July 19, 2019
Fiction, Fact & Truth: Traitor’s Daughter
My novels set in Medieval Wales are fictional — the have no solid basis in any particular historical, factual events. Instead, I have striven to present the truth of the charter of my adopted country and its people within the context of their determination to survive as a nation, a culture and a language confronted by a force much more powerful than themselves.
To me, my novels are metaphors for the individual, the free expression of self against the amassed strength of an oppressive, foreign and unsympathetic powers — the epitome of tyranny.
In my first novel, Traitor’s Daughter, Heledd has lost her family at the hands of the warriors of an aggressive neighboring chieftain. She is a sole survivor — the only witness to her family’s destruction
. But, her memory of that terror is suppressed and supplanted by the sanctuary offered by her uncle.
Gradually, her nature begins to emerge as she reaches maturity. Her development bodes ill for her uncle and his offspring. Not only is Heledd intelligent, inquisitive and attractive, she is also far too self-confident for their comfort. When the opportunity to be rid of her — to humiliate her, bring her down to the level she belongs as a bond servant — her uncle sells her bond in exchange for six months’ service to a man whose profession terrifies Heledd more than any other.
Although Garmon is a warrior, he is also educated in the Laws that the king, Hywel Dda, has codified for the Welsh people. As an attorney, he knows that Heledd’s uncle has offered is, by its legal definition, more than her bond. Already in love with her, he readily accepts the exchange.
Traitor’s Daughter is faithful to the facts of the era, the social conditions, the reign and accomplishments of the king, Hywel Dda, in the years the novel takes place. The truth is in the relationship between Heledd and Garmon, her family, her enemies and their interactions. The fiction is everything else.
This novel is available, in print and digital formats, through major online retailers including the iBookstore, Smashwords, Barnes & Nobel and Amazon.