Sandra Wagner-Wright’s Saxon Heroines: A Northumbrian Novel is a rich history of four women many centuries ago.
During a time of constant shifts in power across Northumbria and what would later become England, Christianity begins taking over as the religion of choice in the region. Kings from the area renounce Woden and embrace the new faith, which gives them the divine right to rule.
Part of a series that tells of lesser-known women in history, Saxon Heroines concerns itself with the stories of four women in seventh century Northumbria. The novel splits into three parts, each part focusing on a different woman (women) of early Saxon history. First is Ethelberga of Kent, who becomes the new Queen of Northumbria in 624 and must convert the king to Christianity. The story shifts to Ethelberga’s daughter, Enfleda, in the second part; Enfleda’s daughter, Elfleda, in the third. Throughout the book, we witness Hildeburg’s role in King Edwin’s court to her holy life as the Abbess of Streoneshalh. Each of these women lived and died long ago, but they arguably changed the world.
Wagner-Wright transports her readers to a much more challenging way of life.
With few detailed historical records of seventh-century Northumbria, Wagner-Wright does the impossible task of fleshing out the little-known stories contained in the historical record. She takes what the ancient historians have recorded about these four women and tells their stories as accurately as possible. The women were, as Wagner-Wright writes, “present but not visible,” thus, the only things recorded about them were their titles, who they married, and who their children were. With these few facts, Ethelberga, Enfleda, Elfleda, and Hildeburg have unique voices – ones that have been silent for far too many years.
In her author’s note, Wagner-Wright adds historical context to the story’s events and reveals what happens in the years following the last chapter. Readers will do themselves a favor by reading through the front and back matter before digging into the meat. Just as important as the story itself, these portions will aid in the overall understanding of the text. A tale like Saxon Heroines based in history needs added material for readers to reference.
For lovers of historical and Christian fiction (and non-fiction), Saxon Heroines: A Northumbrian Novel could be the perfect book. Set in a time in which Christianity was taking hold across the region, the women of Saxon Heroines each play a pivotal role in the making of history.
As a black woman on a cotton farm in Mississippi in the 1960s, Janice Ellis could have resigned herself to a life full of status quo: never speaking up for herself, never speaking out against injustice or racism. Instead, she never let unsettling times define her or hold her back, even as a witness to some of the ugliest racial violence this country has seen. In her candid and thought-provoking memoir, From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream, Ellis vividly depicts her life in the South during the height of the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements.
