Daughter of Mercia
Dr Anna Petersen Mysteries #1
by Julia Ibbotson
A brand-new Anglo-Saxon time-slip full of mystery and romance.
Echoes of the past resonate across the centuries as Dr Anna Petersen, a medievalist and runologist, is struggling with past trauma and allowing herself to trust again. When archaeologist (and Anna's old adversary) Professor Matt Beacham unearths a 6th century seax with a mysterious runic inscription, and reluctantly approaches Anna for help, a chain of events brings the past firmly back into her present. And why does the burial site also contain two sets of bones, one 6th century and the other modern?
As the past and present intermingle alarmingly, Anna and Matt need to work together to solve the mystery of the seax runes and the seemingly impossible burial, and to discover the truth about the past. Tensions rise and sparks fly between Anna and Matt. But how is 6th century Lady Mildryth of Mercia connected to Anna? Can they both be the Daughter of Mercia?
For fans of Barbara Erskine, Elena Collins, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley and Christina Courtenay.
Praise for Daughter of Mercia:
“Ibbotson’s prose immerses you in the vivid world of the Anglo-Saxon era, richly layered with sensory detail that brings both the past and present timelines to life. I could feel the atmosphere—the cold stone and the wind on the hills. Her writing weaves the two eras seamlessly, connecting people across time and creating a mysterious, slow-building tension that keeps you turning the pages.”
~ Alis Page, Reviewer, 5*
~ Alis Page, Reviewer, 5*
Who are Dr Anna Petersen and Lady Mildryth?
Daughter of Mercia is a timeslip / dual time novel with two main protagonists in each timeline. The two main characters I’ve chosen to tell you about are Dr Anna Petersen (in the present day) and Lady Mildryth (in the 6th century), both complex characters who are the spring-boards for the conflict and action of the novel as their lives intertwine. There are also two male main protagonists: Professor Matt Beacham and Theowulf who are crucial to the plot.
Dr Anna Petersen
Dr Anna Petersen is in her early 30s, an academic, a medievalist and expert in runology. She’s called out to an archaeological dig by her old adversary Professor Matt Beacham, an archaeologist, who wants her to help in interpreting strange runes on an ancient seax he has discovered in a weird burial on his dig site. This is the starting point of the story. However, Anna is a little hesitant as she has come across Matt previously during an inter-university session on WhatsApp, when she took an instant dislike to him, feeling that he was arrogant and unapproachable. But she’s really fascinated by the burial itself as well as the found artefacts, because there are two remains in the same burial site, one female and early medieval, and the other male and modern. She determines to go to the site to examine the unusual runes and hopefully find out more about the mysterious burial, although she’s haunted by the memory of the last dig she took part in, where a dreadful event took place.
Anna is essentially a strong character, clever, kind and caring, usually well able to stand up for herself in a man’s world, but feels that, in a moment of weakness, she has allowed herself to be taken advantage of, professionally and personally, by her erstwhile colleague, Tom. She is now struggling with being able to trust again and her life is now largely about self-preservation. She also holds a dark secret in her heart related to that experience and she finds it difficult to talk to anyone about it, other than her friend Susie. She wishes she could confide in her beloved mother, but as she is suffering from a terminal illness, Anna doesn’t want to worry her. As her father died long ago, Anna is her mother’s primary carer and the sole custodian of the historic family home and archives. It’s a lot for her young shoulders to bear! And it doesn’t help that Matt seems to blame her for the disappearance of their mutual colleague, Tom.
Lady Mildryth
Lady Mildryth is the young leader of the settlement and its region granted to her by her father, King Cnebba of Mercia. She is named the cūning (‘king’), a title given to male and female leaders although she feels that she must impress her father that she is undoubtedly equal to men, in particular to her brothers who have also been granted small ‘kingdoms’. She feels that she is constantly being spied upon and judged by her father and therefore, although she’s a strong leader, needs to convey an image of strength and wisdom at all times: whether it may be in her dealing with problems within the settlement, or in her image in the Witan council where decisions are made. She’s annoyed with herself when she thinks that she has fallen short of the ideal she has set for herself.
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Mildryth needs to be the final arbiter of disputes, the wise head who decides the fate of erring subjects, the judge of appropriate punishments for misdeeds, and the leader who forms the strategy in terms of relationships with neighbouring settlements and of the advisability of battle. She wants nothing more than a peaceful and flourishing future for her people and that is what she sees as her role, not as a warring, blood-thirsty despot or a conquering dictator. Success for Mildryth is the unity of a settled community with plentiful harvests, food stored for harsh winters, and the development of cultural activities, such as the scōp (poet story-teller of historic heroic tales) and the glæman (for music and singing). She follows the new Christian faith but accepts that many of her people still hold to the pagan beliefs of old, and tries to accommodate both views. It’s important for her to maintain harmony in the community. Like Anna, it’s a lot for her young shoulders to bear! Yet, she is still a ‘child of her time’ and when the real challenge comes in the form of an almost unbelievable reality, can she take it?
It is Mildryth’s name that Anna interprets from the runes on the seax hilt in Daughter of Mercia, and thus begins the connection between the two women across the centuries. Both of them experience odd ‘visions’ of each other’s life and times, as Anna starts to discover more about Mildryth’s challenges: her domineering father, her position as leader, and her relationship to the stranger who appears in her settlement, whom she names as Theowulf. In more ways than one, Mildryth challenges the conventions of her time and as a strong, brave and determined young woman she has much in common with Anna. But little do either of them realise how much more they have in common than personality alone. As Anna talks to her bed-bound mother she finds out about her father’s family history and it reveals a whole new dimension to her investigation into the seax, the burial, and to Mildryth herself.
I hope that Daughter of Mercia is a gripping page-turning read, but also that it is thought-provoking and leaves the reader wondering! As one of my reviewers said: ‘I couldn’t stop talking about it for days’.
If you want to read more about Lady Mildryth’s period of history, I have a series (Living with the Anglo Saxons) on my blog at https://juliaibbotsonauthor.com
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Julia Ibbotson
Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of time. She is the author of historical mysteries with a frisson of romance. Her books are evocative of time and place, well-researched and uplifting page-turners. Her current series focuses on early medieval time-slip / dual-time mysteries.
Julia read English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language / literature / history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. After a turbulent time in Ghana, West Africa, she became a school teacher, then a university academic and researcher. Her break as an author came soon after she joined the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme in 2015, with a three-book deal from Lume Books for a trilogy (Drumbeats) set in Ghana in the 1960s.
She has published five other books, including A Shape on the Air, an Anglo-Saxon timeslip mystery, and its two sequels The Dragon Tree and The Rune Stone. Her latest novel is the first of a new series of Anglo-Saxon dual-time mysteries, Daughter of Mercia, where echoes of the past resonate across the centuries.
Her books will appeal to fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, and Christina Courtenay. Her readers say: ‘Julia’s books captured my imagination’, ‘beautiful story-telling’, ‘evocative and well-paced storylines’, ‘brilliant and fascinating’ and ‘I just couldn’t put it down’.
Connect with Julia:
Thank you so much for featuring my book, Daughter of Mercia, today. Much appreciated. My characters are still living in my head (and heart) as I write the sequel!
ReplyDeleteYou're most welcome, Julia. I'm looking forward to reading it. Enjoy your writing! x
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