The Soldier's Return by Laura Libricz Blog Tour with Giveaway!

The Soldier's Return by Laura Libricz

Publication Date: September 15, 2017

eBook & Paperback

Series: Heaven's Pond Trilogy, Book Two

Genre: Historical Fiction

The year is 1626. A senseless war rips through parts of Germany. Ongoing animosity between the Catholics and the Protestants has turned into an excuse to destroy much of the landscape situated between France, Italy and Denmark. But religion only plays a minor role in this lucrative business of war. The young dutchman, Pieter van Diemen, returns to Amsterdam in chains after a period of imprisonment in the Spice Islands. He manages to escape but must leave Amsterdam in a hurry. Soldiers are in demand in Germany and he decides to travel with a regiment until he can desert. His hope of survival is to reach Sichardtshof, the farm in Franconia, Germany; the farm he left ten years ago. His desire to seek refuge with them lies in his fond memories of the maid Katarina and her master, the humanist patrician Herr Tucher. But ten years is a long time and the farm has changed. Franconia is not only torn by war but falling victim to a church-driven witch hunt. The Jesuit priest, Ralf, has his sights set on Sichardtshof as well. Ralf believes that ridding the area of evil will be his saving grace. Can Pieter, Katarina and Herr Tucher unite to fight against a senseless war out of control? ​ The Soldier’s Return is the second book in the Heaven’s Pond Trilogy.

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***EXCERPT***

Katarina

March 1626

Katarina poked at the fire and threw two logs on the embers. Sparks sailed up the flue and the flames revived. Twice last night she’d been to the kitchen to keep this fire burning. Fire was the sustainer of life, the taker as well. She lit a tallow lamp, opened the door to the low-vaulted stable adjoining the kitchen and hung the lamp on a hook rammed into the sandstone. The two cows lowed and her goat yawned. Their water was empty, the troughs too. She crossed the hay-strewn stone stable floor and opened the door leading out to the paddock. Bleating sheep, more than the paddock could accommodate, threatened to break through the wooden fencing.

Strange rumblings groaned and swelled underground, traveling towards the Sichardtshof farm along the Aisch River. Katarina imagined some heavy, tethered beasts grumbling while pulling slow-rolling burdens. She brushed aside the memories of the last visits from the mercenaries like she was clearing sticky cobwebs from the rafters. The past was not to be relived, Herr Tucher told her. Rise above it or it will destroy you, he said.

She took her overcoat down from the peg on the wall, shrugged into it, grabbed a bucket and hurried back through the kitchen and up the few steps to the house’s main entrance. She pulled on one of the double doors. In the winter the wood door swelled and stuck in the frame, squealing on the stone floor as she pulled it open.

She rushed past the half-timbered barn and the adjoining stable that dominated the other outbuildings forming the oval farmyard. A lamp burned somewhere inside. Tanner the Elder was awake, tending the horses. Distinctive sounds rose above the rumblings now: men’s shouts and whistles, the clank of chains from animals’ harnesses. Katarina startled as a flock of waterfowl squawked into flight from the ponds that lined the lowest point of the hollow called the Edelgraben. The water reflected the eerie, pink light of the dawn. The hills that protected the farm on either side of the hollow were shrouded in mist. But the hills never stopped the soldiers from coming before. The men knew the Sichardtshof farm was here and what it had to offer.

It was too early in the year for soldiers to be traveling. The nights were still frozen and dark. Friert’s am 40-Ritter-Tag, so kommen noch 40 Fröste nach. Because there was frost today, March 10, the day of Forty Martyrs, the farmers said forty more days of frost would fall upon the land. But Katarina smelled a slight turn in the air, as if the emerging vegetation let off a scent to attract and entice—a lush, green smell. Buds developed on the low bushes surrounding the square stone well and when the leaves filled in, the bushes made a good hiding place for the children. After such a long, cold, dark winter, these inklings of spring should afford some comfort. But Katarina took more comfort in the fact that in the winter, the soldiers moved into winter quarters and stayed away. This past winter was peaceful and Katarina had almost forgotten the rest of the world, the troubled world beyond the farm.

Katarina’s trembling hand grabbed time and time again for the rope and finally pulled the bucket up out of the well, craning her neck to look over the bushes back to the crooked little workers’ house. Covered in bramble bushes, she could just make out the glow of a fire through the tiny kitchen window. A figure passed by inside. The Tanner family and the other workers must be awake too. Katarina set the full bucket down by a small surplus of buckets next to the well and ran back to the house. Brambles snagged on her trousers as she softly rapped on the door.

“Who is it?” a man’s voice growled.

“It’s me, Tanner, let me in.”

The door to the workers’ house creaked open. Tanner’s large frame filled out the doorway. Behind him, ceramic mugs clinked, water boiled, a baby cried, men spoke in low tones and a woman coughed. Tanner looked over Katarina’s head and sighed, running a hand through his short, dark-blond hair. His cheeks were flushed with the heat of the fire.

“Listen,” Katarina said.

He nodded, understanding. “Wake the master.” 

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About the Author

Laura Libricz was born and raised in Bethlehem PA and moved to Upstate New York when she was 22. After working a few years building Steinberger guitars, she received a scholarship to go to college. She tried to ‘do the right thing’ and study something useful, but spent all her time reading German literature. She earned a BA in German at The College of New Paltz, NY in 1991 and moved to Germany, where she resides today. When she isn’t writing she can be found sifting through city archives, picking through castle ruins or aiding the steady flood of musical instruments into the world market. Her first novel, The Master and the Maid, is the first book of the Heaven's Pond Trilogy. The Soldier’s Return and Ash and Rubble are the second and third books in the series. For more information, please visit Laura Libricz's website and blog. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Goodreads.

Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, January 30 Interview at Passages to the Past Wednesday, January 31 Review at Cup of Sensibility Thursday, February 1 Excerpt at WS Momma Readers Nook Friday, February 2 Guest Post at Reading the Past Monday, February 5 Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views Tuesday, February 6 Feature at A Bookaholic Swede Wednesday, February 7 Review at Locks, Hooks and Books Thursday, February 8 Review at Clarissa Reads It All Friday, February 9 Guest Post at Let Them Read Books Monday, February 12 Review at Back Porchervations Wednesday, February 14 Review at Rachel's Ramblings Thursday, February 15 Review at Historical Fiction with Spirit Friday, February 16 Review at Donna's Book Blog Interview at Dianne Ascroft's Blog

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour we are giving away a set of The Master and the Maid and The Soldier's Return to one lucky winner! To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below. Giveaway Rules – Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on February 16th. You must be 18 or older to enter. – Giveaway is open to US & UK residents only. – Only one entry per household. – All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion. – Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen. The Soldier's Return Blog Tour