Blurb

Young and beautiful Gytha Godwinson is the envy of England when her father Harold seizes the country’s crown in early 1066. However, treachery tears her house, her family and everything she holds dear apart. Soon triumph turns to terror as an evil star appears, heralding the end of an era and a new beginning for Britain. Her family and the realm seem cursed, but even as she suffers loss, betrayal and humiliation, Gytha is determined to regain what is rightfully hers. She survives the walk through the furnace that is the conquest and goes so much further.

In a stunning re-telling of 1066, international bestselling author Ellen Alpsten has created a captivating new heroine in Gytha Godwinson. Witness the demise of a cursed kingdom and the emergence of a new empire. The Last Princess bridges myth and modernity.

Review

Many thanks to the author and to the Squadpod for sorting me out with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited by the premise of this book – going behind the scenes on the key year of 1066 and crafting something entirely new out of a story we think we know is EXACTLY the sort of thing the best historical fiction does. I couldn’t wait to meet Gytha Godwinson, the heroine of the story. Both Gytha and the novel as a whole exceeded all my expectations – this is a BRILLIANT book.

There is so much here to enjoy: the impeccably researched setting, in which everything from the food to the landscape to the dynamics between household members feels absolutely authentic; the hints of myth and magic that swoop in and out of the novel, present but never overpowering the human element of the story; the meaty, visceral, sometimes shocking prose that doesn’t shy away from the gruesome descriptions of a violent age; and at the centre of it all, a heroine you can’t help but root for. There are some clever narrative sleights of hand that work so well. The book does a particularly fine job of making sure we’re not just confined to the domestic sphere by dint of following a female main character during the key events of 1066 – but I won’t give anything away here!

Gytha is everything you want in a protagonist: she’s witty and clever and brave; she has so many sides to her, so much depth, and she’s not without flaws, which makes her all the more interesting to follow as she negotiates the treacherous path laid out for her by the actions of her father. She takes her destiny into her own hands, leads her brothers across the sea, and the scenes we get in the second half of the novel in the court of her Danish kinsmen are even more compelling and vividly drawn than the drama of the battles that come before. And to top it all off, there’s a pretty steamy (this is a pun – read the book and you’ll see!) romance with a ‘book boyfriend’ readers will be swooning over!

I found the whole novel utterly compelling – it’s by turns shocking, funny, tender, gruesome – and it explores fascinating themes such as the clash between the old faiths and ways and the introduction of Christianity; marriage and duty versus love; family bonds and how they can be broken. There’s so much going on here, and it makes for a brilliantly satisfying, heady mix that ticks all my historical fiction mega fan boxes! And best of all, it is the first in a trilogy, so there’s more Gytha to come, which makes my heart sing with delight. I can’t wait to find out what she does next!

The Last Princess by Ellen Alpsten is available to purchase here. You can find out more about the author on her website www.ellenalpsten.com