Please help me give a warm welcome to M. L. Malcoln, author of Heart of Lies.

The Magic of Time and Place
by M.L. Malcolm
Some historical novels focus on relationships that could occur at any time or in any place, while the setting provides an interesting backdrop, like the stage in a theater. In others, the time and place function as integral parts of the story; they can even help drive the plot. Heart of Lies began as a tale of two cities, Budapest and Shanghai. Even before my main characters emerged in my imagination, I knew that their lives would be shaped by the unique culture of those two cities and historical events that unfolded within them.
My mother-in-law was born in Germany. Over the years I collected many riveting anecdotes about how various members of her family had managed to escape the Nazis. One of them made it to Shanghai, a city whose history had fascinated me ever since I visited it as a tourist back in 1988. This incredible family history provided the makings of a great book, but I didn’t really want to write a WWII story, so I looked for a way to explore those experiences in a meaningful way within a different historical context: another time and place.
My husband’s grandfather was born in Budapest in 1901, so that’s where I began my research. I found out that by the turn of the 19th century the Hungarian capital was in the throes of a true renaissance. While the rural population of Hungary lived in conditions unchanged since the middle ages, the citizens of Budapest enjoyed innovations in engineering, technology, architecture and the arts; for example, it had the second underground subway system in Europe.
When World War I ended, with Hungary on the losing side, the country fell into complete economic and social chaos. Soviet Russia capitalized on the mess by helping to set up a communist government led by a Hungarian of Jewish heritage. This regime used extreme violence to counter any resistance to its “reforms,” and the whole disaster ended with a Romanian invasion. The Hungarian war hero Admiral Nicholas Horthy finally seized control, but some of his followers sought vengeance for the “red terror” as well as the empire’s demise, so they began slaughtering communists, Jews (communist or not) and others deemed “intellectuals.” During this “white terror” they killed an estimated 5,000 people.
The events in Hungary after World War I struck me as a tragic precursor to the Holocaust, so I chose that period as the starting point for Heart of Lies. Then I looked for an actual historical event that I could incorporate as the reason for my main character, Leo Hoffman, to have to flee to Shanghai. I came across a Hungarian counterfeiting scandal that had international ramifications; it was the perfect catalyst for Leo’s escape, and the timing enabled me to move the action to Shanghai and write about that amazing place during its “golden age.”
Because of agreements negotiated by several different Western countries, Chinese law did not apply to citizens of these so-called “treaty nations” while they were in Shanghai. From the 1840’s until just before World War II it was the only place in the civilized world where you could enter without a passport or a visa and just set up shop. Opium smugglers mingled easily with bankers and industrialists, while the city’s minimal entry requirements enabled over 20,000 Jews to survive the Holocaust by escaping to Shanghai.
During this phase of my research I discovered the notorious Shanghai gangster, Du Yue-sheng, and he provided a perfect nemesis for my main character, Leo Hoffman. I did change one letter in the spelling of Du’s name, because his nickname was “Big Ears,” which I didn’t find very villainous.
I’d like to think that Heart of Lies is not only historically accurate, it’s also historically driven, and hopefully provides some very entertaining educational bits along the way, taking full advantage of the magic of time and place.
About the Author:  Although born in New York, M.L. Malcolm spent most of her childhood in Florida. Her education gradually brought her back north, as she earned degrees from Emory University and Harvard Law School. However, after practicing law for three years, M.L. determined that “she and the law were not meant for each other,” and she is now a self-described “recovering attorney.”

M.L. has won several awards for her fiction, including special recognition in the prestigious Lorian Hemingway International Short Story Competition, and a silver medal from ForeWord Magazine for Best Historical Fiction Book of the Year 2009. She has also amassed an impressive hat collection (and yes, she does wear them). Her novel, Heart of Lies, was published in June of 2010 by HarperCollins.
Now for the giveaway: 
Nicole Bruce of The Book Report Network has generously offer two copies of Hearts and Lies to giveaway to my readers. 
Here’s how to enter:
For this giveaway, you must either be a follower/subscriber to So Many Precious Books already or become a Follower/subscriber.
1. For one entry, leave a comment and confirm that you are a follower. Please be sure to include your email address (if it isn’t available in your profile), so that I can contact you if you win. If I can’t find your email either in the comments or your profile, you will be disqualified!
2. For two more entries, post about this giveaway on your blog and leave link to your blog post in the comments. You will also get an entry for each person who tells me that they learned about this giveaway from you.
Sorry, the giveaway is open US and Canadian residents only.
The winner’s mailing address: NO P.O. Boxes.
Only one entry per household/IP address.
This giveaway will end on Sunday, July18 11:59 P.M. E.S.T. The winners will be notified by email, so remember to include your email address in the comments, if it isn’t available in your profile! Winners must respond within three days or will be disqualified.

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