Books by Birgit Constant
The Northumbria Trilogy
Northern England in the 11th century. A warrior, a vassal, a jongleur – three teenagers, three destinies and a fight for survival, recognition and freedom
Immerse yourself in the three decades following the Norman conquest of England and experience the lives and struggles of the young heroes during the most revolutionary period of English history!
Son of Mercia meets The Last Kingdom – for readers who love Bernard Cornwell, MJ Porter and Matthew Harffy
Prequel
Squire and Sword
England, 1070. The squire Loïc believes that a sword will help him on the battlefield, but is it enough for him to pass his greatest challenge?
Book One
Warrior of two Kings
England, 1066. Duty and destiny collide as young Oswulf fights for love, honour and survival in blood-soaked Northumbria.
Book Two
For Lord and Liege
(Coming 2025)
England, 1086. When Roger tries to uncover a secret that is meant to secure his inheritance, he sets a deadly game in motion. Will he find out in time who is behind it, or lose everything he loves?
Book Three
The Minstrel’s Quest
(Coming 2026)
England, 1093. Lucan was only supposed to find a young woman, but the search turns into a nightmare from which there is no escape – the only question is: for whom?
Historical coming-of-age novels from Northumbria
Each volume of the trilogy is a coming-of-age historical novel set in the Middle Ages. The setting is 11th-century northern England, more specifically Northumbria, the ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom that stretched roughly from the River Humber to the Scottish border. Today, it includes Yorkshire, Durham, Tyne & Wear, Northumberland on the northeast side, and Cumbria and Lancashire on the northwest side.
Teenage heroes
The central character of each volume is a protagonist in his teens, whom the reader accompanies on part of his journey to adulthood.
The main character of the first volume is the young warrior Oswulf, who is just trying to get on with his predetermined life when the Normans invade England.
In the second volume, the second-born son Roger is soon fighting for more than recognition and his inheritance.
The third volume tells how the jongleur Lucan reaches for a lifeline that slowly turns itself into a noose for himself and his stepfamily.
Historical background: Northumbria in Norman times
The series begins in the year of the Norman conquest of England, 1066, and ends in 1093, approximately in the middle of the reign of William the Conqueror's second son William Rufus, thus covering the difficult years at the beginning of the Norman rule in England. This was a time of great battles, numerous rebellions, cruel retaliations and many upheavals not only in the political and social spheres, but also linguistically and culturally.
Historical places in Northumbria
In this blog post, you can find out how I stumbled upon the rather peculiar settings of the series.
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