HISTORICAL STORIES OF EXILE by Helen Hollick, Annie Whitehead and 11 others @HelenHollick @AnnieW History @abelfrageauthor

 5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Twitter.  I expressed my interest in reading it when available, and one of the authors offered me an ARC :)

In a Nutshell: 13 historical stories of exile.

Deborah Swift, one of my favourite authors, has written a perfect introduction to this excellent collection, with a brief overview of the content as well as thoughts on the subject of exile itself.

I loved reading these stories, the standard of which is high throughout, though they are all so different, in subject matter and writing style.  It is these two aspects that determine one's favourites in an anthology such as this, and can only ever be subjective; bearing this in mind, the story that stood out most for me (and stayed with me afterwards) was the heartbreaking The Unwanted Prince by Anna Belfrage, about a 16th century heir to the Swedish throne forced into exile for his own safety - especially sad because the story is true, as I read at the end, with great fascination.  I would have happily read a whole novel about the rest of his life, as outlined.

My other favourites:

Wadan Wræclastas (Tread the Path of Exile) by the Lady of Saxon History, Annie Whitehead is set a few years before the Norman Conquest.  The title comes from 10th century poem The Wanderer, and in this case refers to the much travelled Ealdgyth.  Again, most of the events really took place, but what I loved most about this one was the glimpse into the Saxon world.

On Shining Wings by Marian L Thorpe, a beautiful story about a 13th century Norwegian falconer, telling his tale to his grandson.

Betrayal by Cathie Dunn: set in AD 900, it tells the story of the urgent flight of Rollo the Viking and his wife Poppa place from the part of modern day France then known as Neustria, to England.

I also liked The Past, My Future by Loretta Livingstone, which is a bit different as it involves time travel from a dark, dystopian future England, to an abbey in the 13th Century.

The book is beautifully presented, with notes about each story and a biography and links for each author.  Congratulations to Helen Hollick for the original idea, and a big thank you to Annie for sending me an ARC when I said how much I looked forward to reading this!  Historical Stories of Exile is available for pre-order now, and for sale on November 12th. Highly recommended, and a great way to dip into the work of authors yet to be discovered.