Etheldreda

Etheldreda is a novel telling the story of the Princess of East Anglia, Queen of Northumbria and Abbess of Ely, a remarkable woman living in restless, violent times when old beliefs were dying and new ones were struggling to emerge. As the seven kingdoms of the Germanic tribes warred against each other and against the native Celts, Pagans clashed with Christians. Occasionally an uneasy peace was bought by the skilful use of the 'diplomatic marriage', and twice Etheldreda, though vowed to chastity, submitted to marriage for political reasons, and when her second husband refused to accept the 'arrangement' between them, she fled south to the Island of Ely. But this is not just the story of a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon saint. It also tells of the general human struggle to comprehend the enigma of existence and to come to terms with Christ's God, faced as we are by a violent and cruel world. This edition also contains several pages of chronology, genealogy, place names and notes. Read more