This week in First Impressions, we bring you Danielle Valentine's Delicate Condition, a thriller exploring a woman's experience of pregnancy that has been compared to the film Rosemary's Baby.

Reviewers also comment on J.H. Gelernter's 19th-century novel The Montevideo Brief, the third book following British spy Thomas Grey, which can be enjoyed as a standalone by readers new to the series.

Our Editor's Choice pick, Loot by Tania James, weaves another historical tale, this one inspired by Tipu's Tiger, a real-life wooden automaton created in India in the late 1700s.

In addition to checking out these recent stories set in past eras, you can test your historical fiction knowledge with our fun quiz on historical novels featuring strong women.

Plus, we have free books for members to request!

With best wishes,

Davina Morgan-Witts

BookBrowse Publisher

Each month, we share books with BookBrowse members to read and review. Here are their opinions on two recently released titles.

"The Montevideo Brief is the well-written, fast-paced third novel in J.H. Gelernter's series featuring British international spy Thomas Grey. Taking place in the first decades of the 19th century, the tale details Grey's adventures as he thwarts Britain's enemies both on land and sea." —Julia E. (Atlanta, GA)

"The Montevideo Brief is not my usual type of novel and I didn't really know what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised. The novel is very engaging and moves rapidly from adventure to adventure. I wondered if joining this series at book #3 would make it difficult to follow characters, but just enough background was provided to make it understandable without bogging down the narrative. Thomas Grey is a very ingenious and compelling hero. I think that anyone who enjoys historical fiction would like this series." —Catherine O. (Altavista, VA)

"Thanks to the author's great use of historical detail, I felt I had a taste of living in the early 1800s." —Ora J. (Anacortes, WA)

"Ms. Valentine tells the story through the voice of Anna Victoria Alcott, who after several rounds of IVF is finally pregnant. This pregnancy takes over her mind as well as her body... The author uses a less-than-pristine medical system, a less-than-truthful husband, friends who may not be who they seem to be, and the supernatural to weave a captivating tale. Add in a healthy dose of feminism and it is a great read!" —Amy E. (Delaware, OH)

"Book clubs will have much to discuss... There are many twists and turns but if you enjoy a book that takes you on a wild ride, this is definitely a book you absolutely must read." —Arlene I. (Johnston, RI)

"I was a big fan of Rosemary's Baby, so when I saw this book being compared to it, I was a bit skeptical. However, it is by turns terrifying and tender, and the emotional journey of pregnancy, 'normal' or not, is so well described that I could remember it vividly. A scary book, yes, but ultimately extremely satisfying." —Sue P. (Albuquerque, NM)

Members! This month's First Impressions and Book Club books are now available to request. Offer closes end of Saturday August 12.

Not yet a member? Free books from our monthly First Impressions and Book Club offers are one of the many benefits of a BookBrowse membership. If you're interested in becoming a member, or renewing a lapsed membership, and do so before end of this Saturday (the 12th), you'll have the opportunity to request the book of your choice from these six titles. As a new or returning member, if you request just one title you have a very good chance of receiving it; if you request two or more titles, you will definitely receive one of them.

One of the most famous and intriguing objects in the collection of London's Victoria and Albert Museum is Tipu's (or Tipoo's) Tiger, an almost life-sized carved wooden sculpture of a tiger attacking a British soldier lying beneath him. Its original owner, Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore in South India, was killed by the British in 1799. The victors plundered the Sultan's palace treasures, and the tiger was shipped to London.

In Loot, her imaginative, beautifully crafted novel, Tania James uses the real-life Tipu's Tiger as a platform from which to launch the reader into a gripping fictional adventure that will ultimately span two continents and fifty years. Although no information exists about the real makers of Tipu's Tiger, the style and mechanics of the piece suggest a collaboration between local Mysorean and French craftsmen. From this factual foundation, James's fictional story takes flight. ...continued

Central to the plot of Loot is the magnificent Tipu's Tiger, the wooden automaton that Abbas, a young Muslim woodcarver, creates in the 1790s in collaboration with the French inventor and clock maker Lucien Du Leze at the request of their ruler, Tipu Sultan.

An automaton is a moving, mechanical device, usually constructed to look like a human or animal figure, which uses a variety of mechanical systems to give the illusion of autonomous movement.

Tipu's Tiger is a carved lifelike figure of a tiger fiercely pinning a British soldier. Its body is a hollowed-out space in which bellows and a pipe organ have been inserted so that when the organ is played, the tiger gives out ferocious growls and the man screams and waves an arm. It must have created quite a stir when it was first introduced to the sultan's palace. ...continued

Historical novels featuring strong female protagonists can give us a glimpse of how women lived in different eras and places, as well as how they were involved in events, developments and issues in ways that may not have been fully recognized at the time.

But how well do you know your historical fiction?

See how many women from historical novels you can identify in our fast and fun quiz.