The Price of Blood: A Novel by Patricia Bracewell

The Price of Blood: A Novel.  Patricia Bracewell. Penguin Group (USA). February 2015. 448 pp.  ISBN#: 9780525427278.

King Æthelred and Queen Emma rule a divided nation, England, in the year 1066. The King, however, is equally responsible for the chaotic rule within his country as well as the Viking attacks that persist and grow more severe with each passing year.  For the King is tortured by the ghostly image of his dead brother, who seems to appear either before or immediately following the increasing disasters that threaten the nation’s demise.  The King believes this is his just punishment for the death of that same brother but remains hardhearted and determined to control his sons who vie to one day inherit his throne and Kingdom. 

The Queen cannot please the King or his sons, as she is of Norman background and therefore considered a “foreigner.”  Add to that the fact that any son she bears would be the heir to the throne, or would he?  The King married her for political reasons, readily beds her but increasingly disapproves of the influence she bears in his Court.  In his mounting fear and insecurity, any who contest his will become the enemy within or outside of the nation.

Of the many sons of this tyrant, Eadric and Athelstan are most at odds.  The King clearly favors Eadric although he warily watches this conniving son who is harder and crueler than the King himself which is saying quite a lot.  Athelstan and Emma would be lovers were it not for her marriage and the fact that every breath she takes and movement she begins are observed overtly and covertly.  Athelstan would be the better heir but for some reason he is mistrusted at all times by his father. 

Add to the spice the machinations of Elgiva, the daughter of one of the King’s nobles who rules an outlying northern province, has been wed to one of the King’s most hated enemies and now she makes a choice that will hopefully gain her the power she craves so desperately but which may doom England in the very near future.  She is evil personified, wicked and self-centered to the core.

Emma remains the pivotal figure who displays intelligence, beauty, wariness and cunning, as well as a pure heart.  Despite the ill treatment she endures, she remains steadfast in maintaining her own identity and keeping the welfare of England before all else, and that is a phenomenal feat many, many times over throughout this tension-filled, intriguing novel.  Villainous characters abound and the battle between the English and Danes looms closer and closer in every chapter, with dire consequences for the English population! 

The Price of Blood: A Novel is wonderful historical fiction and Emma is carefully depicted in a realistic, endearing fashion that will delight readers familiar with her place in history and those meeting her for the first time.  Highly recommended reading!

Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell

Shadow on the Crown.  Patricia Bracewell. Viking Adult: Penguin Group (USA).  February 2013. 432 pp. pbk. 948 KB – eBook.  ISBN#: 9780143124351. ASIN#: B008EKORX4.

Emma of Normandy was to wait for her arranged marriage until her older sister, Mathilde, had been wed.  Their father and mother, Duke Richard and Dowager Duchess Gunnora, had larger worries with the presence of the Danish King, Swein Forkbeard, docked at the Duke’s winter harbor.  So far Forkbeard had been bought off by the Norman King and King Aethelred II of England.  This will soon change. Spanning a three year period from 1001 to 1004, this is the story of Emma’s marriage to the English King Aethelred II, a man haunted and tortured by the ghost of his dead brother, Edward.  Aethelred is a cruel, hard man who trusts neither man nor woman, believing all to be scavenging for his crown.  His three eldest children have similar hearts of stone, except for Althestan who falls hopelessly in love with Emma but dare not advance beyond one point as he knows his father’s reaction would be ruthlessly fatal.

Another woman of the English Court, Elgiva of Northampton, has her eye on the King of England, not out of lust for his body but for her insatiable craving of power.  She and her maid Groa, a fearsome woman with magical and lethal powers, will betray and kill to gain the ultimate queenly prize.  But the wyrd for Emma and Elgiva is tragic in very different ways that are absolutely mesmerizing.

A seer in the beginning of the novel states that Althestan will win his father’s Offa’s Sword but that the future King of England will be one who has his “hand” in the Queen’s hand.  Althestan has no idea what this means but like his brothers will pay careful watch to see what his own wyrd or fate is to be.

Battles between family, earls, and the Vikings fill these pages with an excitement that provides for a quick, interesting read.  Murder seems a regular method to put aside one’s opponents, the type of killings that cannot be proven.

While the Christian faith is the main religion of England, pagan rites and beliefs lurk in the darkness.  Sin abounds everywhere but it is interesting how the monks and priests of Catholicism have such respect (and fear) from even royalty.  They alone perhaps are advisers who keep the English royalty family of Aethelred from killing each other in their jealous goal for power which they would rashly use if they had it.

Emma, remarkably based on the actual book Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, evolves into a strong, compassionate, fiercely protective and just woman who knows her own strengths and weaknesses and is determined not to allow her new family to change, unless it be stronger. 

Characters interact in an ever-changing plot and customs in which the reader becomes totally engaged.

Shadow on the Crown is wonderful historical fiction.  Highly recommended!