historical fiction – Page 22

I’m delighted to welcome Jennifer Ivy Walker and her new book, The Witch of the Brenton Woods, to the blog #HistoricalFiction #HistoricalRomance #FrenchResistance #Brittany #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Jennifer Ivy Walker and her new book, The Witch of the Brenton Woods, to the blog with the historical aspect of The Witch of the Brenton Woods.

Historical Aspect of The Witch of the Brenton Woods

I wanted the hero of my story to be an American paratrooper dropped into Normandy for the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, so I researched many of the different divisions of American servicemen during World War II. I selected the 507^th PIR (Parachute Infantry Regiment), which was part of the 82^nd Airborne Division, whose D-Day objective known as Mission Boston was to secure the Merderet River crossing in Normandy.

As I developed the historical fiction aspects of The Witch of the Breton Woods, I decided to have my fictional character, First Lieutenant Richard Zachford, be forced to make an emergency jump when his plane was shot down by German 88mm flak antiaircraft artillery guns. It was rewarding and challenging to weave together fictious characters who were part of the real 507^th PI and weave them into the Battle of Saint-Malo, the culminating point of my novel.

I did extensive research about the Battle of Saint-Malo, a city in Bretagne (Brittany) that I had visited twice before as a high school French teacher taking my students on trips to France. When I discovered that a major focus of World War II had been The Battle of Brittany, I wove my fictional characters into the historical events which actually took place in the Battle of Saint-Malo, one of the crucial seaports that the Nazis controlled, which was deemed essential for the Allies to recapture.

Saint-Malo was one of the French towns designated as a fortress under Hitler’s Atlantic Wall program, and the Allies intended to capture the town so that its port could be used to land supplies and naval reinforcement. However, the Germans had covered the medieval castle into an underground fortress that was nearly impenetrable. When the Allies did successfully retake Saint-Malo, it had been so heavily damaged that it had been rendered unusable, and the courageous Malouins (the French name for the local inhabitants of Saint-Malo) slowly rebuilt their beloved city.

In writing The Witch of the Breton Woods, I wove together the events leading up to the surrender of the German Colonel Von Aulock (known as the Mad Colonel) on the 17^th of August, 1944 and the surrender of the nearby German garrison of Cézembre on September 2^nd. It was very challenging to entwine the plot development of my novel with the actual events which occurred between the D-Day landing of June 6^th and the surrender of the Germans at Saint-Malo on September 2^nd, 1944. I am very proud to have interwoven compelling historical fiction and thrilling romantic suspense in The Witch of the Breton Woods.

Blurb

Traumatized by horrors witnessed during the Nazi invasion of France, a young woman retreats to the dense Breton woods where she becomes a member of the clandestine French Resistance. When she finds a critically injured American paratrooper whose plane was shot down, she shelters the wounded soldier in her secluded cottage, determined to heal him despite the enormous risk.

Ostracized by villagers who have labeled her a witch, she is betrayed by an informant who reports to the Butcher—the monstrous leader of the local paramilitary organization that collaborates with the Germans. As the enemy closes in, she must elude the Gestapo while helping the Resistance reunite the American with his regiment and join the Allied Forces in the Battle of Brittany.

Can true love triumph against all odds under the oppressive Third Reich?

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Meet the Author

Jennifer Ivy Walker has an MA in French literature and is a former high school teacher and professor of French at a state college in Florida. Her novels encompass a love for French language, literature, history, and culture, incorporating her lifelong study, summers abroad, and many trips to France.

The Witch of the Breton Woods is heart-pounding suspense set during WWII in Nazi-occupied France, where a young woman in the French Resistance shelters and heals a wounded American soldier, hiding him from the Gestapo and the monstrous Butcher who are relentlessly hunting him.

Connect with the Author

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Follow The Witch of the Brenton Woods blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club

I’m delighted to welcome Jennifer M. Lane and her new book, Downriver, to the blog #HistoricalFiction #Revenge #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Jennifer M. Lane and her new book, Downriver from The Poison River Series, to the blog with a guest post.

Guest Post

On the surface, Downriver, the first book in the Poison River series, is an extension of my lifelong interest in coming-of-age tales, where men and women unlock a part of themselves that allows them to move into a new phase of life. Though I believe we can “come of age” at many points, Charlotte and her friends are teenagers at the start of the series, fighting a battle much more formidable than their years.

The story is fictional, but the places are real, and the foundation on which the plot sits is based in the history of Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal country.

The world Charlotte and her brother, Emmett, come from is tainted by the conflict between coal bosses and mine workers. It’s a history of rich versus poor, of immigrants with fewer protections being abused by a coordinated system of oppression.

Mine workers in this region in the nineteenth century were largely Irish immigrants, many of whom fled the potato famine and the corporatization of their food supply. As they fought back in Ireland and England, emigrees formed a group known as the Molly Maguires, coordinating increasingly violent uprisings against farmers who locked them out of land they once farmed and merchants who raised the rates on foods.

The Strike in The Coal Mines. Credit: Public Domain (prior to 1929)

In the United States, as Irish workers settled in anthracite country and took on mine work, they soon found themselves financially shackled to their new employer. Housing was taken from their pay along with fees for the town doctor. Their remaining income was paid in scrips—company coin that could only be spent in the overpriced company store. Their income rarely exceeded their bills. And the more they pushed for better conditions, the more the coal bosses fought back. Eventually, things turned violent.

No paper trail links the 1860s and 1870s violence and murders of coal bosses to a coordinated Molly Maguires group, but once slung, the moniker stuck. As the chasm between the miners and coal bosses widened, Frank Gowen convinced the State of Pennsylvania to allow the coal patch towns to hire their own private police force to combat the Mollies. The Coal and Iron Police was formed, then returned the miner’s fire.

Frank Gowen. Credit: Public Domain (prior to 1929)

This is the world of my fictional Frank Morris, Charlotte and Emmett’s father. The fictional man was a more public figure than the man who inspired him. Frank Morris wrote speeches that sparked an uprising before losing his life to poisoning. The real Jack Kehoe was hanged, accused of working quietly, leading a group of men who used violence and murder to punish coal bosses and intimidate their opposition.

Jack Kehoe. Credit: Public Domain (prior to 1929)

In retaliation, Frank Gowen hired a Philadelphia detective (Allan Pinkerton) to plant a spy within his worker’s ranks. That spy found himself regretfully entangled in violence he was accused of instigating before testifying against the miners in a case that was prosecuted by Gowen himself. The gross miscarriage of justice is considered one of the bleakest eras of the American justice system.

Readers will encounter more of this rich history in subsequent books in the series. Set a mere quarter century after twenty men were sentenced to hang for their role as Molly Maguires, Downriver draws largely on these political and worker tensions as background. The battle Charlotte and her friends wage is against a pollution that poisons the air and the water, sickening people in her hometown of Stoke and poisoning the fish in the Maryland foster village on the Chesapeake Bay.

Eckley Miner’s Village. Credit: CC BY-SA

As she battles her father’s coal boss from afar, Charlotte teams up with suffragists, her high school literary society, and a handsome young man who lost family to the poison, too.

Though the era of the American Revolution is my favorite, writing Downriver has given me a chance to merge the historical settings of my Chesapeake Bay hometown and my partner’s in the Poconos outside Eckley Miner’s Village. Visitors to their museum can enjoy the history and structures such as houses and the coal breaker that was constructed for the 1970s film The Molly Maguires.

Blurb

A sulfur sky poisoned her family and her heart. Now revenge tastes sweeter than justice.

It’s 1900. In a Pennsylvania coal town tainted by corruption and pollution, Charlotte’s world collapses when her parents meet a tragic end. Sent to a foster family in a Maryland fishing village, she’s fueled by grief and embarks on a relentless quest for justice against the ruthless coal boss, Nels Pritchard.

But Charlotte is no ordinary girl. She shares the fiery spirit of her father, whose powerful speeches inspired worker riots. With a burning desire for vengeance, she sets out to uncover the truth behind Pritchard’s crimes, unearthing a shocking connection between the town’s toxic air and the lifeless fish washing up on the shore of her Chesapeake Bay foster town.

To expose the truth, Charlotte builds a network of unexpected allies. There are gutsy suffragists, a literary society of teenage girls willing to print the truth… and Weylan. The captivating young man lost his own family to Pritchard’s poison. He offers support, but Charlotte questions his true motives when he lures her to break the law. Could she be falling into a dangerous trap, leading her to a fate worse than poison?

With her unwavering spirit and determination, Charlotte must forge alliances and navigate a web of treachery before Pritchard seeks his own ruthless revenge.

The newest book by award-winning author Jennifer M. Lane is perfect for fans of Jeannette Walls’ Hang the Moon and the fiery protagonist in The Hunger Games. Join Charlotte in this small town, coming-of-age dystopian historical saga as she finds resilience, courage, and triumph in her search for identity, independence, and her true home.

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This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited

Meet the Author

A Maryland native and Pennsylvanian at heart, Jennifer M. Lane holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Barton College and a master’s in liberal arts with a focus on museum studies from the University of Delaware, where she wrote her thesis on the material culture of roadside memorials.

Jennifer is a member of the Authors Guild and the Historical Novel Society. Her first book, Of Metal and Earth, won the 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Award for First Novel and was a Finalist in the 2018 IAN Book of the Year Awards in the category of Literary / General Fiction. She is also the author of Stick Figures from Rockport, and the six book series, The Collected Stories of Ramsbolt.

Connect with the Author

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Follow the Downriver blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club

A free short prequel short story for The Brunanburh Series

Now we’ve reached the end, it’s time to go back to the beginning

If you’ve not yet had enough of the characters from The Brunanburh Series, then I have good news for you. I wrote a prequel short story from Athelstan’s point of view, and you can download it for free following this link below. You do have to give your email details and sign up for my Boldwood Books newsletters, but they are not at all aggressive with their marketing (I know – I follow myself to make sure) and you will hear from them only about new releases and book related news. And you get a free prequel short story via Bookfunnel. What’s not to love:)

https://BookHip.com/VJKKTJJ

A huge thank you to the Kings of Conflict blog hosts

Being a book reviewer is really hard work. I know because I do it myself. And so, I want to give a huge thank you to the book reviewers and bloggers who have helped launched Kings of Conflict throughout the last week, and to Rachel who organises them. (And also to my personal Street Team who are fabulous and so committed.) Everyone thinks that book reviewing must be great because you get to read books before everyone else, (and they’re free) but that overlooks the time and energy it takes to read and review every book and then make them look fancy on the internet. It can be very hard to juggle deadlines and then sometimes, you just don’t gell with a book/character and so, it’s not all free books and leisurely afternoons reading with a coffee (or beverage of choice). It can feel quite pressured. There is an overwhelming urge to want to help an author do really well with every new release. So, a huge thank you to these wonderful people, many of whom I have come to know really well, and I am so grateful to them. (You can check out the highlights from their reviews below – and you can also find the full reviews by typing their names in your search engine).

books2read.com/KingsOfConflict10th

Not started The Brunanburh Series yet?

Then pick up the free prequel story, and you can read book 1, King of Kings, free with Prime Reading and it’s also in Kindle Unlimited. The first chapter recreates King Athelstan’s coronation ceremony, and then the politics and chaos descends. Enjoy.

Check out The Brunanburh Series page on my blog, and meet the characters.

If you have finished the series, and you’re looking for something similar

Check out the series pages on the blog.

Gods and Kings (Pagan Warrior)

The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles (Son of Mercia)

The Mercian Ninth Century (The Last King – there are less sweary versions too)

The Tenth Century (The Lady of Mercia’s Daughter)

I’m delighted to welcome Constance Briones and her new book, Try Before You Trust, to the blog #HistoricalFiction #BiographicalFiction #LiteraryFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Constance Briones and her new book, Try Before You Trust: To All GentleWomen and Other Maids in Love, to the blog with an excerpt.

Excerpt

A sorrowful expression crossed his face. “When I said I loved you, I meant it. I have loved you like no other woman I’ve known,” he uttered with a hint of resentment that I doubted his love for me.

I believed him, but how he could bury his love for me to procure a more comfortable married life with Rose Clavell was unfathomable.

I let go of his arm and opened the door. “Aye, you loved me, Robert. But not enough to weather the tribulations of love.”

He averted his gaze and hesitated before leaving. It was as if he wanted to say more in self-defense, but it would have fallen on deaf ears. He walked briskly past me and down the stairs. When I heard the central door shut, I slumped to the floor. I could feel angry tears in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Like the women in Heroides, I, too, had fallen victim to my passion and was forsaken by a man I loved too fast and too soon. But unlike them, I would not break.

Blurb

What if Taylor Swift found herself penning songs about love in Elizabethan England when women were required to be chaste, obedient, and silent?

Isabella Whitney, an ambitious and daring eighteen-year-old maidservant turned poet, sets out to do just that. Having risked reputation and virtue by allowing her passions for her employer’s aristocratic nephew to get the better of her, Isabella Whitney enters the fray of the pamphlet wars, a scurrilous debate on the merits of women.

She’s determined to make her mark by becoming the first woman to write a poem defending women in love, highlighting the deceptive practices of the men who woo them. Her journey to publication is fraught with challenges as she navigates through the male-dominated literary world and the harsh realities of life in sixteenth-century London for a single woman.

Loosely based on the life of Elizabethan poet Isabella Whitney, this is a compelling tale of a young woman’s resilience and determination to challenge the status quo and leave her mark in a world that was not ready for her.

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Meet the Author

Constance Briones has a Master’s in Woman’s History, which informs her writing.

She first learned about the subject of her debut historical fiction novel, the sixteenth-century English poet Isabella Whitney, while doing research for her thesis on literacy and women in Tudor England. Isabella Whitney’s gusty personality to defy the conventions of her day, both in her thinking and actions, impressed Constance enough to imagine that she would make a very engaging literary heroine.

As a writer, Constance is interested in highlighting the little-known stories of women in history. She is a contributing writer to Historical Times, an online magazine. When not writing, she lends her time as an educational docent for her town’s historical society.

She contently lives in Connecticut with her husband and Maine coon sibling cats, Thor and Percy.

Connect with the Author

Follow the Try Before You Trust blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club

And it’s goodbye to the Brunanburh Series #histfic #newrelease

Why Brunanburh?

In 2014, I had the ‘amazing’ idea to write a novel about the events that led to the famous battle of Brunanburh in 937 – the greatest battle on British soil that few people have ever heard about (Or certainly hadn’t heard about back then – who knew Uhtred of Bebbanburg would be taking part in it).

My reasons were two-fold. I’d just read Sarah Foot’s monograph on Athelstan, and the UK was in the grip of a vote for Scottish Independence. It made me consider the union of the kingdoms of Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland and the history behind it. But, it also stemmed from my own frustration with the way we’re taught history in the UK. ‘United’ it might say but if you go to school in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland you will be taught the ‘history’ of those kingdoms (and only those kingdoms)- that was when I was a kid, and I think it’s still true – very little ‘joined up’ thinking, and this is something that continues to cause problems today, and not just in the UK, but everywhere. Country-specific agendas fall down when looking at periods before these kingdoms actually existed – and the desire to see the ‘march’ towards unity as simple also misses the naunces.

Map of Britain in the 10th century showing the different kingdoms of England, The Scots, Strathclyde, the Welsh kingdoms and York/Jorvik

In the first book in what became the Brunanburh Series, I wanted to examine these kingdoms – to unpick the seeming ‘inevitability’ of it all – and it massively helped that despite what might come before, and after, and as little as it may seem – we do know a surprising amount about the kings who fought at Brunanburh. What we don’t know (although the Wirral is now almost ‘accepted’ as the correct location) is where Brunanburh took place, and what actually led to it. It was time for me to get writing.

1100th Anniversary of Athelstan becoming king of Mercia

2024 marks the 1100th anniversary of King Athelstan becoming king of Mercia (although his coronation as king of the English took place in 925 – so a year later (read my post about this period here). While he has been often overlooked between the alleged ‘greatness’ of King Alfred (871-899), and the alleged ‘failure’ of King Æthelred II (978-1033/1013-1016), Alfred’s great great grandson, more and more historical investigation is being undertaken on Athelstan, and indeed, his half-brother, Edmund, who is one of the other characters in the series. (It might also have helped that Athelstan features in Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom series). A spotlight is being shone on all Athelstan accomplished, and the move is also encompassing Edmund, (as well as Eadred, and Eadwig – these three often overlooked).

Non-fiction books to read

And this investigation is also looking at events in what would be Scotland, Ireland and Wales, as well as the Norse kings of Jorvik. The approach I’ve taken, is one that historians are examining – Alex Woolf’s From Pictland to Alba and Claire Downham’s Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland (they did it before me – but their books have helped me massively), as well as Max Adams’ Ælfred’s Britain which focused on much more than just Alfred.

My conclusions from writing about this period?

What then can I say after four books considering this period? Quite simply, nothing is as easy to explain or account for as might be hoped. The sources that have survived come with so many explanations about translation (they are not written in English – and indeed we have Old English, Latin, Old Irish, Old Welsh etc) bias, survival, manipulation, and corroboration (one source is often used to corroborate another) that sometimes it feels easier to hold my hands up and say ‘who knows?’

Attempts to draw together a cohesive narrative are constantly thwarted. One historian may argue for one thing, another for another. Every person who studies the period will have their own levels of ‘acceptable’ when looking at the sources. I am always wary of Saints Lives – they were not intended, and can not be, accepted as historical ‘fact’ but they do tell us a lot about reputation – another interesting facet to consider. The Icelandic Sagas must also come with a host of caveats. I also have to rely on translations and therefore remove myself from the original intention of the scribe once more.

The joy of this period is in the nuances that can be exploited – it is also where most people are likely to argue. And indeed, readers may fail to comprehend these nuances – hence the ‘it’s too predicatable’ complaint- I imagine all of ‘my’ kings would have welcomed the preditability of knowing the eventual outcome.

Trying to explain concepts such as ‘this is the first king of the English,’ ‘Hywel’s a king of all the Welsh’ falter because my audience expect these places to be united and under one king – but alas, were rarely that. The other England-specific failure to teach history before ‘1066’ also adds to these problems. The Saxon period is deemed as ‘weird,’ (the names, oh the names). There is so much going on, that even I have fallen down and made mistakes, and only with a sort of ‘doh’ moment made the connection between the name Brunanburh and the element of most interest ‘burh.’ (Thank you Bernard Cornwell for that moment of understanding – I still feel very, very stupid about it – not his fault).

Team Norse, Team England, Team Wales or Team Scots?

To tell a story such as this involves standing on the shoulders of giants. I am indebted to them – and sometimes, a bit narked that they won’t give me any definites either – what I will say is this – I understand a lot more now. I hope others do as well. And whether you’re Team England, Team Norse, Team land of the Scots, or Team what would be Wales, I hope you enjoyed meeting these long-dead men and women and realising that they were just as shifty, ambitious and perhaps, blood-thirsty, as people are today. I really can’t ask for more than that, other than you read the non-fiction for the period as well, and hopefully, enjoy it.

Image showing the 4 covers for the Brunanburh series by MJ Porter

books2read.com/King-of-Kings

books2read.com/kingsofwar

books2read.com/clashofkings

books2read.com/KingsOfConflict10th

Check out the Brunanburh Series page for more information and lots more links to blog posts.

Jorvik/York at the time of the Brunanburh Series, (and before)

Eboracum/Eoforwic/Jorvik

When I first wrote Kings of Conflict, I had very little idea what Jorvik at the time (the 930s/940s) might have looked like. I wrote an entire battle scene and then realised some of my assumptions were very, very wrong (I do this all the time. Don’t feel sorry for me. I should just do the research first instead of giving free rein to my imagination.) I got the fact the settlement was split in two by the River Ouse wrong (and who knew about the Foss). But, most tellingly, what I failed to understand was the true nature of York, from its Roman origins as Eboracum to the age of Jorvik, and most importantly by that I mean its Roman walls and what might, or might not have still been standing at this period.

We don’t (yet) have time machines. We can’t visit York in the 940s, but if there is one thing York is famous for it’s the archaeology, and the Jorvik Viking Centre, which offers a recreation of what those streets on Coppergate might once have looked like, and also much else. And because Jorvik/York has benefitted from so much archaeological work, there are also a series of maps showing York at various times in its lifetime, alas out of print at this time, but which can be accessed via a good library (my thanks to the Great Northern Library at the Hancock museum in Newcastle – if you want to see it then let them know so they can have it ready for you, and make note of their opening hours) or the amalgamation of this work available in An Historical Map of York, available from all good book sellers. And if not, then my favourite ‘go-to’ for recreating this time period, the antiquarian maps by John Speed (which are also much prettier) can also offer some information.

York from the John Speed map opf the West Riding of Yorkshire — York, from John Speed’s West Riding of Yorkshire map (own photo)

This is readily available and amalgamates the information from the actual Atlas.

Roman York

The British Historic Towns Atlas Volume V, York ed. Peter Addyman provides the following information about Eboracum-Roman York.

York’s surviving walls, not far from Micklegate

It might have been occupied under Vettius Bolanus (69-71) but was truly founded under Emperor Vespasian (69-79). However, the ridge of the River Ouse was a routeway from the Neolithic onwards. This was in the territory of the Brigantes although the East Riding of Yorkshire was that of the Parisi. It is possible that Eboracum means ‘the place of the yew trees.’

The stone used in constructing the fortress was Magnesian Limestone from Tadcaster and Millstone Grit from Bramham Park (I love that they know this). To begin with the fortress had a ditch, rampart and timber structures and four gates, with the original towers up to 15 metres high. And here, there is the suggestion that to begin with, crossing the River Ouse (to get to the civilian settlement) was via ferry. The bridge can only be confirmed from the second century onwards. The Foss River was also tidal at this time and the banks sloped sharply. The rampart was widened from 20feet to about 42 feet during a second phase of occupation.

Some ‘old’ bits of Roman York (I think), from the museum in York Minster

The end of Roman York is impossible to pinpoint. Did it cease to exist? Certainly, the last documentary reference was in 314 when York’s bishop, Eborus, attended the Council of Arles, but as with so many of these Roman settlements in Britannia, what happened afterwards is more difficult to determine and we must turn to archaeology and not written records.

I think this is from the exhibition at Micklegate Bar but I could be wrong. It very clearly shows the two ‘halves’ of the walls.

I must admit, all of this information about Roman York makes me somewhat desperate to write a book about it:) (Don’t all groan).

Anglian York – Eoforwic

The creators of this series of maps make the point that this is the most speculative of the series. Put simply, they really don’t know what was happening.

What can be said is that the walls were renovated on the north west side of the fortress with a dry stone wall and cobbled sentry walk while the eastern ramparts were topped with a timble palisade wider than the Roman wall (if I’ve understood that correctly).

Eoforwic first enters the historical record as the place of baptism for Edwin in 627, the king of Northumbria (Deira and Bernicia combined).

‘…the king was baptised at Easter with all his chief men; that Easter was on 12 April. This was done in York, where earlier he had ordered a church to be built of wood.’ ASC E 626 p.25

The archbishopric began from 735, but Eoforwic was not densely settled at this period, although it does seem to have had many, many churches. This includes the Minster, St Michael-Le-Belfrey, Holy Trinity, St Peter the Little, St Martin, St Michael, and many more, all probably founded by 850.

Map of Britain in the tenth century, showing York (map design by Flintlock Covers).

Viking York – Jorvik

It’s record that the first attack Viking attack on York occured on 1st November 866. The Northumbrians counter-attacked in 867 but this left York under Viking control.

‘Here the raiding-army went from East Anglia over the mouth of the Humber to York city in Northumbria;’ ASC A 867 corrected to 866 p.68 (from my preferred edition edited by Michael Swanton).

And here is where my notes become a little muddled between time periods. The British Historic Towns Atlas Volume V informs that the River Ouse at the time would have been tidal, and much wider than it is now and also with much steeper banks .

The late-eighth-century scholar Alcuin describes York as having high walls and lofty towers (he spent time in York). Asser (Alfred’s late-tenth-century biographer – although I’m curious as to how he’d know as I’m sure he was from one of the Welsh kingdoms and York was not under Alfred’s control) suggests that York’s walls were insecure and there is a suggestion that the Vikings restored the walls. Considering what we know about Asser and his ability to be less than honest, we might suspect this statement. Certainly, the remains of the walls were visible but whether they were defensible is unknown.

The walls survive to this day. To paraphrase from the Atlas, from the western corner of the Roman fortress to fifty metres along its south-west front, parallel to the river, the Roman wall is still visible above ground. Beyond this point, its six projecting interval towers and the Roman south/west gateway leading to the bridge over the Ouse have either been demolished to foundation level or been covered by organic-rich debris of post-Conquest date. The fortress’s south corner tower at Freasgate survives to fifteen foot. It is suggested that the south-west section of the civilian settlement might not have been included in the walled defences.

On the northern banks of the River Ouse, there were plots about 5.5m wide occupied by one or more structures (Coppergate/Ousegate/Pavement) with backyards running downslope towards the River Foss. Hungate also had similar plots. There might have been crossings over the rivers below St Mary Castlegate and Hungate. These rectangular structures of post and wattle had entrances front and back, with centrally arranged hearths and roofs made of turf, reeds or straw. Most settlement was below Coppergate, Ousegate, Pavement, Hungate and Walmgate areas.

Recreating Jorvik?

But what does all this mean when trying to recreate the time period? (Some will know that I’ve already ‘visited’ York earlier in the Brunanburh series, and without all this angst). It is frustrating that some aspects are so clearly defined and others aren’t. Where were the people living – especially the high status people? Where were the kings living? In King’s Square/Kuningesgard? And what’s this about the civilian defences never being completed to the south?

My overwhelming impression is that the remains of the actual Roman encampment (to the north of the Ouse) were in better condition than those to the south of the Ouse surrounding the civilian settlement (there are ‘proper’ terms for this – I’m not using them). But, these remains of the Roman wall at the fort seem to have largely been surrounding the religious centre under the control of the Archbishop of York, Wulfstan I. Were they any use to those in control of Jorvik? And what about the rivers? How navigable were they? Could they be easily blocked? How tidal is tidal? Did it raise and lower the water level by metres or centimetres?

Was there even a bridge over the River Ouse or did they need to use a boat to get across? Perhaps there was only one bridge over the Ouse, and only one over the River Foss.

Having this information to hand and making sense of it are two very different things. How would someone have gone about attacking York? Would they have taken ships, come on foot or tried to steal their way inside through the never completed walls? Who would have protected it? What would our erstwhile holy man, Archbishop Wulfstan have done? If the walls were standing, how many warriors would have needed to protect it?

You’ll have to read Conflict of Kings to see just what I did, and you can from 6th August 2024:)

books2read.com/KingsOfConflict10th

Check out the Brunanburh series page for more information.

Posts

On this day in history, the battle of Maserfield between Northumbria and Mercia, 5th August 641 or 642

On this day in history was fought the second of three famous battles between Penda of Mercia and the Northumbrians kings. This battle was different in two ways to Hædfeld and Winwæd; it took place in the summer, and it occured in Mercia. (Hædfeld was an October battle near the River Don. Winwæd was a November battle fought somewhere in the north of modern-day England, it’s believed).

Warrior helms during the early Saxon era (seventh century)

Thanks to some spectacular archaeological finds, we can visualise how a Saxon warrior king might have looked. The reconstructions of the Sutton Hoo helm, and that found with the Staffordshire Horde (as well as a few others), present us with elaborate helmets crested with dyed-horse (or boar) hair in a way very reminiscent of the Roman era. They glitter, and they seem to be festooned in gold and silver work, but whether these were actually worn in battle or not is debatable.

Firstly, they would have made the kings or noblemen very noticeable to their enemy. Secondly, they were so valuable it’s impossible to consider the loss of one of them should they fall and their goods be taken by their enemy. Bad enough for their king and leader to die in battle, but to also lose such precious wealth as well seems unlikely. That said, of course, the Sutton Hoo helm was buried, and the fragments of the Staffordshire Hoard helmet were buried and lost. But the scarcity of such archaeological finds surely points to them being unusual or there would be hundreds of them.

(An image of the Staffordshire Helmet can be found here: https://www.stokemuseums.org.uk/pmag/collections/archaeology/the-staffordshire-hoard/ The monograph on the Staffordshire Hoard is also available for free download from https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/39941)

Were these helmets worn in battle?

But there is another reason why these helmets might have existed, and that’s because they were for ceremonial purposes. Kings, before the reign of Athelstan (925-937) are not known to have undergone consecration with a crown but rather with a helmet. After all, they were warrior kings. Perhaps then, these survivals are more akin to that worn by a warrior-king when appearing before his people or for ceremonial reasons.

What weapons would a ‘normal’ warrior have?

What then might have been the more usual garb for a warrior of the Saxon era, which at nearly six hundred years is bound to offer some variations? Shield, spear, seax, sword and byrnie.

We get a feel for these items and how valuable they were from wills that survive from the later Saxon era, hundreds of years after the events of Pagan Warrior. Ealdormen had horses, both saddled and unsaddled, shields, spears, swords, helmets, byrnies, seax, scabbards and spears.

The will of Æthelmær, an ealdorman in the later tenth century, records that he’s granting his king, ‘four swords and eight horses, four with trappings and four without, and four helmets and four coats of mail and eight spears and eight shields,’^[1] as part of his heriot, a contentious term for something that some argue was an eleventh-century development, and others argue, is merely reflecting earlier practice on the death of a man.

There would also have been thegns and king thegns, who had their own weapons, as well as the men of the fyrd, the free-men who could be called upon to perform military service each year, as and when required. It’s often assumed they would have been less well-armed, although this begs the question of whether kings and their warrior nobility were prepared to sacrifice those they relied on to provide them with food to gain more wealth. They might have found themselves with the money to pay for food but without the opportunity to do so.

There are very few representations of warriors, but the surviving strands of the Gododdin, a sixth-century lament to the fallen of Catraeth gives an idea of how these warrior men thought of one another. There is much talk of killing many enemies, drinking mead, and being mourned by those they leave behind.

Battle tactics

Battle tactics from the period are impossible to determine fully. Before writing my books which are blood-filled and violent, I read a fascinating account, by a military historian, on how he thought the Battle of Hastings might have been won or lost. The overwhelming sense I came away with was that local features, hillocks, streams, field boundaries even perhaps the path of a sheep track might well be the very thing that won or lost a battle for these opposing sides. The land that kings chose to go to war on was incredibly important. Perhaps then, it wasn’t all about the weapons but about where they decided to fight.

Pagan King, the story of the battle of Maserfeld

For Pagan King, the novel that tells the story of the battle of Maserfeld, I made use of some local landmarks I knew well, and for other aspects, well, that’s why I write historical fiction.

You can find out more information on the Gods and Kings page.

^[1] Dorothy Whitelock, Anglo-Saxon Wills 1930, reprinted edition. Cambridge University Press. p27

Posts

I’m delighted to welcome Carolyn Hughes and her new book, Fortune’s Wheel, to the blog #HistoricalFiction #HistoricalRomance #MedievalEngland #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Carolyn Hughes and her new book, Fortune’s Wheel. The First Meonbridge Chronicle, to the blog with a trailer.

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Blurb

How do you recover from the havoc wrought by history’s cruellest plague?

It’s June 1349. In Meonbridge, a Hampshire manor, many have lost their lives to the Black Death, among them Alice atte Wode’s beloved husband and Eleanor Titherige’s widowed father. Even the family of the manor’s lord and his wife, Margaret de Bohun, has not entirely escaped.

But, now the plague has passed, the people of Meonbridge must work together to rebuild their lives. However, tensions mount between the de Bohuns and their tenants, as the workers realise their new scarceness means they can demand higher wages and dictate their own lives.

When the tensions deepen into violence and disorder, and the men – lord and villagers alike – seem unable to find any resolution, the women – Alice, Eleanor and Margaret – must step forward to find a way out of the conflict that is tearing Meonbridge apart.

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Meet the Author

Carolyn Hughes has lived much of her life in Hampshire. With a first degree in Classics and English, she started working life as a computer programmer, then a very new profession. But it was technical authoring that later proved her vocation, word-smithing for many different clients, including banks, an international hotel group and medical instruments manufacturers.

Although she wrote creatively on and off for most of her adult life, it was not until her children flew the nest that writing historical fiction took centre stage. But why historical fiction? Serendipity!

Seeking inspiration for what to write for her Creative Writing Masters, she discovered the handwritten draft, begun in her twenties, of a novel, set in 14th century rural England… Intrigued by the period and setting, she realised that, by writing a novel set in the period, she could learn more about the medieval past and interpret it, which seemed like a thrilling thing to do. A few days later, the first Meonbridge Chronicle, Fortune’s Wheel, was under way.

Six published books later (with more to come), Carolyn does now think of herself as an Historical Novelist. And she wouldn’t have it any other way…

Connect with the Author

Website: Bluesky: BookBub:

Follow Fortune’s Wheel blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club

MJ Porter’s Saxon Stories Order and Series Pages | Infographic

Confused? You’re not alone

Trying to keep tabs of the chronology of my series set in Saxon England is difficult, even for me. It doesn’t help that I often work backwards, and sometimes have a tendency to skip backwards and forwards, and sometimes don’t finish things either. This might help.

The Dark Age Chronicles

There are no character crossovers for this series because we’re right back at the very beginning. But, there will be some Easter Eggs moving forwards.

Gods and Kings

Character crossovers – no one specific but there is sometimes reference to these earlier battles in later books.

The House of Mercia

This is my current project and I have no more information to share just yet but keep checking back.

The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles

Character crossovers – Icel and Coelwulf (as a very young child) from The Mercian Ninth Century

The Mercian Ninth Century (AKA The Last King/Coelwulf books)

Character crossovers – Icel from The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles

The Tenth Century Royal Women (The Lady of Mercia’s Daughter and Kingmaker)

Character crossovers – Athelstan and Ealdorman Athelstan (before becoming an ealdorman) from The Brunanburh Series.

The Brunanburh Series

Character crossovers – Lady Ælfwynn (briefly) and Lady Eadgifu from Kingmaker (a central character to The Brunanburh Series).

The First Queen

Character crossovers – Ealdorman Leofwine from The Earls of Mercia series as a very young man. Lady Eadgifu from both The Tenth Century books, and The Brunanburh series in book 1.

The Earls of Mercia Series

Character crossover – Lady Elfrida from The First Queen of England.

Lady Estrid

Character crossover – Cnut, Ealdorman Leofwine, Leofric and others from The Earls of Mercia series – this book is a side-story to the main series but can be read as a standalone.

And don’t forget my non-fiction title, which is a perfect counterpart for The Tenth Century, and The Brunanburh Series, The Royal Women Who Made England

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I’m delighted to welcome Debra Borchert and her new book, Her Own War, to the blog #HerOwnWar #DebraBorchert #ChateauDeVerzatSeries #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Debra Borhert and her new book, Her Own War, Book 3 in the Château de Verzat Series, to the blog with the historical aspect of the novel.

Historical Aspect of the Novel: Enslavement in Eighteenth-Century France by Debora Borchert

“I survived enslavement. I know where they look.” — Aurélia, Her Own War

In the first book in my Château de Verzat series, the brother-sister protagonists flee France aboard a slaver. As I further researched the slave trade, I knew I would not be able to adequately convey the horrors of their voyage. Consequently, that story lives only in my mind.

Yet, the male protagonist, Henri, falls in love with a formerly enslaved woman, Aurélia, who was forced onto the same ship. In America, they cannot marry, and people treat Aurélia as an enslaved woman. Eager for her freedom, Henri brings Aurélia to France, after the new government abolished enslavement. The August 1793 decree for the abolition of slavery ended all slave-trade activity across all French territories in 1794.

In the second book, Her Own Revolution, Henri, Aurélia, and their son, Charles, depart America and arrive in France in late 1796, where Henri believes Aurélia and their son will be safe.

Although slavery was illegal in France, people, like Thomas Jefferson, brought their “property” to France, and France respected his and others’ rights to own enslaved people.

The irony of these laws caused me to wonder about the formerly enslaved, and whether people of color had rights in France in 1796. They did not. In my work as a historical fiction writer, I attempt to focus light on historic injustices.

For research, I traveled to Nantes, which was the largest slave-trading port in France from 1707-1793. The city has created a Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery, dedicated to the thirteen million Africans who were deported during the transatlantic slave trade.

The Memorial’s underground gallery was created to enable visitors to imagine what it might feel like to exist in the hold of an 18^th century ship. Sounds of flapping sails, splashing waves, creaking ropes and wood, clanking chains and shackles, human groans and cries, echo in the shadows.

At that moment I knew my character Aurélia would be mute, caused by the trauma she had endured. I also knew she would not be safe in France, for, although Henri did not know it, I knew she had no rights.

The third book, Her Own War, opens with a hailstorm that threatens the vineyard, and is followed by a declaration that all noble émigrés must leave France or face the guillotine. Henri, a noble émigré, must leave, and, as Aurélia is pregnant, she is unable to travel with him. He must leave her under the protection of the four hundred families who live on the estate. However, no one, not even Henri, could have protected her from history.

During the eighteenth century the recapture of freed, formerly enslaved people was terrifyingly common, and many were enslaved in the sex trade. France had a robust demimonde, a polite name for the business of prostitution, catering to tastes for the exotic. These facts threatened Aurélia’s safety. But, as Aurélia had survived enslavement, she proved to be a courageous character who risks her life to save the lives of her children.

As Napoleon Bonaparte gathers power at the end of Her Own War, I know the plot of the next book of in the series will be affected by his re-establishment of slavery in1802, which revived slave-trade activity for another fifteen years.

Having learned that even today human beings are enslaved, I chose to bring light to the historical facts of the 18^th century, sadly reflected in the crimes against humanity in this century.

Artwork that inspired the character Aurélia.

*Bust of an African Woman* by Charles-Henri-Joseph Cordier. Courtesy The Walters Art Museum, Creative Commons License.

Blurb

As Napoleon Rises from the Ashes of The French Revolution, One Woman Dares to Spy Against Him

Sentenced to eight months in an insane asylum for the crime of impersonating a man, Geneviève LaGarde fears giving birth in a filthy cell will mean certain death for her and her unborn child. Desperate for her release, her husband, Louis, trades his freedom for hers and must join Bonaparte’s army in Egypt.

As Geneviève wages her own war against the tyrannical general, she not only risks her own life but also those of her children and the four hundred families who depend on the Château de Verzat estate. Knowing her desperate actions could cause the government to confiscate the entire vineyard, she sacrifices everything to save her husband and protect the people who become her family.

A captivating tale of the power of love, hope, and courage, and the strength of community.

Reviews

“Fans of historical fiction will find this novel a most captivating read.” —Kirkus Reviews

“For fans of Stephanie Dray’s The Women of Chateau Lafayette.” —Publishers Weekly BookLife Editor’s Pick “A compelling story of love, war, and fierce family loyalty. While the narrative stays true to the social mores of the French Revolutionary era, Borchert gives her readers powerful and active female characters who often cunningly use conventional gender expectations to conceal their real motives and actions. Fans of historical fiction will find this novel a most captivating read.” —Kirkus Reviews

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This title will be on #KindleUnlimited for the first 90 days

Meet the Author

Debra Borchert has had many careers: clothing designer, actress, TV show host, spokesperson for high-tech companies, marketing and public relations professional, and technical writer for Fortune 100 companies. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Writer, among others. Her short stories have been published in anthologies and independently.

A graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, she weaves her knowledge of textiles and clothing design throughout her historical French fiction. She has been honored with a Historical Novel Society Editors’ Choice, Publishers Weekly BookLife Editor’s Pick, and many other five-star reviews.