Therein Lies the Pearl
Catherine Hughes
Type: ARC
Genre: Historical fiction
Word count: 112,000
Like the sisters in Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, Margaret and Celia are tested by the horrors of war in the 1066 invasion. Manipulated by those in power into believing they are enemies, the Norman girl and Saxon princess soon come to realize they are kindred spirits–both yearning for truth, loyalty, and love in a world devoid of such virtues.
What’s this?
Normandy, 1064. Celia Campion, a girl of humble background, finds herself caught in a web of intrigue when Duke William commands her to work as his spy, holding her younger sister hostage. Her mission: to sail across the sea to Wilton Abbey and convince Margaret, daughter of Edward the Exile, to take final vows rather than form a marriage alliance with the newly crowned king to the North, Malcolm III of Scotland. Preventing a union between the Saxons and Scots is critical to the success of the Duke’s plan to take England, and more importantly for Celia, it is the only way to keep her sister alive.
In this sweeping epic that spans the years before and after the Conquest, two women from opposite sides of the English Channel whisper across the chasm of time to tell their story of the tumultuous days that eventually changed the course of history. As they struggle to survive in a world marked by danger, loss, and betrayal, their lives intersect, and they soon come to realize they are both searching for the same thing–someone they can trust amidst the treachery that surrounds them.
Together, their voices form a narrative never before told.
Award winning writer of two historical fiction novels, Catherine Hughes can always be found with a book in her hands. Whether teaching in the classroom for 30+ years or reading for enjoyment, she loves to be inspired by beautiful language and faraway worlds. Hughes’s first book In Silence Cries the Heart is based on a true love story, involving cattle thief, Domhnull Donn, and Mary Grant, daughter of the laird of Urquhart castle. Her second, Therein Lies the Pearl, recounts the days leading up to the Norman Conquest from the perspective of two women: Celia, a simple Norman girl, and Margaret, Saxon princess and eventual queen of Scotland.
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