This year I’ve had the pleasure of working with a dozen other historical novelists on a collection of stories with the theme of betrayal. I’m thrilled to announce the launch of our anthology, Betrayal, this week as a free e-book on all the major online platforms worldwide.
It’s been a rewarding experience to pool our storytelling powers with twelve takes on the topic of betrayal. Spanning eras from post-Roman Britain to the present day, the stories bring to life both legendary moments of deceit as well as imagined episodes of treachery.
Readers will encounter princes, soldiers, noblewomen, knights, highwaymen, pirates, and ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. All of these characters have something in common, though: betrayal. Collectively, these stories illustrate the truth that whatever its source—family, foe, lover, comrade—betrayal has devastating consequences.
As many of you know, I’m working on a new series set in medieval Rhodes and Cyprus during the rule of the Knights Hospitaller. My story, Heart of a Falcon, features a character from the 15th-century world I’m creating. In the tale, Estelle, a young Frenchwoman, is sent on a dangerous sea voyage from Rhodes to join the royal court of Cyprus. But when the true nature of her journey is revealed, she realizes she’s been the victim of a great deception…
Here’s the full line-up of stories awaiting you in our collection:
AD455—Roman leader Ambrosius is caught in a whirlpool of shifting allegiances AD940—Alyeva and cleric Dunstan navigate the dangers of the Anglo Saxon court
1185—Knight Stephan fights for comradeship, duty, and honour. But what about love?
1330—The powerful Edmund of Kent enters a tangled web of intrigue
1403—Thomas Percy must decide whether to betray his sovereign or his family
1457—Estelle is invited to the King of Cyprus’s court, but deception awaits
1483—Has Elysabeth made the right decision to bring Prince Edward to London?
1484—Margaret Beaufort contemplates the path to treason
1577—Francis Drake contends with disloyalty at sea
1650—Can James Hart, Royalist highwayman, stop a nemesis destroying his friend?
1718—Pirate Annie Bonny, her lover Calico Jack, and a pirate hunter. Who will win?
1849/present—Carina must discover her ancestor’s betrayer in Italy or face ruin.
Hailing from two continents and five countries, the Historical Fictioneers include Judith Arnopp, Cryssa Bazos, Anna Belfrage, Derek Birks, Helen Hollick, Alison Morton, Charlene Newcomb, Tony Riches, Mercedes Rochelle, Elizabeth St John, Annie Whitehead, and yours truly.
“We’re publishing this anthology for free in order to bring people entertainment during these difficult times, and to introduce readers to new authors and perhaps new periods of history, too,” says historian and novelist Annie Whitehead, a founding member of the collective who brings to the Historical Fictioneers her combined expertise as a historian and novelist. Whitehead is an elected member of the Royal Historical Society and has written three award-winning novels set in Anglo-Saxon England.
Find Betrayal, a free e-book, on Amazon, Nook, Kobo, and Apple Books today.
Meet the Historical Fictioneers via our Facebook Group at http://bit.ly/HistoricalFictioneers.
