If your a regular reader or frequent visitor of Jorie Loves A Story, you might have seen my review for my first EPIC Historical novel published by Impress Books (UK) this week entitled: Almodis: The Peaceweaver! This novel marked my introduction to the historical crafting style of Impress Books authors and the impressive layer of breadth Ms Warr knits inside her historical fiction! I originally crossed paths with the publisher on Twitter in late 2015, whilst finding the novels of Ms Warr, as I quite seriously have a penchant for well-conceived historical stories set during eras of time I am keenly interested in visiting through literature!
Originally this reveal was scheduled for August, however, as we all know time schedules in publishing are fluid and I was thankful I was online this morning to catch the missive the publicist sent me in order to help spread the news now rather than await my tour stop to share my ruminations!
I love going back to the author’s origins, especially to read their debut release as a good foundation to understand their approach to writing their collective works. I was most impressed by the layered realism and intricate attention to detail whilst building a strong level of grounding for the back-story of Almodis as well. Thus, I am thrilled to announce I am a part of the upcoming blog tour for the #Conquest series featuring this novel which sets off the pace for the trilogy!
Warr has constructed such an intricate plot around Almodis, as her fate is mirror to Guinevere in some ways, as neither woman could fully believe they were being deceived at every turn. Almodis had a servant working against her and a second marriage optioned to her to increase her brother’s steed of wealth and power. She was being used and taken by men, without any consideration for how this might affect her psychological well-being or her very spirit as a woman who had always believed in the purpose of her role as a wife and mother. She had a sharpened mind which caught her a few breaks along the way, without which she might not have fared as well as she did. Except to say, it was not without it’s hurdles.
The fact Almodis’s story is living history is a testament to the imagination of Tracey Warr who presented her life in such a fashion as to encourage us to draw closer to her journey towards ruling land, home and her mind with such an intricate understanding for order. I agree with Warr, this is definitely a story that played out well in a historical narrative, as there are such far reaching scenarios to understand what happened between her marriages, the births of her children and how everything knitted together in the end where different children took over the original three regions which were always succumbing to war. She wasn’t just the weaver of peace for her generation but for multi-generations down through her descendants as the works she accomplished whilst she was alive remained a living memory of who she was whilst she dared to entrust herself to live authentically towards the honour she felt she was always bestowed to upheld.
-quoted from my review of Almodis: The Peaceweaver
As you can see, I love how Warr is able to write-in the moments of a lost era where we not only can visually conceptionalise that particular part of a living history (as Almodis is Biograhpical Historical Fiction based on the life of a real person) but she etches out the fuller scope of that generations layers of place, time and setting. It’s a fully realised immersion into a hidden corridor of history that is such a pleasure to read as you become wholly absorbed by Warr’s vision and her understanding of her characters’ lives to such a degree, you feel like you’ve lived through their heartaches & the journey it took them to find their own levels of success as they fought against the tides of tradition.
Having been properly introduced to her writing style so wondrously tied to her knack for research, I was beyond elated to be in a position to continue to read her stories, starting with the #Conquest trilogy!
Conquest: Daughter of the Last King Cover Reveal
1093. The three sons of William the Conqueror – Robert Duke of Normandy, William II King of England and Count Henry – fight with each other for control of the Anglo-Norman kingdom created by their father’s conquest.
Meanwhile, Nesta ferch Rhys, the daughter of the last independent Welsh king, is captured during the Norman assault of her lands. Raised with her captors, the powerful Montgommery family, Nesta is educated to be the wife of Arnulf of Montgommery, in spite of her pre-existing betrothal to a Welsh prince.
Who will Nest marry and can the Welsh rebels oust the Normans?
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 9781907605819
Published by: Impress Books (@ImpressBooks1)
RELEASE DATE: 1st October, 2016 | Formats Available: Paperback & Ebook
Converse via: #Conquest on Twitter & Instagram
About Tracey Warr
Tracey Warr is a writer based in Wales and France, and has published novels and books on contemporary art. She was Senior Lecturer, teaching and researching on art history and theory of the 20th and 21st centuries, at Oxford Brookes University, Bauhaus University and Dartington College of Arts.
Her first novel, Almodis: The Peaceweaver (Impress, 2011), is set in 11th century France and Spain, and was shortlisted for the Impress Prize for New Fiction and the Rome Film Festival Book Initiative and received a Santander Research Award. Her second historical novel, The Viking Hostage (Impress, 2014), is set in 10th century France and Wales.
She received a Literature Wales Writer’s Bursary for work on her new trilogy, Conquest , set in 12th century Wales, England and Normandy. She received an Authors Foundation Award from the Society of Authors for work on a biography of three medieval sisters, entitled Three Female Lords. She is also working on a new historical novel featuring a 12th century female troubadour in Toulouse, and on a future fiction novel set in the debatable territory of a river estuary, between water and land, in the 22nd century.
Her writing on contemporary artists has been published by Phaidon, Merrell, Black Dog, Palgrave, Manchester University Press. Her latest art publication is Remote Performances in Nature and Architecture (Ashgate, 2015). She reviews for Times Higher Education, Historical Novels Review and New Welsh Review.
I must say, I only know of William the Conqueror in name only, as sadly my only knowledge of early history has been captured by my own curiosities by reading through historical fiction novels which help ascertain what was happening during those long ago eras were so much was happening all at once! My school years did not yield much information as they were quite focused on superficial layers of history rather than digging into the context of what truly mattered and the lessons of history that might have been better to focus on if only to help all of us understand more about the leaders of long ago & the impact of all the legacies that shifted time forward to the present.
I am finding that I appreciate writers like Ms Warr who are giving us such a bounty of insight into the historical past, that it makes my discovery of Biographical Historical Fiction such a happy entreaty into the lives of Kings, Queens and historical figures who carved out such interesting lives across continents as to effectively change how history was remembered and how progress moved forward through successive generations. I still admit, I agree with my tribe #HistoricalFix, the best way to find History drinkable is to purport ourselves through the lens of a well-researched historical novel as it allows us to see History in a tangible way rather than in an obtuse recollection that does not always yield the personal or emotional connection we’re seeking to find. This is where Warr and others like her succeed in giving us a riveting read that highlights people we only know by name but haven’t yet had the pleasure of ‘knowing’ on a personal level.
What impressed me the most about this story, is how there is a change of power and there is question about marrying for love or marrying out of leverage to accomplish another goal entirely? Marriage in the historical past was very rarely for love alone as it was generally a given that girls would marry to re-align power, succeed further to deepen the coffers of wealth or simply, they were believed to blindly follow their father’s will because it was expected that their life was to be dictated by him and not questioned at all. Women did not have a lot of the freedoms they would simultaneously start to fight to achieve until much later, and more times than naught, all freedoms were hard-won.
I even find it interesting how arranged marriage contracts were sometimes severed for a better alignment lateron or sometimes, in rarer instances, a woman could prove the point to marry for love rather than out of obligation. In this story, it looks like its much more complicated than that, and it will be interesting to see how Nest will succeed on either a path directly of her choosing or as a consolation of a path already conceived for her to walk. It did not surprise me she was living in confinement after a power trade of land, as this was highlighted in Almodis: The Peaceweaver as well – how girls were taken from their families either in trade agreements or in a measure of control for those who are raising them. It is interesting to see how each woman deals with their circumstances and how they were able to keep their spirit free whilst their lives were not actively their own.
If you regularly devour amazingly researched historical fiction & haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading a Tracey Warr novel, I do think your going to be keen to keep your eyes peeled for #Conquest! What I loved the most about her writing style is how well she captures the Medieval timescape as to place us directly inside the fabric of what life felt like as it was being lived.
The best time travelling is through the portal of the historical past!
This Cover Reveal is courtesy of: Impress Books (UK)
Similar to blog tours where I feature book reviews, as I choose to highlight an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog. I provide the questions for interviews and topics for the guest posts; wherein I receive the responses back from publicists and authors directly. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them; I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers.
Reader Interactive Question:
What do you love about Medieval Historical Fiction!?
{SOURCES: Book cover for “Conquest: Daughter of the Last King”, book synopsis, author photograph of Tracey Warr, author biography, the banners & badge for Conquest: Daughter of the Last King were provided by Impress Books (UK) and used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded due to codes provided by Twitter.
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Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2016.
Comments via Twitter:
#CoverReveal for #Conquest the first in a new #historicalfiction trilogy by @TraceyWarr1 https://t.co/nbmEfslyW1 pic.twitter.com/SRflFydnbz
— Impress Books (@ImpressBooks1) July 29, 2016
Ahhh I just got a very cool, historical fiction ARC through the post today! Thanks @ImpressBooks1 🙌🎉 pic.twitter.com/yCW1TVDT0H
— Mia 💐 (@thecosyreader) July 29, 2016
.@ImpressBooks1 | #CoverReveal#Bookblogger's enthused joy for #Conquest NEW #HistFic BOOK! https://t.co/soGCmMIDbb pic.twitter.com/hVzE64u07n
— Jorie Loves A Story (@joriestory) July 29, 2016
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