Book Spotlight: The Falconer’s Apprentice by Malve von Hassell

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THE FALCONER'S APPRENTICE is a story of adventure and intrigue set in the intense social and political unrest of the Holy Roman Empire in the thirteenth century.

“That bird should be destroyed!”

Andreas stared at Ethelbert in shock. Blood from an angry-looking gash on the young lord’s cheek dripped onto his embroidered tunic. Andreas clutched the handles of the basket containing the young peregrine. Perhaps this was a dream—

Andreas, an apprentice falconer at Castle Kragenberg, cannot bear the thought of killing the young female falcon and smuggles her out of the castle. Soon he realizes that his own time there has come to an end, and he stows away, with the bird, in the cart of an itinerant trader, Richard of Brugge.

So begins a series of adventures that lead him from an obscure castle in northern Germany to the farthest reaches of Frederick von Hohenstaufen’s Holy Roman Empire, following a path dictated by the wily trader’s mysterious mission. Andreas continues to improve his falconry skills, but he also learns to pay attention to what is happening around him as he travels through areas fraught with political unrest.

Eventually, Richard confides in Andreas, and they conspire to free Enzio, the eldest of the emperor’s illegitimate sons, from imprisonment in Bologna.

  

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Malve von Hassell is a freelance writer, researcher, and translator. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the New School for Social Research. Working as an independent scholar, she published The Struggle for Eden: Community Gardens in New York City (Bergin & Garvey 2002) and Homesteading in New York City 1978-1993: The Divided Heart of Loisaida (Bergin & Garvey 1996). She has also edited her grandfather Ulrich von Hassell's memoirs written in prison in 1944, Der Kreis schließt sich - Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft 1944 (Propylaen Verlag 1994).

She has taught at Queens College, Baruch College, Pace University, and Suffolk County Community College, while continuing her work as a translator and writer.

Malve has published two children’s picture books, Tooth Fairy (Amazon KDP 2012/2020), and Turtle Crossing (Amazon KDP 2023), and her translation and annotation of a German children’s classic by Tamara Ramsay, Rennefarre: Dott’s Wonderful Travels and Adventures (Two Harbors Press, 2012).

The Falconer’s Apprentice (2015/KDP 2024) was her first historical fiction novel for young adults. She has published Alina: A Song for the Telling (BHC Press, 2020), set in Jerusalem in the time of the crusades, and The Amber Crane (Odyssey Books, 2021), set in Germany in 1645 and 1945, as well as a biographical work about a woman coming of age in Nazi Germany, Tapestry of My Mother’s Life: Stories, Fragments, and Silences (Next Chapter Publishing, 2021), also available in German, Bildteppich Eines Lebens: Erzählungen Meiner Mutter, Fragmente Und Schweigen (Next Chapter Publishing, 2022), and is working on a historical fiction trilogy featuring Adela of Blois.

 

Author Links:

Website: https://www.malvevonhassell.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MvonHassell

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/malvevonhassellauthor/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malve-von-hassell-02b61517/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mvonhassell/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/malvevonhassell.bsky.social

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/471746.Malve_von_Hassell

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/malve-von-hassell

Amazon author link: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Malve-von-Hassell/author/B0CTGLDQ7P/

Book Spotlight and Excerpt: A Splendid Defiance by Stella Riley; Audiobook performed by Alex Wyndham

 

For two years England has been in the grip of Civil War.  In Banbury, Oxfordshire, the Cavaliers hold the Castle, the Roundheads want it back and the town is full of zealous Puritans.

Consequently, the gulf between Captain Justin Ambrose and Abigail Radford, the sister of a fanatically religious shopkeeper, ought to be unbridgeable.

The key to both the fate of the Castle and that of Justin and Abigail lies in defiance.  But will it be enough?

A Splendid Defiance is a dramatic and enchanting story of forbidden love, set against the turmoil and anguish of the English Civil War.

 

Buy Link:

 Special Tour Price: Ebook £1.95 / US $1.95 (and equivalent) for the duration of the tour!

Universal Buy Link:  https://books2read.com/u/bPzVNd

 

 Excerpt

News from the North

 Waving Cornet Anderson back into his seat, Sir Willliam said, ‘You’ve been at York with the Prince?’

‘Yes, sir.’  The boy squared his shoulders.  ‘He’ll be marching south again soon.  There – there’s nothing else to do.  York is lost.’

Incredulity and incomprehension registered in varying degrees on the faces before him. Then Lieutenant-Colonel Greene said, ‘Lost?  Irretrievably?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘How?  Didn’t Rupert get there in time?’

‘Oh yes, sir.  He did – and he relieved the city,’ said Cornet Anderson quickly.  ‘He made one of his fast marches round to the north and we got to York while the enemy must have thought us still at Knaresborough. Only …’

‘Yes?’ prompted Sir William.

The boy stared down at his hands.

‘Well, the rebels had us heavily outnumbered but everyone was saying that they wouldn’t attack because of the York garrison.’

‘And did they? Were you taken by surprise?’

‘No – at least, not then.  But the Prince said that we must engage them early next day and my Lord Goring went into York to tell Lord Newcastle to bring his men out to rendezvous with us. Only they were late and the whole morning went by and the Prince was fretting at the delay.’

‘I’ll wager he was,’ said Justin Ambrose grimly.  ‘Cursing all creation, was he?’

‘I don’t know, sir.  He marched us to Long Marston and deployed us for battle before the York men came up.  But by that time there was a storm brewing so His Highness said we could stand down and get something to eat.  It must have been nearly seven o’clock and, after all the delay and everything, it seemed he’d decided not to attack … and it didn’t look as if the enemy would because they’d been manoeuvring as if they expected us to strike south again.’  He paused and his hands suddenly tightened on each other.  ‘And then all hell broke loose.  They attacked and the storm came all at once.  The Prince was riding up and down the lines through the rain like a man possessed.  It wasn’t even his own horse.’  He stopped again and then said wearily, ‘It was horrible. The Prince’s cavalry just broke and scattered.  And Lord Newcastle’s men kept refusing quarter until – until they were all lying there in the mud.’

This time the silence seemed to close around each one of them like a fist.

‘So York could not be held and the North is lost,’ said the Lieutenant-Colonel at last, voicing all their thoughts.  ‘What is Prince Rupert doing?’

‘Rallying the men, sir.  Lord Newcastle,’ added the boy on a perceptible note of contempt, ‘is taking ship for France.’

‘And what of Rupert himself?’ asked Justin.  ‘It’s his first real defeat.  How has he taken it?’

‘It’s hard to say,’ came the slow response.  ‘But they killed his dog, you know … and that must have been near as bad as everything else.’

 

Winner of four gold medals for historical romance and sixteen Book Readers’ Appreciation Medallions, Stella Riley lives in the beautiful medieval town of Sandwich in Kent.

She is fascinated by the English Civil Wars and has written six books set in that period. These, like the 7 book Rockliffe series, the Brandon Brothers trilogy and, most recently The Shadow Earl, are all available in audio, performed by Alex Wyndham.

Stella enjoys travel, reading, theatre, Baroque music and playing the harpsichord.  She also has a fondness for men with long hair - hence her 17th and 18th century heroes.

Author Links:

Website: https://stellarileybooks.co.uk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RileyStella

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stellariley.books

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stellarileybooks/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/riley9631/stella-riley-books/

Book Bub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/stella-riley

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stella-Riley/e/B0034PB7UU/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40487661-a-splendid-defiance

 

Book Spotlight: The Viola Factor by Sheridan Brown

 

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The Viola Factor" takes place at a time when the country faced division and growth after the American Civil War. Viola Knapp Ruffner (1812-1903) struggled with what was just and fair, becoming a little-known confidant for a young black scholar from Virginia. But Viola was much more than a teacher; she was a mother, wife, game-changer, and friend. With her mother's dying wish, a young woman alone, she left her New England roots. This is a story of trauma and love in the South while battling for justice and the rightful education of the enslaved and once enslaved. African American leader Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) called her his friend and model for life.

The Viola Factor is in many ways a journey of life done in baby steps, tentatively stumbling, until a galloping stride is achieved. Viola Knapp wears different shoes on different days. Heavy, mud-trekking boots to allow for aggressive steps, and daintier shoes for more rhythmic and assertive ones. She was a diligent daughter, an outspoken protector, and a progressive teacher.

Like many women in her situation, alone at seventeen, Viola must realize her own principles to fulfill her future goals. With every stride, Viola Knapp Ruffner marches around surprises, over potholes, and dodges folly after folly on her journey to be fulfilled. After ambling in one direction, plodding along in another, and wandering to find herself, a sudden halt pushes her forward until a factor of fate places her in the path of a newly freed slave with a desire to read and penchant to lead. After years of post-traumatic stress and mental uncoupling, she finds herself a woman who followed her mother's dying wish to fight for what is fair and just.

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Sheridan Brown holds advanced degrees in school leadership and is a certified teacher, principal, and educational leader. The arts have always been a central force in her life, since performing in piano recitals, school band, plays, and singing in choirs her whole life.

Ms. Brown was born in Tennessee and raised in small towns of southwest Virginia. She practiced her profession in Virginia, Massachusetts, and Florida. Upon retirement, she began volunteering, painting, writing, researching, and traveling with her husband, attorney John Crawford. She has one son, Tony Hume. She is GiGi to Aiden and Lucy. She has returned to the Blue Ridge to live and explore.

 Author Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ViolaFactor/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/yrtEyjFaC5A

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sheridan-l-brown-17422a5

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theviolafactor/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0B3HMSRBM

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20766921.Sheridan_Brown

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sheridanreels22

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sbrown1919

Book spotlight and Excerpt: Yellow Bird’s Song by Heather Miller

 

Rollin Ridge, a mercurial figure in this tribal tale, makes a fateful decision in 1850, leaving his family behind to escape the gallows after avenging his father and grandfather’s brutal assassinations. With sin and grief packed in his saddlebags, he and his brothers head west in pursuit of California gold, embarking on a journey marked by hardship and revelation. Through letters sent home, Rollin uncovers the unrelenting legacy of his father’s sins, an emotional odyssey that delves deep into his Cherokee history.

The narrative’s frame transports readers to the years 1827-1835, where Rollin’s parents, Cherokee John Ridge and his white wife, Sarah, stumble upon a web of illicit slave running, horse theft, and whiskey dealings across Cherokee territory. Driven by a desire to end these inhumane crimes and defy the powerful pressures of Georgia and President Andrew Jackson, John Ridge takes a bold step by running for the position of Principal Chief, challenging the incumbent, Chief John Ross. The Ridges face a heart-wrenching decision: to stand against discrimination, resist the forces of land greed, and remain on their people’s ancestral land, or to sign a treaty that would uproot an entire nation, along with their family.

Buy Link:

 Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/49a2w8

***

 EXCERPT

Sarah Northrup Ridge, Near New Echota, Cherokee Nation East, 1827

Orchards greeted us in neatly planted rows, dense with peaches and apples, creating a fragrance in the air like home. Servants’ quarters bordered the tree line of flat valley land surrounding Diamond Hill. Joe Vann’s large manor, a two-story brick home with expensive glass windows and large white columns, held verandas on the front and the rear of the house. There were corncribs, smokehouses, and outbuildings for weaving and cooking. Given the abundant number of horses and carriages, many attended. A surge rushed through me, nerves on fire, reminding me of the importance of the event, framed by the fear I’d make a mistake.

Our carriage rolled through Vann land between a row of walnut trees bordering endless green pastures. Black and white cows, silent sentinels, gnawed grass and watched as we passed, undisturbed. As the horses pulled us the last distance, I saw an open door at the side of the house. From it, trails of servants carried trays and crockery from the exterior kitchen to the main house near white linen tablecloths and white-washed ladderback chairs in neat rows. Their movement reminded me of fire ants seeking sweets, and, in a line, returning to their self-constructed dirt abodes. Other servants turned a pig on an open fire, slaughtered for the occasion. The smell of salt and fat from the roasted meat mingled with the aromatic sweet apples hanging on the trees. The bees hummed louder amidst such plenty. 

Most whites were surprised to know slavery existed among the Cherokee. John and I argued over the institution. The Ridges treated their servants like family. However, their will to choose their lives was the identical desire of John’s people, fighting for God-given liberty to govern themselves. While we still lived with his family, I could do little but speak to my husband and pursue change. But I knew a time would come when America and the Cherokee Nation must make the moral choice, no matter the economic difficulty such a choice might bring. 

Once I stepped from the carriage, John held my gloved hand and said, “I’m instituting the wink law.” John’s top hat shaded half of his face, so I couldn’t see his eyes in the bright sunlight. I predicted his expression from his carefree tone. “Are you familiar, Mistress Ridge?” he asked.

“I am not, Mister Ridge. However, I would hate to violate without intention.”

“Ignorance of the law is no excuse. It is in the Constitution.”

“I’m aware.” I grinned.

“One wink means I have ten minutes to end my conversation and take you home.”

“What does a whole blink mean?” I asked. 

I surprised him with my question. “I don’t know. You have something in your eye?”

“A whole blink means I’m proud of you and content to remain by your side, but thank you for saying so. You know I am worried about leaving Rollin and Clarinda with Honey. She can manage one, but if Rollin wails…”

“Amendment duly noted, Mistress Ridge.” He rechecked his watch. “I’ll have you back to our children in hours.” His promise was sincere, just under the surface of his sarcasm.

I pulled him close so I could whisper. “Promise me you won’t leave me alone too often.” For a man so aware of time, he lost hours debating politics.

“Agreed. I hope we get to mingle with the many guests in the time we have. Some have traveled great distances and are new here.”

Major and Mother followed us into the sunlight. A row of white women adorned in a rainbow of pastels held fast to their matching parasols with white-gloved hands and whispered about the heat while their white-breeched, black-booted husbands stood in small circles gesturing about important matters. White pipe smoke hazed around their heads.

Shirtless Cherokee separated themselves by sitting on their heels on the ground. Cherokee women walked through the guests with red and purple baskets in their arms and yellowed gourds slung from leather straps around their necks. Like John’s family, wealthy Cherokee slipped easily between these two groups. As for me, I did not know where I’d fit in this mix of classes and attitudes.

As a veteran English teacher and college professor, Heather has spent nearly thirty years teaching her students the author’s craft. Now, with empty nest time on her hands, she’s writing herself, transcribing lost voices in American’s history.

Author Links:

 Website: https://www.heathermillerauthor.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HMHFR

Facebook: https://facebook.com/HMillerAuthor

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Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B094DLCL8K

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21805281.Heather_Miller

Book Spotlight: The Dartington Bride by Rosemary Griggs. Audiobook narrated by Rosemary Griggs.

 

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1571, and the beautiful, headstrong daughter of a French Count marries the son of the Vice Admiral of the Fleet of the West in Queen Elizabeth’s chapel at Greenwich. It sounds like a marriage made in heaven...

Roberda’s father, the Count of Montgomery, is a prominent Huguenot leader in the French Wars of Religion. When her formidable mother follows him into battle, she takes all her children with her.

After a traumatic childhood in war-torn France, Roberda arrives in England full of hope for her wedding. But her ambitious bridegroom, Gawen, has little interest in taking a wife.

Received with suspicion by the servants at her new home, Dartington Hall in Devon, Roberda works hard to prove herself as mistress of the household and to be a good wife. But there are some who will never accept her as a true daughter of Devon.

After the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Gawen’s father welcomes Roberda’s family to Dartington as refugees. Compassionate Roberda is determined to help other French women left destitute by the wars. But her husband does not approve. Their differences will set them on an extraordinary path...

 

Buy Links:

 Universal Buy Link: https://rosemarygriggs.co.uk/books/2/The%20Dartington%20Bride/

Author and speaker Rosemary Griggs has been researching Devon’s sixteenth-century history for years. She has discovered a cast of fascinating characters and an intriguing network of families whose influence stretched far beyond the West Country and loves telling the stories of the forgotten women of history – the women beyond the royal court; wives, sisters, daughters and mothers who played their part during those tumultuous Tudor years: the Daughters of Devon.

Her novel A Woman of Noble Wit tells the story of Katherine Champernowne, Sir Walter Raleigh’s mother, and features many of the county’s well-loved places.

Rosemary creates and wears sixteenth-century clothing, a passion which complements her love for bringing the past to life through a unique blend of theatre, history and re-enactment. Her appearances and talks for museums and community groups all over the West Country draw on her extensive research into sixteenth-century Devon, Tudor life and Tudor dress, particularly Elizabethan.

Out of costume, Rosemary leads heritage tours of the gardens at Dartington Hall, a fourteenth-century manor house and now a visitor destination and charity supporting learning in arts, ecology and social justice.

Author Links:

Website:https://rosemarygriggs.co.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RAGriggsauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladykatherinesfarthingale

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/griggs6176/

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Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rosemary-Griggs/author/B09GY6ZSYF

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21850977.Rosemary_Griggs

 

Book Spotlight: Find Me in the Stars: a Cévenoles Sagas novel - Book Two of the Huguenot Trilogy by Jules Larimore

 

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“Larimore's ability to engulf a reader into a tale... is brilliantly done.”

5-star Highly Recommended Award of Excellence ~ Historical Fiction Company

Separated by miles, connected by the stars, two healers forge their destinies in a quest for a brighter tomorrow.

Inspired by a true story, this refugee's tale of sacrifice, separation, and abiding love unfolds in the Cévennes Mountains of Languedoc, France, 1697. A sweeping adventure during the time of Louis XIV's oppressive rule and persecutions, this compelling narrative follows the intertwined destinies of two remarkable protagonists, Amelia Auvrey, a mystic holy-woman healer, and Jehan BonDurant, an apothecary from a noble Huguenot family, in a riveting tale of enduring love, faith, and the search for light in the darkest of times.

Amelia and Jehan are fierce champions of tolerance and compassion in their cherished Cévenole homeland, a region plagued by renewed persecution of Huguenots. The escalated danger forces their paths to diverge, each embarking on their own dangerous journey toward survival and freedom. The Knights Hospitaller provide protection and refuge for Amelia and her ailing sage-femme grandmother, even as they come under suspicion of practicing witchcraft. And, to avoid entanglement in a brewing rebellion, Jehan joins a troupe of refugees who flee to the Swiss Cantons seeking sanctuary—a journey that challenges his faith and perseverance. Jehan arrives to find things are not as he expected; the Swiss have their own form of intolerance, and soon immigrants are no longer welcome. The utopian Eden he seeks remains elusive until he learns of a resettlement project in the New World.

During their time apart, Amelia and Jehan rely on a network of booksellers to smuggle secret letters to each other—until the letters mysteriously cease, casting doubt on their future together. Jehan is unclear if Amelia will commit to joining him, or if she will hold fast to her vow of celibacy and remain in the Cévennes. Seemingly ill-fated from the start, their love is tested to its limits as they are forced to navigate a world where uncertainty and fear threaten to eclipse their unwavering bond.

As a stand-alone sequel to the award-winning The Muse of Freedom, a bestseller in Renaissance Fiction, Find Me in the Stars is based on true events in the life of Jean Pierre Bondurant dit Cougoussac--an unforgettable adventure where love and light endure against all odds.

 

Buy Links:

This title will be available on #KindleUnlimited.

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/31B6PM

 

Jules Larimore is the author of emotive, literary-leaning historical fiction with a dose of magic, myth, and romance to bring to life hopeful human stories and inspire positive change. She is a member of France’s Splendid Centuries authors’ collaborative, a board member of the Historical Novel Society of Southern California, and lives primarily in Ojai with time spent around the U.S. and Europe gathering a rich repository of historical research in a continued search for authenticity.

 

Author Links: 

Website: https://juleslarimore.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jules_larimore

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juleslarimore/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juleslarimore/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juleslarimore/

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@juleslarimore

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/juleslarimore/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/70036407

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jules-Larimore/author/B0BBC13BR7

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205843160-find-me-in-the-stars

Book Spotlight: Riddle of the Gods by Eric Schumacher

 

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Publication Date: March 25, 2024

Riddle of the Gods is the riveting fourth novel in the best-selling series chronicling the life and adventures of one of Norway’s most controversial kings, Olaf Tryggvason.

 It is AD 976. Olaf Tryggvason, the renegade prince of Norway, has lost his beloved wife to a tragedy that turns the lords of the land he rules against him. With his family gone and his future uncertain, Olaf leaves his realm and embarks on a decades-long quest to discover his course in life. Though his journey brings him power and wealth, it is not until he encounters the strange man in the streets of Dublin that his path to fame unfolds. And in that moment, he is forced to make a choice as the gods look on – a choice that could, at worst, destroy him and at best, ensure his name lives on forever.

 

Buy Links:

 This book is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.

Universal Buy Link: https://mybook.to/Riddleofthegods

 

Eric Schumacher (1968 – ) is a historical fiction author of multiple best-selling novels set in the Viking Age. From a young age, Schumacher was drawn to books about medieval kings and warlords and was fascinated by their stories and the turbulent times in which they lived. It is a fascination that led to the publication of his first novel, God’s Hammer, in 2005, and many subsequent novels thereafter.

Schumacher now resides in Santa Barbara with his wife and two children and is busy working on his next novel. 

Author Links: 

Website: www.ericschumacher.net

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DarkAgeScribe

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EricSchumacherAuthor

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/eric-schumacher

Amazon Author Page: https://author.to/EricSchumacher

Book Spotlight and Snippet: The Royal Women Who Made England: The Tenth Century in Saxon England by MJ Porter

 

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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.

 

Buy Links:

 Universal Buy Link: 

https://books2read.com/TheRoyalWomenWhoMadeEngland

 Publisher Link:

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Royal-Women-Who-Made-England-Hardback/p/24395

 ***

SNIPPET 

Ælfthryth, the daughter of King Alfred and Lady Ealhswith – The Continental Connection

The union between Ælfthryth and Count Baldwin II is believed to have taken place sometime between Asser’s writing [of Alfred’s life] and the death of Alfred in 899. As Æthelweard’s Chronicon informs, Ælfthryth was married to Count Baldwin II of Flanders (879–918). Count Baldwin II was the son of Alfred’s stepmother, Judith, through her third marriage to Baldwin, Count of Flanders, with whom she eloped in 860, against her father’s wishes. Perhaps this was a love match that had been denied her before. Judith had previously been married to Æthelwulf, King of Wessex, Alfred’s father, and also to Æthelbald, King of Wessex, Alfred’s brother. There is no record of children born to these unions.

Judith was a daughter of Charles the Bald (823–877), who in turn was the son of Louis the Pious (773–840), a son of Charlemagne (c.742–814). Charles the Bald was king of the Franks from 840–877 and emperor from 875–877.

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.

 Author Links: 

Website: www.mjporterauthor.com/ or www.mjporterauthor.blog

Twitter: www.twitter.com/coloursofunison

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MJPorterauthor/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mj-porterauthor/

Instagram: instagram.com/m_j_porter/

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@m_j_porter

Bluesky: mjporterauthor.bsky.social

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/coloursofunison/

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mj-porter

Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/MJ-Porter/e/B006N8K6X4

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7163404.M_J_Porter

TikTok: tiktok.com/@mjporterauthor

LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/MJPorterauthor