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Eva Stachniak

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The School of Mirrors in the media:

Posted by on Jan 8, 2022

National Bestseller

The Globe and Mail Bestseller list for the week of March 5, 2022

Interviews:

Words with Writers Podcast

After a longer than expected winter break, hosts Chris Gorman and Brandi Tanner are finally back with a brand new episode featuring award-winning and bestselling author Eva Stachniak. Author of the newly released historical fiction novel The School of Mirrors, Eva discusses her new book, the craft of writing historical fiction, the connections between her work and ongoing events of today’s world, and so much more.

History Author Show Video Interview

In conversation with Dean Karayanis.

The interview is available as a video on YouTube, and for streaming audio at HistoryAuthor.com, iTunes, our iHeartRadio channel, etc. You can also simply say, “Alexa, play the latest episode of the History Author Show,” and she’ll play it on the iHeart app.

Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb

Behind the book talk about inspiration, sources, and the 18th century women.

Kris Waldherr Art and Words in conversation with Eva Stachniak

Eva’s prose is simply stunning: lyrical, intimate, and insightful. I was privileged to read an advance copy of THE SCHOOL OF MIRRORS and found myself completely immersed in Eva’s sweeping recreation of 18th-century France in all its glories and terrors. By the time I turned the last page, I’d felt as though I’d journeyed through that tumultuous era firsthand.

Writer’s Digest. Eva Stachniak on Filling the Blanks

…Eva discusses where her research led and where her imagination took over in her new historical fiction novel, The School of Mirrors, what she hopes readers get out of the experience, and more!

BookTrib

From Russia’s Winter Palace to France’s Versailles–a conversation with Nancy Bilyeau

Bookbub

 Melissa Flandreau writes: about The School of Mirrors

This beautifully written story takes place in the 18th-century court of King Louis XV. At Deer Park, on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, young girls arrive believing they’re being offered employment in the household of a count. Instead, they’re trained as courtesans for the king, and Veronique quickly becomes a favorite. But when she becomes pregnant, she’s quickly taken away to give birth, and then separated from her daughter, Marie-Louise. Full of vivid details, The School of Mirrors is a riveting read.

More on BookBub

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Empress of the Night: questions for Book Clubs

Posted by on Nov 17, 2014

Empress of the Night is my second novel of Catherine the Great. The first one, The Winter Palace told Catherine’s story from the point of view of a place spy. Empress of the Night, written in close third person (which means that the reader sees the world through the eyes of the novel’s principal character) lets the Empress of Russia herself tell her own story.

Here are some questions to stimulate a discussion on the novel:

Does a woman ruler face different challenges than a man? What are they?

Is a woman ruler judged more harshly than a man?

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Writing Historical Novels

Posted by on Jan 15, 2013

 

As soon as I knew that I wanted to write a novel about Catherine the Great, I gave myself three months to do extensive research on the historical Catherine and the period in which she lived. I started with Catherine’s biographies, both recent and older ones, downloading 18th and 19th century books into my e-reader, taking advantage of the fact that old rare books are being extensively digitized and made available through major library portals. I read scholarly articles on various aspects of Catherine’s reign, her political conquests, her art collection, her gardening. I also read her own writing: memoirs and numerous letters which have preserved her voice from different stages of her life.

 

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Writing The Winter Palace: Inspiration

Writing The Winter Palace: Inspiration

Posted by on Sep 30, 2011

I am often asked about the inspiration for  “The Winter Palace.”

I am Canadian, but I am also Polish and in the Polish consciousness, Catherine the Great has always held a prominent place. This powerful and enigmatic woman whose love life intrigues and shocks generation after generation has crushed Poland and changed the course of her history.

I was drawn to Catherine for some time. Like me, she is an immigrant who had to re-invent herself, a German princess who came to Russia when she was fourteen. She is a powerful woman who survived and triumphed in a misogynous world and her presence towered over the eighteenth century Europe, the time I find irresistible.

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