love fiction. I live for a good novel. And contemporary novels can be wonderful. But my love for historical fiction began early and has stuck stubbornly with me through adolescence, a college degree in literature, and a career in book publishing.

Every day, from the beginning of human time to the present day, someone somewhere has said, “tell me a story.” And storytellers have met the challenge. We read fiction for stories about people. People we love, people we hate, people we can identify with. The beauty of historical fiction is that we aren’t limited to enjoying just the way we live now, but the way we lived then. Whether the long-dead characters are purely fictional or genuine historical figures, there is always something about their lives that can entertain, provoke, thrill and touch us—just as any good story should.

The first historical novelist I fell in love with was Jean Plaidy, the English godmother of historical fiction, with her tales of long-dead queens and princesses and duchesses in distress. I can clearly remember the corner of the public library in Arlington, Virginia, where her books resided. There was a whole shelf of them, an untold trove of great stories. My mother knew I would have happily spent all day there, so she would give me 10 minutes to pick out the book I wanted, and whichever ones I left behind were always waiting for me next week. Years later, when I studied English history at Cambridge University, my British professors were astonished by my knowledge of English monarchs, royal scandals and dynastic politics. Little did they know that the majority of my instant recall of names and events came from a childhood spent reading historical novels from the public library!

As an editor, I have been lucky enough to return to historical fiction, my favorite of all genres. It’s not the only type of book I work with, but it’s undoubtedly the genre I enjoy most. Over the past few years, I’ve been fortunate enough to find marvelous writers to publish, from brilliant, seasoned veterans of the genre, like Rosalind Miles and Pamela Kaufman, to tremendously talented authors just making their debut, like John Faunce and Debbie Taylor. You’ll meet all of them here. And you’ll hear about Three River’s plans to reissue ten of the novels of that most prolific and enjoyable doyenne of historical fiction, the late Jean Plaidy.

I could use this site to recommend many wonderful books to you, and I will. But most of all, I wanted it to be a place where we can talk about our favorite writers, gossip about the latest novel we’ve enjoyed and share the experience of reading about the past—a past that in the hands of a loving writer, can come vibrantly alive in 2003. I hope you’ll bring your own passion for good books to this site, and share it with all of us.