The Anarchy
(Conquest, Book 3)
By Tracey Warr
Unhappily married to Stephen de Marais, the Welsh princess, Nest, becomes increasingly embroiled in her countrymen’s resistance to the Norman occupation of her family lands. She plans to visit King Henry in the hope of securing a life away from her unwanted husband, but grieving for the loss of his son, the King is obsessed with relics and prophecies.
Meanwhile, Haith tries to avoid the reality that Nest is married to another man by distracting himself with the mystery of the shipwreck in which the King’s heir drowned. As Haith pieces together fragments of the tragedy, he discovers a chest full of secrets, but will the revelations bring a culprit to light and aid the grieving King?
Will the two lovers be united as Nest fights for independence and Haith struggles to protect King Henry?
Publication Date: 2nd June 2020
Publisher: Impress Books
Page Length: 218 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction/ Historical Romance
INTERVIEW
Writing interview questions.
Why did you choose to write your book in this era?
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Najac.
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Ten years ago, I spent six months living in a medieval house in a tiny hamlet in the south of France. I was surrounded by ancient castles and medieval bastide towns, which are built on defensive mounds, such as Najac overlooking the River Aveyron, or Saint Cirq Lapopie in the Lot Valley. These ancient sites and the great rivers of southern France stirred my imagination. I fell in love with the place and now live here permanently. I stumbled across the fascinating story of a real medieval woman, Almodis de La Marche, who was the countess of Toulouse and Barcelona and I started writing a novel about her. I didn’t know much about early medieval Europe when I began but I undertook a great deal of research – reading, looking at objects in museums and old manuscripts in libraries, as well as visiting castles and other ancient sites. The Anarchy, my latest book, is my fifth medieval novel, and is set in medieval Wales, where I also lived for many years. Immersion in a particular landscape is a key inspiration for me.
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| Saint Cirq-Lapopie. |
What is the most surprising thing you discovered while you were researching this era?
That the 12th century Norman king Henry I of England and Duke of Normandy attempted to put his daughter, Empress Matilda, on the throne as his successor, after his only legitimate son was drowned in the English Channel.
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| Empress Matilda. |
Matilda had been married to the German emperor at the age of eight and when her husband died, her father recalled her to England.
When Henry died, Matilda was pregnant in Normandy and her cousin Stephen de Blois rushed to England and usurped her throne. There were many years of civil war between the cousins, called The Anarchy and Matilda came very close to success on several occasions. She was crowned in Winchester Cathedral but her success was brief-lived. She had Stephen a prisoner in shackles in Bristol Castle, but the throne continued to elude her grasp. Eventually Matilda’s son became king as Henry II.
If her father’s intention had been realised Matilda would have been the first woman to rule the Anglo-Norman kingdom in her own right. I like to imagine that King Henry I was a proto-feminist. He evidently loved women. He had at least 24 illegitimate children with numerous mistresses. He acknowledged and took care of his mistresses and his illegitimate offspring. And he was close to his older sister, Countess Adela of Blois, who was another example of a significant and successful female ruler.
Can you share something about the book that isn’t covered in the blurb?
My protagonist, Nest ferch Rhys, works to help her brother, Gruffudd ap Rhys, regain the kingdom of southwest Wales, which has been conquered by Norman invaders. Nest secretly employs a German mining expert to help rediscover the gold at an old Roman mine on her brother’s land. The gold helps to arm her brother’s followers and, along with the princes of Gwynedd, Gruffudd achieves a notable victory against the Normans at the battle of Crug Mawr, near Cardigan Castle. A few months before Crug Mawr, Gruffudd’s wife, Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd ap Cynan, led a force of Welsh warriors against the Norman stronghold at Kidwelly. Gwenllian was defeated and she and two of her sons were executed. At Crug Mawr, the Welsh victors’ war cry was ‘For Gwenllian!’
There is a vein of truth in my story. There really is a Roman goldmine at Dolaucothi, Gwenllian really did lead a band of warriors and was executed, and the Welsh really did win at Crug Mawr yelling her name.
If you had to describe your protagonist, in three words, what would those three words be?
Resilient, loyal, sensual
What are you currently working on?
A biography of three sisters who lived in the 11th century and ruled in southern France and Catalonia and a new novel about a female troubadour and a young man who is fresco artist, working in chapels across the Pyrenees.
Personal Interview questions.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
Swim
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer
What is the best part of your day?
The morning when I first wake up and feel very optimistic about how much I can accomplish. I rarely achieve everything I hoped, but I always achieve something!
Either or!
Tea or coffee?
Tea.
Hot or cold?
Hot.
Movie or book?
Book.
Morning person or Night owl?
Morning person.
City or country?
Country.
Social Media or book?
Book
Paperback or ebook?
Paperback
Tracey Warr
Tracey Warr (1958- ) was born in London and lives in the UK and France. Her first historical novel, Almodis the Peaceweaver (Impress, 2011) is set in 11th century France and Spain and is a fictionalised account of the true story of the Occitan female lord, Almodis de la Marche, who was Countess of Toulouse and Barcelona. It was shortlisted for the Impress Prize for New Fiction and the Rome Film Festival Books Initiative and won a Santander Research Award. Her second novel, The Viking Hostage, set in 10th century France and Wales, was published by Impress Books in 2014 and topped the Amazon Australia charts. Her Conquest trilogy, Daughter of the Last King, The Drowned Court, and The Anarchy recount the story of a Welsh noblewoman caught up in the struggle between the Welsh and the Normans in the 12th century. She was awarded a Literature Wales Writers Bursary. Her writing is a weave of researched history and imagined stories in the gaps in history.Tracey Warr studied English at University of Hull and Oxford University, gaining a BA (Hons) and MPhil. She worked at the Arts Council, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Chatto & Windus Publishers, and edited Poetry Review magazine with Mick Imlah. She also publishes art writing on contemporary artists, and in 2016 she published a future fiction novella, Meanda, in English and French, as part of the art project, Exoplanet Lot. She recently published a series of three books, The Water Age, which are future fiction and art and writing workshop books - one for adults and one for children - on the topic of water in the future. She gained a PhD in Art History in 2007 and was Guest Professor at Bauhaus University and Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University and Dartington College of Arts. Her published books on contemporary art include The Artist’s Body (Phaidon, 2000), Remote Performances in Nature and Architecture (Routledge, 2015) and The Midden (Garret, 2018). She gained an MA in Creative Writing at University of Wales Trinity St David in 2011. She is Head of Research at Dartington Trust and teaches on MA Poetics of Imagination for Dartington Arts School.
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What a great interview!
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