Historical Happy Hour

Heather Webb is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of historical fiction. In 2015, Rodin’s Lover was a Goodread’s Top Pick, and in 2018, Last Christmas in Paris won the Women’s Fiction Writers Association STAR Award. In 2019, Meet Me in Monaco was selected as a finalist for the 2020 Goldsboro RNA award in the UK, as well as the Digital Book World’s Fiction prize. To date, Heather’s books have been translated to fifteen languages. Up and coming, her next solo novel, The Next Ship Home, is inspired by true events and reveals the dark secrets of Ellis Island as two unlikely friends challenge a corrupt system, altering their fate and the lives of the immigrants that come after them, out in Feb 2022. Check her website for more details on release dates and book club visits.

Jane Healey welcomes the fabulous Elise Hooper to discuss her latest novel Angels of the Pacific.  Inspired by the extraordinary true stories of World War II’s American Army nurses famously known as the Angels of Bataan and the unsung contributions of Filipinas of the resistance, this novel transports us to a remarkable era of hope, bravery, perseverance, and ultimately—victory.

Diana Giovinazzo is the latest guest of Jane Healey to discuss her latest novel, Antoinette’s Sister. As Marie Antoinette took her last breath as Queen of France in Paris, another formidable monarch—Antoinette’s dearly beloved sister, Charlotte—was hundreds of miles away, in Naples, fighting desperately to secure her release from the revolutionaries who would take her life. Little did Charlotte know, however, that her sister’s execution would change the course of history—and bring about the end of her own empire.

Jane Healey welcomes Jillian Cantor to the podcast to discuss Beautiful Little Fools. Their stories unfold in the years leading up to that fateful summer of 1922, when all three of their lives are on the brink of unraveling. Each woman is pulled deeper into Jay Gatsby’s romantic obsession, with devastating consequences for all of them.

Jillian Cantor revisits the glittering Jazz Age world of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, retelling this timeless American classic from the women’s perspective. Beautiful Little Fools is a quintessential tale of money and power, marriage and friendship, love and desire, and ultimately the murder of a man tormented by the past and driven by a destructive longing that can never be fulfilled. 

The Last Season is a collaboration between Jenny Judson and Danielle Mahfood, who met in high school and shared a mutual love of historical fiction and romance novels. Instead of passing notes in class, Jenny and Danielle would write short excerpts from imaginary novels that featured themselves and their classmates as characters caught up in tales of romance and adventure. Many years later, after cheering for opposite teams at Harvard-Yale games, they came together in New York City to begin writing The Last Season, inspired both by the Victorian period and the financial crisis of 2008.

Ron Balson joins the podpodcast hosted by Jane Healey. We will be discussing his  novel, Defending Britta Stein, a fascinating story of bravery, betrayal and redemption. 

Nicola Harrison joins Jane Healey to discuss her novel, The Show Girl. The novel gives a glimpse of the glamorous world of the Ziegfeld Follies through the eyes of a young midwestern woman who comes to New York City to find her destiny as a Ziegfeld Follies star.

Nicola Harrison is the author of two historical fiction novels, Montauk and The Show Girl (August 10, 2021). Born and raised in England, she moved with her family to Southern California when she was 14. She is a graduate of UCLA and received her MFA from Stony Brook. Prior to writing novels, she worked as a fashion journalist in New York City and now lives in Manhattan Beach, California with her husband, two sons and a high-maintenance chihuahua named Lola.

Bestselling author Mark Sullivan joins Jane Healey to discuss his novel, The Last Green Valley, the epic WWII story of one family’s decision to escape tyranny and run to freedom.

Elyssa Friedland joins Jane Healey to discuss  her novel, Last Summer at the Golden Hotel. We’ll go back in time to discuss the hotter-than hot vacation destination in the 50s, why it was known as the Borscht Belt, and its depiction in Dirty Dancing. 

Jane Healey welcomes Amy Mason Doan to Historical Happy Hour to discuss her new novel, Lady Sunshine.

New York Times bestselling author Soraya Lane join Jane Healey to discuss her  novel, The Secrets We Left Behind.

New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff joins Jane Healey to discuss her  novel, The Woman with the Blue Star.

New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig joins Jane Healey to discuss her  novel, Band of Sisters.

Jane Healey welcomes MJ Rose to discuss her novel, The Last Tiara,  a provocative and moving story of a young female architect in the 1940s who begins a journey to discovering her mother’s life during the fall of the Romanovs.