King Alfred's Daughter

There are not so many historical novels about Anglo-Saxon England, so don’t miss this one. It’s the gripping story of one of the most extraordinary women in English history: Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (870-918), daughter of Alfred the Great. She was born when her native kingdom of Wessex (the ‘Last Kingdom’ of the recent TV epic) was fighting for its life against the marauding Great Army of the Danes. As a teenager she was married off to Alfred’s only English ally: Æthelred, warleader of the Mercians, nearly old enough to be her father, half of whose country lay under Danish occupation – the Danelaw. After the agonising birth of her only daughter, Ælfwyn – whose preface and post-script open and close the story – she banned her husband from her bed. Yet her growing respect and love for her ‘dear old bear’ is one of the most touching elements of the tale, which crackles with family tensions from the outset. Æthelflæd has grown to womanhood with the conviction, learned from her father and warrior husband, that the key to defending English territory from marauding Danes and Norsemen is the creation of fortified towns, or burhs. These serve not only as secure refuges for the local people, but also as stimuli for trade and prosperity. Now, as she takes command as effective ruler in her husband’s name, she is determined to fortify every strategic town in Mercia, directing the work in person whenever possible. One of the dramatic highlights of this story is Æthel-flæd’s personal direction of the defence of Chester, Mercia’s northernmost burh, from a besieging horde of Norsemen and Danes, marking her emergence as a gifted strategist and war leader. Congratulations to David Stokes for the vigour, drama and vivid colour with which he tells Æthelflæd’s story.

Stokes is a rival to Conn Iggulden, it’s a great read, well researched and brilliantly sets out a different perspective of a turning point in the story of our isles.