Book Release : Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell

Shadow on the Crown
by Patricia Bracewell

Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books (December 31, 2013)

Kindle Edition
File Size: 948 KB
Print Length: 432 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult (February 7, 2013)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

About the book:

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 and the perfect antidote to Tudor fatigue, Shadow on the Crown is packed with nonstop action, romance, and plenty of deliciously creepy Gothic flavor.

*Read and reviewed in March 2013*

Ethelred II, the Anglo-Saxon English king's wife had just died and he needed a new wife to please his counselors/advisers. There were two girls he could arrange to marry, one girl from the north and one from the south. Based on his careful analysis, an alliance from the south seemed far better than the north's. So King Ethelred II asked Richard II, Duke of Normandy to hand over his sister Emma, which at the time of request was only 15 years old. Richard II was hesitant at first to give up his young sister. After weighing things, he knew there's no other choice... he had to let Emma marry the English king because saying no to Ethelred II would mean war. 

So Emma went to England to marry the English king (age could be somewhere between 30-35?) but people from England aren't too happy about it. One English noble, Elgiva (the girl from the north) wanted to be a queen and she's determined to do everything to take Emma's crown. Emma knew that if she lost the crown, her life is doomed in England. 

I totally loved this book and I found myself researching more about Queen Emma's life just to satisfy my curiosity. Shadow on the Crown was an easy read. The story flowed just right. The book didn't look like a historian work - in a positive way. There's some kind of simplicity in the stories, I didn't doubt any of the author's fictional tales. The characters, the English setting at the time and even the character's dialogue felt authentic. It's not hard to imagine the places and people those time period. Even, Emma's romantic relationship to one of the characters (fiction) felt real. Oh I love Emma, she's a very smart girl. She could have not survived the whole queen stuff if she's not smart. Just imagine a queen at the age of 15! 

Shadow on the Crown is the first book to a trilogy about Emma of Normandy. There are too many things to learn in this book as it is rich in historical facts. I thank the author for introducing Queen Emma to me and I can't wait to read book #2! 

Book Review: The Memory of Love by Linda Olsson

The Memory of Love

Author : Linda Olsson
Roughcut: 240 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; 1 edition (February 26, 2013)
Amazon Link

Note: I received a review copy of this book free from the publisher, Viking/Penguin Books. The review posted below is based on my personal thoughts while reading the book.

Ratings: ★ ★ 

My thoughts:

I first picked up this book mid March but got, sort of, disconnected with the story due to the main character's overly long paragraphs in narrating her story. Picked it up again last week thinking it could get better the second time, only read about 10-15 pages. For the third and last time, today. And I was still struggling in reading the book. 

The Memory of Love is written in alternating POVs, first person for Marion (main character) and third person for Michael's story. Usually, I find the first person POV better than any other POVs. Though, this one is different. It was difficult for me to follow Marion's life story because she narrates her experiences in a very detailed manner that it got too wordy for my taste. I actually managed to get into the first quarter of the story. However, after a few more pages, I finally gave up. 

The book just didn't work for me. There are a lot of readers who loved the book, though. Click HERE to read their positive reviews.

About the book:

Fans of Astrid & Veronika and Chris Cleave's Little Bee will be thrilled to read Linda Olsson's third novel. Here is Olsson doing what she does best: illuminating the terrain of friendship and examining the many forms that love can take.

Marion Flint, in her early fifties, has spent fifteen years living a quiet life on the rugged coast of New Zealand, a life that allows the door to her past to remain firmly shut. But a chance meeting with a young boy, Ika, and her desire to help him force Marion to open the Pandora’s box of her memory. Seized by a sudden urgency to make sense of her past, she examines each image one-by-one: her grandfather, her mother, her brother, her lover. Perhaps if she can create order from the chaos, her memories will be easier to carry. Perhaps she’ll be able to find forgiveness for the little girl that was her. For the young woman she had been. For the people she left behind.

Olsson expertly interweaves scenes from Marion’s past with her quest to save Ika from his own tragic childhood, and renders with reflective tenderness the fragility of memory and the healing power of the heart.

About the author:

Linda Olsson was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1948. She graduated from the University of Stockholm with a law degree, and worked in law and finance until she left Sweden in 1986. What was intended as a three-year posting to Kenya then became a tour of the world with stops in Singapore, the U.K., and Japan, until she settled in New Zealand with her family in 1990. In 1993 she completed a bachelor of arts in English and German literature at Victoria University of Wellington. In 2003 she won the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Competition. Linda's first novel Astrid & Veronika became an international success, selling hundreds of thousands of copies in Scandinavia, Europe and the United States. It was followed by the heartbreaking and moving Sonata for Miriam. Olsson divides her time between Auckland, New Zealand and Stockholm, Sweden.

ARC Book Review: Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell

Shadow on the Crown 

Author: Patricia Bracewell
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult 
Amazon Link

Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 13 hours and 40 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Audible.com Release Date: February 7, 2013
Whispersync for Voice: Ready
Amazon Link


Note: I received a review copy of this book free from the publisher, Viking Adult/Penguin. The review posted below is based on my personal thoughts while reading the book.

Ratings: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

My thoughts:

Ethelred II, the Anglo-Saxon English king's wife had just died and he needed a new wife to please his counselors/advisers. There were two girls he could arrange to marry, one girl from the north and one from the south. Based on his careful analysis, an alliance from the south seemed far better than the north's. So King Ethelred II asked Richard II, Duke of Normandy to hand over his sister Emma, which at the time of request was only 15 years old. Richard II was hesitant at first to give up his young sister. After weighing things, he knew there's no other choice... he had to let Emma marry the English king because saying no to Ethelred II would mean war. 

So Emma went to England to marry the English king (age could be somewhere between 30-35?) but people from England aren't too happy about it. One English noble, Elgiva (the girl from the north) wanted to be a queen and she's determined to do everything to take Emma's crown. Emma knew that if she lost the crown, her life is doomed in England.

I totally loved this book and I found myself researching more about Queen Emma's life just to satisfy my curiosity. Shadow on the Crown was an easy read. The story flowed just right. The book didn't look like a historian work - in a positive way. There's some kind of simplicity in the stories, I didn't doubt any of the author's fictional tales. The characters, the English setting at the time and even the character's dialogue felt authentic. It's not hard to imagine the places and people those time period. Even, Emma's romantic relationship to one of the characters (fiction) felt real. Oh I love Emma, she's a very smart girl. She could have not survived the whole queen stuff if she's not smart. Just imagine a queen at the age of 15! 

Shadow on the Crown is the first book to a trilogy about Emma of Normandy. There are too many things to learn in this book as it is rich in historical facts. I thank the author for introducing Queen Emma to me and I can't wait to read book #2!

About the book:

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

In 1002, 15-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 listeners to a fascinating, overlooked period of history and an unforgettable heroine whose quest to find her place in the world will resonate with modern listeners.

About the author:

Patricia Bracewell is a native of California where she taught literature and composition before embarking upon her writing career. A lifelong fascination with British history and a chance, on-line reference to an unfamiliar English queen led to years of research, a summer history course at Downing College, Cambridge, and the penning of her debut novel SHADOW ON THE CROWN. 

Set in 11th century England, SHADOW is the first book of a trilogy about Emma of Normandy who was a queen in England and a power behind the throne for nearly four decades. Patricia is working on the two follow-up novels in the series, but takes time out for tennis, gardening and travel. She is the mother of two grown sons and lives with her husband in Northern California. 

Visit her website at http://www.patriciabracewell.com/