Q & A with Patricia Bracewell, Author of THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK

The final volume of Patricia Bracewell's trilogy on Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, publishes on March 2, 2021 from Bellastoria Press. Yesterday, I reviewed this marvelous book; today, Patricia answers a few questions about her novel.

1. Why Emma? How is the saga of an 11th century queen of Anglo-Saxon England relevant to today’s readers? What aspects of her actions and personality do you think speak most strongly to modern women?

I think that women of today will find Emma inspirational. In our time women are breaking glass ceilings; in Emma’s time that ceiling was made of marble. The Anglo-Saxons were wary of the very concept of queenship, and Emma was only the second queen of all England. She was burdened by her youth and by the fact that she was a foreigner. She had to learn about England’s history, language and cultural norms, probably as an adolescent, and then figure out how to use them to her advantage. That took courage, but Emma has another kind of courage, as well. She is willing to speak truth to power, and although she is rarely thanked for it, that doesn’t stop her. So I think that courage and tenacity are two qualities that speak to women today, as well as Emma’s willingness to recognize the limits of her power and reach out to those who can help her get whatever she is after.

2. While writing, did you ever fear that Emma might teeter on the brink of "the perfect queen" stereotype? How did you try to humanize her? What faults define her and how does she suffer for them? 

I am not a fan of novels in which the heroine is adored by everybody else in the book. So I’ve given Emma plenty of enemies who despise her, or don’t trust her, or who misinterpret her actions. Æthelred, Edmund, Edyth, Elgiva, even Emma’s own son are definitely not fans of the queen. Their opinions of her, right or wrong, throw some shade on her character. Emma herself, as clever as she is, does not have all the answers to the problems that she faces. She has to turn to others for help. Sometimes she makes bad decisions. On one occasion she acquires important information but doesn’t do anything with it, and that leads to catastrophe. On another occasion she makes a decision that leads to anguish when she realizes that she’s put her children at risk. Emma is courageous, yes, but that means, too, that she’s a risk-taker. She weighs the risks and makes a choice, but sometimes it turns out to be the wrong choice and she is not the only one who pays the price. 

3. Æthelred,  Athelstan, Cnut, Elgiva, Thorkell, Edmund, Edward, Edyth, Richard of Normandy—Emma has personal and political relationships with so many characters over the course of the trilogy, and these relationships all had to be tied up in this final volume. Which relationship was the hardest to get “right”? Is there any relationship you wished you could have spent more time wrapping up? Which relationship did you most enjoy exploring?

The relationship between Emma and Cnut was the most difficult to get “right” especially because I wanted anyone who had not read the earlier books to be able to understand it; and that is the relationship I most enjoyed exploring. They had a few scenes together in Shadow on the Crown when we saw Cnut through Emma’s eyes, and of course as I wrote that first book I was already thinking about what would happen in this one. But when I began writing The Steel Beneath the Silk I had to figure out a way for each of them to recall that first meeting which had happened ten years earlier. When I finally brought them together again towards the end of the book, I had to design some scenes that would allow them to interact and would reveal in a very short time how their relationship was evolving on both sides. It meant a lot of revisions. I think I was successful. I hope so. I wish I could have found a way to wrap up the relationship between Emma and Thorkell—have some sort of dialogue between them. But I had to focus on Emma and Cnut. Thorkell would have gotten in the way!

Winchester's Norman Great Hall, which is evocative of Anglo-Saxon great halls

4. How did you manage to keep the setting fresh over the course of three novels? Which location in the book did you most enjoy visiting in real life during your extensive research? 

The first novel opens in Normandy, but almost all of it is set in Wessex, mostly Winchester, with side trips to Exeter and to the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire. The second novel is split between various royal estates in southern England and manors located in the northeast. All of these estates and manors were based on places I found mentioned in the Domesday Book, but I actually visited those areas if not the sites themselves. This third book goes much further afield, to Jorvik (York), Denmark, and Normandy as well as to numerous sites all over England. Of course, the scenes themselves are set in the great hall, or a church, or a bed-chamber or an abbey. There are several that are set on ships and one in the tower of one of the gates of London. I tried very hard to vary the setting as much as possible. I suppose the place I enjoyed visiting the most was Winchester. It was the Anglo-Saxon royal city; it was where Emma had a manor named Godbegot, the site of which you can still see today; and it is where Emma and Cnut are buried. It was, for me, the most evocative of that Anglo-Saxon world, and I’m longing to go back.

Godbegot House in Winchester, which dates back to the 11th c

5. Emma has occupied your thoughts and hours for so many years now—how will your own life change now that you have completed your task and made her known to new readers? What did you learn about yourself as you researched and imagined her life and captured it in the pages of three books?

Well, I expect that I will have more time to pursue other activities like gardening and, unfortunately, dealing with piles of books and papers that need sorting, closets and drawers that need cleaning out, and a garage that resembles an industrial waste site. But I already have a list of books that I want to read or study, and I might find myself pondering ideas for a new novel—although not a trilogy! What I’ve learned about myself is that I love research; that I’m not interested in travel unless there is an element of education involved; and that I have more determination than I ever realized. Also, now, when I run up against some difficulty or hardship, I tend to ask myself “What would Emma do?”

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Many thanks to Patricia for offering this behind-the scenes look at her novel.

THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound.

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Patricia Bracewell's love of reading led to college degrees in Literature, a career as a high school English teacher, and an  unquenchable desire to write. Shadow on the Crown, the first book in her trilogy about the 11th century queen Emma of Normandy, was published in 2013 in the U.S. and England, and has been translated into Italian, German, Portuguese and Russian. Her second novel, The Price of Blood, published in 2015, continues the gripping tale of a queen whose marriage to an English king set in motion a series of events that would culminate in the Norman Conquest of 1066. In 2014 Patricia was honored to serve as Writer-in-Residence at Gladstone's Library in Wales where she conducted research for The Steel Beneath the Silk, the third book in her trilogy about Queen Emma. Patricia and her husband live in Oakland, California. Visit her at her website.

Review: THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK by Patricia Bracewell

The wait was definitely worth it.

THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK (Bellastoria Press, March 2) caps off Patricia Bracewell's trilogy on eleventh-century Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, with all the drama, emotion, and skill that fans of the series have come to expect. With consummate ease, Bracewell plunges her readers back into a perilous, war-torn England ravaged by marauding Danish raiders from without and crumbling from treachery within. As King Swein of Denmark and his ambitious son Cnut penetrate ever farther into England, suborning English lords and capturing city after city, Emma's raddled husband, King Æthelred, alienates allies and squanders the loyalty of his people. Calling upon her wits, her faith, and the counsel of a trusted few, Emma must discern rumor from fact, friend from foe, solid hope from fleeting fancy as she strives to hold the besieged country together and make her dream of a united, peaceful England an enduring reality.

The story moves at a rapid and entertaining clip, thanks to Bracewell's strong command of the historical material and her intimate familiarity with her characters. Readers, even ones new to the series, will never lose their bearings. Customized maps of England and London detail the physical setting; chapter headings provide locations and dates to set the scene. The author takes care, especially in the opening chapters, to weave in accounts of past events that bear on the present action, keeping these flashbacks fresh by recounting them from a new perspective or shading them with recent insight. Both to control the pacing and to introduce important historical events tangential to Emma's narrative arc, Bracewell inserts snippets from the contemporary Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This historical scaffolding plays an additional role: the contrast between these brief, factual passages and Bracewell's emotionally rich, internalized narration demonstrates the power of historical fiction to transform the dry bones of history into a compelling reflection on the human spirit, wholly relevant to modern readers.

Readers of the previous installments will recognize and welcome the reappearance of favorite characters who continue to evolve. Although the main story arc focuses on Emma and her efforts to foster a united England, the journeys of these other characters deservedly vie for attention. The narrative point-of-view shifts when circumstance requires; Bracewell hands these shifts of perspective with finesse and a keen sense of what another viewpoint can contribute to a given situation. Æthelred, Athelstan, Edmund, Elgiva, and Cnut all take turns as viewpoint characters, experiencing events beyond Emma's purview and fueling the conflicts and passions that motivate the central action.

The strongest aspect of THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK is precisely the psychological richness of its characters. Even if the reader knows the historical trajectory of Emma's life, this imagined, emotionally nuanced account of her struggle to reconcile her personal desires with the strategic needs of her kingdom will nonetheless appeal and intrigue. As Bracewell admits in her Author Note, although the events that she portrays are factual, "Emma's role in them is my own invention. Although we know that she was there and must have played some part in all that occurred, we simply cannot be certain about what that was." Having thought long and hard about Emma's participation in these critical events in England's history, Bracewell fashions a main character with whom the reader can identify as well as admire. The trilogy as a whole presents Emma as a poignantly complex, achingly real woman whose actions not only define her individuality, but serve as the point of departure for broader contemplation of the very notion of queenship. 

"Long live the queen"--Bracewell closes her monumental endeavor with this resounding and devoted cheer. It is precisely thanks to Bracewell's meticulous research, keen insight into human nature, and first-rate narrative skills that Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, will live long and vividly in the minds and hearts of the trilogy's readers. THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK, along with its companion volumes, merits a prominent place in the canon of exemplary historical fiction.

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Patricia Bracewell's love of reading led to college degrees in Literature, a career as a high school English teacher, and an  unquenchable desire to write. Shadow on the Crown, the first book in her trilogy about the 11th century queen Emma of Normandy, was published in 2013 in the U.S. and England, and has been translated into Italian, German, Portuguese and Russian. Her second novel, The Price of Blood, published in 2015, continues the gripping tale of a queen whose marriage to an English king set in motion a series of events that would culminate in the Norman Conquest of 1066. In 2014 Patricia was honored to serve as Writer-in-Residence at Gladstone's Library in Wales where she conducted research for The Steel Beneath the Silk, the third book in her trilogy about Queen Emma. Patricia and her husband live in Oakland, California. Visit her at her website.

THE STEEL BENEATH THE SILK can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound.

Winners of THE PRICE OF BLOOD Giveaway

The winners of the random drawing for Patricia Bracewell's books have been chosen.

Linda has won a copy of THE PRICE OF BLOOD.

Marsha Lambert has won SHADOW ON THE CROWN.

I will contact the winners by email to obtain mailing addresses for the publisher.

My apologies for the delay in announcing the winners. Thanks to Viking Books for sponsoring the contest and to all who entered. I hope you all find the opportunity to enjoy Patricia Bracewell's marvelous books.

Interview with Patricia Bracewell, Author of THE PRICE OF BLOOD

Today the second installment of Patricia Bracewell's Emma of Normandy Trilogy, THE PRICE OF BLOOD, publishes from Viking Books. A gripping, richly textured continuation of the story that began with SHADOW ON THE CROWN (Viking, 2013), THE PRICE OF BLOOD dramatizes Queen Emma's efforts to protect England from the Viking armies ravaging the kingdom. Patricia has graciously offered to answer some questions about eleventh century history and the crafting of her novel.

1.  An excerpt from a twelfth-century historian, William of Malmesbury, opens the book, describing how King Æthelred was “hounded by the shade of his brother, demanding terribly the price of blood.” Had you located this quotation before you began writing the novel, or was it a later, fortuitous find? From what you can tell, was William of Malmesbury, who wrote 100 years after Æthelred’s death, the first to draw a link between Æthelred’s disastrous reign and his guilt over his brother’s murder, or was this curse, so to speak, acknowledged by Aethelred’s own contemporaries?

I found the Malmesbury quote early on in my research. It was what gave me the idea for a ghost that haunts the king. As to whether William of Malmesbury was the first person to equate Edward’s murder with the disastrous events in Æthelred’s reign, it’s difficult to say. Certainly the Archbishop of Canterbury at that time, Wulfstan, claimed in a sermon that “laws of the people have deteriorated entirely too greatly, since Edgar (Æthelred’s father) died… Edward was betrayed, and then killed, and after that burned…things have not prospered now for a long time…and the English have been entirely defeated…through the anger of God.” So there was definitely a connection drawn between great sin in the land and God’s punishing hand via the Viking raids, and certainly the unpunished murder of a king was one of those sins.

2. You structure THE PRICE OF BLOOD, as you did the first novel of the trilogy, by year, prefacing each section with a corresponding snippet taken from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. How did you go about fleshing out this rather sketchy record of battles and troop movements? Did the spareness of the account help or hinder your imagination?

The spareness of the account was sometimes frustrating, and I often wished for a lot more information. The Chronicle frequently tells us rather vaguely WHAT happened, but it rarely gives us adequate background. It never says HOW or WHY something occurred. My story, though, is not history; it’s fiction. It’s about people and their relationships with each other, what drives each of them, what they love and what they hate. It’s about jealousy, passion, tenderness, sorrow, regret – human emotions and human endeavors. That doesn’t exist anywhere in the chronicles, so filling in the blanks was really a matter of creating characters that I found believable based on what I knew of the history, putting them in conflict with each other, and taking that emotional journey with them.

3. What aspect of eleventh-century life has proven most difficult to research and how have you compensated for the lack of information?

Trying to discover what an average day in the life of an eleventh-century royal was like was not easy. How large was a royal household? Would the queen know everyone in it? What did she do in the course of a day? The thing is, an average day in anyone’s life is not all that compelling to read about. So a good story has to be about the days that are different, when people are sick, or someone has died, or word comes that a Viking army has invaded Canterbury. So I would highlight little things – women stitching an embroidery, a man stirring honey for mead, the king out hawking – but almost as soon as I described such an activity, I disrupted it with a disaster of some kind. The setting is important. The story is even more important.

4. This novel continues to pit two strong female characters, Queen Emma and Elgiva, daughter of a powerful northern nobleman, against each other, although this time from a distance. How did you strive to meet the challenge of nuancing Emma and Elgiva to prevent them from becoming simple “good girl/bad girl” foils? Was it difficult to keep Elgiva and her antics from overshadowing Emma, who finds herself sorely constrained by the king’s determination to sideline her?

Yes, it was difficult to keep Elgiva from taking over the book! Her scenes are all quite dramatic. One reason for that is because we know nothing about her in those years, so I had a much freer hand in inventing her story than I did with Emma. I also kind of like to torture Elgiva. But she’s tough! She can take it. The nuancing – and I’m thrilled by your description of that – comes from the fact that I’ve given both women back-stories and interior lives. At least, that’s what I’ve tried to do. And neither one of them is all good or all bad. Emma’s motives are purer than Elgiva’s, but she’s not perfect. She keeps secrets from the king, for example; she is at a loss as to how to control her step-daughters; and she sometimes puts her own needs before those of her children. Elgiva is more self-centered, but she’s adept at managing her property and her people, and she’s like a tigress when she wants something. She’s not shy about going after it. Emma is all about duty; Elgiva refuses to behave. They’re both strong women, but they react to adversity in different ways.

King Athelstan of England.
Earliest surviving portrait of an English king.

5. The rift between Æthelred and his son Athelstan continues to grow, especially as Athelstan finds himself supplanted by the king’s advisor Eadric. What aspect of Athelstan’s character intrigues you most? What would you consider to be his greatest flaw?

I suppose the thing that intrigues me the most about Athelstan is his unwillingness to seize his father’s throne. Historically, he did not rebel, although he clearly had strong ties to the northern lords who were dissatisfied with Æthelred’s rule. As a result, I had to come up with reasons why he didn’t make that move, and I explore those in the novel. As for Athelstan’s greatest flaw, I suppose it’s his habit of backing off when things don’t go the way he thinks they should. He doesn’t push his father hard enough or enlist the support necessary to sway the king around to his way of thinking. It sounds strange to say that this is a fault, but Athelstan is not devious enough. He’s too honest in a world where strategy, intrigue and ruthlessness are the keys to success.

6. Oftentimes an author will find herself writing a scene she never set out to write, a scene that flows almost effortlessly and winds up playing a key role in the development of the plot. Did you have such an experience while writing THE PRICE OF BLOOD? Which scene in the book was the most satisfying to write? Which one had you tearing out your hair in frustration?

Honestly, I don’t think I had any scene that flowed even close to effortlessly! One scene that comes to mind as one I didn’t set out to write occurs early on, when Elgiva and Alric are in a wattle and daub hut together. I had no idea what was going to happen there, or where they would go afterwards. They sort of worked it out between them, and I wrote it down. The scene that was the most satisfying to write was the scene in the hunting lodge at Corfe where there is a lot of interaction between the sons of the king. I especially enjoyed writing about Athelstan’s perceptions of his brothers and Edwig’s drunken, smart-ass comments. As for scenes that had me tearing my hair out, there were lots of those, but especially the scenes with the ghost. I wanted each spectral appearance to be similar to the others, yet unique in some way. It was a real challenge.

7. Can you believe you will soon be deep into the third book of the trilogy? What has meant the most to you on this journey?

What has moved me the most has been the response of my family – husband, sons, siblings – who have all loved the book and have been so proud of me. The reactions of readers have meant a lot, too. Many of them have become great fans of Emma of Normandy, and because my goal in writing this trilogy has been to resurrect Queen Emma’s name from the footnotes of history, the many readers who have “discovered” Emma have made me believe that I’m accomplishing what I set out to do.

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Thank you, Patricia, for answering my questions, and congratulations on this exciting day! Readers might like to read my review of THE PRICE OF BLOOD. The drawing for a free copy of THE PRICE OF BLOOD or SHADOW ON THE CROWN will be open until February 12, 2015. Enter in the comment stream following the review.

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Patricia Bracewell grew up in California where she taught literature and composition before embarking upon her writing career. She has always been fascinated by English history, which led to her studying Anglo-Saxon history at Downing College, Cambridge University. She has two grown sons and lives with her husband in Oakland, California.

If you would like to learn more about Patricia and her books and view the list of her upcoming author appearances, please visit her website and her blog.

Review and Giveaway: THE PRICE OF BLOOD by Patricia Bracewell

The second installment of Patricia Bracewell’s Emma of Normandy trilogy, THE PRICE OF BLOOD (Viking, February 5, 2015), expands and deepens the eleventh century world the author so convincingly recreated in 2013’s SHADOW ON THE CROWN. Using the sketchy summary events of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as her warp, Bracewell weaves a richly detailed, compelling tale of ambition, duty, and forbidden love. As does the best historical fiction, THE PRICE OF BLOOD immerses its reader in a milieu replete with particulars of time and place in order to better examine the essential constants of human nature. As well-researched and beautifully drawn as Bracewell’s Anglo-Saxon England is—the author deserves much praise for the deft assurance with which she evokes Britain’s far past—it is her deeply resonant, finely nuanced characterizations that capture the reader’s interest and heart.

The novel opens in 1006, with the kingdom of England in the direst of straits. Famine stalks the land; illness and accident strike down the king’s sons, one after the other; northern ealdormen, only tenuously loyal to their southern king, grumble and conspire against him. No longer satisfied with bribes, Danish Vikings raid and pillage far inland; full-scale invasion looms. Convinced he labors under a curse for having stolen his brother’s throne, uneasy King Aethelred defies anyone or anything that seeks to break his hold on the crown. Seconded by an upstart advisor as self-serving and ruthless as the Danes themselves, Aethelred shuns the advice, and even the presence, of his sons, his proven allies, and his politically astute Norman wife, Queen Emma. But try as Aethelred might to shunt her aside, Emma refuses to retire. Determined to preserve the kingdom intact for her young son, Aethelred's designated heir, she cultivates a coalition of sympathetic allies and earns the respect and devotion of the English people through her courage and compassion. And little though Aethelred will like it, Emma harbors a secret skill that just might prove the key to England’s salvation—though it could well cost her the trust of the man she loves, the king’s eldest son Athelstan.

Against the surging backdrop of imminent Danish doom, the four viewpoint characters—Emma, Athelstan, Aethelred, and Elgiva, the beautiful, conniving noblewoman set on supplanting Emma as queen—seek to order for themselves the demands of loyalty, ambition and love. Desperate to preserve his seat on the throne, Aethelred sows division among his nobles and sons, endangering the very existence of the kingdom he rules. Athelstan, urged by the king’s dismayed allies to wrest the throne for himself, struggles to define what he owes a father whose disastrous indecision all but assures Danish victory and who has repaid his allegiance by naming Emma’s son as heir. Athelstan’s love for Emma only compounds the cost of continued loyalty to his unstable father. Wily Elgiva, forced to fend for herself after Aethelred cruelly executes her father and brothers, turns to the Danes for help in landing a throne. Her determination to rise by whatever means necessary contrasts sharply with Emma’s devotion to her children, her kingdom, and her vows. But Emma’s selflessness comes at great personal cost, as she can only further her son’s future at the expense of Athelstan’s standing and happiness. With consummate skill, Bracewell stirs the reader’s sympathy for each of these characters and their conflicting desires. A delicious, compelling tension results, for the reader knows all four cannot succeed. Who will triumph and at what price?

Evoking the pagan mindset that persists alongside the kingdom’s official—and threatened—Christianity, themes of curse and prophecy inform the narrative. Aethelred suffers visions of his murdered brother’s wraith and believes his reign cursed to failure. Athelstan repeatedly seeks out a seeress for guidance, only to be told that fire and smoke will engulf England and calamity awaits the king’s sons. Wedded to a prophecy that foresaw her as queen, Elgiva embraces the enemy and the dark arts. Though restricted by her husband’s commands and the conventions of queenship, Emma alone operates unencumbered by preconceived notions of her fate. Relying on her faith and wits to guide her, she forges her own destiny, one that may well decide that of her adopted people. In the forthcoming third installment of the trilogy, we will discover how well she succeeds.

As for author Patricia Bracewell, she has nimbly avoided the curse of the mediocre middle book. One need not be a seeress to predict that THE PRICE OF BLOOD will grow her devoted and appreciative audience and establish her as a premier writer of historical fiction today.

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Patricia Bracewell grew up in California where she taught literature and composition before embarking upon her writing career. She has always been fascinated by English history, which led to her studying Anglo-Saxon history at Downing College, Cambridge University. She has two grown sons and lives with her husband in Oakland, California.

If you would like to learn more about Patricia and her books and view the list of her upcoming author appearances, please visit her website and blog.

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Viking Books has graciously offered one paperbound edition of SHADOW ON THE CROWN and one hardbound copy of THE PRICE OF BLOOD for giveaway to readers with US shipping addresses (no P.O. boxes, please). A winner will be drawn at random for each book. If you would like to enter the drawings, please leave a comment below indicating which book you desire. If you would like to enter both drawings, please state so. Make sure your comment includes an email address at which you may be reached. Contest closes at 11 pm Pacific Standard Time on Thursday, February 12, 2015. Winners will be announced here on Friday, February 13, 2015. Good luck!

Bags Full of Reading Goodness

Several weeks ago, I made a general plea to my Facebook author friends. I was interested in putting together a basket of autographed books for my son's school auction. I asked that anyone interested in helping donate a signed copy of her book in return for some publicity on the blog. I was astounded and humbled by the response. Eleven authors sent me one or more copies of their book(s); two others offered, but unfortunately, I was not able to receive their books in time. This generous response from the writing community allowed me to put together two baskets, each valued at approximately $185. I divided the books into two lots and packaged them in bookish totes from Barnes & Noble along with fancy bookmarks.

Here is a list of authors who donated their books. If you are looking for holiday gifts or excellent additions to your own library, please consider purchasing something from this list. I have read most of the books myself; many I've reviewed here on the blog and additional reviews will be forthcoming. They are all excellent reads.

Helene Wecker, THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI
Ann Weisberger, THE PROMISE and THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE
Maryanne O'Hara, CASCADE
Patricia Bracewell, SHADOW ON THE CROWN
Heather Webb, BECOMING JOSEPHINE
Anna Elliott, KITTY BENNET'S DIARY
Susan Spann, CLAWS OF THE CAT and BLADE OF THE SAMURAI
Julie K. Rose, OLEANNA
LJ Cohen, DERELICT, THE BETWEEN, and FUTURE TENSE
Marci Jefferson, GIRL ON THE GOLD COIN
MK Tod, UNRAVELLED
Lucy Pick, PILGRIMAGE
Laura Bradbury, MY GRAPE ESCAPE and MY GRAPE VILLAGE

I am very grateful to my author friends and thrilled that new readers will soon experience their wonderful books. These bags are sure to start a bidding war at the auction! I wish I could bid on them myself.

Thanks again to all involved!

Review: SHADOW ON THE CROWN by Patricia Bracewell

I read an advanced copy of Patricia Bracewell's SHADOW ON THE CROWN (Viking) several months ago and loved it so much I included it in my Best Reads of 2012. I'm happy to say I appreciated it even more upon second reading! Here is my review.

Women, even queens, figure little in the annals of the past, and often it takes a novelist to rescue them from the shadows. Emma of Normandy may have commissioned a book about her life in 1040, but that account ignores her fifteen-year marriage to Athelred II, the king who brought her to England's shores. In SHADOW ON THE CROWN, the first volume of a proposed trilogy about Emma, Patricia Bracewell rectifies this omission with consummate skill, imagining Emma's first marriage with a verve and flair that assure the queen a lasting escape from obscurity.

In AD 1002, Athelred takes foreign-born Emma to wife in order to forge an alliance with her brother Richard, duke of Normandy, against the Danish Vikings, whose raids pose a perpetual threat to England's prosperity. In a moment of pique against his council, Athelred accepts Richard's stipulation that Emma be crowned queen and not simply consort, thereby giving any son of hers precedence over the seven sons of his uncrowned first wife. Emma quickly learns that she will secure her position only by producing a son, a task that proves increasingly difficult once the king, regretting his hasty decision, shuns her bed for that of her English rival. 

Far from home with few retainers, Emma finds herself mistrusted by the English nobles, resented by Athelred's first family, taunted by the woman who hopes to unseat her, and spurned by the king who fears granting her any further power over him. Strengthened by her mother's admonition to show no fear, Emma weathers these struggles with admirable fortitude and grace. Yet Emma's mother never taught her how to steel her heart against love, and the unbidden passion that arises between Emma and a member of the King's household threatens to destroy everything she has struggled to build. When the Danes attack England through the treachery of the King's enemies, Emma becomes both target and scapegoat and must scrabble to retain her throne and her heart.

Bracewell constructs her story around the sequence of events recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, filling in the gaps with vividly imagined, historically plausible conjecture. The story unfolds from the viewpoints of four well-developed, psychologically convincing characters: weary King Athelred, mistrustful of all, haunted to the brink of madness by the specter of his murdered half-brother; Emma, courageous and compassionate, navigating the dangers of a foreign court armed with nothing but her own inner strength; impetuous Athelstan, Athelred's eldest son, who yearns for his father's approval even as he seeks to distance himself from his disastrous policies; and Elgiva, vain and self-centered, ever scheming to snare a king and escape the abusive domination of her father and brother. The point-of-view shifts fluidly yet cleanly between these four characters, often several times within a single chapter, providing a kaleidoscopic and thoroughly engaging view of events and emphasizing the interconnectedness of personal and political aims. 

Enabled by her meticulous research, Bracewell recreates the stark beauty and pervasive brutality of the Anglo-Saxon world. She respects the realities of the era, not the sensibilities of the modern reader. Emma's England is a pagan place, where official Christianity has yet to discredit sway of seers and ease the grip of prophecy. It is a savage place, where kings slay innocents to protect their interests and invaders pillage and rape and kill without qualm. It is a masculine place, where men exploit women for their beauty or their wombs and trade them like pawns on the chessboard of dynasties. Yet it is also a place where love and loyalty and honor flourish, a place where, despite all the obstacles arrayed against her, a determined woman like Emma can use her gifts of mind and body and spirit to carve a name for herself and a future for her children. It was, in sum, a fascinating world I was loathe to quit and to which I look forward to returning. Bracewell's enthusiasm for Emma and her world shines through every beautifully wrought sentence of this masterful debut.

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A few weeks ago, Patricia answered questions about her research and journey to publication in this insightful interview. You can learn more about the author at her website; be sure to check out her blog. You can find SHADOW ON THE CROWN at major booksellers and independent bookstores, or order online from your preferred vendor.

Author Interview: Patricia Bracewell, SHADOW ON THE CROWN

Today I welcome author Patricia Bracewell to discuss her debut novel, SHADOW ON THE CROWN, coming from Viking/Penguin on February 7. SHADOW ON THE CROWN is the first in a trilogy of novels about Emma of Normandy, whose marriage in 1002 to an English king set in motion events that would culminate in the Norman Conquest of 1066. Publishers Weekly calls it "an enthralling debut," and having read an advanced copy, I can assure you that it is all that and more!

1.  SHADOW ON THE CROWN is based on real events recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. How much did you know about eleventh-century England prior to undertaking this novel? Why does this period appeal to you?

I knew very little about eleventh century England until I started my research. I’d taken a course in British History in college, so I had a vague knowledge of pre-Conquest England but not specifically the details of that eleventh century world. In my literature classes I had studied some of the better known Anglo-Saxon poetry – Beowulf, for example, and The Wanderer, which has always been one of my favorite poems. But I’d been drawn more to the stories of Arthur and the historical era associated with his legend. The century before the Conquest, and the events that led to it, were a mystery to me, and I suppose that mystery was what intrigued me about the period as much as anything else.

2. What was it about Emma of Normandy that inspired you to write about her? 

The more I learned about Emma, the more I realized how significant a role she must have played in the events that occurred in England in the early eleventh century, and how perilous, at times, her position must have been. The bare fact that she was married to two different kings of England and that those two men were mortal enemies is pretty stunning. She must have faced enormous difficulties – physical, emotional, political. The more I learned about her, the more astonished I was that today she is virtually unknown. I wanted to change that.
3. How do you maintain a balance between history and fiction in your books? What principles guide you as you write?

I suppose the image in my mind is of a tree with a trunk and naked limbs. That’s the history. In writing the story, I’m drawing leaves on that tree – filling in the blank spaces, imagining the events, the conversations and the intentions that nobody bothered to write down. Sometimes I come up with questions about historical events that are really very difficult to answer, and I have to make certain that the answers I come up with fit the story and fit the history as well, at least as far as we know it. My guiding principle is to not change the facts that are known, but I may interpret events in a way that adds to the dramatic action. In the end, I am a storyteller, not a historian.

4. Can you give an example of how you re-interpreted an event? 

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that a certain high ranking nobleman committed a traitorous act. As a result, his son was brutally punished, yet the ealdorman remained on the king’s council with no loss of stature or power. This didn’t make any sense to me, and I decided that there must be more to the story than the annals were telling us. So I made up a back story that put the treachery on the shoulders of the son rather than the father. Is that what really happened? I don’t know, but it works much better in my story.

5. What was something you learned about eleventh-century Europe that surprised you? 

I was surprised by the distances that people and goods traveled. It’s common to think that someone born in a village in England would never stray more than ten miles from home, and that’s very likely how it was for most people. But goods, silk for example, made their way to England from Constantinople. Furs from the north and spices from the south were traded in London, Paris, Rouen and Aachen. Men appointed to the archbishopric of York or Canterbury traditionally journeyed to Rome to receive confirmation of their office from the Pope. In 1027 a king of England made that trip, and he was one among many pilgrims, men and women alike, who went to Rome or to other pilgrimage sites like Santiago de Compostela in Spain or Lough Derg in Ireland. The journeys would have been difficult and hazardous, and may have taken months, but the elite, the clergy and the traders made them. And the Vikings, of course, went everywhere. 

6. What is your favorite scene in the novel? Which scene was the hardest to write? 

My favorite scene is probably the Prologue. It was one of the last scenes that I wrote and was not even part of the original manuscript. It came to me at one sitting – one of those writing moments when you almost feel as if Someone Else has taken control. The hardest scene to write was one that takes place in a tunnel and is seen through the eyes of a viewpoint character who suffers from claustrophobia. I wanted to make it terrifying reading without making it over-the-top melodramatic. Readers will have to tell me if I succeeded.

7. What has been the most difficult part of your journey to publication? The most exhilarating? 

The hardest times were the moments when the writing was going badly or I had received another rejection letter, and I asked myself if I wasn’t merely wasting my time – even wasting my life. Perhaps my time would be better spent volunteering in an after-school reading program or going back into the classroom. My friends, especially my writer friends, helped me through those rough spots. The most exhilarating moments were my visits last fall to New York and London to meet with my agent and my editors. Their enthusiasm for the book was overwhelming.

8. What do you hope readers take away from reading SHADOW ON THE CROWN? 

First of all, I hope that they will fall in love with Emma of Normandy, as I have, and that they will recognize her as a strong female character in a brutal world and in a particularly brutal time. I also hope that they will recognize that England’s history extends back before the Norman Conquest, and that what happened prior to 1066 is every bit as fascinating as what came after. Finally, I hope that they will want to read the next two books in the trilogy and learn more about the characters who have become so much a part of my life.

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Be sure to return on February 7 to read my review of SHADOW ON THE CROWN. In the meantime, visit Patricia's website and view photo galleries of the locations she visited while researching the novel. She recounts her travels and shares fascinating tidbits about life in eleventh century England on her blog.

Best Reads of 2012

I enjoyed all of the books I read in 2012, but these seven stand out:

THE TWELVE ROOMS OF THE NILE (2012) by Enid Shomer

Hands down my favorite book of the  year, TWELVE ROOMS imagines an impassioned friendship between conflicted spinster Florence Nightingale and ill and unproven writer Gustave Flaubert. Both voyaged along the Nile River as tourists in 1850, though no one knows if they ever actually met. In Shomer's luscious tale, they do, and are forever changed by the experience. Polar opposites motivated by equal measures of sensitivity and ambition, Florence and Gustave find in their relationship the courage necessary to flout conventional roles and devote themselves to heroic callings. A well-paced, adventure-studded plot counterbalances finely nuanced character development and breathtaking descriptive passages.  

ACCIDENTS OF PROVIDENCE (2012) by Stacia Brown

In seventeenth-century England, a unwed glove maker's apprentice gives birth in secret. The next day, the apprentice's employer finds the dead child buried near a slaughterhouse. Did the apprentice kill the child or simply try to hide a stillbirth? The law of the day does not distinguish between the two acts. With seasoned manipulation of chronology and point-of-view, this relatively short novel recounts the apprentice's trial, imprisonment and miraculous fate, as well as the love affair that sets everything in motion. A masterful debut, gripping in both plot and voice.

HOW TO LIVE: OR A LIFE OF MONTAIGNE IN ONE QUESTION AND TWENTY ATTEMPTS AT AN ANSWER (2011) by Sarah Blakewell

Many thanks to Sarah Blakewell for curing me of my aversion to one of the sixteenth century's most revered authors, Michel de Montaigne. Her delightful book, a thoroughly engaging mixture of biography, social history and philosophy, makes Montaigne and his era come alive like no other. Each of the book's twenty chapters confronts the central question that preoccupied Montaigne--how does one live?--by mining his life and Essays for answers: "Pay attention," "Use little tricks," "Question everything." The Sunday Times describes the book as "Superbly conceived and exquisitely written...enormously absorbing," and I couldn't agree more. As Blakewell makes abundantly clear, Montaigne's insights are as relevant today as they were five hundred years ago. Highly recommended for readers curious about the era, the man or human nature itself.

CATHEDRAL OF THE SEA (2009) by Ildefonso Falcones

A sweeping historical novel of fourteenth-century Barcelona in the tradition of Ken Follett and Alexandre Dumas. Arnau Estanyol, son of a fugitive serf, carves a new life for himself as a stoneworker in the free city of Barcelona. His ascent of the city's social ladder parallels the soaring construction of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Mar, to which he contributes labor, lucre, and love. Revenge for past offenses spurs his success, and his passion for a forbidden woman, the daughter of a Jewish friend, pits him against his beloved adopted brother, a priest of the Inquisition. A very satisfying read that in many ways offers a blueprint for successful historical fiction.

CASCADE (2012) by Maryanne O'Hara

As the fictional town of Cascade, Massachusetts, fights to escape inundation upon the construction of a regional reservoir in 1935, artist and new wife Desdemona Hart struggles to separate duty from desire, disregard from destiny. This luminous first novel, which I reviewed in detail here, explores the theme of drowning, on both the literal and figurative levels, as artist and town fight to preserve their integrity against the onslaught of circumstance. An author to watch, O'Hara writes with the discerning eye and soulful heart of a painter.

SHADOW ON THE CROWN (2013) by Patricia Bracewell

Coming from Viking/Penguin in February 2013, SHADOW ON THE CROWN is the first in a trilogy on Emma of Normandy, whose marriage to an English king in A.D. 1002 set in motion a series of events that would lead to the Norman Conquest of 1066. I will be reviewing Bracewell's novel in detail in January, but as I read an advanced copy in 2012, felt I should include it here. Bracewell does a magnificent job of recreating the early medieval world and breathing life into the events recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Her feisty, clever Emma captures the reader's heart, and the echoes of MacBeth that color the plot make this a suspenseful and highly enjoyable read.

BLUE ASYLUM (2012) by Kathy Hepinstall

A lyrical exploration of love and madness set at a secluded insane asylum during the Civil War. Iris Dunleavy, a plantation wife committed for willful behavior, falls in love with Ambrose Weller, a traumatized soldier given to fits that can only be calmed by focusing on the color blue. Far from mad, cunning Iris yearns for freedom and plots her escape...but dare she take broken Ambrose with her? Stunning language and quirky characters make this novel, alternately harsh and dreamy, linger in memory long after the cover closes.