The Dark Queens: A gripping tale of power, ambition and murderous rivalry in early medieval France (Paperback) - Shelley Puhak

A vivid double biography of two fearless early medieval queens. 'Brings the Merovingian empire to thrilling, bewildering, horrifying life' Helen Castor 'Restores two half-forgotten and much-mythologized queens to their proper place in medieval history' Dan Jones 'Fredegund and Brunhild have finally found a worthy champion' Literary Review Brunhild was a Visigothic princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet - in sixth-century Merovingian France, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport - these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms for decades, changing the face of Europe. After Brunhild's and Fredegund's deaths, however, their stories were rewritten, their names consigned to slander and legend. From the tangled primary evidence of Merovingian sources, award-winning writer Shelley Puhak weaves a gripping and intricate tale, its characters driven by ambition, lust and jealousy to acts of treachery and murderous violence. The Dark Queens resurrects these two women in all their complexity, painting a richly detailed portrait of a shadowy era and dispelling some of the stubbornest myths about female power.

About the Author

Shelley Puhak is a poet and writer whose work engages with history in unexpected ways. She has more than a decade of experience teaching literature and creative writing and is the author of two award-winning books of poetry, Guinevere in Baltimore and Stalin in Aruba. Shelley's writing has appeared in publications including The Atlantic, Creative Nonfiction and Virginia Quarterly Review, been anthologised in Best American Travel Writing, and featured in numerous editions of Best American Essays. The Dark Queens is her first non-fiction book.