A 12th century Irishwoman sets out on the legendary voyage to America of Prince Madog of Wales.
Aisling, despite her best efforts has failed to become the seer her mother desired, so when her mother dies leaving her alone, she departs Ireland for Wales to be with her brother, Cormac, at the royal court at Gwynedd. There she finds he is joining Prince Madog’s voyage to the western lands in order to escape the threatening war. After Madog refuses to let her come with them she stows away, desperate to remain with her brother. A terrible storm arises and she is tossed overboard by a resentful Welshman and washes up on the shores of the Gulf Coast. Caxna, a Tlingit trader and former shaman, finds her and reluctantly agrees to let her join him on a trading journey to the Mayan city of Xicallanca, and later Etowah (in modern day Georgia) in the hopes she might find Madog and her brother. Caxna must succeed in this trading journey in order to free his clan but with Aisling along everything changes.
….Gleeson leaves us with a memorable and poignant love story and a vision of a wonderful culture, unique in my experience of literature.
Karen Charlton, author of The Heiress of Linn Hagh and Catching the Eagle
The underlying sexual tension is all the more powerful for the beautifully restrained writing, which makes the slightest touch electric; a medicinal massage becomes a moment of physical communion…. This is what Kristin Gleeson does best; portraying different cultures and showing how humanity can cross them.
Jean Gill, author of Song at Dawn and Bladesong
Genre: FICTION / Historical
This book reached #207 in April in Historical Fiction on Amazon during a promotion and continues to sell at a steady pace.
ONE
Tá brón orm. The words of mourning in her Irish tongue hung heavy on Aisling. They’d followed her as she travelled along the fields and through the woodlands on the broken nag with her servant and then across the sea to the kingdom of Gwynedd. It lingered now around the castle hall, mingled with the smoke from the fire and grew stronger, joining the sorrow of the passing of the Gwynedd king.
‘Was it the plague that took your mother, our kinswoman?’ Prince Hwyel, one of the dead king’s sons, addressed her in Latin, for she knew little Welsh.
She could hear the sharp intake of breath from those around her. Some edged away, while others were more overt in their panic, putting hands to their mouths and noses. With a brief flash of anger, she thought of the comments she could make on the ripe odors coming from their elegantly laced gowns and rich tunics.
She caught her brother Cormac’s fearful glance from where he stood at the far end of the hall.
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Mariana Cabrera Cardenas
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Author review: Quick, efficient, lovely to work with. |
