Kingmaker / King's Daughters Duology
(2025)(A book in the Tenth Century series)
An omnibus of novels by M J Porter
From bestselling historical fiction author MJ Porter, two gripping historical novels of England's tenth-century royal women, for fans of Anne O'Brien, Elizabeth Chadwick and Alison Weir.
This is the tenth century in Early England between the reigns of Alfred the Great and Æthelred the Unready.
KingmakerAs England’s first Viking Age grinds to a halt in a war of attrition that will see Jorvik finally added to the kingdom of the English, one woman will witness it all.
Seventeen-year-old Eadgifu knows little about her new husband; he’s old, he only wants to marry her because she’s so wealthy, he already has ten children, and he’s Edward, King of Wessex. He also hopes to claim Mercia as his own.
That he’s the son of King Alfred, the man credited with saving Wessex from the Viking Raiders adds no mystique to him at all. Many say he’s handsome, but Eadgifu knows they speak of the man twenty years ago. Her mother won’t even allow her to be alone with him before their wedding.
But an old man will not live forever. The mother of his youngest sons can be more powerful than the wife of the king of Wessex, especially in the newly made kingdom of England where king’s lives are short and bloody, and war with the Viking Raiders is never far away.
Lady, wife, queen, mother, king’s mother, grandmother, ally, enemy, amenable and rebellious.
Lost to the mists of time, this is Queen Eadgifu’s story, Kingmaker.
The King's Daughters
Four women, all with impeccable pedigrees, and all desiring one thing. A kingdom of their own to rule.
They are the granddaughters of King Alfred of Wessex, but the kingdom they desire is not that of their grandfather’s founding.
These are the unknown stories of King Athelstan’s half-sisters, all wed into the royal families of East and West Frankia during the tenth century.
Eadgifu, the exiled queen of West Frankia, with her son’s kingdom claimed by another man, her husband imprisoned by yet another of his overmighty nobles.
Eadhild, wed to the son of the man who usurped her nephew’s kingdom, but with no heirs to her name.
Eadgyth, married to the legitimate heir of the king of East Frankia.
Ælfgifu, wed into the noble family of the Kingdom of Arles, one that sees West Frankia as an ally, not an enemy.
As tensions reach boiling point between East and West Frankia, between kingdoms and men who should be enemies, not allies, or allies, not enemies, the royal sisters of Wessex are thrust into a political maelstrom, pitted against each other and with only their royal brother, King Athelstan, as a mediator.
The Tenth Century Series suggested reading order
The Lady of Mercia's DaughterA Conspiracy of Kings
Kingmaker
The King's Daughters
Praise for The Lady of Mercia's Daughter
"An excellent book, intrigue, action, betrayal it has it all. It took me 3 days to read this book, I had difficulty putting it down ." Amazon Reviewer
"This brilliant fictional - or maybe true - account about events in England's dark ages gripped me for hours." Amazon Reviewer
"I loved the historical background and the way the Author describes scenes. Very engaging story, I found it difficult to put down." Amazon Reviewer
Genre: Fantasy
Used availability for M J Porter's Kingmaker / King's Daughters Duology