Patricia Bracewell

Emma of Normandy became queen of England in the early 11th century. Aethelred was her husband, the king… much older than Emma was and they rarely got along. In fact, Emma was attracted (and it was mutual) to Aethelred’s oldest son, Athelstan. Aethelred had many children from his first wife, many close to Emma’s age. When one of the top nobles is murdered in 1008, his daughter (Elgiva), fearing for her life, runs. She ends up marrying the heir to the Danish throne. The Danes and Vikings are teaming up to attack England. Emma wants to keep her toddler son close, but Aethelred wants to keep her away from him, so sends him to be raised by his daughter and her husband, who is Aethelred’s closest advisor… one who really doesn’t have Aethelred’s best interests in mind.

This is the second in a trilogy, and I didn’t even remember the first book (or that there was one) until I looked it up after finishing (though it wasn’t that long ago – 3 years – since I listened to the audio). Given that, I’d say you don’t need to read the first one to read this one. This is a time period I don’t think I’ve read anything else of, but I really liked Emma’s strong character. Elgiva was also a strong character, but she wasn’t a terribly nice person. Now, all that being said, in reality, there isn’t much known about these women, so their roles in history, as portrayed in this book, are fictional. Luckily, there is a good cast of characters at the beginning of the book (also luckily, I wasn’t listening to the audio, so it was easy to refer to), since many of the characters have names starting with E or AE! There is also a glossary, and an author’s note at the end.… (más)

I think I started reading this trilogy ages ago and I'm satisfied by the conclusion, although I do wish the author had decided to continue Emma's story. In this volume, England is conquered by Cnut and Emma struggles to find a way for her family and her self to obtain safety. The ups and downs of the Anglo-Saxon royalty and plenty of exchanges of thrones dominate this novel, leaving me impressed with how well the author manages to make a thousand-year-old story fresh, relevant, and compelling. In the future, I hope to find more books, fiction and nonfiction, about Emma of Normandy.… (más)

A long, drawn-out boring book without a conclusion; the author is making this a trilogy: *YAWNS*.

The book is based on Queen Emma & King Æthelred and uses a a historical telling of it as the introduction to each chapter.

The characters did not inspire empathy they were flat & rather unlikable without much personality. Emma, although Queen, couldn't figure out who the enemy in her retinue was, but she should have been easily able to.

There was little dialog in comparison to the long drawn-out narration of what was going on.... worse it seemed as every interaction Emma had with her husband the King got her beaten & raped.

I was under the impression that Emma was a likeable character, but she bored me.

Not going to read another by this author.… (más)

In the early 1000s, Emma of Normandy was chosen by her mother to travel to England to marry the older king. She was more the age of his eldest son, but she was also ambitious. The agreement was that she would be made queen (the king’s previous wife and mother of his many sons was never made queen). Things get dangerous for Emma when the Danish king attacks England, even though Emma’s mother is Danish.

Although I’m only rating it “ok”, I will add the second book to my tbr. I don’t think I’ve read anything (or if I have, it’s very little) about this time period, so I’d like to know more. I listened to the audio, so I’m certain that’s why I missed things. It did pick up for me in the middle. There were a few other perspectives in the book, but it took me a while to “catch” this.… (más)