History brims with silenced stories. Will Mira’s be one of them? Mira’s Way, Book 2 of The Miramonde Series, continues the mesmerizing tale of a Renaissance-era female artist and the modern-day art scholar who risks everything to learn her secret.1504: Young artist Mira wants nothing more than a peaceful life by the sea, painting portraits of wealthy merchants. But when she and her new husband … merchants. But when she and her new husband try to help a friend, they are catapulted into a series of dangerous adventures that leave them scrambling to survive.
2015: Art scholar Zari races through France, working feverishly to connect Mira with a series of masterful unsigned portraits. Meanwhile, an academic rival peddles his theory that the works were made by a famous male artist. Will Mira be lost to history forever?
If you enjoy history, adventure, and intrigue, you’ll love this captivating story!
Praise for Mira’s Way:
”Mira’s Way takes you on a breathless journey through Spain and France, in the company of two determined women, separated by five centuries. A brilliant read.”
–Deborah Swift, author of The Lady’s Slipper
”Mira’s Way, though one of a series, is a stand-alone story that grips from start to finish. Amy Maroney has a gift of making the past come to life in a way that is relatable and engaging. Her characters are convincing, her stories are about the art world and painting, and she paints her own portrait with delicate words and visual imagery.”
–Historical Novel Society
“Maroney has presented her readers with a book that is not only meticulously researched and exquisitely hewn, but also one that is compulsively readable and next to impossible to put down. A true gem.”
–Myths, Legends, Books, and Coffee Pots historical fiction blog
“A gripping historical novel populated with mesmerizing characters. A FINALIST and highly recommended.” –The 2018 Wishing Shelf Book Awards
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This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: Mira’s Way
Author: Amy Maroney
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 19
Stats
Editing: 9/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Content: 10/10
Cover: 8/10
Of the 19 readers:
18 would read another book by this author.
15 thought the cover was good or excellent.
17 felt it was easy to follow.
18 would recommend this story to another reader to try.
10 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
8 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
15 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
17 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
‘I enjoyed The Girl from Oto and this is just as good. The strong female characters help power this story along. The author has a wonderful writing style, and is very capable at switching from century to century.’ Female reader, aged 42
‘This author brings the past to life wonderfully. The best character for me was Mira. She’s strong and has a sort of ‘never give up’ feel to her. The pacing is a little up and down in parts, but the author works hard to help the reader to visualise the setting. I would also recommend readers read the Girl from Oto first. All in all, this is a well-written, thoroughly gripping historical novel.’ Female reader, aged 39
‘I read this over three days and very much enjoyed it. Such a lovely story and such wonderfully interesting characters.’ Male reader, aged 70
‘The author’s ability to describe setting is her strongest writing skill. Yes, she can plot a story and, yes, she can offer the reader well-developed/developing characters, but the descriptive work in the 1500s was excellent.’ Male reader, aged 51
‘A gripping story. I loved that the two central characters were so strong and facing – and overcoming – problems 500 years apart. Cleverly plotted story.’ Male reader, aged 55
To Sum It Up:
‘A gripping historical novel populated with mesmerizing characters. A FINALIST and highly recommended.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
There’s a beautifully haunting quality about Amy Maroney’s characters and landscapes that absolutely captivates me and delivers a stunning immersive reading experience. Mira’s Way is a brilliantly crafted dual timeline historical mystery that creates each world in glorious vibrant detail, and then pulls back to an elusive, evocative chase through time. When in Mira’s world, we live and breathe the life of a 15th century woman artist, and the clarity and simplicity of her environment is seen through the eye of an artist. When we meet Zara, the modern art historian on her trail, life becomes more complicated, ambition and betrayals create barriers, and even love has no easy path. I found the two women equally compelling, and Ms Maroney’s beautiful interweaving of their stories is perfectly timed; never too long or too brief in one or the other. Such is the balance that I found myself talking to Zara when in Mira’s world, urging her to look in the places that Mira was taking me. A cast of secondary characters builds a satisfyingly complete world in both stories, and the writer balances pace and detail perfectly. Mira’s Way is the second in the Miramonte Series; it’s not required to read the first novel (although you’ll want to – The Girl from Oto is outstanding) but you’ll definitely want to read the third. Highly Recommend!
For history fans, travellers, foodies and nature lovers everywhere.
This was my second, much anticipated foray into the magical Miramonde Series and it was every bit as wonderful as my first. Reading Book Two in a series is a very welcome experience because you’re meeting up again with old friends. The enigmatic young artist, Mira de Oto, is once again centre stage in the early sixteenth century while art historian, Zari Durrell, is still determined to shine a light on the elusive Mira’s work in the twenty-first century. As Zari puts it quite wistfully: “Mira was as real to her as (her boyfriend) Wil. She had formed a deep attachment to someone who’d been dead for centuries.”
Here is where the reader is in the privileged position of being able to follow the stories of both women. In the novel, Mira is unaware of Zari, and Mira is always tantalizingly just out of reach of the young American. I particularly like how Amy Maroney handles the issue of how difficult it is to be accepted as a woman in both worlds. As she laments to a colleague in the art world: “There’s the fact that I’m American, and female.”
Once again, we are treated to some delicious comments on how some Americans feel in Europe: sadly believing there is a need to moderate behaviour or dress. The odious Oxford academic, Dotie Butterfield-Swinton makes a welcome return, up to his old tricks.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, and thank goodness there’s a third book in the series!
Magical.