Most books in the #read99women series so far (80-some and counting!) have been books that are already available, but a few here and there—both the featured recommendations and new books by the series guests who are doing the recommending—aren’t yet out in the world. But we need something to look forward to, don’t we? It’s like a cheerful little preview of what’s to come, on some future Tuesday. (It’s almost always Tuesday.)

And here’s something else to look forward to on an upcoming Tuesday: Hazel Gaynor’s next historical novel, set in China during WW2. It’ll be published as THE BIRD IN THE BAMBOO CAGE in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in August 2020, and as WHEN WE WERE YOUNG & BRAVE in the USA and Canada in October 2020. Wherever you are, the book is available to pre-order now!

Today’s guest Hazel Gaynor is an award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, Irish Times and international bestselling author. Her 2014 debut novel THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME won the 2015 Romantic Novelists’ Association Historical Novel of the Year, A MEMORY OF VIOLETS was a 2015 WHSmith Fresh Talent pick, THE GIRL FROM THE SAVOY was shortlisted for the 2016 Irish Book Awards, and THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER’S DAUGHTER was shortlisted for the 2019 Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown Award.

LAST CHRISTMAS IN PARIS (co-written with Heather Webb) won the 2018 Women’s Fiction Writers Association STAR Award. Their second collaboration, MEET ME IN MONACO, was shortlisted for the 2020 Romantic Novelists’ Association Historical Novel of the Year.

Hazel writes: "I've found it really difficult to read over the past few weeks. I've picked up and put down so many books, nothing quite able to hold my wandering attention before I flick back to the news or bake another cake, so when I finally fell headfirst into a new book, I knew it was going to be one I would think about for a long time. It must be a year since I first heard about Maggie O'Farrell's novel HAMNET (called 'Hamnet & Judith' in the US), a novel inspired by Shakespeare's son, and I've been waiting for its release ever since. Of course, the release date happened to fall smack in the middle of a global pandemic, but my local indie bookshop managed to get my pre-order mailed to me just before everything was locked down. After waiting so long, and having failed to read anything recently, the pressure was on and I was not disappointed!”

“HAMNET is the most beautifully written, brilliantly imagined historical novel, which looks at Shakespeare's life in an entirely new way. Interestingly, the author never mentions him by name. He is never William, or Shakespeare, but a father, son, husband, glovemaker, playwright. He is more often in the wings of the narrative rather than centre stage as HAMNET is the story not just of a beloved young boy, but of his mother, Agnes (who we will all know as Anne), of a twin sister, of a husband and wife, and of the utter devastation and heartbreak that follow Hamnet's death. That I read this novel (which is set during a time of plague), while in the midst of a global pandemic, definitely lent something extra to the narrative. I walked every step with Agnes, sat with her beside the fire, followed her out to the woods, felt her anguish as if it were my own. Often, Maggie O'Farrell's writing is so beautiful that I had to stop and re-read a sentence or a paragraph. This is an amazing historical novel which has been hailed as the best of the author's career, and deservedly so."