Lyrical and dramatic historical fiction from the true life of Gytha of Wessex and her marriage to the river prince, Vladimir.

Gytha is 13 years old when her father, King Harold of England, dies at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 AD. Her adored mother, Edith "Swan-Neck", crazed with grief, is lost to her. She and her brothers go on the run from William the Conqueror. In this untold tale of true love and real evil, Gytha flees west to Exeter, where she is betrothed to a painted Celtic prince. She escapes from him to Denmark. But with no dowry, no parents, and no country to call home, she is bartered to a wicked bride-trader and taken to the farthest edge of Christendom to wed Vladimir, a prince of Rus, only to find he is promised to another girl. 

This lyrical 11th-century love story, plucked from the mosaic of English medieval history, honors Gytha's triumph in a man's world. You will love Gytha, Wulfwyn, Pig-Boy, and the scented Swetesot, fear and admire the handsome river prince Vladimir, and hate Oleg, the Cold Trader, and all those with dark hearts who seek to harm Gytha in the Wild Field.  

"Behold the Wild Field, where the sky neither ends nor the earth begins, where a million flowers bloom and riders steer by heaven’s unweary stars."

Join the Gytha of Wessex Group on Facebook. You can email the author Johnny Stonborough at stonborough@gmail.com.