Susan Mayse

Awen is a tightly woven novel of suspense, intrigue, love, and warfare set on the border between the Welsh kingdom of Powys and the English kingdom of Mercia at the end of the eighth century. The result of years of devoted research, the novel centers on an ancient and enigmatic poetry cycle, Canu Heledd. Battles and kidnappings, blood feuds and political murders entangle the poet Cynfarch, as Brochfael of Powys struggles to protect his people's culture and sovereignty from the growing might of Offa of Mercia. From the harsh mountains valleys of North Wales to the quiet streams of western England, from the vanished court of Mathrafal to Charlemagne's throne, a bloody apocalypse looms as Cynfarch pursues both Meirwen's heart and his own quest for reinstatement as bard to the king of Powys.

"Early one morning, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria is roused from bed with the news that her uncle William IV has died and she is now Queen of England. The men who run the country have doubts about whether this sheltered young woman, who stands less than five feet tall, can rule the greatest nation in the world. Surely she must rely on her mother and her venal advisor, Sir John Conroy, or her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, who are all too eager to relieve her of the burdens of power. The young queen is no puppet, however. She has very definite ideas about the kind of queen she wants to be, and the first thing is to choose her name. Everyone keeps saying she is destined to marry her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, but Victoria found him dull and priggish when they met three years ago. She is quite happy being queen with the help of her prime minister, Lord Melbourne, who may be old enough to be her father but is the first person to take her seriously. Drawing on Victoria s diaries, which she first started reading when she was a student at Cambridge University, as well as her own brilliant gifts for history and drama, Daisy Goodwin, author of the bestselling novels The American Heiress and The Fortune Hunter as well as creator and writer of the new PBS/Masterpiece drama Victoria, brings the young queen richly to life."--Amazon.com