Four-and-twenty extraordinary women; one chance to save a kingdom.
What would you sacrifice to save your family, your loved ones, yourself?
In September 1486, the reign of King Henry VII of England is again threatened by York loyalists. The only thing standing in the way is a four-hundred-year-old sidhe who just wants to be left alone, and a group of London women with a lot to lose if England is plunged back into war
But, in 1486, women have no power. Only the ability to make difficult choices and sometimes-heartbreaking sacrifices.
Become immersed in the fascinating, perilous lives of these women, as told through the medium of 25 interwoven short stories. A prostitute selling her daughter’s virginity to pay her debts; a nun returning to the world after 30 years; a laundress whose son is murdered; a lady’s maid hiding her Jewish culture; a blind musician running from a forced marriage; and more.
Each story is a piece in the puzzle. Each woman faces her own trials as she plays her small part in the desperate attempt to protect King Henry and his wife, Elizabeth of York.
Because if they fail, England will once again be thrust into civil war between the Yorks and Lancasters. And these four-and-twenty women have already sacrificed too much.
Buy Blackbirds Sing from Booktopia here
Cassie Hamer: 
Hardy Grant announces a new Independent publishing house Ultimo Press which will concentrate on Australian stories. Their ambition is serious, but with a brief to be vibrant and compelling; they want to be distinctive, a little bit different, to disrupt and to have fun.
Named for the Sydney suburb that houses Hardie Grant’s Sydney office, Ultimo references our home – an historic and colourful part of Sydney.
The Italian translates roughly to ‘the latest’, and that will be our ambition: to provide a platform for the latest trends and newest voices. Ultimo Press will release their first books in late 2021.
New Releases: Trent Dalton’s All Our Shimmering Skies, Jane Harper’s The Survivors, Jodie Picoult’s The Book of Two Ways, and Robert Galbraith’s Troubled Blood
Our featured Bookshop this week is Matilda Bookshop in Stirling, South Australia
Lee Kofman‘s writing class: Tension and conflict in your writing.
The Book Podcast 