is a true thing everyone knows that--

I scratch out the words, dip my pen into the well of ink, and try again. it's not the first time I've scribbled and scratched, obliterating one word or phrase while searching for another. i long for the correct word, the indisputable one-and-only connection of words that will capture the essence of my intention. yet these unfound words tease me by hiding in the shadows of my mind, just out of reach, being naughty and bothersome and--

Aha!

Just Jane (Ladies of History)
by Nancy Moser

Unable to find her own Mr. Darcy, she created him.

June Austen from Steventon, England, lives a simple life with her close-knit family. She's just Jane. Yet she dreams of something more. 

As she spends hours creating enchanting stories filled with unforgettable characters such as Emma Woodhouse, Fanny Price, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, she wonders if anyone outside of her small world will ever enjoy her stories. 

​If she only knew....

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Opening Lines:

Death mocked me.

Daniel's booming voice was forever still. never again would I hear his explosive laughter, or his whispered, "I love you, Martha."

I walked away from the grave of my husband. Seven short years was not enough. Yet it was not just his death that scorned me....

​I was sick to death of death. 

Washington's Lady (Ladies of History)
by Nancy Moser

She dreams of a quiet life with her beloved George, but war looms....

Though still a young woman, Martha Custis is a widow. But she is not without means and has no desire to remarry. not, that is, until a strikng war hero steps into her life and she realizes she is ready to love again. Yet she wonders whether this man, accustomed to courageous military exploits, can settle down to a simple life of farming and being a father to her children. 

Even as she longs for domestic bliss, Martha soon realizes she will ahve to risk everything dear to her and find the courage to get behind a dream much larger than her own. 

Nancy Moser brings to life the loves and trials of the first First Lady of the United States, an inspiration even now, after 250 years. 

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Opening Lines:

"I will die soon." 

My brother Edward leaned to an elbow on the company side of my bed. "oh posh, Ba. You've been dying for years and you are still with us." 

He was right. Although I had celebrated a childhood of good health, the journey thogh my teen years, my twenties, and now my thirties had been greatly spent in a position of recline. And decline.

How Do I Love Thee? (Ladies of History)
by Nancy Moser

Elizabeth Barrett is a published poet--and a virtual prisoner in her own home. Blind family loyalty ties her to a tyrannical father who forbids any of his children from marrying. Bedridden by a chronic illness, Elizabeth has resigned herself to simply existing. She escapes through her imagination and crafts richly textured poetry that gives voice to her longings. 

Then, one day, she receives a letter from admiring poet, Robert Browning. This one letter prompts an exchange of passionate letters, clandestine meetings, and results in the penning of the famous Sonnets from the Portuguese.

Above all else,  Elizabeth discovers that it is never too late for love.