The Lost Queen by Signe Pike Book Spotlight!

Cover Courtesy of Touchstone

THE LOST QUEEN by Signe Pike (September 4, 2018; Touchstone; Hardcover; $27.99; 978-1-5011-9141-1) has everything a reader could want in a big, bold novel: courage in battle, enchantment, a changing society at war with itself, smoldering passion, treachery and betrayal, and beautiful writing about the natural world.

THE LOST QUEEN is a spellbinding first novel of a debut trilogy that reveals the untold story of Languoreth, a forgotten queen of sixth-century Scotland and twin sister of the man who inspired the legend of Merlin.

An extraordinary, deeply researched tale, THE LOST QUEEN conjures Arthurian myth from the perspective of a smart, strong, and powerful woman—who can throw a knife, read her twin brother’s thoughts, and fall in love with one man but marry another. A woman who must take frightening risks and make unimaginable sacrifices to secure the future of her people. 

Catapulted into a world of violence and political uprising both inside and outside of her kingdom, Languoreth must grow up fast as she learns to wield what authority she has within the confines of her time—and to experience love and passion on her own terms.

Early praise includes:

“Pike’s narrative blends court intrigue, romantic interludes, and gritty violence into a literary brew worth savoring to the dramatic finale...Enthusiastically recommended for readers of female-centered historical sagas and those enamored of Arthurian tales.” —Booklist

“The rare historical epic that manages to be truly sweeping and yet always intense and person­al—at once a romance, a story of faith, a story of war and a story of family. . . . Moving, thrilling and ultimately spellbinding, The Lost Queen is perfect for readers of historical fiction like Jean M. Auel’s The Clan of the Cave Bear and Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, and for lovers of fantasy like Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.” —BookPage

Photo: Tiffany Mizzell Photography

Signe Pike was born in born in Ithaca, NY, and graduated from Cornell University with her Bachelor of Science in Communication.  She worked as an acquisitions editor at Random House and then Penguin, before leaving to write her first book, Faery Tale: One Woman's Search for Enchantment in a Modern World. Pike has spent the past ten years researching and writing about Celtic history, myth, folklore and tradition. Her love of history, the great outdoors, early medieval and ancient archeology, and her dedication to historical accuracy has made her social media feeds an informative delight to her readers. Signe teaches seminars and workshops internationally on writing and publishing, as well as on folklore and tradition. Her writing has been published by Salon, Charleston City Paper, Book Riot and NPR.org. She currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where she writes full-time. Visit her at SignePike.com.