Wednesday 20 March 2024

Read an excerpt from The Royal Women Who Made England: The Tenth Century in Saxon England by MJ Porter



The Royal Women Who Made England: The Tenth Century in Saxon England
By MJ Porter


Publication Date: 30th January 2024 
 hardback UK/epub direct from the publisher/4th April 2024 US and kindle edition. Publisher: Pen and Sword. Page Length: 237 Pages. Genre: Historical Non-Fiction

Throughout the tenth century, England, as it would be recognized today, formed. No longer many Saxon kingdoms, but rather, just England. Yet, this development masks much in the century in which the Viking raiders were seemingly driven from England’s shores by Alfred, his children and grandchildren, only to return during the reign of his great, great-grandson, the much-maligned Æthelred II.

Not one but two kings would be murdered, others would die at a young age, and a child would be named king on four occasions. Two kings would never marry, and a third would be forcefully divorced from his wife. Yet, the development towards ‘England’ did not stop. At no point did it truly fracture back into its constituent parts. Who then ensured this stability? To whom did the witan turn when kings died, and children were raised to the kingship?

The royal woman of the House of Wessex came into prominence during the century, perhaps the most well-known being Æthelflæd, daughter of King Alfred. Perhaps the most maligned being Ælfthryth (Elfrida), accused of murdering her stepson to clear the path to the kingdom for her son, Æthelred II, but there were many more women, rich and powerful in their own right, where their names and landholdings can be traced in the scant historical record.

Using contemporary source material, The Royal Women Who Made England can be plucked from the obscurity that has seen their names and deeds lost, even within a generation of their own lives.


Excerpt

Eadgifu, the third wife of King Edward the Elder

Eadgifu lived a long life, unlike many of the kings of Wessex and then England that she would have known throughout her life. It is said that Eadgifu was the daughter of ealdorman, Sigehelm of Kent, who must have died either not long after her birth or even just before it at the devastating Battle of the Holme in 902/3, when Edward fought for his kingship against a coalition of his disgruntled cousin, Æthelwold, and the Danes.

There is much about Eadgifu that is unknown. But what can be envisaged is this – throughout the middle years of the often-overlooked Wessex/English kings. She ‘almost’ embodies, as an individual, the years that are so rarely studied – those from the death of King Alfred in 899 to the beginning of the reign of the much-maligned King Æthelred II, her great-grandson. 
It would seem that Eadgifu may have been more important during the reign of [her youngest son] Eadred, than even during the reign of [her oldest son] Edmund. This is worth considering in more detail. Eadred did not marry, like [his half-brother] Athelstan, and unlike his older brother, Edmund. Was this a purposeful decision? As Athelstan before him, did Eadred intend his nephews to rule after him? If this were the case, then Eadgifu, as both mother of the king and grandmother of future kings, would have been a much-needed steadying force, especially after the unexpected murder of King Edmund in 946.


MJ Porter


MJ Porter is the author of over fifty fiction titles set in Saxon England and the era before the tumultuous events of 1066. Raised in the shadow of a strange little building and told from a young age that it housed the long-dead bones of Saxon kings, it’s little wonder that the study of the era was undertaken at both undergraduate and graduate levels. 

The Royal Women of the Tenth Century is a first non-fiction title. It explores the ‘lost’ women of this period through the surviving contemporary source material. It stemmed from a frustration with how difficult it was to find a single volume dedicated to these ‘lost’ women and hopes to make it much easier for others to understand the prestige, wealth and influence of the women of the royal House of Wessex.

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Tuesday 19 March 2024

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! Stay with the Wagons: A Pioneer Western Adventure by David Fitz-Gerald

 


Stay with the Wagons: A Pioneer Western Adventure
By David Fitz-Gerald


Publication Date: March 15, 2024. Publisher: David Fitz-Gerald. Page Length: 221 Pages. Genre: Western, Historical Fiction.

Venture deep into the uncharted wilderness and crest the continental divide.

Stay with the Wagons is the enthralling third chapter in the Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail series. Dorcas Moon has discarded her mourning dress and yearns for freedom and independence amidst the vast frontier. But a perilous world and a commanding wagon master keep her tethered. Ultimately, it's a brutal bout of fever and ague that confine her to camp.

Relentless disasters and beguiling challenges unfold in this installment. A young man is crushed beneath a wagon wheel. Dorcas' son breaks an arm, a grizzly bear attacks the wagon train, and the looming threat of attacking outlaws whips the emigrants into a worried frenzy. How many must perish before they reach the end of the trail?

As chaos reigns, her troubled daughter, Rose, disappears once again, leading Dorcas on a perilous quest. Tracking Rose to a sacred site, they encounter a blind seer and a legendary leader, Chief Washakie. Rose's enchantment with Native American adornments sparks Dorcas' concern about an unexpected suitor and raises worries about Rose's age.

Stay with the Wagons is bursting with action, adventure, and survival. It is a story of resilience and empowerment on the Oregon Trail.

Claim your copy now and re-immerse yourself in a tale of high-stakes survival, unexpected alliances, and the indomitable spirit of Dorcas Moon.


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David Fitz-Gerald 


David Fitz-Gerald writes westerns and historical fiction. He is the author of twelve books, including the brand-new series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail set in 1850. Dave is a multiple Laramie Award, first place, best in category winner; a Blue Ribbon Chanticleerian; a member of Western Writers of America; and a member of the Historical Novel Society.

Alpine landscapes and flashy horses always catch Dave’s eye and turn his head. He is also an Adirondack 46-er, which means that he has hiked to the summit of the range’s highest peaks. As a mountaineer, he’s happiest at an elevation of over four thousand feet above sea level.

Dave is a lifelong fan of western fiction, landscapes, movies, and music. It should be no surprise that Dave delights in placing memorable characters on treacherous trails, mountain tops, and on the backs of wild horses.

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Monday 18 March 2024

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! Exsilium by Alison Morton



Exsilium
By Alison Morton


Publication Date: February 27th,  2024
Publisher: Pulcheria Press
Page Length: 364 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Exile – Living death to a Roman

AD 395. In a Christian Roman Empire, the penalty for holding true to the traditional gods is execution. 

Maelia Mitela, her dead husband condemned as a pagan traitor, leaving her on the brink of ruin, grieves for her son lost to the Christians and is fearful of committing to another man.

Lucius Apulius, ex-military tribune, faithful to the old gods and fixed on his memories of his wife Julia’s homeland of Noricum, will risk everything to protect his children’s future.

Galla Apulia, loyal to her father and only too aware of not being the desired son, is desperate to escape Rome after the humiliation of betrayal by her feckless husband.

For all of them, the only way to survive is exile.

Excerpt

(Walking home with her aunt Honorina from Lucius Apulius’s house and escorted by Lucius’s cousin, Marcellus Varus, whom Lucius suggests she might like to marry, Maelia Mitela is furious.)

Rome, June 389

‘Are you well?’ Varus batted away a beggar with his arm as we walked down the road from Proculus’s parents’ house. 
‘Yes, thank you,’ I lied. I was furious with Lucius and now embarrassed by Varus’s offer to escort us home. I glanced at him then looked away. Tall and with a good figure, but I’d always thought of him as from my parents’ generation. He must be fifty at the least. Now Lucius had planted the idea of him as a new husband in my head. There was no doubt of his kindness and for somebody in the circles of power here in Rome, he was said to be honest. But as a husband? No. I blinked hard and resolved to forget Lucius’s stupid remark. 
It was only the tenth hour and the sky was still full of glorious June sunshine, warm with a heat haze over the red-tiled roofs below. We crossed in front of Diocletian’s Baths in silence. As we descended from the Quirinal Hill, the warmth and smell of everyday life increased along with shouting, animal noises and clattering of boots and handcart wheels on the street. The Mitelus domus sat on the summit of the Mons Cispius, part of the Esquiline, so it wasn’t too far away. But the climb up the Cispius was steep. The bearers of Honorina’s litter puffed as they navigated the short flight of steps between two curves in the path. A grunt of displeasure came from between the curtains and one was wrenched back. 
‘I swear they become clumsier and weaker every day,’ Honorina said. 
‘Peace, Aunt.’ I smiled. ‘You know very well we’d need to go round the long way across half the Esquiline otherwise.’
‘I suppose I do, but jaunts like this remind me I’m too old to be thrown around in a litter like a sack of cats for drowning.’
I did laugh at that as she loved the cats we kept in the house to keep the rats and mice away. I’d often found her with at least one on her lap as she read. ‘Only for the warmth,’ she’d say in a neutral voice then set about caressing the cat, making it purr loudly. We arrived shortly afterwards at the large door of Domus Mitela set in between the shop selling fine pottery and the other one smelling heavenly with piles of spices in large bowls on its front counter. 
Varus thumped on the door.
‘I will leave you here, Maelia Mitela.’ He bowed to my aunt as the door opened and she stepped down from her litter. 
‘Thank you, Marcellus Varus,’ I replied. I kept my tone formal as I still felt awkward. ‘We’re grateful for your escort. My aunt is tired and I must see her to her bed.’
He bowed to me this time but said nothing and left.
‘Well, at least somebody has manners.’ My aunt leant heavily on my arm as I guided her along the vestibule to the atrium. ‘He’s a widower since his wife expired from the coughing sickness. You could—’
‘Don’t, Aunt!  I had that heavy hint from Lucius. I do not wish to marry again. I have three children, including a son. The law will therefore not compel me.’
‘Well, I only want to help, child. Don’t jump down my throat.’ She studied my face. ‘Aren’t you ever lonely, though?’
I said nothing. How could I explain? I did like Varus, but as a reliable acquaintance, as he had been this afternoon. Luckily, my aunt’s body slave appeared and making cooing noises, took Honorina off in the direction of her sleeping chamber. I sighed with relief. After a day like this, I needed some peace, so I went to sit in the peristyle and enjoy the evening sun. Even if I did wish to marry Varus, I wouldn’t, as it would mean living under the same roof as his nightmarish sister. That was an end to it.


 Alison Morton


Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers featuring tough but compassionate heroines. Her ten-book Roma Nova series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women who face conspiracy, revolution and heartache but use a sharp line in dialogue. The latest, EXSILIUM, plunges us back to the late 4th century, to the very foundation of Roma Nova.

She blends her fascination for Ancient Rome with six years’ military service and a life of reading crime, historical and thriller fiction. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA in history.  

Alison now lives in Poitou in France, the home of Mélisende, the heroine of her two contemporary thrillers, Double Identity and Double Pursuit. 

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Tuesday 12 March 2024

Read an excerpt from A Matter of Time: Henry VIII, the Dying of the Light by Judith Arnopp



A Matter of Time: Henry VIII, the Dying of the Light
By Judith Arnopp


Publication Date: 2nd February 2024. Publisher: Independently Published. Page Length: 302. Genre: Historical Biographical Fiction

With youth now far behind him, King Henry VIII has only produced one infant son and two bastard daughters. More sons are essential to secure the Tudor line and with his third wife, Jane Seymour dead, Henry hunts for a suitable replacement.

After the break from Rome, trouble is brewing with France and Scotland. Thomas Cromwell arranges a diplomatic marriage with the sister of the Duke of Cleves but when it comes to women, Henry is fastidious, and the new bride does not please him. The increasingly unpredictable king sets his sights instead upon Katherine Howard and instructs Cromwell to free him from the match with Cleves.

Failure to rid the king of his unloved wife could cost Cromwell his head.

Henry, now ailing and ageing, is invigorated by his flighty new bride but despite the favours he heaps upon her, he cannot win Katherine’s heart. A little over a year later, broken by her infidelity, she becomes the second of his wives to die on the scaffold, leaving Henry friendless and alone.

But his stout heart will not surrender and leaving his sixth wife, Katheryn Parr, installed as regent over England, Henry embarks on a final war to win back territories lost to the French more than a century before. Hungry for glory, the king is determined that the name Henry VIII will shine brighter and longer than that of his hero, Henry V.

Told from the king’s perspective, A Matter of Time: Henry VIII: the Dying of the Light shines a torch into the heart and mind of England’s most tyrannical king.



Excerpt

June 1541 Henry and Katherine Howard on royal progress

Brandon is not with us this night, having ridden ahead to make preparation for our stay with him at Grimsthorpe, but I am content with Katherine beside me, a few musicians, and her favourite ladies and my closest gentlemen. We grow merry, the youngest members of the party dancing into the early hours. The music rises and falls, the fire crackles, while I sit and eat and watch, with my foot resting on a stool. 

When they form up for the next dance, Katherine is partnered by Culpepper, and they make an elegant pairing. I look on enviously as the steps of the dance take them close together. Their elbows hook, and then they part again, Katherine’s hand reluctantly extended toward him as the dance dictates. Surrounded by the gaiety of the company, yet not part of it, I grow bored, longing for my bed. I’ve admitted to nobody how the journey is taking its toll, on both my health and my spirits. I close my eyes, rest my head on the back of my chair and thank God for the good company. The words of a song I wrote long ago jangle in my mind.

Pastime with good company
I love and shall until I die;


Judith Arnopp


A lifelong history enthusiast and avid reader, Judith holds a BA in English/Creative writing and an MA in Medieval Studies. She lives on the coast of West Wales where she writes both fiction and non-fiction. She is best known for her novels set in the Medieval and Tudor period, focusing on the perspective of historical women but recently she has been writing from the perspective of Henry VIII himself.

Judith is also a founder member of a re-enactment group called The Fyne Companye of Cambria which is when she began to experiment with sewing historical garments. She now makes clothes and accessories both for the group and others. She is not a professionally trained sewer but through trial, error and determination has learned how to make authentic looking, if not strictly historically accurate clothing. Her non-fiction book, How to Dress like a Tudor was published by Pen and Sword in 2023.

Her novels include:
A Song of Sixpence: the story of Elizabeth of York
The Beaufort Chronicle: the life of Lady Margaret Beaufort (three book series)
A Matter of Conscience: Henry VIII, the Aragon Years (Book One of The Henrician Chronicle)
A Matter of Faith: Henry VIII, the Days of the Phoenix (Book Two of The Henrician chronicle)
A Matter of Time: Henry VIII, the Dying of the Light (Book Three, Coming soon)
The Kiss of the Concubine: a story of Anne Boleyn
The Winchester Goose: at the court of Henry VIII
Intractable Heart: the story of Katheryn Parr
Sisters of Arden: on the Pilgrimage of Grace
The Heretic Wind: the life of Mary Tudor, Queen of England
Peaceweaver
The Forest Dwellers
The Song of Heledd

Previously published under the pen name – J M Ruddock.
The Book of Thornhold
A Daughter of Warwick: the story of Anne Neville, Queen of Richard III

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Monday 11 March 2024

Look who is in the SPOTLIGHT!!! Her Own Legacy (Château de Verzat Book 1) by Debra Borchert

 

Her Own Legacy 
(Château de Verzat Book 1)
By Debra Borchert


Publication Date: 1st September 2022
Publisher: Le Vin Press
Page Length: 507 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

A Woman Fights for Her Legacy as the French Revolution Erupts.

Headstrong Countess Joliette de Verzat prefers secretly managing her family’s Loire Valley château and vineyards to the cut-throat politics of Versailles. For nearly three centuries, generations of families have toiled to produce Château de Verzat wines, and their homes and livelihoods depend upon Joliette. But ancient laws block her from inheriting property—unless she is widowed.

Revolution erupts. Thousands of women march on Versailles. Caught in the battle, Joliette risks her own life to save her lover’s. She flees to Paris, blazing with hatred for aristocrats, where she discovers her illegitimate half-brother, Henri—the secret rightful heir who disdains the nobility to which he unknowingly belongs.

As insurrection mounts, Joliette faces heartbreaking choices. She must risk all that she loves and trust the people she has saved to save her.




Her Own Revolution
Château de Verzat Series, Book 2
By Debra Borchert


Publication Date: 14th July 2023
Publisher: Le Vin Press
Page Length: 364 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

A Woman Forges a Treacherous Path to Save Hundreds from the Guillotine.

If Geneviève Fouquier-Tinville had the same rights as a man, she wouldn’t have to dress like one, which she does to attend University—forbidden to women. By swearing her commitment to the revolution, she succeeds in convincing her father, the Public Prosecutor who condemns thousands to the guillotine, to hire her as a court clerk. But she intends to earn passage to join her lover, Henri, in America.

Tasked with copying lists of names scheduled for execution, she reads Louis LaGarde, a fallen noble whom she despises for having exposed her as a woman when they both attended University. Believing him innocent, she replaces his name with one already dead, saving his life. But she realizes that unless she forges a treacherous path, hundreds more will perish at her father’s hands.

When a Revolutionary hunts her down, she must accept LaGarde’s help, yet she denies her attraction to him out of loyalty to Henri. She fights for her life and the lives of those she’s come to love, but she must face the truth of her own heart.





Excerpt

Her Own Legacy, Nantes, August 21, 1792

Joliette must board a ship during a storm

The officer clambered up the ropes to the ship’s deck fast as a monkey. A few lights from the vessel blinked and shimmered against the choppy water. The sky was indiscernible from the water. Darkness, as deep as that of the tunnels, fell.
Henri whispered to Étienne and turned to me. “You must climb the ropes. I will be above you, and Étienne will be below you.” 
Everything stopped—my breath, my heart, my thoughts. The wind stirred a cacophony of waves crashing against the hulls. Cold spray drenched me. I stared at Henri’s eyes, dark and pinched. 
“Climb…to the ship?”
He tied a rope around my waist and the other end around his own. He put out his hand. “Hurry. Before the storm worsens.” My mouth would not open. Henri’s fingers wrapped around my wrist. He stepped onto the rope ladder.
Étienne held out the bottom rung. My feet were part of the deck, as if rooted to it. Étienne took my other hand and coaxed, “Do not look down. Only up, at Henri.”
The makeshift ladder swayed above. Waves leaped through its rungs. Henri’s foot slipped, but he caught himself. “The first step’s the most difficult, but you’re braver than I am.” He gently tugged me. 
Like Papa. They both knew I could not resist a challenge. I pressed my feet to the deck, lifted my foot, then grasped the side rope. A wave crashed, and the deck dropped from below me, leaving my foot pawing the air. I screamed but did not hear it. I clung to the side rope. Étienne’s hand pressed my foot onto the rung. I panted for breath and pressed my forehead against the ship. Cold, black waves jumped and swallowed my foot.
“Keep looking up!” Étienne shouted.
My legs vibrated so I pressed all my weight into my foot as soon as it found a rung. A sliver of pale light spilled over the ship’s deck. I wanted to fly to it. 
The wind skirled, twisting the rope and me around so I faced out over the harbor. Like a giant hand it pushed me away from the ship, then slammed me back against its hull. My breath burst from me. I lost my grip. Henri held me tighter, and another hand grasped my flailing arm. My legs pedaled. Hands gripped my arms and hauled me up over the rail and onto the deck, landing me like a fish. I lay on my stomach, gasping as the world spun and rain thundered. 
Henri draped a woolen blanket over me. He crouched down, helped me to sit up, and rubbed my back.
As if by magic, a pair of tall, shiny black boots appeared before us. The man’s uniform was spotless, all white, trimmed in red and blue, with brass epaulettes broadening his shoulders—le Capitaine. He looked down. Water streamed off his tricorne and puddled onto the blanket.
“You wish passage?” His voice was rough as the wind.
Henri stood. “Yes, Monsieur, le Capitaine.”
The man chuckled. “With a woman?”
Feeling like I still clung to the rope, I pushed myself up with the words searing my mouth. “I arranged for the wine shipment—” 
Henri gripped my arm and pulled me back. 
Le Capitaine let out a grunt, turned, and walked away. “We sail when the tide turns.” 


Debra Borchert

Debra’s the author of the Château de Verzat series that follows headstrong and independent women and the four-hundred loyal families who protect a Loire Valley château and vineyard, and its legacy of producing the finest wines in France during the French Revolution. Her Own Legacy published 2022, Her Own Revolution published 2023, and Her Own War will be published in 2024. A passionate cook, she also wrote a companion cookbook to the series: Soups of Château de Verzat, A Culinary Tribute to the French Revolution, 2023. 

A graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, she weaves her knowledge of textiles and clothing design throughout her historical fiction. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family and standard poodle, named after a fine French Champagne.

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Read an excerpt from A Splendid Defiance by Stella Riley

  A Splendid Defiance By Stella Riley  Audiobook performed by Alex Wyndham Publication Date: 6th December 2012.  Publisher:  Stella Riley. P...