A World to Win

Amidst the turbulence of revolutionary Hungary, a Scottish governess falls in love with a young, peasant-born radical determined to change the world.

In 1847, with Europe on the verge of revolution, Katie Kettles travels to Hungary as governess to the family of Count Istvan Szelenyi. On the journey, she first encounters Lajos Lazar making incendiary speeches from a table-top in Vienna.

Though instantly drawn to him, he is not her only distraction from her duties, for Katie has her own vengeful agenda which begins to stutter as she reluctantly becomes involved with the Szelenyis' lives and loves. While Hungary plunges into political upheaval, Katie faces a personal revolution to resolve both her family isues and her passionate relationship with Lajos.

Through Katie's eyes, we see the euphoria of a bloodless revolution victorious over an unjust and stagnant regime, and the tragedy of a lost war that was so very nearly won. A World to Win was published in November 2006 by Mushroom eBooks.

Here are some excerpts to whet your appetite!

To buy A World to Win in print from Amazon.com, click here.

Also available from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Barnes & Noble etc.

To buy the the ebook from Fictionwise, click here.

An Endless Exile

The Novel... An Endless Exile tells the stormy love story of the eleventh century hero, Hereward "the Wake”, as seen through the eyes of his beautiful Flemish wife, Torfrida - clever, secretive and wise in the lore of the stars. Estranged from Hereward at the time of his brutal murder, she sets out reluctantly to discover what really happened that night, vividly remembering the past as she goes: from their first childhood meeting, through their passionate courtship and marriage, their life together teemed with adventure, intrigue, tragedy and betrayal. And the truth, when Torfrida eventually finds it, only leads her into greater danger, threatening her unexpected new happiness in the very moment of its discovery.

If you’d like a taster, here is an excerpt.

Published by Bladud Books, the paperback is available from: Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and all good book shops. The e-book is still available from Fictionwise and other ebook outlets

The story behind the novel...

Oddly enough the idea came to me while I was researching a completely different novel about St. Margaret of Scotland! I got side-tracked by a few lines about Hereward's rebellion and then by the idea of an ordinary man (in the eyes of his own world) capable of leading his supposed betters, even from the unenviable position of an outlaw. Every so often throughout history, it seems, such men do crop up, often as war-leaders: the great Scottish hero William Wallace was another.

The greatest fun, as well as the greatest frustration, about researching Hereward, was the dearth of definite information about him. Most historians agree that he did actually exist, though much of what we know is extracted from the legends which also include unlikely tales of bears and princesses and other appurtenances necessary to Anglo-Saxon heroes.

For those interested, here are a few views of his life and times...

De Gestis Herewardi Saxonis, revised and rewritten by Trevor Beavis, 1995
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ed. Dorothy Whitelock, Greenwood Pr, 1986
The Peterborough Chronicle of Hugh Candidus, Peterborough Museum Society, 1966
Victor Head: Hereward, Sutton, 1995
Frank Stenton: Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford Paperbacks, 2001