Books By Lisa Klein

Lisa Klein is the author of 4 historical YA novels. Two of these stories take on girls from fiction (Shakespeare particularly) and the other two are focused on historical events in the United States. (Gettysburg and Roanoke).

Novels

Ophelia
“Shakespeare’s Ophelia as you’ve never seen her before in an inspiring tale of love and loss.

She is young, beautiful, and desperately in love with a man who cannot return her affections without arousing suspicion. And so they meet in secret—embracing in stairwells and castle turrets, murmuring each other’s names in hushed voices, reaching passionately for each other under the cover of darkness. His name is Hamlet; her name is Ophelia. And if you think you know their story, think again. Because when bloody deeds turn the court of Elsinore into a place of treachery and madness, the young lovers will devise a plan for revenge—and for escape. Part of their plan calls for Ophelia to cast herself into dark waters. But instead of drowning, she will flee with nothing more than the clothes on her back…and one very dangerous secret.

What if Ophelia, the tragic young waif of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, didn’t die? Using this tantalizing premise as her leaping off point, Lisa Klein’s gorgeous reimagining of the bard’s great tragedy places the ephemeral Ophelia at its centerpiece. At once revisionist and true to its origins, her story offers readers a spellbinding page-turner with twists so startling it will leave them wanting more long after the final, heart-rending page is reached.”

Lady Macbeth’s Daughter
“Albia has grown up with no knowledge of her father, the powerful thane Macbeth, and her mother, the grief-wracked Grelach. Instead she knows the dark lure of the Wychelm Wood and the moors, where she’s been raised by three strange sisters. The ambitious Macbeth seeks to know his fate,and Albia’s life becomes tangled with that of the man who leaves in his wake nothing but bloodshed. When Albia learns that she has the second sight, she must decide whether to ignore the terrible future she foresees—or to change it.

With only the shepherd Colum to aid her, Albia sets out on a journey fraught with peril. Will she be able to save the man she loves from her murderous father? Can she forgive her parents their wrongs, or must she destroy them?”

Cate of the Lost Colony
“Lady Catherine is one of Queen Elizabeth's favorite court maidens—until her forbidden romance with Sir Walter Ralegh is discovered. In a bitter twist of irony, the jealous queen banishes Cate to Ralegh's colony of Roanoke, in the New World. Ralegh pledges to come for Cate, but as the months stretch out, Cate begins to doubt his promise and his love. Instead it is Manteo, a Croatoan Indian, whom the colonists—and Cate—increasingly turn to. Yet just as Cate's longings for England and Ralegh fade and she discovers a new love in Manteo, Ralegh will finally set sail for the New World.

Seamlessly weaving together fact with fiction, Lisa Klein's newest historical drama is an engrossing tale of adventure and forbidden love—kindled by one of the most famous mysteries in American history: the fate of the settlers at Roanoke, who disappeared without a trace forty years before the Pilgrims would set foot in Plymouth.”

Two Girls of Gettysburg
“When the Civil War breaks out, two cousins, Lizzie and Rosanna, find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict until the war reunites them in the town of Gettysburg.”

You can find reviews of these books at these fine blogs:
Cate of the Lost Colony – By Holly at Bippity Boppity Book
Two Girls of Gettysburg – By Julie at YAthenaeum
Ophelia – By Desilula at Paperback Dolls
Lady Macbeth’s Daughter – By D Swizzle at Opinionated? Me?

You can visit Lisa’s website for more information on her books.





Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Guest Post by Lisa Klein

Today I have the oppotunity to host Lisa Klein here at The Maiden's Court. She has written several wonderful books that I can't wait to get my hands on and if you can't either, stay tuned for an awesome giveaway - thanks to Bloomsbury USA!

Why I Write YA Fiction

Guest Post by Lisa Klein, author of

Cate of the Lost Colony

To tell you the truth, I didn’t start out to write YA fiction. When I wrote Ophelia I thought of it as literary fiction for adults because of connection to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. When an agent agreed to represent me, she said, “What you really have here is young adult fiction—because of the age of Ophelia.” At first I was offended! What? My book is a kid’s book? It’s not good enough for grownups? But I wanted to get published, so I said, “OK, teen fiction it will be.”

Of course, I was an ignorant snob then. I didn’t know anything at all about YA fiction. There wasn’t any when I was growing up; I went right from Beezus and Ramona to Pride and Prejudice. So I began to devour the stuff, from The Chocolate War to Speak to Looking for Alaska. And I realized what a paradise it is these days for teen readers! So now I’m proud to be writing YA fiction. It makes me feel young. It makes my teenage sons popular with the girls. (“Omigod, your mom wrote Ophelia?”) Hey, boys, anything I can do to help you.

I was miserable for most of my high school years, mostly from insecurity, and books were my refuge. Now I am writing the kinds of books I longed to read when I was a teenager, books that would have helped me understand that young women throughout history have had it tough (much tougher than I ever did!) and survived and found love, and grown strong. In Two Girls of Gettysburg, Lizzie and Rosanna watch their friendship and their entire country come apart during the Civil War, but they emerge stronger for having been tested. In Cate of the Lost Colony the orphan Cate loses the favor of the queen, is separated from her love, Sir Walter Ralegh, and sent to wild, dangerous Virginia—the “lost colony” of Roanoke. Just when you think all is truly lost, the future opens up in an unexpected way for her.

So by writing, I revisit my teen years and make the journey again with my readers, offering them adventure, romance, near-tragedy, and in the end, hope.

Finally, I write YA fiction because of the demands it makes on me as a writer. My book has to grab teens away from their smart phones and iPods and friends and say “Read me instead.” I have to measure out my words carefully, wasting none of them, move my plot along without lagging, write vivid dialog that is also historical. I refuse to “write down” to teens. You read my books, you get literary fiction! Written for adults who happen to still be young. We older adults can become lazy readers; teens are smart, complicated, and demanding and deserve the best books I can possibly write.

You can visit Lisa at her website for more information on her books.




Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court