Attain Shadow On The Crown (The Emma Of Normandy Trilogy, #1) Created By Patricia Bracewell Conveyed As Booklet

is Historical fictioncentury England, I loved the historical aspect of this, Some of the information was different than what is reported in history books, I usually don't mind that as long as the story is firmly tethered down, . which it was.

I liked Emma's attitude, but this often felt a little too modern for this time period, She also seemed to stumble onto pertinent information that aided in her decision making process, I wish a better network had been established to filter the information to her instead of it always appearing like a miracle that fluttered into her path.
So three. As sister to the Norman duke Richard, Emma gets betrothed to the English king Aethelred II, Aethelred has just lost his wife in childbed who gave him already three daughters and six sons, His marriage to Emma is a pure political one as her brother promises to help defend England against the Danes, But the allegiance comes with a prize: Emma gets a crown and the title Queen of England,

Soon Emma discovers she has few friends at court and her husband bears her no love, Aethelred is plagued by a childhood drama and mistrusts everyone, including his beautiful but Norman queen, It is clear Emma must look elsewhere for love, but at first she gets none from the kings eldest three sons, As queen she, and any male issue she begets, becomes a rival for the throne should Aethelred die, Elgiva, the daughter of a northern lord, had herself the ambition to be queen and blames Emma for her destroyed hopes, Yet another face she cannot trust,

This book was my first ebook on Kindle ever, I dont know exactly why I chose this particular one, I just wanted to read something about Saxon England, Emma of Normandy is a queen I didnt know anything about, but her name is often mentioned in historical podcasts, So I thought I might give this book, which is the first part in a trilogy about her life, a try, And Im so glad I did, because I love this book,

The novel is written in the third person narrative from four different perspectives: Emma the main character, Aethelred, Aethelstan the heir to the throne and Elgiva.
This was definitely a surprise, as I thought the story would mainly be about Emma, I always like to read from different perspectives and the fact that you also get an insight in the troubled kings mind really contributed to the story.
Aethelred was not my favorite character, but reading from his point of view made hem feel more human, although I didnt agree with his choices,

I did like the perspectives of Aethelstan and Emma the most, I could feel Emmas insecurities and fears of a king rejecting her love and even her existence at some times, She was quite alone, except for her Norman ladies, at a strange court, Stepmother to sons who are her age and who dont want to see her pregnant because that child will become a competitor for the throne itself, And then you have Elgiva, a vain noble girl who loathes Emma and is used by her family to grab power, I hope that her story becomes more balanced in the coming novels,

The battle with the Danes and the massacre at St, Brices Day are key events in the story, The Danish treat comes from Swein Forkbeard and his son Cnut, I feel we will see more of them in the next books, I found them very interesting side characters,

Bracewell crafts a believable story, but its important to note that there arent many facts from Emmas early years as queen to start from, Some chapters of the books start with an ancient text from the Anglosaxon chronicle, which was always a nice introduction, But sources from that era are scarce,

The author takes some liberties and also adds a romance, but it didnt bother me at all, Bracewell even includes quite modern themes such as panic attacks and claustrophobia, I liked her writing style, I loved the different characters apart from Elgiva and I look forward to reading the next part, I want to discover more of Emmas life,

As this is Bracewells debut novel, Im even more impressed, Highly recommended!
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Noot: Ik wil mijn boeken ook graag in het Nederlands blijven reviewen om mijn gevoel vlak na het uitlezen vast te leggen, Beetje later volgt dan de Engelse recensie via de nieuwe blog: In Another Era,

Emma wordt als zus van de Normandische hertog uitgehuwelijkt aan koning Eathelred II van Engeland, Aethelred heeft net zijn vrouw verloren die hem alkinderen, waaronderzonen, heeft geschonken, De enige reden dat Aethelred dus met Emma trouwt is om zijn land te beschermen tegen de Denen, Maar de prijs is hoog: Emma krijgt een kroon als koningin, en dat kan haar later meer macht geven in de strijd om de troon tegen haar stiefzonen.
Dan moet ze natuurlijk wel eerst zelf een zoon baren, niet eenvoudig met een koning die geplaagd wordt door angsten en iedereen wantrouwt, Liefde zal ze ergens anders moeten zoeken,

Lang leve de Kindle waardoor ik boeken kan kopen over Saksisch Engeland! Ik wist bitter weinig over de periode tussen Alfred De Grote en, Emma's leven is fascinerend en ik genoot van het verhaal,

Het boek is geschreven vanuitverschillende perspectieven Emma, Aethelred, kroonprins Aethelstan en Elgiva, de dochter van een noordelijke lord en ik denk dat dat een grote winner was voor mij.


Je krijgt een inkijk in de gedachten van meerdere hoofdrolspelers, Elgiva wordt wat neergezet als bitch, maar ook haar verhaal draagt bij, Bracewell schrijft vlot en weeft moeiteloos alle verhaallijnen door elkaar, daarbij laadt ze zich leiden door de AngloSaxon chronicle,

Over deze periode is historisch gezien niet zoveel geweten, En je hebt wel meteen door dat Bracewell heel wat eigen invulling geeft aan het verhaal, Maar ik stoorde me er totaal niet aan deze keer, omdat een boek over Emma met wat we weten niet zo heel interessant zou zijn, En Bracewell doet geen al te gekke dingen, Ze stopt zelfs moderne thema's zoals angstaanvallen en claustrofobie in het boek,

Ik ben ontzettend benieuwd hoe het verhaal verder gaat, want jawel, het is een trilogie, Deelis gelukkig al uit en gaat binnenkort zeker op de Kindle,

Zware aanrader voor wie historisch fictie wel leuk vindt :,