Book Title: The OathSeries: The Druid Chronicles, Book One
Author: A. M. Linden
Publication Date: 15th June 2021
Publisher: She Writes Press
Page Length: 319 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
When the last of members of a secretive Druid cult are forced to abandon their hidden sanctuary, they send the youngest of their remaining priests in search of Annwr, their chief priestess’s sister, who was abducted by a Saxon war band fifteen years ago. With only a rudimentary grasp of English and the ambiguous guidance of an oracle’s prophecy, Caelym manages to find Annwr living in a hut on the grounds of a Christian convent.
Annwr has spent her years of captivity caring for the timid Aleswina, an orphaned Saxon princess who was consigned to the cloistered convent by her cousin, King Gilberth, after he assumed her father’s throne. Just as Caelym and Annwr are about leave together, Aleswina learns that Gilberth, a tyrant known for his cruelty and vicious temper, means to take her out of the convent and marry her. Terrified, she flees with the two Druids—beginning a heart-pounding adventure that unfolds in ways none of them could have anticipated.
Praise:
“Linden's well-researched tale eloquently brings to life a lesser-known period of transition in Britain. . . . The author has created a strong foundation for her series with well-developed characters whom readers can embrace. . . . [a] layered, gripping historical fiction.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“The story rolls along at a lively pace, rich with details of the times and a wide cast of characters. [The] plotting, shifting points of view of the three engaging protagonists, and evocative writing style make The Oath a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.”
—Historical Novel Review
“Linden uses a fairy tale-like style almost as though this story has been passed down orally over the centuries.”
—Booklist Review
Trigger Warnings:
Sexual assault, child abuse
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oath-Druid-Chronicles-Book-One-ebook/dp/B08F2JGG56
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Oath-Druid-Chronicles-Book-One/dp/1647421144
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Oath-Druid-Chronicles-Book-One-ebook/dp/B08F2JGG56
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Oath-Druid-Chronicles-Book-One-ebook/dp/B08F2JGG56
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-oath-am-linden/1137420415
Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-oath/a-m-linden/9781647421144
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?query=the+oath+druid+chronicles+book+1
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-oath/id1525843259
The Abbey of Saint Edeth the Enduring was a cloistered convent in the northeastern corner of the Kingdom of Derthwald. A dense forest surrounded the abbey and a narrow clearing around its outer wall was all that separated the nuns and novices inside from the wilderness, so there was a strict rule that all the doors and all the windows had to be kept closed and latched at night.
Shy, high-strung, and fearful, Sister Aleswina was an unlikely delinquent, but she eased herself out from under her blankets, tiptoed over to the window, and opened the shutters. While Caelym was looking up at her window, Aleswina was looking at the horizon, as if by staring hard enough she could make the dawn come faster. A breeze wafted in, carrying the enticing scent of spring, and she gripped the window’s ledge, overcome with longing to have her trowel in her hand. If she had dared, she would have gone out in the dark to start digging her beds and planting her seeds.
While there was not much in her dress or in her features to distinguish her from any of a dozen pale, blond Saxon nuns, Aleswina was different from the other women at the convent in three ways—her passion for growing plants, her deep love for the servant who had once been her nursemaid, and in her being the cousin to the king of Derthwald. An unspoken deference to her royal status did more than save her from open reproach over the length of time it was taking her commit to her final vows; it gave her two unusual privileges within the abbey. She was allowed to work by herself in the convent’s garden, and she was allowed to keep her servant, Anna, in a cottage on the edge of the convent’s grounds.
When they were packing to leave the palace for the convent, Aleswina had entrusted Anna with a substantial cache of coins and jewels, and as soon as it was safe, Anna had bribed a traveling tinker to cut a secret door into the back wall of the convent garden so that Aleswina did not really work in the garden by herself. It was against the rules and, cousin to the king or not, Aleswina would have faced untold days of penance if the abbess ever found out, but every day weather allowed, Anna slipped in through their secret entrance to work along with her.
The morning promised to be exceptionally warm and balmy for so early in the year, and Aleswina was anxious to begin.
“Not our wishes but the Lord’s!” was what the abbess would say if Aleswina told her how much she wanted to tend her plants instead of singing or praying. She’d tried that once and been confined in her room to pray and reflect for the rest of the day.
It was a lesson she’d taken to heart. She’d spent those long, lonely hours terrified that the abbess would send someone to the garden in her place, that Anna would be caught, and that their secret door would be discovered. Whether it was the Virgin Mary or the Mother Goddess who heard her frantic prayers, someone did; and Aleswina never said another word to the abbess about anything that really mattered to her ever again.
Now, she leaned as far out of the window as she dared, savoring the smell of fresh night air, until the bells rang for the sunrise service. As she closed the shutters—careful not to let them clatter—she realized she’d waited too long to change into her daytime habit. She snatched her wimple off its hook, pulled it on as she felt under her bed for her sandals, and was just in time to open her door and take her place in between Sister Erdorfa and Sister Idwolda as they filed past her door.
While the poorly lit passageway between the dormitory and the chapel was among the spaces exempted from convent’s rule that secular exchanges were to be conducted using officially sanctioned hand signals, the nuns and novices of Saint Edeth usually went to the first office of the day in sleepy silence. That morning, however, they were wide awake, whispering,
“Did you hear?”
“Killing babies and drinking their blood!”
“Raping virgins!”
“Coming for us!”
Before Aleswina could ask who was killing babies and raping virgins, they reached the chapel. The whispering changed to shushes as they filed into their places. After they sang the opening hymn and recited the designated psalms, the abbess stepped up to the altar, but instead of reading from the gospels, she announced that the rumors were true.
“A Druid sorcerer has been sighted near Strothford, just across the River Bense.”
—From Chapter 3: The Novice
Copyright 2021 A.M. Linden
Ann Margaret Linden was born in Seattle, Washington, but grew up on the east coast of the United States before returning to the Pacific Northwest as a young adult. She has undergraduate degrees in anthropology and in nursing and a master’s degree as a nurse practitioner. After working in a variety of acute care and community health settings, she took a position in a program for children with special health care needs where her responsibilities included writing clinical reports, parent educational materials, provider newsletters, grant submissions and other program related materials. The Druid Chronicles began as a somewhat whimsical decision to write something for fun and ended up becoming a lengthy journey that involved Linden taking adult education creative writing courses, researching early British history, and traveling to England, Scotland, and Wales. Retired from nursing, she lives with her husband and their cat and dog in the northwest corner of Washington State.
Website: https://druidchronicles788ad.com/index.html
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B08YTL5XT5
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54810317-the-oath
Tour Schedule Page: https://maryanneyarde.blogspot.com/2022/04/blog-tour-oath-druid-chronicles-book.html
Thank you so much for hosting today's tour stop!
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Mary Anne
The Coffee Pot Book Club
You are welcome, Mary Anne
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