When I’m not writing about the Saxon kingdom of Mercia, I’m often hanging out in the tenth century – a fascinating century where the kingdom of England formed from the smaller kingdoms and where we really start to find some personalities, who are just waiting to have their stories told. From Lady Eadgifu, King Edward the Elder’s third wife, to Athelstan, King Edward the Elder’s oldest son, to Elfrida, England’s first acknowledged crown queen. There is religious discord. There is a WHOLE host of family politics, and to cap off each end of the century, we have Viking raiders.
My stories set in Saxon England also began with the end of the tenth century, as that’s when Ealdorman Leofwine first came to prominence.
So, where should you start? Here’s a chronological list, although there is some crossover
The Lady of Mercia’s Daughter and the women of the tenth century
Lady Æthelflæd of Mercia is dead. What will happen to her daughter, Lady Ælfwynn, in the immediate aftermath of her mother’s death, when she is the only woman known to have succeeded another woman as a ruler throughout the Saxon era. Set in the late 910’s.
Kingmaker, which follows the life of Lady Eadgifu, begins in the late 910s and covers the period to about 965.
The King’s Daughters, like Kingmaker, covers a substantial number of years, from about 918 to the early 940s, and largely takes place in East and West Frankia.
The Brunanburh Series
This series, which begins with King of Kings, is a multiple point of view set of stories which follows events told through the eyes of the kings of a number of kingdoms, in the lead up to, battle of, and aftermath of the battle of Brunanburh.
The First Queen and The King’s Mother Trilogies
England’s first crowned queen, Elfrida, was the first woman’s story I decided to tell. The correlations with Anne Boleyn – with a love match – were compelling, but equally, what fascinated me about Elfrida was the sudden collection of royal women who would all have been attached to the royal court at the time. What begins as a love story, quickly becomes one of politics.
The Royal Women Who Made England (non-fiction)
Read the ‘facts’ behind my fictions of the royal women of the tenth century. Focusing on about thirty named royal women, this charts what we know about them, how we know it, and what parts they might have played in the tenth century. This book was specifically written so that no one else ever had to endure the agony of researching these royal women, and is an attempt to gather together all the contemporary evidence for them, while trying not to get too caught up in later source material.
The Earls of Mercia series
Meet Ealdorman Leofwine, and his sons and grandsons, charting the final 100 years of Saxon England, as told through the eyes of the powerful Earls of Mercia, beginning in the year, 991. If you think the only powerful house was that of the Godwine’s, you’re very mistaken. No family held as much power, for as long, not even the ruling House of Wessex.
For those who might like to know my processes, I must inform you that I rarely write chronologically. I started with The Earls of Mercia (which I’m still writing), then the original Brunanburh Series and then The First Queen, The Lady of Mercia’s Daughter, Kingmaker and The King’s Daughter. Then I returned to write A Conspiracy of Kings and the non-fiction title, which I was writing at the same time as the Brunanburh Series was being massively rewritten and republished.
Check out my store to purchase copies directly from me.
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MJ Porter 