Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem

In 1808 Ghent, eighteen-year-old Constance runs away from an arranged marriage to a much older man and by stealing his clothes, sneaking out of the house disguised as a man, and joining Napoleon's army.

Ironhead, Or, Once a Young Lady

Pat van Beirs

Marguerite's father is desperate for a son. Instead he's stuck with a feisty, stubborn, red-headed daughter who refuses to behave like a lady...This exciting medieval romance-adventure story is based on historical fact about a 14-year-old heiress to Flanders called Marguerite Van Male.

With a Sword in My Hand

As the murmur of prayers fills the icy room, mother and baby seem doomed. When the newborn finally struggles into the world, the Count of Flanders flees in a rage. The child is not the expected male heir — but a girl. Growing up under the disapproving eye of her heartless father, the strong-willed Marguerite instinctively learns to survive in the fierce and violent male world of the Middle Ages, with its pagan rituals and bloody fights to the death. When her father demands that she wed a man she detests, the young countess uses all her cunning to stop the marriage. The only thing she cannot conquer is the plague, which marches across the land killing thousands, including the man she loves. Based on a real character, this colorful story is told with sharp humor and is filled with dramatic intensity. The final scene in the book, in which Marguerite and her father engage in a savage sword fight, will remain engrained in readers’ memories.

A Sword in Her Hand

Eighteen-year-old Constance is not interested in marriage or in being a "young lady." But for a young woman coming of age in the early 1800s, that's just about all that's available to her. When her parents arrange her a marriage with a man more than twice her age, she's powerless to resist. Stance couldn't possibly find her newfound husband less appealing, but what can she do? Here's what: Four months into the marriage, she can slip out of their bed in the middle of the night, and she can put on his clothes. She can look in the mirror and like what she sees. She can sneak out of the house before dawn and visit the baker's scrawny son, who has just been drafted into the army, and offer to take his place. Vive l'Empereur! Hot on Stance's tail all the while is her younger brother Pieter, determined to bring Stance back home to Ghent where she belongs. (The battlefield is no place for a young lady, after all.) Ironhead, or, Once A Young Lady is the riotous and powerful story of a fierce renegade, and the silly men who try to bring her down.

Ironhead, or, Once a Young Lady

Historische jeugdroman over een meisje in het leger van Napoleon, van de co-auteur van de bekroonde historische romans ‘Jonkvrouw’ en ‘Galgenmeid’.

IJzerkop

Agnes de Lestrade

Sarah Devos

Met een nukkige puberzus, een broertje dat zich voorbereidt op het einde van de wereld en een moeder die als directeur van een pralinefabriek constant in het buitenland vertoeft, heeft de 11-jarige Zoë het gevoel dat ze opgroeit in een gezin zonder houvast. Als haar vader zijn job opgeeft om zijn grote droom te volgen en acteur te worden, ziet Zoë haar gezin langzaam uiteen vallen. Haar broer en zus verklaren hun vader gek en haar moeder is razend. Zoë is bang dat ze zullen scheiden, net zoals bij haar beste vriendin. Ze besluit er alles aan te doen om de carrière van haar vader te doen slagen. Al snel heeft hij zijn eerste rol te pakken: die van een saucisse in een reclame voor worstjes. Maar als hij thuis het worstenpak probeert, blokkeert de rits. Nu is het hek helemaal van de dam: de plankenkoorts slaat toe en paps zit met de handen in het haar. Maar ze zal uit haar schulp moeten komen om haar vader, en het gezin, te redden.

Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem

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