We are past Halloween and Bonfire Night, and thoughts and the season are turning towards Christmas. Christmas was the longest holiday of the year in the medieval period described in my novels and the winter is a great time to cosy up with a book. If you have a historical fiction fan on your Christmas…
Tag: Nest ferch Rhys
A Medieval Heroine in Cardiff
My trilogy of novels on Nest ferch Rhys has just arrived in stock at Book Space bookshop in Cardiff. Book Space opened last year. The owner, Lily Baron, lived in the Shakespeare and Company Bookshop in Paris for a while (see my post https://shepherd.com/best-books/in-idiosyncratic-bookshops-and-lovely-libraries), worked in a bookshop in Bristol, and built the Book Space…
Medieval Christmas
I’ve recently posted a series of three Medieval Christmas extracts from my novels, each accompanied by a medieval recipe. The Christmas medieval recipes to have a look at are dariole, wassail bowl, and Cawl. You can subscribe to my Substack free for occasional posts on medieval history and fiction. In the new year, I will…
Untangling Nest ferch Rhys
In the 12th century, the Welsh noblewoman, Nest ferch Rhys, was married to the Norman steward of Pembroke Castle, Gerald FitzWalter. One dark night, soon after Christmas, the Welsh prince of the neighbouring kingdom of Powys, Owain ap Cadwgan, broke into the castle where Nest, Gerald, their children and household were sleeping. Owain was accompanied…
Interview with Elizabeth Chadwick
Elizabeth Chadwick’s new historical novel, The King’s Jewel, launches today. The publication of any new book by Elizabeth Chadwick is eagerly awaited by her many avid readers. I was especially keen to interview her about this novel since it centres on medieval Wales and Nesta ferch Rhys and Gerald of Windsor. This interview is the first…
Guest post on medieval Wales
Thank you to Tony Riches for hosting my guest post on the Turbulent Life of Nest Ferch Rhys, her relationship with King Henry I, and how she lived through the Norman conquest of Wales. Nest is the heroine of my Conquest trilogy. The first book, Daughter of the Last King, has just been reissued and…
An invasion and a curse
I am delighted to announce the new edition of Daughter of the Last King, the first novel in my Conquest trilogy on the turbulent life of the 12th century Welsh noblewoman, Nest ferch Rhys, and the reign of King Henry I. The book will be published on 1 March 2023, Saint David’s Day. The ebook…
King and Lover
On this day, 887 years ago, King Henry I died after eating too many lampreys. Henry was the youngest son of William the Conqueror. He took the throne of England and Wales in 1100 after his older brother King William II (Rufus) was killed in a hunting accident in the New Forest. Henry was a…
Talking on Nest ferch Rhys at Carew Castle this weekend
I am talking about the turbulent life of the Welsh noblewoman, Nest ferch Rhys at Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales, including a tour of the castle, on Sunday 18 September 2022 at 11am and again at 2pm. Nest is the heroine of my Conquest trilogy and Carew was one of her castle homes. It may have…
Voicing the Voiceless – medieval female protagonists
Almodis de La Marche, countess of Toulouse and Barcelona, was, according to the monk chronicler William of Malmesbury, ‘afflicted with a godless female itch’. Ah ha, I thought, she sounds like she should be the heroine of my first novel. After that first novel on Almodis, I wrote four more novels set in early medieval…
Tracey Warr Writing 