New Release and Review: The Castilian Pomegranate by Anne Belfrage

 Anna Belfrage is a prolific and multi-awarding winning author and her latest book, The Castilian Pomegranate, is published today.

An enraged and grieving queen commands them to retrieve her exquisite jewel and abandon their foundling brat overseas—or never return

Robert FitzStephan and his wife, Noor, have been temporarily exiled. Officially, they are to travel to the courts of Aragon and Castile as emissaries of Queen Eleanor of England. Unofficially, the queen demands two things: that they abandon Lionel, their foster son, in foreign lands and that they bring back a precious jewel – the Castilian Pomegranate.

Noor would rather chop off a foot than leave Lionel in a foreign land—especially as he’s been entrusted to her by his dead father, the last true prince of Wales. And as to the jewel, stealing it would mean immediate execution. . .

Spain in 1285 is a complicated place. France has launched a crusade against Aragon and soon enough Robert is embroiled in the conflict, standing side by side with their Aragonese hosts.

Once in Castile, it is the fearsome Moors that must be fought, with Robert facing weeks separated from his young wife, a wife who is enthralled by the Castilian court—and a particular Castilian gallant.

Jealousy, betrayal and a thirst for revenge plunge Noor and Robert into life-threatening danger.

Will they emerge unscathed or will savage but beautiful Castile leave them permanently scarred and damaged?

My Review:

When the sun is shining and you check your 'to do' list for the day and see that you have a new book by Anna Belfrage to read and review, it is very much not a chore to sit in the garden and read all day. Which is exactly what I did a few weeks ago when the last of the summer sun threw its warmth at me and Ms Belfrage scooped me away to medieval Spain. And I really did feel as though I was there, with delicious descriptions of flower blossom, and the sights and smells of the Spanish countryside, the bustle of Barcelona and lush depictions of interiors of palaces and chapels.

I've read the first in this series (His Castilian Hawk) and I advise you do the same. Not because you need to in order to catch up with the story, but just because it's a really good read. In this new book, Ms Belfrage gives sufficient background information that you can read this as a standalone.

And so we know why Noor and Robert have found themselves in Spain. They become embroiled in the fighting and complicated politics out there, between French and Spanish, Christians and Muslims, between warring Spanish realms, and discover the blurring of lines of loyalty.

The story shows how everyone is constrained by their social status. Even the high born cannot choose their own paths. Some characters' lives are in danger simply because of who they are; their birthright endangers just as much as it protects them. Anyone who manages any social mobility must constantly defend that jump.

There is so much to absorb here. The above-mentioned societal rules, the complicated and often ruthless, even barbaric, politics of the region, the heart-stopping action and battle scenes, the tender love scenes, the careful early setting up of later scenes, when the actions of certain characters lead to severe consequences...

And yet, this is not a difficult read. Ms Belfrage blends her characters and their stories so seamlessly that I had no idea who was real and who was fictional. 

This, of course, is easy to do when you are a master of story-telling. 

Buy The Castilian Pomegranate

Review - Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine: Founding an Empire, Matthew Lewis

I was delighted to receive a review copy of this new book by Matthew Lewis.

"Henry II became King of England in 1154 after twenty years of civil war. He was the first Plantagenet king, the founder of England’s most successful and longest-ruling dynasty. But Henry did not come to the throne alone. He had married Eleanor of Aquitaine, a feisty, formidable and powerful woman ten years his senior. Eleanor had spent fifteen years married to Louis VII of France before he divorced her, only to be angered when she married his young rival. Together, they were a medieval power couple who soon added the ultimate rank of king and queen consort to their list of titles. With them, the Angevin Empire was born. Over the decades, a wedge was driven between the king, fiercely protective of his empire, and Eleanor, who felt restrained in her husband’s shadow. Henry imprisoned his wife, fought his elder sons and pinned his hopes on his youngest, whose betrayal was the last straw. This book charts the early lives of Henry and Eleanor before they became a European power couple and examines the impact of their union on contemporaries and European politics. It explores the birth of the Angevin Empire that spread from Northumberland to the Mediterranean, and the causes of the disintegration of that vast territory, as well as the troublesome relationships between Henry and his sons, who dragged their father to the battlefield to defend his lands from their ambitious intriguing."

I suppose I've read more than a few books about Eleanor over the years, but outside the world of fiction, I don't think I've read one that gives equal 'billing' to both Eleanor and her second husband, Henry II.

Two things struck me immediately: the author is adept at analysing  primary sources, and he writes in a very conversational style, presenting the carefully researched history in a very readable way. Not once did I have to stop, go back, and re-read a passage. Even the complicated relationship between Henry and Thomas Becket flows beautifully (with some excellent suggestions regarding what might have been going through Becket's mind).

The author is clearly an admirer of Eleanor and is at pains to point out several times that she was the victim of the misogynistic attitudes of the age. 

This is not to say that he is unsympathetic towards Henry. On balance, the impression is that he greatly admires both the separate and joint achievements of this couple. He also throws doubt (or should that be light?) on some of the accepted 'truths' about their marriage, which I found refreshing and thought-provoking.

One aspect which comes across strongly is the complex system of fealty in what we think of today as France but was back then a collection of duchies and counties with rulers who owed allegiance often to more than one lord for their various landholdings. In this, Henry was no different and the struggle to hold those lands (at the author says in his summing up, it was not a deliberate decision to build an empire, more a lucky amassing of lands through various inheritances).

I thought I was fairly familiar with the lives of these two, but I have to say that, especially when debunking accepted ideas about them, the author convinced me with his logical, source-based conclusions and often challenged my pre-conceptions.

This book is a thorough examination of the lives and fluctuating fortunes of Eleanor and Henry, and shows what happened when their children grew to adulthood, offering reasons for what went so wrong. It's an engaging read, packed with detail, and I highly recommend it. 

Available now from Amberley Books

and Amazon

Interview with author Amy Maroney

Amy Maroney, author of the wonderful Miramonde Series, has a new release, Island of Gold, and it's a slightly new departure for her. I'm delighted to welcome her to the blog today to talk about it.

AM: Hello Annie, and thanks for having me on the blog today!

AW: You are most welcome Amy. I’ve read and enjoyed all the Miramonde Series. Island of Gold is going to take readers not so far away from Mira’s world in terms of period, but it’s certainly a new location. What inspired you to write this new story set in Rhodes?

AM: Island of Gold, the story of a noble French falconer and a spirited merchant’s daughter who seek their fortunes in Rhodes during the rule of the Knights Hospitaller, was inspired by a 2012 visit to the island with my family. We were lucky enough to spend three weeks getting to know the island and its people. Greece is full of lovely islands, but Rhodes is blessed with an abundance of beauty. The sun-baked beaches and limestone cliffs are cooled by afternoon winds that skim over the sea. White-washed villages cling to hillsides overlooking sparkling bays. The forested, hilly interior is a world unto itself, clothed in pine and cypress forests. What makes it truly magical for me, though, are all the layers of history. Ancient temples and toppled statues of Greek goddesses exist alongside crumbling walls and forts built by medieval knights. Ever since that experience, the storyteller in me has longed to go back to Rhodes. And now I have…using my imagination and a tremendous amount of research.

The sea and cliffs Rhodes [Unsplash]

AW: I have holidayed on Rhodes and seen the sites associated with the Knights Hospitaller and now I'm longing to go back! Your Miramonde Series is set in the Pyrenees and features the route the pilgrims took along Camino de Santiago. Were you also able to travel to the Pyrenees and if so can you tell us a little of your experiences there and more about Rhodes?

AM: I was inspired to write the Miramonde Series—the story of a Renaissance-era female artist and the modern-day scholar on her trail—after spending time in the Pyrenees ten years ago. I stumbled upon many trail markers with the distinctive yellow arrow of the Camino de Santiago before I knew anything about the ancient pilgrimage routes. I eventually visited Compostela and the monastery of San Juan de la Peña and walked bits of the trail during dayhikes, but I’ve yet to complete a true Camino experience with backpack and hiking poles. The Pyrenees exerted a magical hold upon me, though—so powerful that it didn’t let me go until I’d written a trilogy set there! It was much like the feeling I got when I explored Rhodes Town that same year. 

Street of the Knights, Rhodes [Unsplash]

No place on Rhodes fascinated me as much as Rhodes Town. The largest community on the island, Rhodes Town has been a thriving port for millennia. In the medieval era, the Knights Hospitaller ruled Rhodes and the surrounding islands from a palace overlooking the bustling harbor. In Rhodes Town as in the Pyrenees, I followed traces of medieval travelers along cobblestone streets and into the ruins of churches. Echoes of their voices lingered in the vaulted corridors of the hospital and the inns that once housed knights and pilgrims. 

I was struck with a desire to dig deeper when I visited the reconstructed palace of the Order of St. John. Wandering through vast, formal chambers, I peeked into a dim corridor where stone tablets carved with European knights’ coats-of-arms leaned against the walls. Staring at those dusty slabs of stone, I wondered who the knights had been. Where had they come from? How did they die? My imagination started a wild spiral. What had it been like for ordinary people living in the knights’ shadow? For women, especially? Who benefited from the Order’s presence? Who suffered? One day, I resolved, I would learn the answers to those questions and more.

Medieval Hospital, Rhodes Town [Unsplash]

AW: I understand that feeling of wanting to know more, something that your modern-day character in the Miramonde books shares! Though the time periods for the two series are similar, I see that there is one major difference in that Island of Gold doesn’t have a dual timeline. Can you talk us through the thought processes that led to one series being dual timeline and one being single timeline?

AM: The Miramonde Series, an art history mystery trilogy, has a dual timeline because I wanted to show how modern art conservation techniques can reveal secrets within paintings that are hundreds of years old. I said to myself, “Imagine a young, female researcher stumbling upon evidence that a five-hundred-year-old painting was created by an unknown woman artist. Imagine her challenging elite art historians who assert that the work was made by a famous man. And imagine taking readers on a journey through time so they learn the story of that unsung artist’s life as it played out centuries ago.” 

As much as I loved researching and writing the series, I was ready to take a break from the dual timeline format when I began planning the Sea and Stone Chronicles (Island of Gold is Book 1 in this new series). I have always enjoyed historical adventure, seafaring, and swashbuckling. The historical action/adventure category of publishing is marketed to men and tends to be heavy on battle scenes and light on strong or interesting female characters. The historical romance category often leaves me wanting more than just romance. I love a great romance, and I enjoy an epic battle scene or swordfight, but I’m more interested in the lives of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances.  

With this new series, I wanted to combine my favorite aspects of adventure and romance with a sturdy foundation of history. Instead of jumping around in time, I had a strong desire to drop anchor in the fifteenth century and stay awhile.

How women managed to survive and even prosper during the fifteenth century is a question I think about all the time. I’ve been intrigued with that era since I began the research for the Miramonde Series. It’s the end of the medieval period and the beginning of the Renaissance. The ripple effects of the fourteenth-century plague are still being felt all over Europe. The printing press means more people have access to books and learning than ever before. The merchant class is on the rise. Nobles are running out of money. Shipping empires are rising and falling at sea, and the loss of Constantinople to Sultan Mehmed II of Turkey spells doom for the easternmost outposts of Christendom, including Rhodes and Cyprus. That’s rich material to mine for historical fiction. 

Rhodes Town Harbour [Unsplash]

AW: You're right that it's such an interesting period and setting. With one series under your belt and now a new one beginning its journey into the world, I’m interested to know how much of each volume’s story is already in your head when you are writing a series?

AM: I wish I could say I had a concrete plan for each series that I actually stick to when writing, but that’s far from the truth. I usually start with an idea sparked by travel, or  “What if…?” questions that fire my imagination. Setting, characters, and plot begin to unfold as I do more research. The historical nuggets I discover usually make the best plot twists. Truth really is stranger than fiction. 

With this series, I originally envisioned several thriller/mysteries starring one female protagonist, but I changed course during my research. The Sea and Stone Chronicles are historical adventure/romances, and while some characters appear in all the books, each novel stars a different set of protagonists. Rhodes is the primary setting for the first two books, and Cyprus is the main setting for the third book. After these three novels launch, I may return to my plan for the thriller/mystery series, featuring offspring of my Sea and Stone Chronicles characters. As long as fifteenth-century Europe continues to fascinate me, I’ll keep journeying back there for my historical fiction.

AW: That's good to know, as we want to keep reading the books!

AM: Thanks so much for hosting me on the blog today, Annie!

AW: Thank you for chatting today Amy and good luck with the new release.

About the Author:

Amy Maroney studied English Literature at Boston University and worked for many years as a writer and editor of nonfiction. She lives in Oregon, U.S.A. with her family. When she’s not diving down research rabbit holes, she enjoys hiking, dancing, traveling, and reading. Amy is the author of The Miramonde Series, an award-winning historical fiction trilogy about a Renaissance-era female artist and the modern-day scholar on her trail. Her new historical adventure/romance series, Sea and Stone Chronicles, is set in medieval Rhodes and Cyprus.

Readers can connect with Amy:

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Buy Island of Gold