The Thorn In The Crown: Ealdyth of Wessex

By Margaret Carradus

The eleventh century in England was a time of turmoil and unease. The ever present threat of invasion from Northern European rulers meant that the English ruler had to be strong and decisive. The chaos left by the invader Cnut after his death lead, eventually, to the return of an exile who, as the seventh son of Ethelred the Unready never expected to become king. He was a stranger in his own land and without the support of the great Earls would never have survived, a fact he bitterly resented. This is the story of his marriage to a girl half his age, Ealdyth of Wessex, and how she grew into the role of Queen. Despite being rejected physically by Edward, she became, through intellect and persistance, the real power behind the Throne and was the only one of her enormous family, The Godwins, to survive the Norman invasion more or less intact. Despite this, she is, as are so many women of her time, a shadowy figure on the pages of history. All that is really known of her is in the pages of "The life of Edward the Confessor", a book she comissioned. This book tells the story of Ealdyth, filling in the gaps left by the passage of time with an imagined landscape of people and events. The historical background is true, in date order and the major characters are real. The thegns , Aldin and Betlic, have been added to give Ealdyth an opportunity to communicate her feelings. Aldin is also there to give her the opportunity for some personal happiness and the chance of love that her arranged marriage denied her. I think if only in fiction, she deserves this.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1541069676
• ISBN13: 9781541069671
• Release Date: December 2016
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"