Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since childhood I’ve been fascinated by the history of England, and fifteen years ago I made the decision to write a series of novels set before the Norman Conquest. Since then I’ve immersed myself in the history of that period and made numerous visits to the locations where I set my novels. I’ve been frustrated though by the enormous gaps in the historical records of that time, in particular the lack of information about the women. Because of that I am drawn to the work of authors who, like me, are attempting to resurrect and retell the lost stories of those remarkable women. 


I wrote

The Steel Beneath the Silk

By Patricia Bracewell,

Book cover of The Steel Beneath the Silk

What is my book about?

In the year 1012 England’s Norman-born Queen Emma has been ten years wed to an aging, ruthless, haunted King Æthelred.…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium: An Englishman's World

Patricia Bracewell Why did I love this book?

This was one of my earliest research books on early England, and it’s an entertaining introduction to a world that is somewhat familiar, yet vastly different from ours. The authors take us through a calendar year, focusing on activities and attitudes from fasting to feasting, from medicine to marriage practices, and I referred to it again and again as I wrote my novels set in 11th century England. The book is filled with historical anecdotes and intriguing historical figures, bringing that long-ago world to vivid life. My own copy is heavily adorned with yellow marker, in particular the chapter that introduces Emma of Normandy, the woman who would become the central figure of my trilogy. 

By Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Year 1000 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium

The Year 1000 is a vivid and surprising portrait of life in England a thousand years ago - no spinach, no sugar, but a world which already knew brain surgeons and property developers, and yes, even the occasional gossip columnist.

Uncovering such wonderfully unexpected details, authors Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger bring this distant world closer than it has ever been before. How did monks communicate if they were not allowed to speak? What punishments could the law impose without stone and iron prisons in which to lock up…


Book cover of The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women

Patricia Bracewell Why did I love this book?

Recent genetic research on the human remains of a 10th-century Viking grave excavated in 1878 in Birka, Sweden, rocked the world of Viking studies when it determined that the warrior buried with numerous weapons and two horses was not male, but female. I loved how this author imagines what that woman’s life might have been like. She also suggests that the woman buried in the Birka grave was merely one of many female Viking warriors, offering data drawn from archaeological finds, from historical accounts, from language studies, and from the sagas to support the theory that ‘shield maids’ really did exist. I had been dubious about the possibility of female Vikings, but the arguments presented in this book are too compelling. Reading it changed my mind. Now I’m a believer.

By Nancy Marie Brown,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Real Valkyrie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the tradition of Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra, Brown lays to rest the hoary myth that Viking society was ruled by men and celebrates the dramatic lives of female Viking warriors

“Once again, Brown brings Viking history to vivid, unexpected life―and in the process, turns what we thought we knew about Norse culture on its head. Superb.” ―Scott Weidensaul, author of New York Times bestselling A World on the Wing

"Magnificent. It captured me from the very first page." ―Pat Shipman, author of The Invaders

In 2017, DNA tests revealed to the collective shock of many scholars that a Viking warrior…


Book cover of Ice Land

Patricia Bracewell Why did I love this book?

In this genre-bending novel the author weaves Norse myth with a tale set in the very real world of early medieval Iceland. Her descriptions of the landscape are wondrous, and her portrayal of the lives and culture of the early settlers of Iceland ring true. I loved how she quite successfully brought the Norse gods and one particular goddess down to earth. I am not as knowledgeable about the Nordic gods and their stories as I would like to be. This novel was a terrific way to begin a journey of discovery taking me in that direction.

By Betsy Tobin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ice Land as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A beautiful epic of love, longing, redemption, and enchantment in the tradition of Marion Zimmer Bradley?s The Mists of Avalon

Iceland, AD 1000
Freya knows that her people are doomed. Warned by the Fates of an impending disaster, she must embark on a journey to find a magnificent gold necklace, one said to possess the power to alter the course of history. But even as Freya travels deep into the mountains of Iceland, the country is on the brink of war. The new world order of Christianity is threatening the old ways of Iceland?s people, and tangled amidst it all…


Book cover of Hild

Patricia Bracewell Why did I love this book?

There is an immediacy and specificity in Griffith’s descriptions of 7th century Anglo-Saxon Britain that completely immersed me in that unfamiliar time and place. She uses language like a magic wand to create a world that is hard and cold and dangerous. Life is peripatetic; 'home' is a concept rather than a place; days revolve around the laborious tasks that keep a people alive; years spin through the seasons of sowing, harvesting, feasting, and warring.

All is seen through the bright mind of Hild, a historical figure and a child when the book opens. Throughout, she is canny and quick, seeing much and saying little. We would call her a prodigy; the Anglo-Saxons called her a saint. Griffith has brought her to life. I was mesmerized.

By Nicola Griffith,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Hild as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hild is born into a world in transition. In seventh-century Britain, small kingdoms are merging, usually violently. A new religion is coming ashore; the old gods' priests are worrying. Edwin of Northumbria plots to become overking of the Angles, ruthlessly using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, belief. Hild is the king's youngest niece. She has the powerful curiosity of a bright child, a will of adamant, and a way of seeing the world - of studying nature, of matching cause with effect, of observing human nature and predicting what will happen next - that can seem uncanny, even…


Book cover of The Lost Queen

Patricia Bracewell Why did I love this book?

So many brilliant authors have explored the Arthurian legends that I had trouble believing that there could be more to say. Signe Pike, though, researched the earliest appearance of the legend of Merlin and traced it, surprisingly, to 6th-century Scotland where she set this tale. Merlin and his sister are given their early Celtic names, Lailoken and Languoreth and there is a Scottish/Celtic feel to the book that evokes that historical time and place. I was particularly moved by Pike’s exploration of the dilemma of the peace-weaving queen, forced to choose between loyalty to her birth family and loyalty to the family into which she married. Sadly, that was the bitter fate of many peace-weaving brides as rival tribes vied against each other for power and ultimate control.  

By Signe Pike,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lost Queen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Outlander meets Camelot” (Kirsty Logan, author of The Gracekeepers) in the first book of an exciting historical trilogy that reveals the untold story of Languoreth—a powerful and, until now, tragically forgotten queen of sixth-century Scotland—twin sister of the man who inspired the legendary character of Merlin.

Intelligent, passionate, rebellious, and brave, Languoreth is the unforgettable heroine of The Lost Queen, a tale of conflicted loves and survival set against the cinematic backdrop of ancient Scotland, a magical land of myths and superstition inspired by the beauty of the natural world. One of the most powerful early medieval queens in British…


Explore my book 😀

The Steel Beneath the Silk

By Patricia Bracewell,

Book cover of The Steel Beneath the Silk

What is my book about?

In the year 1012 England’s Norman-born Queen Emma has been ten years wed to an aging, ruthless, haunted King Æthelred. The marriage is a bitterly unhappy one, between a queen who seeks to create her own sphere of influence within the court and a suspicious king who eyes her efforts with hostility and resentment. But royal discord shifts to grudging alliance when Cnut of Denmark, with the secret collusion of his English concubine Elgiva, invades England at the head of a massive Viking army. Amid the chaos of war, Emma must outwit a fierce enemy whose goal is conquest and outmaneuver the cunning Elgiva, who threatens all those whom Emma loves.

You might also like...

Curiosity and the Cat

By Martin Treanor,

Book cover of Curiosity and the Cat

Martin Treanor Author Of The Logos Prophecy

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Illustrator Reader Jester Quantum physics buff

Martin's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Curiosity is certain she saw fairies at the bottom of the garden. Little does she know . . . they saw her first.

Emotionally abandoned by her mother and infatuated by a figurine of a fairy ballerina she discovers in an old toy shop, eight-year-old Curiosity Portland steals the figurine, unleashing strange and frightening happenings around her home, which, in turn, reveals a disturbing family history. 

An ominous tale of faerie folk.

Curiosity and the Cat

By Martin Treanor,

What is this book about?

Curiosity is certain she saw fairies at the bottom of the garden. Little does she know . . . they saw her first.

Emotionally abandoned by her mother and infatuated by a figurine of a fairy ballerina she discovers in an old toy shop, eight-year-old Curiosity Portland steals the figurine, unleashing strange and frightening happenings around her home, which, in turn, reveals a disturbing family history.

An ominous tale of faerie folk.



5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Scandinavia, the Middle Ages, and Vikings?

Scandinavia 28 books
The Middle Ages 429 books
Vikings 116 books