How Does Simon Sebag Montefiore Research His Biographies?

"Life and Death are like green and red: you can't be both, but you can be neither. " Will you accept if you were given a chance to live forever? Or would you rather live with the fact that life ends with death? For Simon, there is no other choice than to live until everyone dies. All he wants is to be dead, but how?

The novel is mainly about the forgotten British poet/writer named C. J Richards who lived in Burma/Myanmar in colonial times and he believed himself as a Burmophile. He served as I.C.S (Indian Civil Servant) and when he retired from I.C.S service, he was a D.C (District Commissioner) and he left for England a year before Burma gained its independence in 1948. He came to Burma in 1920 to work in civil service after passing the hardest I.C.S examination. He wrote several books on Burma and contributed many monthly articles to Guardian Magazine published in Burma from 1953 to 1974 or 1975. Though he wrote several books which had much literary merit to both communities, Britain and Burma (Myanmar), people failed to recognize him. The story has two parts: one part is set in the contemporary Yangon (then called Rangoon) in 2016 context and a young literary enthusiast named “Lin” found out unexpectedly the forgotten writer’s poetry book and there is surely a good deal of time gap that led him into a quest to know more about the author’s life. The setting is quite different comparing to colonial Burma and independence Myanmar (Burma), early twentieth century and 2016 which is a transitional period in Myanmar. The writer’s life is fictionalized in the novel and most of the facts are taken from his personal stories and other reference books. It is a kind of historical novel with a twist and it has comparatively constructed the two different periods in Myanmar history to convince readers, locally and abroad more about history, authorship, humanity, colonialism, and transitional development in Myanmar today.

When the kingdom of Ormond is invaded, eighteen year old Princess Eithne is enslaved by the cynical conqueror, Xander of Frankia. Her innocent eyes are opened to a world of untold cruelty and depravity at the heart of which is her estranged mother, Clara Sylvain Lovell. Mourning the death of her beloved father, King Stephen, Eithne is worried about her older brother, Ephron, who has not been heard from for a while. Xander claims acquaintance with the disgraced royal heir and says he is currently in jail overseas. He swears he will try and secure his release in return for her favours. But is he to be trusted? Eithne sees another side of her sometimes brutal master when they learn that young girls are going missing all over the realm. Does this resonate with him on a far more personal level than he is letting on? And is Xander really the blackguard he seems, or will love tame the tamer?

Meera Rathore has spent her life fighting against the future others chose for her. Forced into an arranged marriage with the heir of a powerful dynasty, she finds herself trapped within the walls of the Singh Palace—a place of wealth, tradition, and unsettling silence. Beyond the palace lies a forbidden forest where, during a monsoon storm, Meera encounters Laila, a mysterious woman whose beauty is rivaled only by the sorrow she carries. Drawn together by an undeniable connection, Meera soon discovers that Laila is tied to the palace's darkest secret. As forgotten histories resurface and long-buried truths emerge, Meera uncovers the stories of women erased from memory and silenced by generations of power. But some names refuse to be forgotten, and some loves refuse to die. *The Palace of Buried Names* is a haunting gothic romance about forbidden love, forgotten women, and the secrets that survive long after death.

She took vows to serve God. He built an empire serving only himself. Sister Seraphine thought she buried her sins the moment she entered the convent. Silence, prayer, and devotion became her shield against a past that would never forgive her. Until Cassian Vale walked into her world-billionaire, sinner, and the very embodiment of temptation. He wanted her innocence. She wanted redemption. But the moment their eyes met, both of them knew-this was no holy ground. In a city where cathedrals hide corruption and holy men are devils in disguise, Seraphine and Cassian are bound by a dangerous truth: sometimes, salvation doesn't come from God... It comes from sin.

Sua Luqi, a renowned 20th-century master herbalist, died on the battlefield with a bullet through her heart fired by the very man she once trusted with her life. Even as blood soaked her clothes, she was still trying to save others. But death was not the end. She awoke in the broken body of Sua Linjin, an abandoned fiancée mocked as ugly and foolish, betrayed, discarded, and thrown into the river like worthless trash. Rescued by fate from the edge of death, she crossed paths with Rai Yuan, a mysterious prince whose beauty could stop hearts and whose secrets could destroy kingdoms. After saving his life with her unmatched medical skills, she becomes his personal physician. Yet the closer she stands beside him, the clearer she sees the truth. Behind that flawless face hides something far more terrifying than a monster. And when she finally uncovers what he truly is… will she run from the darkness, or choose to become part of it?