A Dream Within A Dream: Review, Guest Post & Giveaway: Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell!

Shadow on the Crown
Author: Patricia Bracewell
Genre: Romance/Historical Fiction
Release Date: February 7, 2013
Publisher: Viking Adult
Source: Publisher

Description:

A rich tale of power and forbidden love revolving around a young medieval queen.

In 1002, fifteen-year-old Emma of Normandy crosses the Narrow Sea to wed the much older King Athelred of England, whom she meets for the first time at the church door. Thrust into an unfamiliar and treacherous court, with a husband who mistrusts her, stepsons who resent her and a bewitching rival who covets her crown, Emma must defend herself against her enemies and secure her status as queen by bearing a son.

Determined to outmaneuver her adversaries, Emma forges alliances with influential men at court and wins the affection of the English people. But her growing love for a man who is not her husband and the imminent threat of a Viking invasion jeopardize both her crown and her life.

Based on real events recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Shadow on the Crown introduces readers to a fascinating, overlooked period of history and an unforgettable heroine whose quest to find her place in the world will resonate with modern readers.

Shadow on the Crown is a beautifully written novel set in the year 1002 that follows young Emma of Normandy as she is sent across the Narrow Sea from her home to wed the much older King Athelred of England. After being thrown into a new land and a new kingdom, she must deal with a husband who doesn't trust her, stepchildren who despise her, and another woman who will do anything to get her hands on the crown. Emma must learn to adapt to her new role as Queen and she makes alliances with men at court in order to win the love of her English people. Soon Emma finds herself falling in love with a man who is not her husband, the king, all while dealing with the dangerous threat of a Viking invasion that would threaten not only her role as Queen, but her life as well.

I don't normally read much historical fiction, but this book's description had me intrigued as it was set in medieval England and the surrounding area. I thought that a book with a strong female lead during that time would prove to be fascinating. Well, I was definitely not disappointed with this book. Emma proves to be a strong young woman who must mature and adapt to her new life quickly. She is brave, courageous, loyal, and self-assured - all great qualities for a Queen and as the novel's leading lady. The other characters weren't as rounded as she was, but they all provided the required situations and relational ties - both good and bad - that Emma needed in order to grow as a character. The setting was perfect and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the time period as well as the varying locales found throughout the novel. The writing was what really got to me. The author has a magical way of writing that draws the reader into the scenario at hand - whatever it may be. I found myself easily imagining the story unfolding while I felt I was amongst the characters. I could shut my eyes and see what the author was describing, which is a marvelous trait that not all writers have. The writing itself was wonderful and had a solid plot and pace that felt natural. Overall, I loved this magnificent adventure back in time to witness the brave life of Emma and the opportunity to love her and root for her throughout the book. I very highly recommend this novel to fans of historical fiction as well as to readers who love a fantastic story told by a truly enchanting author.

Time Travel: Imagining Emma

by Patricia Bracewell

On a sunny July day in 2007 I stood in front of the stony corpse of an 11th century ducal palace in Fecamp, Normandy. I was there as an independent scholar. That’s an eloquent way of saying I was a student, but I wasn’t enrolled in any university. So what was a former English Major with a minimal grasp of French supposed to be studying in a fishing village on Normandy’s Alabaster Coast?

I was conducting background research for my novel, Shadow on the Crown.

Having blithely disregarded the standard “write what you know” advice drummed into aspiring authors, I had decided to set my novel in the 11th century, about which, when I started the project, I knew precisely nothing. Mind you, by this time I’d researched the period feverishly, reading history texts and poring over translations of manuscripts written by guys with names like Dudo and Saxo. Now I had come to Normandy to explore at first hand the setting where my real-life heroine grew up.

This palace at Fecamp, I had determined, was where my story must begin.

In front of me, the favorite retreat of the early Norman dukes looked desolate, even in bright sunshine. Ivy crawled up the broken walls to meet leggy shrubs cascading from above. Three square, roofless towers guarded the outer ramparts, but there was not another soul in sight, much less an invading army. The only invader here was me as I slipped past the flimsy barricade strung across the entrance to take a closer look.

Thanks to my previous research I knew that I was seeing only a fraction of what would have been here a millennium ago. There would have been guesthouses, kitchens, stables, storerooms, an armory, animal pens, dovecots – all vanished now. Much of what remained was hidden by the debris of centuries where the ground had sloped upward to cover the lower walls.

In the great hall where William the Conqueror held a feast in 1067 to celebrate his victory at Hastings, a couple of good-sized trees stood in the spot where a huge central hearth would have been. Tree roots, shrubs, and broken stones filled what must have been a magnificent and elaborate chamber, and the silence around me was broken only by traffic noise and birdsong instead of the voices of servants and retainers.

Clambering up to stand in one of the square towers, I looked out through a narrow window embrasure cut into walls four feet thick. If the roof had been intact this tower room must have been dark and cold, even in July. I tried to imagine what it might have looked like once, its wooden roof beams intricately carved, walls plastered and whitened with lime wash and covered with embroidered hangings. I furnished it with beds, wooden coffers for storage, charcoal braziers for heat, and beeswax candles for light. I placed two young women in the room – sisters of the duke, and I imagined one of them peering out that tiny window slit.
If she looked to her right she would have seen the grounds of an abbey founded two hundred years before her birth. A newer church stood there now, and I had to make my way across a broad street to explore its interior. Inside, a docent showed me where a visiting angel had appeared in 990, leaving a footprint in the marble – a detail I had not found in any history book.

Later I made my way to a white, shingled beach below a chalk headland – the mirror image of Dover’s white cliffs. I imagined a fifteen-year-old girl surrounded by servants and family as she boarded a longship, its high prow pointed towards England and a royal wedding.

Would my heroine have looked forward with eagerness to those cliffs across the water, or would she have gazed with longing at the headlands of her home? That was one question that would lie at the heart of my novel.

A friend once asked where I would go if I could journey anywhere I wished. I didn’t have to think very hard. I would travel to the past, I replied, back a thousand years; and I would stay just long enough to find out if I’d imagined any of it right.

Thank you for stopping by the blog today and sharing a bit of insight into the creation of Emma, the main character in Shadow on the Crown, Patricia!

The publisher has included some of the interesting maps and lineage charts found in the book for your viewing pleasure!

Patricia Bracewell holds degrees in English Literature (B.A. Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, 1972; M.A. University of California at Santa Barbara, 1974) and has studied Anglo-Saxon History both as an undergrad in the U.S. and as an independent scholar in Britain (Cambridge Summer Study Program, Downing College, July, 2007). She was born and raised in California, where she taught high school literature and composition before embarking upon her writing career. She is a member of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists and the Historical Novel Society, and she is a charter member of the S.F. Bay Area writers’ organization, Left Coast Writers©. She has travelled extensively in Europe, Asia and South America, both for research and for pleasure. She enjoys gardening, tennis and, of course, reading, and she is still a decent guitarist and folk singer, although her writing leaves her little time for practice. She has two sons and lives with her husband in the San Francisco Bay area.

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