Carina by Alison Morton - A Review by Linda Fetterly Root

The Review Christmas Giveaway!

Today  Linda Fetterly Root reviews Carina by Alison Morton. For our Christmas Giveaway, The author has very kindly offered a winner's choice - an ebook or paperback copy will be sent to a winner.  To be in with a chance of winning this wonderful prize, simply leave a comment below or on our Facebook page.

Good luck!

Carina

During the hectic holiday season, even the most avid reader rarely finds the time to cuddle up in a comfortable spot with the work of a favorite author without being interrupted by a postal carrier at the door or the smell of cookies being toasted in the oven.  But there is a solution, and it is called a novella. The problem, however, is how few of our favorite authors write them.  I never appreciated why that was so universally true until I read Alison Morton’s seventh book in her Nova Roma series, Carina, and realized the crafting of the novella requires a special skill set which even the best of authors often lack.

A good novella taps the ancient talents of a storyteller, without the need of a cumbersome backstory or a cast of thousands. It flows easiest when it draws from the reader’s world as well as the alternative one created by the author and works well when its creator has a series with a following.  Alison Morton’s offering Carina satisfies on all counts.  Her genius provides the action and the setting, but the underlying tensions come right out of network news. Murder, treason and corruption know no boundaries in time or geography.  Thus, the product of Morton’s ingenuity is a robust action story guaranteed to satisfy committed Roma Nova fans, yet capable of standing alone.  It is also a stylish teaser for the reader who is not yet addicted to Morton’s alternative to contemporary Western Europe and North American society, but willing to take the tour. Visit Ms. Morton’s website for a broader view, complete with maps and photographs of what Nova Roma might look like, should  we choose to visit ( https://alison-morton.com/books-2/inceptio).

For the uninitiated, the premises of the Roma Nova series follows:  A remnant of Ancient Roman Civilization has survived and established an enclave in the area of modern Europe we associated with the small principalities whose names are only known to coin collectors and people whose parents came from Luxembourg or Liechtenstein.  Its society is structured loosely on Roman principles. While it is a titular matriarchy, it form is similar to a classic oligarchy, governed by aristocratic  families who often compete with one another for control.  And for those tempted to put Morton’s works aside as another collection of militant feminist chic books, think again. The men of Novo Roma are just as formidable and provocative as its women. Alison Morton has avoided retelling Roma Nova’s complex history in her novels, but admits it inhabits her head in great detail. She has created a society as multi-dimensional as Frank Herbert's Dune, complete with its architecture and belief structure.  Although Morton's modern protagonist Carina Mitela’s adventure enfolds in a deceptively contemporary New World setting, the hint of the Roma Nova counterculture seduces us from the shadows, We are not the least disappointed to discover Carina must return to Roma Nova to resolve the puzzling aspects of her mission.

The novella Carina is a compliment to the three books of the Carina trilogy.  The character Carina is the perfect protagonist for the stories.  Until shortly before the events in the novella, she was living in the Eastern United States in autonomous New York City as Karen Brown, but her ties to her dead mother’s family makes her a target of intrigue. Her grandmother Aurelia is the most powerful woman in the Roma Nova ruling class, and her American granddaughter is her natural heir. But how Karen Brown becomes Carina Mitela, a member of the Praetorium Guard and the wife of the powerful special forces commander Conrad Tellus is the topic of Morton's  novel Inceptio, but one need not have read it to enjoy the novella. 

The cityscape of Toronto - the 'New World" in general.

The fast-paced novella traces its namesake on her first covert mission as a member of the Praetoriam Guard, an  adventure to which she is assigned with the knowledge by her husband. While Conrad Tellus is an indulgent and loving spouse, he is a strict and unyielding disciplinarian when dealing with his troops, and Carina is not spared his wrath when she circumvents his orders. She had just been released from solitary confinement for disobedience when she is dispatched on what was presented as a routine mission to detain and return a traitor.

From the mission's onset, Carina has her doubts. There is one possible source of danger known to both Conrad and Carina. The former Karen Brown’s departure from the New World was not without repercussions. There is still a warrant for her arrest on the books of  the Eastern United States. But as long as she follows Conrad’s instructions and stays away from the EUS, her superiors assure her that she and her partner Flavius should be home in a snap, with quarry in tow. Although only twenty-four-years-old and newest of the Guard, Carina is no one’s fool.  This is not her first brush with the dangers inherent in being a Mitelus.  From the beginning, the circumstances of the mission to capture and return a woman who has fled Roma Nova for Quebec, is too secretive for her taste. Not even Conrad will tell her what the fugitive has done. ‘Need to know,’ he scolds.  She wonders if the so-called routine assignment might be a means of sidelining her, as further punishment for her past insubordination, but her  familiarity with the area in the Republic of Quebec which she had visited as a child makes her the ideal person for the mission.  She knows how to blend in, what food to order and where to shop.  She remembers crossing into Canada at Niagara Falls, because her father thought it offered the better view, which is exactly what my father told me when we visited the Falls when I was ten years old.

The house in Montreal where Carina was based

However, the forces at work against Carina both in the New World and at home have other plans. Carina's own nature and the machinations of her enemies on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean make the clandestine mission a high risk operation for Carina and her allies. And, in addition to the factions determined to defeat her, in her Karen Brown persona, she has left behind an  embittered female law enforcement agent obsessed with bringing her down.  Alison Morton has a special way of creating especially hateful bad guys, a talent which makes the reader more of a participant than a bystander.

Morton’s characters are artfully drawn, many of them driven by the same motives we see in the daily headlines of the Guardian and the Washington Post.   I love the way Carina can utter an authentic  ancient Roman oath, and follow it with an exuberant,' F--- off.'  Treachery abounds, and not always coming from the predicted camp.  Even the mission itself is not what it seems. 

When Carina finally returns to Roma Nova, a whole new set of intrigues surface.  In this stage of the story, we are treated to a new glimpse of Aurelia, the head of the Mitelus Family, and we realize why she is so formidable.  For the new visitor Roma Nova, the few scenes hosted by Aurelia should send them searching for Ms. Morton's second box set. While Carina is a very modern story, set in modern times, after she returns to Roma Nova at the conclusion of her mission, old family rivalries,long-held grudges,  political maneuverings and betrayals surface, and we find ourselves checking our calendars for the Ides of March. 

The plot of the novella is a gem, the action is believable, the dialog is crisp, and the conclusion of the story does not leave the reader dangling on the edge of a cliff.  It does, however, promise more adventures to come.   Morton includes a sample of the novel Inceptio to make certain new members of her audience can visit Carina in her role of Karen Brown.  I have read Carina twice now and enjoyed it on both excursions.  I  am ordering paperback copies for stocking-stuffers and one for my special book shelf.  Reviewing Carina has been a pleasure.

 Linda Fetterly Root

About the reviewer: Linda Root is the author of The First Marie and the Queen of Scots, The Last Knight and the Queen of Scots, and four books in The Legacy of the Queen of Scots series. The fifth, Deliverance of the Lamb, is coming in early 2016. She lives in the Southern California high desert community of Yucca Valley with her husband Chris and two giant woolly Alaskan Malamutes, Maxx and Maya. She is a retired major crimes prosecutor, a member of the Marie Stuart Society, and of the California State Bar and the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.  

Linda Root's books can be found on Amazon.

About the author: Alison Morton writes the acclaimed Roma Nova thriller series featuring modern Praetorian heroines. She blends her deep love of Roman history with six years’ military service and a life of reading crime, adventure and thriller fiction.

All six Roma Nova full-length novels have been awarded the BRAG Medallion. SUCCESSIO, AURELIA and INSURRECTIO were selected as Historical Novel Society’s Indie Editor’s Choices.  AURELIA was a finalist in the 2016 HNS Indie Award. SUCCESSIO was selected as an Editor’s Choice in The Bookseller. CARINA is a novella set between INCEPTIO and PERFIDITAS.

A ‘Roman nut’ since age 11, Alison has misspent decades clambering over Roman sites throughout Europe. She holds an MA History, blogs about Romans and writing.

Now she continues to write, cultivates a Roman herb garden and drinks wine in France with her husband.

Social media links

Connect with Alison on her Roma Nova site: http://alison-morton.com

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alison_morton @alison_morton

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5783095.Alison_Morton
Alison’s Amazon page: http://Author.to/AlisonMortonAmazon

Buying links for CARINA

Amazon: http://myBook.to/CARINA

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/fr/en/ebook/carina-7

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/book/carina/id1308402176

Barnes & Noble NOOK:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/carina-alison-morton/1127527969?ean=2940158978593

What’s CARINA about?

Carina Mitela is still a young inexperienced officer in the Praetorian Guard Special Forces. Disgraced and smarting from a period in the cells for a disciplinary offence, she is sent out of everybody's way on a seemingly straightforward mission overseas.

All she and her comrade-in-arms, Flavius, have to do is bring back a traitor from the Republic of Quebec. Under no circumstances will she risk entering the Eastern United States where she is still wanted under her old name Karen Brown.  But when she and Flavius discover a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of Roma Nova, what price is personal danger against fulfilling the mission?

---------

Set in the time after INCEPTIO but before PERFIDITAS in the Roma Nova series, this thriller novella reveals hidden parts of Carina's early life in Roma Nova. And North America isn't quite the continent we know in our timeline...

FAITHFUL TRAITOR: The Story of Margaret Pole by Samantha Wilcoxson~ a review by Linda Fetterly Root

Today Linda Root reviews FaithfulTraitor, the fabulous novel by Samantha Wilcoxson. The author has kindly offered an ebook as a giveaway. To be in with a chance of winning this fabulous story, simply leave a comment below of on our Facebook Page.

The winner will be drawn on 17th January 2018.

Good luck!

Margaret Pole's Coat-of-Arms

Writing a historical biographical novel is a challenge well met by American novelist Samantha Wilcoxson as she presents the intriguing life story of Margaret Pole, sometimes known as The Last Plantagenet.  Lady Pole, Countess of Salisbury, is familiar to most casual readers as the old woman who had run afoul of Henry VIII, ultimately to be chased around the scaffold by an incompetent headsman who took nine strokes to separate her head from her body.

Several well researched historical accounts of Countess Margaret’s life appear both in traditional histories and in historical fiction. Many of them  dwell upon the reported versions of her bizarre death. However, the glory of Ms. Wilcoxson's novel is its celebration of her life as a loving and cherished wife, a devoted mother, as well as a devout Catholic and reluctant courtier.  Her death, however it occurred, is but a footnote.  Another compelling feature of  Faithful Traitor is the  intriguing picture it presents of the countess's Cousin Henry VIII and other principals in the drama of his reign. One of my favorites is the appearance of Henry's young fifth wife Catherine Howard, who brings the imprisoned elderly countess warm clothes. 

The early pages set the stage upon which Margaret Pole’s life played out. The reader quickly discovers the protagonist is very much a Plantagenet princess, whose acceptance of the Tudors is an appeasement to the inevitable.  She is  keenly cognizant of the threat posed by any surviving Plantagenets to the nascent and fragile Tudor Dynasty. Good men had died for no more reason than their pedigree, her beloved brother Edward among them.  But the woman to whom we are introduced is a pragmatist.  She has children to raise.  Their futures depend upon her survival. From the beginning, the author lets us know that survival is the novel's theme.

Kinship:  Appreciation of her bloodline is a principal element in the novel.

Funeral effigy of Elizabeth of York
Wikimedia, via Creative Commons

• Margaret Pole's story begins with the death of Queen Elizabeth of York, King Henry VII's consort, daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III, the king who lost his crown and his life to Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.  Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, took the throne as Henry VII, asserting himself as the Lancastrian claimant.  But it was his victory and not his heritage that placed Richard’s crown on Henry Tudor’s head. Many English considered him a usurper.  In a move that proved ingenious, the new king brought the patina of legitimacy to his reign by quickly marrying Edward IV’s daughter Elizabeth of York, a hugely popular maneuver  in a nation fatigued of internecine warfare.  To the surprise of many, the politically astute marriage became an ideal match. Austere and frugal and not especially personable, Henry listened to his consort's advice and respected her opinions.  Among other admirable characteristics, Queen Elizabeth  sought amnesty for the surviving members of her family, of which their were precious few. Among those who survived the War of the Roses, Elizabeth's cousin Margaret Pole and her siblings, offspring of the queen's uncle George, Duke of Clarence, received the benefit of Elizabeth's protection, and hence, the king's good will. However, upon Elizabeth of York's death during a difficult childbirth which also claimed the life of the child, the surviving Plantagenets had need of caution. Thus,  with her cousin's Elizabeth's death in 1503, Margaret Pole begins to display the sound instinct and cunning which become her hallmark.  One joy of the novel is the clarity with which the author lets us see how fragile the balance between survival and death, and how well Margaret performs her balancing act.  Even when her fortunes seem the brightest, she is aware she is the last Plantagenet princess living in Tudor England, a dangerous place to be.  

Love and Friendship:  

Even Henry VII's friendly act in approving her marriage to Sir Richard Pole when a more politically beneficial union might have enriched the crown was no guarantee the king's good will would survive his consort's death. But Sir Richard was the king's friend, and the marriage was a happy one. It also neutralized the threat presented by the lady's bloodline. However,  Richard Pole was a soldier in the service of the king.  And while their marriage was a love match, it was one fraught with absences while Sir Richard marched to war. The marching season after the Queen's death brought a the lovers to a farewell which was permanent.  Thus, widowed the year after Elizabeth's death, and within days of her own delivery of a healthy son, Margaret found herself without her best friend and lover, her beloved Sir Richard Pole.  

With a daughter and four surviving sons in her care, and no money to ease the burden, Lady Margaret Pole had little time to grieve.  She borrowed money for her husband’s funeral from his friend the Duke of Somerset. Still in mourning, she left the solitude of her country home  behind and moved to Sion Abbey on the banks of the Thames for a period of recovery. As was appropriate in 16th Century England,  she sought placement of her older sons in the homes of noble families able to undertake the ward ship of the offspring of a princess. 

Catherine (Catalina) of Aragon,
{PD-Art}

During her early widowhood, Margaret made an important friend in Princess Catalina of Aragon, the adolescent Spanish wife of Arthur, Prince of Wales. Margaret encouraged Catalina to use her influence to free the husband of a friend and many other young nobles who had fought with the Plantagenets. However,  she concentrated her own efforts on the advancement of her children. As for her personal future, she was content to bide her time and  keep her head low.  It was not a long wait until circumstances changed..

Henry VIII ~  Margaret's Royal Cousin.

When Henry VII died, he was succeeded by his second- born son, Margaret‘s cousin Henry.  Princess Catalina's young husband Arthur had died.  The excitement pervading the kingdom upon the ascension of the beautiful youth who was in physical appearance the spitting image of his Plantagenet grandfather, Edward IV, still left Margaret ill at ease on her visit to the court.  When the man she regarded as ‘tall, handsome and charismatic’ approached her, she reminded herself that he was not a true Plantagenet, but a frightful Tudor.  When she fell to the floor in the deepest bow, she was as much in fear as she was in awe, until the golden man who towered over her spoke to her in a sonorous voice :

Rise, dear Margaret and give me a kiss.’[1]  

Henry VIII early in his reign.  ((PD-Art))

As the author takes us through the early days of Henry VIII’s reign, a period when Margaret Pole enjoyed her position in the household of Henry’s consort Catherine of Aragon, we glimpse signs of storm clouds gathering.  It is a well-worked and familiar story in which Margaret Pole finds herself aligned with the losing faction.  As the king tired of his wife and despaired of his lack of a male heir, Margaret Pole found her affiliation with Queen Catherine and their devout Catholicism more of a danger that her bloodline. Yet, until the king broke with the Roman Church, he held Margaret in high esteem, and appointed her to serve as his daughter Princess Mary's governess.  During this phase of the novel, we glimpse a Margaret who is not the least naive nor is she nonpartisan.  There is a movement afoot to marry the king's daughter Mary Tudor to Margaret's son Reginald Pole, who serves the Roman Church.

The author adds the intrigues of the Reformation at precisely the correct point to hold the reader's interest, introducing us to a whole new cast of characters. There is danger lurking in the shadows, in this case,  personified by the King's henchman Thomas Cromwell. When  Cromwell cannot dispose of the very Catholic Princess Mary,  he focuses on the Poles. I applaud  the author's decision to avoid rehashing the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, thus keeping this very much the Countess of Salisbury's story.  By the time of Anne's fall and Jane Seymour's rise, Lady Margaret Pole is ousted from Princess Mary's household and isolated from the Tudor Court. Use of the novel form permits the telling of the last chapters of Margaret Pole's story with the pathos of a women whose sees her world crumbling around her.  Albeit, this remains Margaret's story, and the political intrigue is reported from a pro-Catholic point of view, but it is presented fairly. While Ms. Wilcoxson takes license  with the ending of Margaret's saga by axing the traditional version of  her gory execution, she does so honestly.  In my view,  what sets this account above other literary works in which the Countess of Salisbury appears is her poignant portrayal as an ambitious parent, loving wife and  doting grandmother.  Arranging suitable marriages for her children were a priority in her life.  The aspirations of the Poles and other Catholics may have looked too high in plotting a marriage between the  Mary Tudor and  Reginald Pole, therefore bringing Margaret Pole to the final chapters of her stunning life.

Mary I, PD Art

Cardinal Pole, PD Art

When her youngest son is taken to the Tower and the family is linked to a plot to marry Henry Tudor’s Catholic daughter Mary to Margaret son Reginald Pole, who is in the Vatican in the service of the Church, Margaret begins to see the walls closing in upon her. Soon she is under house arrest and suffering from depression.  Perhaps her lowest moment in learning one of her sons has betrayed his brother and cousins to spare his own life. She had always coddled her youngest, Geoffrey.


The Countess's execution came with little preamble, with only an hour's notice given Lady Margaret to give her time to pray. It was carried out privately within the compound  on a scaffold erected  on Tower Green near the church of Saint Peter Advincula, where others headless nobles charged with treason had been buried.  Later, when a servant was sent to clear her room, the following words were discovered etched on a wall, and to me suggest she perhaps did attempt to outrun the headsman:

For traitors on the block should die; I am no traitor, no, not I!
My faithfulness stands fast and so, Towards the block I shall not go!
Nor make one step, as you shall see; Christ in Thy Mercy, save Thou me![2]

The Execution of Margaret Pole,  courtesy of  Creative Commons 

Faithful Traitor: The Story of Margaret Pole is not a book for everyone.  Readers who do not like their historical novels cluttered with too much history may not like it.  In my view, it  is more of the ilk of Alison Weir’s book about Lady Jane Grey, Innocent Traitor. I classify both works in a sub-genre known as fictionalized biography. Both books are written by  authors who know their topic well, and present them with clarity and charm.

 I cannot quarrel with the author’s decision to disclaim the scene in which Henry Tudor’s headsman chases the old lady around the scaffold as she seeks to escape the ax.  It was a private execution, and only two eyewitness accounts of the Countess’s beheading survive.  Those present at the execution would have been fully vetted, and their objectivity is suspect. Neither of them are sympathetic to the unrepentant lady and neither version is consistent with the Margaret Pole who graces the pages of Samantha Wilcoxson’s novel.  I invite those of you who read the book  to judge for yourselves. Should you conclude that the traditional version is Margaret Pole's execution is true, then also consider, if you will,  whether the last Plantagenet princess might have staged-managed her bizarre ending to garner sympathy for her cause?  While her name may not be as well known as Queen Anne Boleyn's, nor is it forgotten.

Scaffold site on Tower Green outside the Church of Saint Peter Advincula,
Wikimedia and Creative Commons

Reviewer's Note:

Faithful Traitor: The Story of Margaret Pole, has been highly acclaimed since its publication in June, 2016. It has been a Historical Novel Society Editor’s choice and highly praised by the notable Helen Hollick at her Discovered Diamonds review site. The author has graciously offered an e-book to the winner of a drawing chosen from those who comment on this review.  

---

[1] [1](Wilcoxson, Samantha. Faithful Traitor {Kindle Location 423}.).  [2] (Wilcoxson, Samantha. Faithful Traitor (Kindle Locations 4812-4813). UNKNOWN, but believed by many to have been the words of Margaret Pole.

About the author:

Samantha Wilcoxson is an American writer and history enthusiast. Her novel, 'Plantagenet Princess, Tudor Queen', looks at the transition from the Plantagenet dynasty into the Tudor era through the eyes of Elizabeth of York. This book has been named an Editors' Choice by the Historical Novel Society. Samantha's next novel, 'Faithful Traitor', will continue to look at the Plantagenet remnant by featuring Margaret Pole.

During rare moments when Samantha is not reading or writing, she enjoys traveling and enjoying time at the lake with her husband and three children.

Links:

Website

Twitter

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the reviewer: Linda Root is the author of The First Marie and the Queen of Scots, The Last Knight and the Queen of Scots, and four books in The Legacy of the Queen of Scots series. The fifth, Deliverance of the Lamb, is coming in early 2016. She lives in the Southern California high desert community of Yucca Valley with her husband Chris and two giant woolly Alaskan Malamutes, Maxx and Maya. She is a retired major crimes prosecutor, a member of the Marie Stuart Society, and of the California State Bar and the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.  
Linda Root's books can be found on Amazon.

Sharon reviews In the Shadow of the Gallows by Linda Root

The author of this book has kindly offered Kindles copies of In the Shadow of the Gallows to TWO lucky reader. To be in with a chance to win, just leave a comment below or on our Facebook page.

The draw will be announced on Friday 11th March 2016.

In the fourth book in the Legacy of the Queen of Scots series, it is early autumn, 1605. Marie Stuart's son James VI of Scotland has been James I of England for two and a half years... The crowns of England and Scotland have been joined. The King has settled in London and rules Scotland 'with his pen.'.... Will Hepburn's friend, Maitland, has uncovered a new plot against the king... Much to Maitland's consternation, Hepburn declines to become involved .....Will has promised Daisy to cease meddling in foreign intrigues and devote his attentions to his family, his ships and his sheep. They continue to lead a quiet life in Kinghorn until a band of intruders murders their master of the household and kidnaps Peter, their six-year-old wee lad. ... Peter's abduction is a Blackmail. People in high places are determined to keep Hepburn from warning the king, and not all of them are hot-headed English dissidents.

The great benefit of being book reviewer is that, every now and then, you get to read a wonderful gem of a story that may otherwise have slipped by you. In the Shadow of the Gallows is a first class political thriller which takes the reader on a wild ride through Scotland and England - the intrigues of the Gunpowder Plot. You need to keep your wits about you to successfully navigate the intricate twists and turns of the unfolding plot. But this book is well and truly worth the sleepless nights you will have wondering how the protagonists will get out of their latest jam - and whether they will win in the end.

Our Scottish heroes have to navigate their way through plot, counter-plot and conspiracy in order to survive and get themselves safely home. A sense of duty keeps them going in the face of unimaginable danger. The stakes are high, but their mutual trust keeps them together and helps them hold their nerve against enemies who seem to be everywhere, as they are unwittingly drawn into the intrigues surrounding the Gunpowder Plot:

"He reached out and opened his hand.
'The constable found this sgian stuck in Matt's left side near his heart. No Englishman carries one of these. A Scotsman did this.
'I promise ye on God's Holy Book, I'll gut the bastards when I find them, one and all. What's more I'll toss aside my Bible and swear on my two-edged blade to skin any Scot I find who took part in this unholy deed, and I'll nae be quick about it.'
Daisy took comfort in knowing Hepburn's scrappy nature was restored, but it did not quell her outrage.
'Only if ye find 'em afore I dae, husband.' "

I devoured this book, its intelligent and thoughtful storyline had me addicted from the first page. Although it's the fourth in a series, it works incredibly well as a standalone, with the back story told as and when needed; and no hidden loose ends coming back too surprise you.

Holyrood Palace

The most pleasant surprise is the language. The author does not attempt to make her Scottish characters speak 'the queen's English'. She allows them the use of their own dialect and this is a major strength in the book. It helps to convey the passion and commitment of the story's heroes, and allows them to retain their own little intimate circle throughout the story.

This novel has a wealth of extraordinary characters, the majority of them taken from history and given life and soul by Ms Root.  

Tenacious, brave and courageous, the heroine, Daisy Kirkaldy, is a lady of remarkable resilience, with a strength of character of which most heroes would be in awe. She is an iron-willed she-wolf who will do anything to protect her cubs and wider family. Her husband, Will Hepburn, is a man of many talents, trying to navigate his family safely through uncertain times. His marriage with Daisy is - for the most part - a partnership, a relationship based on mutual trust, admiration and love. As a couple they make a formidable team, not only playing to each other's abilities and strengths, but also to their mutual dependency.

The strong supporting cast of friends and enemies is a long list of the great and good of early Stuart England; enemies are not necessarily who we think they are - but then neither are the allies. 

Palace of Westminster

Linda Root takes her characters from the Lowlands of Scotland, through the wild Borders and as far south as London, with several sojourns in the English midlands. The landscape is wild and untamed, while the castles are cold, and often sinister.

The story has been meticulously researched. The religious and political themes of the Gunpowder Plot, the comparisons between the Scots and the English, and between Catholic and Protestant, have the remarkable ability to give the reader a sense of the charged atmosphere that must have been running through the societies of England and Scotland at the time.

Linda Root brings the first decade of the Seventeenth Century to vivid life. The characters, costumes and politics of the day are cleverly used to give us a story that is impossible to put down. The combination of the determination and courage of the Scots is nicely contrasted by the secret machinations and counter-plotting of the politicians and conspirators, making for a wonderfully entertaining and engaging story. The mystery and intrigues provide for a thoroughly engrossing novel, full of action, adventure, mystery - and a hint of romance.

It's always a pleasure to discover a new author and reading Linda Root's  In The Shadow of the Gallows has been a wonderful experience - the only thing is . . .  I will now have to go away and read all her other books - to keep me busy until the next one is out . . .

About the Author: Linda Root is the author of The First Marie and the Queen of Scots, The Last Knight and the Queen of Scots, and four books in The Legacy of the Queen of Scots series. The fifth, Deliverance of the Lamb, is coming in early 2016. She lives in the Southern California high desert community of Yucca Valley with her husband Chris and two giant woolly Alaskan Malamutes, Maxx and Maya. She is a retired major crimes prosecutor, a member of the Marie Stuart Society, and of the California State Bar and the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.  
Linda Root's books can be found on Amazon.


Sharon Bennett Connolly has been a reviewer for The Review since 2015. Fascinated by history for over 30 years she has studied the subject both academically and  just for the joy of it - and has even worked as a tour guide at historical sites. She is now having great fun passing that love of the past to her 10-year-old son; visiting abbeys, hunting dragons in medieval castles and searching for fossils at the beach. Having received a blog, History . . . the Interesting Bits, as a present for Christmas 2014, she is now enjoying sharing her obsession of history with her readers.


 




 
 

Sunday Wrap Up: Week Ending March 30, 2014

This week at The Review we've done a spot of travelling--through time and across the globe, to get a bit of insight into a variety of circumstances, the sorts that birth new ideas or shape the people we become, direct us toward what kinds of stories we wish to hear or tell, read or write. While not all these circumstances are cheery, one positive outcome is that they all--real or fictionalised--continue to be told and will go on being passed down to future generations as long as humans exist, for people like nothing better than to hear a story. These events are so important because not only do they affect those who took part, but also all who follow. 

Starting in present-day Linda Root takes us for a visit to Wales with a historical fiction author who discusses a variety of perspectives and angles as to how she writes, what she thinks about and so on. We go on a guided tour, as it were, of the author's works and how they came to be. Next, Lisl takes us across the pond as well as a continent, up a gulf and into a magical, huge land once the scene of a devastating earthquake. Still within living memory, this week marks the 50th anniversary of the shakedown, and across Alaska and the world people remember that day, a few of these precious memories picked out by Lisl for us to have the privilege to share. And to round out our epic sweep, Stuart makes the return trip with us back to the UK--Edinburgh in particular, for a spot of scare and history into the bargain. Told a tale of tyranny, we then are brought back to today as our final narrator brings us to one of the spots in which some individuals also met their end. 

Journey with us again or for the first time, as The Review wraps up a week of adventure.

"We are honored to have with us today a writer whose creative energies seem boundless, Judith Arnopp, who is just as comfortable weaving portions of two ninth century epic poems into her fine novel Songs of Heledd as she is invading Henry VIII's death watch to listen in while the ghost of Queen Anne Boleyn intimidates him with her whispers. Join me as we explore Judith's past endeavors, share her present successes and glimpse a bit of what her future offers." So says Linda as she introduces us to an epic interview with Judith Arnopp, who adds: "Although I love all periods of history, I am not drawn to any particular era but rather to particular characters. I am interested in what made them tick, how they might have felt, their motivations. If a situation or historical personage sticks their head up and waves at me, I read around them and see if and how I can take it further." You can do the same with Linda's fabulous interview, and continue the journey with Judith--bring your chocolate and coffee!

Hopping on our transport, we go west with Lisl, to the Ring of Fire in which sits Alaska, an absolutely massive country that--many people are unaware--experiences earthquakes several times a day! Alaskans tend to be used to the smaller earthquakes (many of which are ignored), as they usually result in some rattling and conversations starters. "When the shaking started on March 27, 1964, people generally responded in the same way. It was a Friday, Good Friday in fact; schools were closed and businesses wrapped up early for the holiday. The weather had warmed up to 28 degrees (-2 C) and the afternoon and early evening proceeded like any other.

Unbeknownst to Alaskans, however, the Pacific plate pushing under the North American, 100 miles east of the largest city, Anchorage, had been grinding away and was about to subduct. They were to know soon enough, however, as the rattling continued and the ground began to move beneath them. Surface waves motioned and gaping fissures in the ground split downtown Anchorage apart."

The largest in U.S. history, this earthquake led to the creation of the National Earthquake Information and Alaska Tsunami Warning centers. Read some details of this event and individual recollections as Lisl pauses for Remembrance Week as part of her Great Land History series.

The mother of history series here at The Review, Stuart's histories of Scotland, and particularly his beloved Edinburgh, have always enthralled us. This week Stuart lands us at Greyfriars Kirk, scene of some unsettling history between Sir George Mackenzie and the Covenanters, a persecuted religious group whose members were jailed, tortured and executed for their beliefs. In the spot we visit today are said to be nightly hauntings: "Sir George Mackenzie, the man whose unquiet spirit is said to be the source of the paranormal activity, was born in Dundee in 1636. He was born into a life of privilege, being the grandson of the first Lord Mackenzie of Kintail and attended universities in Aberdeen, St Andrews and Bourges in France. He was elected to the Faculty of Advocates in 1659, and spoke in defense at the trial of Archibald Campbell, the Earl of Argyll, in 1661. He acted as justice-depute from 1661 to 1663, a post that involved him in overseeing the extensive witch trials which afflicted Scotland with a form of mass hysteria at the time."

To see how it all ended, click here, but bring your tissues!

Oh the places you'll go! Last weekend was a wrap up encompassing unusual exploration. No worries if you missed it, just click to catch up!

Interview: Judith Arnopp interviewed by Linda Root

Meet the Incredible Judith Arnopp

An interview by Linda Root

We are honored to have with us today a writer whose creative energies seem boundless, Judith Arnopp, who is just as comfortable weaving portions of two ninth century epic poems into her fine novel Songs of Heledd as she is invading Henry VIII's death watch to listen in while the ghost of Queen Anne Boleyn intimidates him with her whispers. Join me as we explore Judith's past endeavors, share her present successes and glimpse a bit of what her future offers.

                           

Researching The Song of Heledd required you to do an exhaustive critical analysis of a collection of ninth century Welsh poetry entitled Canu Heledd, and your novel is based upon fragments of the poems. How did you approach such a demanding task?  What drew you to it?

I studied early medieval literature as part of my Master’s degree and became familiar with Heledd that way. Only a tiny fragment of the poem, the beginning and end, are extant, but it is quite clear that Heledd held herself responsible for the loss of not just her family, but the entire dynasty. I found myself constantly wondering what she had done. It was the sort of question that keeps you awake nights even though there is no way we will ever discover the real truth.
The poem tells us that she loved her brother Cyndylan, King of Pengwern, but although she also loved her sister, Ffreur, she doesn’t mourn her. Why on earth not?
There could be a number of reasons but the more I thought about it, the more real Heledd and Ffreur became. In the end the only way to put my ‘historian’ mind to sleep was to let my creative side take over and make up the middle part. Because so little is known about the people involved in the events I was able to give my imagination full rein. We have the names, we have the places, we know of the wars they were involved in, we know the way it ended. The only questions left were how and why. So I made it up.
I didn’t rely on my own critical analysis; I am not skilled enough or confident enough for that but a lot of academic study has been done on the subject and I am lucky enough to have the University of Wales practically on my doorstep. I owe particular thanks to Jenny Rowlands and her book Early Welsh Saga Poetry.
                                                                               

Although I love all periods of history, I am not drawn to any particular era but rather to particular characters. I am interested in what made them tick, how they might have felt, their motivations. If a situation or historical personage sticks their head up and waves at me, I read around them and see if and how I can take it further. I have always been a bit ‘nerdy’ and love research so it is not a chore for me, especially if I have chocolate and a good supply of coffee.

If you were to expand one of your novels into a series, which would you find the most tempting?

I haven’t ever thought of doing a series. I think I might get bored with the characters and if I was bored with them, think how bored the reader would be! I did consider doing a follow up to Peaceweaver, tracing the lives of the sons she bore Grufydd ap Llewelyn. The historical record tells us they returned to Wales and attempted to win back the lands their father governed but the records are sketchy so it would be pure fiction. Most of my novels have such a complete ending that I don’t see how I could take the others further. I suppose the closest I’ve come to a series is with my Tudor novels; I tackle Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard in The Winchester Goose, and Anne Boleyn in The Kiss of the Concubine.

According to my review of your career, you began contributing short pieces to anthologies or writing short stories and snippets.  What made you decide that it was time for Judith Arnopp to move on to a full length novel?

It was the other way round actually. Although I have written short stories since I was a child I never let anyone read anything until I was well into my adulthood. Around 2004 I wrote a very bad historical novel set in medieval England that will never see light of day, then I progressed to Peaceweaver. Once I decided it was good enough to publish I began to write short pieces and blogs to draw attention to my work. On occasion I have plucked something very old from the archives and reinvented it but on the whole the novels came first, the short pieces second. When I first began to blog I adapted old university material but now I try to stick to whichever period I am writing in and link it in some way to one of my books.

Are you ever tempted to try out a different genre?  If so, which would it be?

I’ve written a bit of romance but my heart isn’t in it. I am too bloodthirsty for contemporary stories. I like to make my characters suffer and often kill them off so it doesn’t really suit the romance genre. My heart is in historical, I am more comfortable in a medieval setting and since my personal life is so rural I have no idea what it is really like to live in the modern world. I am in a beautiful time bubble here in West Wales with only sheep and the windswept landscape for company.

It strikes me that the tone and setting of your first three novels is unmistakably Welsh.  And then, you take another leap, this time hundreds of years forward to Tudor England. Did some particular interest, challenge or event cause you to move from pre-invasion Saxon Britain all the way to Tudor England in your recent offerings, The Winchester Goose and finally, The Kiss of the Concubine?

As a teenager when I first became interested in history I was a huge Tudor fan. The Tudor period formed part of my university degree but by that time I was far more taken up with the Anglo-Saxons and early medieval period. It seemed natural to start there with a world that was fresh in my mind and Peaceweaver, The Forest Dwellers, and The Song of Heledd were born from that.
I published a very short lighthearted pamphlet of six stories called Dear Henry: Confessions of the Queens. It wasn’t a serious academic study; I did it in a workshop with no research material to hand. Readers who demand accuracy slammed it but I also had some positive reviews and loads of emails from other readers asking if I’d written any other Tudor books.

I had so many readers asking that I thought seriously about it and the result was The Winchester Goose. I found the transition very smooth and am comfortable in Tudor England. The difference between Dear Henry and The Winchester Goose is the months of research that went into the latter. It is about a prostitute from Southwark and contrasts the life of a whore with that of Henry’s queens. The glittering royal court is juxtaposed with the stews across the river. During the course of researching The Winchester Goose I conceived the idea of writing a novel about Anne Boleyn without embellishing her story or taking defamatory material too literally. The result was The Kiss of the Concubine and the response from readers has been astounding. I am so very touched by all the letters and reviews that are flooding in.

Kiss of the Concubine is populated by actual persons--Anne Boleyn,  her early lovers Wyatt and Percy, and the colorful member of her  own family, especially her brother George and her sister-in-law Lady Rochford, and of course, the king.  How did you deal with the immense amount of conflicting data available about them, and especially, how did you approach the controversy that surrounds the trial and execution of Queen Anne and her parade of alleged lovers?

You have to take every historical record with a pinch of salt. Every writer, especially one recording history as it happens, has an agenda. You have to ask yourself;, why was he writing it? Who was he writing it for? What was his motive? After Anne’s death many of her possessions and papers were destroyed. There are very few letters remaining in her hand, so much of what we learn is gleaned from sources that were ‘allowed’ to survive to the present day. Some were written by her enemies and some of the more complimentary stuff penned later, in her daughter Elizabeth’s reign. It is a case of reading between the lines. Many of the dates of her alleged offences can be dismissed as records show she elsewhere at the time; on one occasion when she was accused of committing adultery she was still in childbed with Elizabeth. It is quite clear the charges were trumped up.
Anne is a very popular figure and there is a large following who believe she has been maligned by Spanish and Tudor propaganda. To find the real woman, or to come as close to her as we can ever can, one has to remain objective. Of course secondary sources on Anne Boleyn are readily available and Eric Ives, Susannah Lipscombe and Claire Ridgway were invaluable when it came to sources and theories. I read the more critical stuff too so as to form my own opinion but I have to agree Anne was innocent, a victim of state politics.

Did your personal attitude toward Anne and Henry change as your book progressed, and if so, in what way?  Do you see Anne and Henry's story as a love affair?

My opinion of Anne was vindicated by my studies of her and remained unaltered, but my research into Henry changed my opinion immensely. I always assumed he was a brute, a wife murderer, a psychopath in fact, but the more I read about him, the more I came to understand, or at least to acknowledge, his psychological flaws. He was a man with immense power, a man in search of the unobtainable and this, together with his belief that he was second only to God, determined the monstrous behavior that he is famous for today.
My personal belief is that he did love Anne, and she him. Henry was a selfish and demanding man yet he courted her for seven years. If he didn’t truly love her he would have given up, yet it seems he scarcely looked at another woman in all this time.
His disappointment when she failed to conceive a son made him vulnerable to the political attack that took her down. I think he believed the lies that were told about her. Henry was a jealous and possessive man and I think the realisation that Anne had died innocent didn’t come until it was too late. Henry and Anne’s relationship was always stormy; they had frequent and public disagreements but their reconciliations were just as public. There are no contemporary reports that the marriage was failing; just a few weeks before her arrest even the Spanish ambassador Chapuys reported that the king and queen were as much in love as ever. In The Kiss of the Concubine, after her arrest, Anne believes it is just another misunderstanding; she is sure Henry will soon cool down and save her.

Without asking you to pick a favorite amongst your novels, can you tell us which of them was the most enjoyable writing experience for you?  And of course, on the flip side, which novel or part of a novel was the most difficult?  How did you overcome the obstacles?

I think the novel that was the most fun to write was The Winchester Goose. There is usually some humour in my novels because I believe that even in the most trying of human predicaments, we find the time for irony or foolery. Joanie Toogood, the main character in The Winchester Goose is a good humoured, big hearted woman and taking on her life as a prostitute enabled me to fully explore the pestilent, filthy, cut-throat underworld of Tudor London. I discovered a variety of people there from the generous to the downright nasty. Amid all the squalor Joanie emerges as funny, compassionate and loud – her mind is probably the one I’ve most enjoyed inhabiting during my writing career so far.
The most difficult was a scene in The Song of Heledd when Heledd’s actions destroy the person she loves most. I wrote the scene several times but it wasn’t right. The situation she was in was so horrible; it was way beyond my own life experience. In the end I imagined it was happening to one of my own sisters (I have three, all of whom are very precious to me). Once I had made the scene personal it came easily, as did the tears I shed while I wrote it. I don’t want to be guilty of spoilers but that particular chapter is the hardest I’ve had to write. It still makes me shudder when I read through it.

Of the heroines in your novels, which one do you most consider ‘a Woman for All Seasons'?

Oh dear, there is a difficult question. Not many of my female characters win in the end. It is more about the journey than the destination; in fact a lot of my women don’t survive beyond the last chapter. I can think of one that would fit the bill in The Forest Dwellers but that would involve a huge spoiler so I will stick with Alys from the same book.
After the Norman invasion the people of the New Forest are treated so harshly by the new regime that life becomes impossible. Alys, an extraordinarily pretty girl, uses a variety of ways to hold her own in a rapidly changing world. Once she discovers her most effective weapon is her own physical beauty, she fights and scrambles her way up the ladder. She survives, she gets what she wants (or needs to survive) but not without the greatest sacrifice of all. Love.
Alys is not easy to love but she is impossible to ignore. She is flawed, her mistakes are legion but at the end of her struggle when she lives on beyond the closing of the book, you will have come to understand her and forgive her failings.

Were you writing regularly when your children were preschoolers? How did your writing mesh with your family life?  Has that changed now that your children are older?  What advice would you give to new writers with young families?

I was too busy being mum and running a smallholding to write seriously until my children were grown up. I used to scribble stories as a hobby but never dreamed of publishing them. I have a clutch of stories I wrote about them when they were little. I’d put them into scenarios and take them through excellent adventures to read at bedtime. When I was expecting my daughter I wrote about the forthcoming event so as to help her brother, Simon, who was just about two years old, to look forward to her arrival as much as we were. I was worried he would feel displaced but I didn’t need to worry, he adored her from day one and they are all still really close.
Now they are all grown up they are proud of my achievements and bore all their friends about their ‘fabulous mum.’

Was there ever a time after your first book was published when you thought of giving it all up?

No. I’d never give up writing. Even if nobody bought my books I would still have to write. Initially I sought the traditional publishing route but I soon got fed up with that malarkey. I was taken on by an agent but she really didn’t ‘get’ what I was about. She wanted me to write more like Philippa Gregory but I didn’t want to; I wanted to write like me.
I have had my share of despondency, bad reviews, negative feedback. I encourage constructive criticism but downright nastiness is upsetting and damaging. One of my writer friends was so hurt by personal criticism that she gave up writing altogether. I can’t see me doing that. I wouldn’t know what else to do.
Once I decided to go it alone I found myself on a huge learning curve. I had to be self-critical, discover a good editor (I have an excellent one now after two or three failures.) I learned to develop new skills, typesetting, layout, formatting, cover design, marketing skills and I had to learn how to be receptive to readers even if I was having a bad day and feeling a bit grumpy. Facebook and Twitter are invaluable for making connections with readers. I have a lovely little band of friends now and it is those people that make all the hard work worthwhile.
It is tough sometimes. A very solitary existence. You have to be happy in your own company, you have to be tough and develop the skin of a rhinoceros. Most of all I think you need to have conviction in your own way of doing things.

I have seen you describe your writing as coming from a feminine perspective.  Do you consider yourself a feminist?  How does your empathy for the plight of women affect your presentation of the principal male characters in your story?   Of all of the males in your several books, which one of them, if any,  would you consider a feminist or the most sympathetic to the needs of women?  And of course, who is the insensitive bad guy in the mix?

I believe in equality for women in the modern world. I know it didn’t exist in the period I write in and I try very hard not to make my female characters act and speak as we do today. Their expectations were entirely different to ours. That is not to say that women didn’t have an impact on history. There are plenty of incidences where the actions of women have had a huge influence; very often they were unrecorded or glossed over in favour of male achievements.
The male characters that empathise most with women are probably Peter the Costermonger in The Winchester Goose, and George Boleyn in The Kiss of the Concubine.
I don’t think any of my male characters are absolute brutes. They might be insensitive, unschooled in the art of love, and they tend to shout a lot but they are not evil, just human. There are no black/white, evil/nice characters; I try to present multi-faceted people. I don’t know anyone who is wholly good or wholly bad so why should they appear in fiction? Gruffyd ap Llewelyn in Peaceweaver is the nastiest of my characters. He was the leader of the Welsh and, by most accounts, a powerful man in a harsh and brutal world. When Eadgyth finds herself married to him we see him from her perspective which isn’t a pretty one, but I do manage to give him the chance to explain his behavior and explore what made him the man he was. I had a quandary with Gruffydd because the records we have of him were written by those who defeated him and so can’t be wholly relied on. But since it was his own men who betrayed him to King Edward I could only surmise that if the Welsh turned against their own leader in favour of the English he must have been a real ‘baddie.’

Now that the Kiss of the Concubine is a completed project, what’s next for Judith Arnopp?  Please tell us a little about your current work in progress, but also give us an idea of where you would like to be ten years down the line, both as a writer and as a woman who has a deep commitment to her family and her heritage.

I am still with the Tudors. This time I am writing the life of Katherine Parr, Henry’s last wife. She comes across as a strong woman. She married four times, the first three occasions for political rather than personal reasons. She withstood a siege at Snape Castle during her second marriage to Lord Latimer and, when the king targeted her as his next wife, she put aside her own desire to marry Thomas Seymour until after Henry’s death. She was a good consort to Henry and, although long thought of as a dull little nursemaid, she emerges a fascinating woman. She was in fact very scholarly and a published author. She stood as regent for England while Henry was warmongering in France and was a strong role model and mother to his children. Her eventual marriage to Thomas Seymour was not an altogether wise choice as it turns out; their short marriage was fraught with suspicion and infidelity until she died shortly after childbirth scarcely a year after the king’s death.
The novel is to be called Intractable Heart, which is a phrase taken from her book The Lamentation of a Sinner in which she acknowledges her ‘obstinate, strong and intractable heart.’
It is told via four narrators: Katherine’s step daughter, Margaret Neville; Katherine herself; Thomas Seymour and Elizabeth Tudor. I am about three quarters of the way through the story now, just beginning Elizabeth’s part and am hugely excited to be tackling such a huge figure.
The future is a dark uncomfortable place to contemplate, I am much happier in the past but in ten years' time I would like to be healthy, fit and happy, doing much as I am doing now only with more confidence and success. I should also like my husband to have finally given in to my demands and retired so he can become my ‘kept man.’ Some more grandchildren would be nice too.

I hope you have enjoyed spending time with Judith Arnopp as much as I have.  My next task is to clear some space on my ‘to be read’ shelf for Judith’s earlier works, and of course, with a special reserved space for Intractable Heart. Visit Judith’s author pages at  Amazon and Amazon UK. 

Linda Root is the author of the novels in the Queen of Scots Suite. If you would like Linda to review your book or conduct an interview, please see our submissions tab above.