Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! HFVBTs is one of the very first touring companies I started working with as a 1st Year Book Blogger – uniting my love and passion with Historical Fiction and the lovely sub-genres inside which I love devouring. Whether I am reading selections from Indie Authors & publishers to Major Trade and either from mainstream or INSPY markets – I am finding myself happily residing in the Historical past each year I am a blogger.
What I have been thankful for all these years since 2013 is the beautiful blessing of discovering new areas of Historical History to explore through realistically compelling Historical narratives which put me on the front-lines of where History and human interest stories interconnect. It has also allowed me to dive deeper into the historic past and root out new decades, centuries and millenniums to explore. For this and the stories themselves which are part of the memories I cherish most as a book blogger I am grateful to be a part of the #HFVBTBlogTours blogger team.
I received a complimentary ARC copy of “The Steel Beneath the Silk” direct from the author Patricia Bracewell in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I had the best of intentions – I was able to borrow the first two novels in the Emma of Normandy series via my local library a few months ahead of this blog tour. However, due to circumstances and a major life shift (wherein I am now working full-time) – I honestly lost the hours I needed to full dissolve myself into this series Ms Bracewell has crafted for us to read. From the moment I picked up “The Steel Beneath the Silk” – as it first arrived by postal mail, I knew this was a series which required patience and time – as she writes immersive Historical Fiction with the kind of accuracy you crave when you want to tuck back into a setting and timescape you haven’t previously read to the level of clarify only Bracewell can provide!
Realising I was running out of time to move through this trilogy with the attention it required, I decided to run a spotlight of the novel instead. Knowing I’d be entering into this trilogy on its magnus opus – the end of a cumulative journey I wish I could have taken this Winter. I am hoping to re-borrow the books and re-begin this final chapter after I’ve read them sometime before Summer as I truly wanted to embrace this world through the vision Bracewell had for it herself.
The Steel Beneath the Silk
by Patricia Bracewell
Source: Author via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
A breathtaking conclusion to Bracewell’s Emma of Normandy Trilogy, brimming with treachery, heartache, tenderness and passion as the English queen confronts ambitious and traitorous councilors, invading armies and the Danish king’s power-hungry concubine.
In the year 1012 England’s Norman-born Queen Emma has been ten years wed to an aging, ruthless, haunted King Æthelred. The marriage is a bitterly unhappy one, between a queen who seeks to create her own sphere of influence within the court and a suspicious king who eyes her efforts with hostility and resentment. But royal discord shifts to grudging alliance when Cnut of Denmark, with the secret collusion of his English concubine Elgiva, invades England at the head of a massive viking army. Amid the chaos of war, Emma must outwit a fierce enemy whose goal is conquest and outmaneuver the cunning Elgiva, who threatens all those whom Emma loves.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1942209812
on 2nd March, 2021
Format: Paperback ARC
Pages: 450
Converse via: #HistoricalFiction, #HistFic or #HistNov
+ #TheSteelBeneathTheSilk and #HFVBTBlogTours
Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook
There are wonderful front novel pages of joy for the Historical Fiction reader to discover – from maps to a character directory which in of itself is a tome of reference and knowledge; to a glossary to help you navigate the words within this densely written epic about Emma of Normandy. You do not just get to travel backwards in time with Bracewell, you get to experience the era in which Emma of Normandy lived through a time capsule of historical acuity.
I wanted to challenge myself you see – to read outside where I normally wander in Historical Fiction and tuck into a world I might not otherwise have known. With Bracewell I have a feeling I will be locked inside an era which is both unforgiving and unforgettable the further afield you move into the series. It is the kind of series which as a different kind of tone and pace to it as well – wherein, you have to think a bit more critically of what is being disclosed and keep tabs on the breadth of what is being disclosed. I welcome the challenge and hope others on the tour this month took up the joy of this series for themselves as well.
This blog Tour is courtesy of:
Follow the Virtual Road Map
as you visit others participating:
As this particular one has a bookaway along the route!
{SOURCES: Book cover for “The Steel Beneath the Silk”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Patricia Bracewell, the tour host badge and HFVBTs badge were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Stories in the Spotlight and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2021.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2021 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
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