Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Alvar the Kingmaker Author: Annie Whitehead ISBN: 978-1-78610-688-9 Publisher: FeedARead.com Publishing Type of book: 956-983 ME, England, Mercia, Alvar, King Edwy the Fairchild, King Edgar, other kings, church, rivalry, politics, unrequited love, survival, relationships, ruling, life in mid 10th century England/Merica, descendants Year it was published: 2016 Summary: The story, based on true events, begins when the king is caught in bed with his wife and her mother, and ends with the murder of another king, a crime attributed to his stepmother, the queen. Central to the story is Alvar, earl of Mercia. Having helped King Edgar to secure the throne, amid great unrest he must fight to clear the queen’s name, bring the country back from the brink of civil war, and stabilise the monarchy for Edgar’s son, Æthelred the Unready. He does this at great personal cost, and his enemies will stop at little: Abbot Dunstan, banished, recalled, and in no mood to forgiv...

Name of Book: To be a Queen Author: Annie Whitehead ISBN: 978-1-78407-165-3 Publisher: FeedARead.com Type of book: 874-918, Mercia, Wessex, King and Queen, battles, vikings, daily life, royalty, ruling, gardening, bee-keeping, marriage, partnership, peacekeeper, family Year it was published: 2015 Summary: This is the true story of Aethelflaed, the 'Lady of the Mercians', daughter of Alfred the Great. She was the only female leader of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is the tale of one family, two kingdoms and a common enemy. Born into the royal house of Wessex at the height of the Viking wars, she is sent to her aunt in Mercia as a foster-child, only to return home when the Vikings overrun Mercia. In Wessex, she witnesses another Viking attack and this compounds her fear of the enemy. She falls in love with a Mercian lord but is heartbroken to be given as bride to the ruler of Mercia to seal the alliance between the two Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. She must learn to sub...