To Be A Queen
By Annie Whitehead
One family, two kingdoms, one common enemy ...
This is the true story of Aethelflaed, the ‘Lady of the Mercians’, daughter of Alfred the Great. She was the only female leader of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom.
Born into the royal house of Wessex at the height of the Viking wars, she is sent to her aunt in Mercia as a foster-child, only to return home when the Vikings overrun Mercia. In Wessex, she witnesses another Viking attack and this compounds her fear of the enemy.
She falls in love with a Mercian lord but is heartbroken to be given as bride to the ruler of Mercia to seal the alliance between the two Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
She must learn to subjugate her feelings for her first love, overcome her indifference to her husband and win the hearts of the Mercians who despise her as a foreigner and twice make an attempt on her life.
When her husband falls ill and is incapacitated, she has to learn to rule and lead an army in his stead. Eventually she must fight to save her adopted Mercia from the Vikings and, ultimately, her own brother.
To Be A Queen was Long-listed for HNSIndie Book of the Year
2016 and has been awarded an indie BRAG Gold Medallion.
Excerpt
She sat up, pulled on
her boots and left the tent. Wulfnoth had disappeared. She was not concerned;
he would not have left her unless he knew it was safe to do so. With a growing
sense of hope, she walked through a camp which was now near deserted. Dear God,
they must have breached the walls, or the gates, or both. Coming to the edge of
the encampment she saw the gates of the town hanging open, one almost off its
great hinges. Beyond the open gateway, the Danes, surrendered and surrounded,
had been herded together.
A Mercian banner
fluttered from the watchtower. A thegn on the tower pointed his sword at her
and began a victory chant. It was taken up by those below, who all joined in,
shouting their triumph in the name of their lady. But Æthelflæd was looking at
Frith, who walked towards her with his sword still in his hand, hanging low,
dragging. He had blood on his face and his long hair was matted. He had his
mail coat on and she gave thanks for his innate tendency to be sensible at such
times. But he walked like a wounded man, though she could see that he was
whole.
He bowed on one knee
before her. “Lady, Derby is yours.”
She put a hand on his
shoulder. “Tell me. Who do we mourn?”
His blond brows came
together to form a single line above his eyes. Beneath those blue-grey eyes,
dark shadows of exhaustion robbed him of his beauty. Careworn, fatigued, speaking
carefully through a cut lip, he could give her no more than a list of names.
"Helmstan, Ælfric,
Eadwine, Wulfwine.” The rest of her personal guard. “Eadric.”
She opened her mouth but
stood, gaping. What did she think to say? No? You are wrong? I misheard
you? Of course he was not wrong; he would not break his own heart with
lies. He struggled to his feet and she squeezed his arm. Nodding towards
the inner courtyard she said, “Do what needs to be done here. I will speak to
Elfwen.”
Annie Whitehead
Annie is an author and historian, a member of the Royal Historical Society and of the Historical Writers’ Association. Her first novel, To Be A Queen, chronicles the life of Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, who ruled a country in all but name, and her second, Alvar the Kingmaker, tells the story of Earl Alvar, who served King Edgar and his son Æthelred the Unready who were both embroiled in murderous scandals. Her third novel, Cometh the Hour, charts the life of King Penda. She was a contributor to the anthology 1066 Turned Upside Down. She is the recipient of various awards for her novels and has also won awards for her nonfiction essays. She won the inaugural HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition and her first full-length nonfiction book, Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom was published by Amberley Books in Sep 2018.
I'm still itching to read this book, Annie. It looks wonderful - so I'm pretty sure it IS wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThank you Millie!!
DeleteYour book sounds amazing, Annie!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary Anne - and thanks for putting it in the spotlight today!
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