Keeping it real - romance in Anglo-Saxon England

I write historical romances set in Anglo-Saxon England. Yet, if you do a search on Amazon or Goodreads for authors in this sub-genre, you will see that we are thin on the ground!

Despite this, I've discovered that there are plenty of readers who devour anything in this period - no matter what genre it's in.

There's no reason why readers who like historical fiction set in Anglo-Saxon England, shouldn't enjoy historical romance as well - provided it isn't slushy and full of purple prose! A good story is a good story, no matter what genre it's in. An adventure that transports you to another time and place; characters we care about - these are what readers are looking for. Of course, love is universal. No matter who you are, where you live or what your personal story is, love influences you. The characters in my books have to overcome huge physical, social - and emotional - barriers in order to find happiness. I like to think that although I create characters that modern-day readers can identify with, at the same time the men and women I write about could not exist outside Anglo-Saxon England - they are an intrinsic part of the setting.

Keeping it real

You can't set a book in a gritty period like Anglo-Saxon England (specifically the 7th Century, in my case) without incorporating the realities of how people lived. There's a great romance - in the true sense - in setting a novel in a world where people lived fully and took nothing for granted. Life in Anglo-Saxon England was hard, cheap and, for many, short. Despite this, the Anglo-Saxons were sentimental and passionate. They loved epic stories and riddles, and were driven by strong beliefs in fate, brotherhood, loyalty, vengeance and valor. And although the warrior ruled, and men dominated every day life, women were strong - they had to be. There's a 'realness' about the Anglo-Saxon period that makes a love story come to life.

What's coming up?

So what Anglo-Saxon adventures do I have in the pipeline? I'm in the process of editing a novella; the tale that kicks off the KINGDOM OF THE EAST ANGLES series. All three novels in the series are now available on Amazon.

NIGHT SHADOWS (out soon on Amazon!) is about half the length of the three novels that follow it (30,000 instead of 67,000-70,000 words). This novella follows the publication of  THE DEEPENING NIGHT in February this year, the novel that concluded the series.

NIGHT SHADOWS takes us back two decades, and tells a story of Wil and Cynewyn, a couple who get a second chance at love. This novella sets the scene for what is to come...

THE KINGDOM OF THE EAST ANGLES

Three kings. Three unforgettable love stories.

Find out more about the KINGDOM OF THE EAST ANGLES series on my website: www.jaynecastel.com.

BOOK LAUNCH: 'Nightfall till Daybreak' now available on Amazon Kindle

Wes hāl!” Greetings! (in Old English).

My latest historical romance, Nightfall till Daybreak, is now available on Amazon Kindle - and the paperback will be also be available in a couple of days on Amazon!

This love-story is set in 629 A.D. in Anglo-Saxon England, and is Book #2 of the Kingdom of the East Angles series. These three books are set around the lives of actual East Anglian Kings: Raedwald, Sigeberht and Annan, and spans eight years, from 624-631 A.D. - at a time when the East Anglian kingdom's power was beginning to wane under the threat of Mercia.

Nightfall till Daybreak (which can be read as a standalone novel) takes place five years after the first story, Dark Under the Cover of Night. This story is centered around King Raedwald's stepson, Sigeberht, who returns to Britannia from exile in Gaul to take back the East Anglia throne for the Wuffinga family. This is the tale of Freya and Aidan, a slave and a warrior, and of the king who rules their fates.

Although the lovers: Freya and Aidan are purely figments of my imagination (even if I'd like to think they really did exist), many characters within this novel are based on real historical figures. All of the following 'real people' play an important role in the novel: King Sigeberht; his co-ruler, Ecgric; the monks, Felix of Burgundy and Botulf of Iken; Sigeberht's step-cousin Annan; and the bloodthirsty Mercian King, Penda.

Of course, in the name of telling a good story I have stretched a few facts, embellished events and shortened timelines. Botulf set up his monastery at Iken a few decades later than in this story and Sigeberht actually ruled from 629-634 A.D; but for the purposes of my tale I pack his six-year reign into one eventful year.  

Nightfall till Daybreak is based around Sigeberht's actual life; in fact it was his story that gave me my first inspiration for this novel. The lovers came later - it was Sigeberht who initially caught my attention.

Sigeberht gets a mention in Dark Under the Cover of Night, the first novel in my Kingdom of the East Angles series. He was King Raedwald's stepson, who the king had exiled to Gaul when Sigeberht was still a youth, fearing that the young man might try to claim the throne over one of Raedwald's own sons. Sigeberht lived in Gaul for many years. Nightfall till Daybreak begins after the murder of Sigeberht's step-brother, Eorpwald, the current King of the East Angles. The 'usurper', Ricberht, had taken the throne and Sigeberht sailed across the water to Britannia, to take it back for his family.

Sigeberht killed Ricberht, took back Rendlaesham and was crowned. However, Sigeberht's new life did not sit well with him. In Gaul, he had dedicated himself to religious studies and he eventually left Rendlaesham to set up a monastery and Beodricesworth (now Bury St. Edmunds). He left a relatively unknown individual - Ecgric - to rule in his stead. Sigeberht eventually abdicated, took his vows and dedicated himself to teaching young boys how to read and write Latin - but, unfortunately, he could not throw aside his responsibilities so easily. When the Mercians, led by King Penda, attacked East Anglia, Sigeberht was dragged from his monastery and onto the battlefield. He refused to bear arms and went into battle carrying only a staff. The rest, as they say, is history...

Many years later, Sigeberht was sainted. His feast day is on 29 October.

In all my novels set in the Anglo-Saxon period, I enjoy using actual historical events and figures to drive the story forward. Although these are romances, with the love story as the enduring theme, there is something exciting about reliving (or rewriting) history. This period of British history is shadowy and not particularly well documented. The main source for this period came from Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which was not completed until the 730s, and was written from a religious perspective - however I found this lack of detail freeing rather than constricting. The fate of the lovers, Freya and Aidan, is intertwined with Sigeberht's. Freya is his slave and Aidan is one of his most trusted retainers. Sigeberht's choices directly affect them; either driving Freya and Aidan apart or bringing them together.

Find out more about this story by clicking on the cover image below, or visit my website: www.jaynecastel.com

 Nightfall till Daybreak

Book #2 Kingdom of the East Angles

 Dark Under the Cover of Night

Book #1 - Kingdom of the East Angles