The cover image shows salt mounds at Aigues-Mortes. The medieval salt trade features in the novel.
Category: Books
Small Acts of Literary Kindness
Today is the 7th birthday of the Book Fairies who annually coordinate acts of literary kindness around the world. Two of my books – one in French and one in English – will be hiding, waiting for you to find them, in the French village of Laguepie 82250 on Sunday 10th March. Clues to their whereabouts will…
Happy World Book Day!
My grandsons went to school this morning dressed as Harry Potter and Little Lamb – their current favourites. I am delighted that they are avid readers. Image: Shakespeare and Company Bookshop, Paris
Celebrating medieval women
It’s Women’s History Month. My novels celebrate real medieval women who receive slight (and misogynistic) mentions in medieval chronicles. I have tried to imagine my way into their lives and experiences from a few sentences in the historical record. The Viking Hostage is based on the true story of a French noblewoman kidnapped by Vikings…
Library Love
Hurroo! Hurrah! Very excited that my mum has just bought me a stay at Gladstone’s Library for my Christmas present. Just over the England/Wales border, Gladstone’s is the UK’s only residential library. I will be attending an event on deaf history. A character in my new novel is deaf – so I will value discussing…
The Female Troubadours
Ladies and gentlemen, imagine yourselves back in time, nearly 900 years, to the middle of the 12th century. Imagine that you are in the Great Hall at the court of Raimbaut d’Aurenga in the castle of Courthézon, three days’ ride east of here, on a good horse, a little north of Avignon … Last week, in…
Occitan Female Lord – publication day!
Today is the publication day for Almodis: The Peaceweaver, my novel based on Almodis de La Marche, the 11th century countess of Toulouse and Barcelona. Almodis was a scandal, excommunicated, and one of the most powerful of a number of female lords in southern France and Catalonia in the early Middle Ages. She and her…
Celebrating Independent Bookshops
Today is the start of Independent Bookshop Week in the UK and Ireland. Browsing for books in a shop is a whole different experience to searching online. Browsing can reveal unexpected and wildly treasured finds. One of the things I love about Independent Bookshops is that they are run by people who are as crazed…
Browsing for Books
Over ten years ago, I stumbled across Meg Bogin’s book, The Female Troubadours, in the library of University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s where I was studying for an MA in Creative Writing. I was working on my first novel at the time, based on the real woman, Almodis de La Marche, the countess of…
Idiosyncratic Bookshops and Lovely Libraries
My bookshelf (above) has been published today on Shepherd.com, which is creating new and unique ways for readers to find amazing books. In this bookshelf post I write about the serendipity and synergy in what can be found through browsing (as opposed to purposeful searching). Idiosyncratic bookshops and lovely libraries bring unexpected twists to my…
Tracey Warr Writing 