A slice of medieval life -- #ReviewTuesday #HistoricalFiction #Giveaway

Blurb

When Harald, the second son of King Cnute, returns from fighting the king's enemies in Northern Wales, he expects his life to return to normal farming in the Midlands, overseeing his few tenants, evening walks with his beloved Selia an idyllic life, far from the power-mongering of King Cnute's court. But the king has other plans for Harald and his wife—he grants them a large landholding, a gift they cannot refuse.

On arriving at their new holding, Ravens Hill, Harald and Selia receive a tepid welcome from belligerent housecarls, a conniving steward, an uncompromising abbess, bitter at not adding their estate to her abbey lands, a priest with roaming hands, and a grieving daughter of the previous landholder, who has entered the nunnery.

Harald and Selia wish to improve the lot of their tenant farmers but they face obstacles at every turn, and Harald’s generosity is seen as weakness. They also learn the lands come with an unexpected millstone—an unsolved murder.

And then the trouble begins.

Fans of Bernard Cornwell will love Ravens Hill—part of the award-winning Atheling Chronicles series.

Excerpt

Later, when Selia and I were alone in our bed-chamber, I shared my thoughts.

“I feel as if I have crossed a bridge without knowing it.”

Sitting on the bed in her linen under-dress, Selia unpinned her braid from where she had it wound upon the crown of her head. She untied the braid and taking up the walrus-ivory comb I had given her, began combing out her long fair hair. “And do you feel there is no way back across the bridge?”

“No. I feel the bridge has been swept away.” I pulled my tunic over my head.

“Then you know what that means.”

I gazed at her for a moment. “That we must move forward.”

Selia combed.

“We have not had time to properly discuss the king’s grant,” I said. “Are you pleased, despite what Godwin told us about Queen Emma’s interest?”

Selia stopped combing. Her chest rose with the intake of breath. “It pleases me to see you honored and valued.”

“But?”

“I am pleased that it keeps us in Engla-lond. Though if we had wanted to manage a large estate, we could have stayed in Frisia. I love our steading at Copt Hewick and our life there, Harald. And I have just got you home.”

I sat upon the bed and took her hand. “I love our home, too. And all the time I was away, I longed to be returning to you. But with this estate, this tún or túnland, we will be together. We will appraise it together, and decide whether to leave it under management or to work it ourselves.”

“It’s as you say— ‘the bridge has gone.’”

“And there is the king’s hand in this. The wealthier and more influential we become, the stronger we will be to withstand the storm when my father passes.”

“When your brother, Harthacnute, assumes the throne.”

I unfastened my soft-leather shoes, slipping off one, then the other. “We can still live in Copt Hewick and have property elsewhere, as we do with your Frisian estate providing we have a trustworthy steward on the new property. We can decide after we have ridden the túnland.”

I undid my drawstrings and worked my linen breeches down my legs.

Selia pulled loose strands from her comb. “Then I look forward to seeing the estate. Perhaps there are improvements we can make on the land. And perhaps we can help the tenants prosper, perhaps we can even charm the neighboring abbess.”

I stood and tossed my breeches over a storage chest. I gazed at my lovely wife, appreciating her support and partnership, and wishing I could heal the sadness that sometimes gripped her. “My thoughts as well,” I said, and then leaving all thoughts of the future aside, I drew Selia to me and then, in each others’ arms, we lay back on the bed.

Review by Lisabet Sarai

Prince Harald, second son of King Cnute the Danish conqueror of England, has little interest in power or politics. All he wants is a quiet, comfortable life with his beloved wife Selia, managing a land holding sufficient for their relatively modest needs. When you have royal blood, however, it’s impossible to escape your destiny.

Called to court, Harald and Selia learn that the king has given them a spacious and profitable new estate called Raven’s Hill. The grant is simultaneously a recognition of Harald’s services to the crown and an attempt to hold the ambitious Queen Emma, Harald’s step-mother, in check. The couple find that indeed, the holding is rich and pleasant, but fraught with conflicts. When the previous lord died, two nearby abbeys—under Queen Emma’s patronage—had hoped to add the productive area to their own lands. Mysterious disasters occur with increasing frequency, supporting the theory that hostile forces are trying to drive the couple from Raven’s Hill. With his fairness as well as his combat prowess, Harald impresses the peasants working the land and the retainers employed by the estate, but he, Selia and their allies find themselves increasingly threatened by hidden enemies. Meanwhile a promising young man and a meddling priest have both been murdered. As the lord of Raven’s Hill, Harald has responsibility for determining the culprits and bringing them to justice.

Raven’s Hill is the third book in the Atheling Chronicles series that I’ve read. Like the other two, it offers a rollicking story with admirable and appealing protagonists. In addition, the book provides intriguing insights into daily life in twelfth century England. Historical fiction often fails to convey the realities, both positive and negative, of the period it addresses. It’s hard to escape from the modern perspective. I greatly enjoy the way Garth Pettersen immerses the reader in the details of medieval English society, reminding us that for his characters, this was modern times. Furthermore, there’s much to admire in that society, in which the ties of community and the contributions of tradition were strong.

This book focuses less than previous installments on the politics and power struggles of the realm and more on microcosm of Raven’s Hill. Indeed, it has many aspects of a classic who-done-it. To be honest, I missed the larger context offered in the earlier books. Also the final resolution of the mystery was surprising to the point of straining belief. Nevertheless, it was a pleasure to watch Harald and Selia fulfill their roles as master and mistress of their domain.

Selia is an important participant in this tale. We get a very clear picture of her: intuitive, intelligent, strong-willed, devoted to Harald but still willing to disagree with him. Indeed, Mr. Pettersen excels at creating dynamic female characters who stand out as distinct individuals and who are not shy about expressing themselves or taking action. If we are to believe this series, the period was far more egalitarian than you’d expect.

Overall, Raven’s Hill is exciting, entertaining and educational, a worthy addition to Harald’s ongoing saga.

About the Author

Garth Pettersen is a Canadian writer living in the Fraser Valley near Vancouver, BC. When he's not writing, he is riding horses or working on his acreage. Garth's short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies and in journals such as Blank Spaces, The Spadina Literary Review, and The Opening Line Literary 'Zine. His story, River's Rising, was awarded an Honourable Mention for the Short Story America 2017 Prize, his fantasy novella River Born, was one of two runners-up for the Windsor Editions (UK) Short Fiction Prize, and his novel The Sea's Edge won a first place Incipiere Award in 2024. Garth Pettersen's historical fiction series, The Atheling Chronicles is published by Tirgearr Publishing and is available on most online outlets (The Swan's Road, The Dane Law, The Cold Hearth, and The Sea's Edge). The fifth book, Ravens Hill, will be released in April, 2025. Print editions are available on Amazon.

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Buy Links

Tirgearr Publishing: http://www.tirpub.com/gpettersen

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ravens-Hill-Atheling-Chronicles-5-ebook/dp/B0DZPGNVXZ

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/author/garth-pettersen/id1292516225

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ie/en/series/the-atheling-chronicles

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Garth%20Pettersen

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/gpettersen

Garth Pettersen will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card.

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