Cecelia Holland

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Cecelia Anastasia Holland (born December 31, 1943 in Henderson , Nevada ) is an American writer. She is best known as an author of historical novels .

Life

Holland began to write when she was 12, according to her own admission in the historical genre from the start, "because at 12 you hardly have your own stories to tell". She later took creative writing classes at Connecticut College , where she was taught by William Meredith , who read a novel from Holland and encouraged her to continue writing. Meredith's successor saw it that way and brought Holland into contact with a publisher. The novel The Firedrake, about a Norman mercenary who took part in the conquest of England in 1066 , was published in 1966, when Holland was already looking for a job in a New York bookstore. Instead, she became and has remained a freelance writer ever since.

In contrast to many other authors of historical novels, Holland shows little preference for a particular epoch or a particular national history. An example of the breadth of Holland can be cited:

  • prehistoric Britain ( Pillar of the Sky ),
  • the Egypt of Tutankhamun and parallel the time of the discovery of his tomb by Howard Carter ( Valley of the Kings ),
  • 11th century Norman Sicily ( Great Maria ),
  • the time of the crusades ( Jerusalem ),
  • the time of the Mongol Storm ( Until the Sun Falls ) or
  • 16th century Hungary ( Rakóssy ).

A noticeable preference applies to periods of dramatic upheaval and strong historical figures, especially strong women, for example Eleanor of Aquitaine ( The Secret Eleanor , 2010). The California of the 19th century shows a certain accumulation, because there are four novels here ( The Bear Flag , Railroad Schemes , Lily Nevada , Pacific Street ), as well as the non-fiction books An Ordinary Woman and Finding California . The six novels in the saga about the Viking Corban Loosestrife form another large group .

In addition to her historical novels, Holland also went on excursions into the fields of science fiction and fantasy . Thus Floating Worlds (1976), originally a commonly located in the Mongol Empire historical novel successfully for Space Opera been rebuilt, and Holland's last novel Dragonheart 's (2015) classic high fantasy .

Holland lives in Northern California, has three daughters and regularly teaches creative writing at Pelican Bay State Prison .

bibliography

Corban Loosestrife cycle
  • The Soul Thief (2002)
  • The Witches' Kitchen (2004)
    • English: The prisoners of the sea. Translated by Rolf Tatje. BLT, 2005, ISBN 3-404-92191-7 .
  • The Serpent Dreamer (2005)
  • Varanger (2008)
  • The High City (2009)
  • Kings of the North (2010)
Novels
  • The Firedrake (1966)
  • Rakóssy (1967)
  • The Kings in Winter (1968)
  • Until the Sun Falls (1969)
  • Antichrist (1970)
    • German: ruler from Apulia. Translated by Marie Henriksen. Weltbild, 2006, ISBN 3-89897-459-6 .
  • The Earl (1971)
  • The Death of Attila (1973)
  • Great Maria (1974)
  • Floating Worlds (1976, science fiction)
    • German: Wanderende Welten. Translated by Hans Maeter. Heyne SF&F # 3658, 1979, ISBN 3-453-30573-6 .
  • Two Ravens (1977)
  • Valley of the Kings (1977, also as Elizabeth Eliot Carter)
    • German: In the Valley of the Kings. Translated by Marie Henriksen. Weltbild, 2005, ISBN 3-89897-151-1 .
  • City of God (1979)
    • German: The jailer of God. Translated by Werner Peterich. Hestia, 1995, ISBN 3-89457-056-3 .
  • Home Ground (1981)
  • The Sea Beggars (1982)
  • The Belt of Gold (1984)
  • Pillar of the Sky (1985)
  • The Lords of Vaumartin (1988)
  • The Bear Flag (1990)
  • Pacific Street (1992)
  • Jerusalem (1996)
    • German: Jerusalem. Translated by Marcel Bieger. Bastei-Lübbe-Taschenbuch # 50509, 1996, ISBN 3-404-50509-3 .
  • Railroad Schemes (1997)
  • Lily Nevada (1999)
  • The Angel and the Sword (2000)
    • German: The knight. Translated by Anke Grube. Ullstein # 25008, 2001, ISBN 3-548-25008-4 .
  • The Secret Eleanor: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine (2010)
  • The King's Witch (2011)
  • Dragon Heart (2015, Fantasy)
Short stories
  • Bone Sky (1999)
  • Repulse at Hastings, October 14, 1066 (2001)
  • Dragon's Deep (2009)
  • The King of Norway (2010)
  • Demon Lover (2010)
  • Nora's Song (2013)
  • SUM (2015)
  • The Sword Tyraste (2017)
Youth literature
  • Ghost on the Steppe (1969)
    • German: The second arrow. Translated by Veronika Baumann. Thienemann, 1972, ISBN 3-522-11840-5 .
  • The King's Road (1970)
Non-fiction
  • The Story of Anna and the King (1999)
  • An Ordinary Woman (1999)
  • Blood on the Tracks (2011)
  • Finding California (2011)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "... being 12, I had precious few stories of my own." S. About Cecelia , accessed on March 24, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Holland, Cecelia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Holland, Cecelia Anastasia (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Henderson , Nevada