My guest today on the Online for Authors podcast is Marj Charlier, author of the book The Candlemaker's Woman. Marj Charlier is the author of eleven novels and three novellas. The Rebel Nun (Blackstone 2021), based on the true story of a nun who led a rebellion in the sixth century, won first place in both fiction and historical fiction from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association awards in 2023. The Candlemaker’s Woman was published by Sunacumen Press in 2024. She has taught memoir and fiction writing workshops at libraries, book festivals and OLLI programs, and has been a board member of several local writers’ guilds, and enjoyed residencies at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony and the Vashon Island Artist Residency. Marj began her writing career at daily and mid-size newspapers before joining the Wall Street Journal as a staff reporter in 1984. After twenty years in journalism, she began a second career in corporate finance before retiring to write novels.

In her book review, Carole O’Neill stated:

“The Candlemaker’s Woman takes place during the period of the barbarian migrations into the late Roman Empire. Not a period I read a lot about. My history lesson kept interfering with the memoir of a young girl sold into slavery by her mother for safe passage into Gaul. She promises to find her daughter as soon as they are able to cross the Rhine.

“As Melia waits for her mother’s return, life with her new family consists of near starvation as she learns how to stretch scraps of food to avoid starvation. She even finds ways to live through the brutal sexual assaults during the nightly visits by her new master. Her only relief seems to come in learning how to make candles. She becomes an expert at the craft and uses her knowledge to her advantage when the soldiers come looking for slaves.

“Throughout the book Melia shows the character of a much older woman, learning to become strong while enduring the life of a slave. I found myself rooting for her as she ran through town searching for help in delivering her friend’s baby.

“Marj’s character descriptions are vivid and real. Her research is notable. Putting it down was harder than I thought. Waiting for a sequel might be asking too much.”

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Website: www.marjcharlier.com

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Purchase The Candlemaker's Woman on Amazon:

Paperback: https://amzn.to/4jkXu3s

Ebook: https://amzn.to/3FZ3aSr

Teri M Brown, Author and Podcast Host: https://www.terimbrown.com

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