The Tribute Bride, by Theresa Tomlinson. Book review
Acorn
Digital Press, 2014. ISBN 978-1-909122-63-5. 261 pages.
The Tribute Bride is set at the
beginning of the seventh century AD in Deira and Bernicia, the two kingdoms
that later became Northumbria in what is now north-east England. The central
character, Acha, is a historical figure, as are her husband Athelfrid, her
father Aelle and brother Edwin, the Deiran chief priest Coifi and Athelfrid’s
queen Bebba. Other main characters are fictional.
Disclosure:
Seventh-century Britain is an area of particular interest to me, and my own
novel Paths of Exile
has the same setting and includes some of the same characters as The Tribute Bride. Theresa and I had
several email discussions about the possible life and career of the historical
Acha, who is recorded in just one line in Bede’s History.
Acha
is the daughter of Aelle, the ageing king of Deira, and has just reached
marriageable age when severe flooding destroys most of the harvest. Aelle
cannot pay the tribute of grain to his overlord, the fearsome Athelfrid of
Bernicia, so he sends Acha instead. Athelfrid already has a queen, the magnificent
Bebba of the Picts, but they have no living child and Athelfrid wants an heir
for his ever-expanding empire. He accepts Acha as a secondary wife – officially
married to Athelfrid, but not his queen – and soon she is pregnant with his
child. But how will Bebba react to a younger, fertile rival? And does the
ruthless and cunning Athelfrid plan to obtain more from Acha than a child?
I
very much enjoyed Theresa Tomlinson’s mystery novels, Wolf Girl (for young
adult readers) and A Swarming of Bees (for adults), both set in the
Northumbrian royal abbey at Whitby. The
Tribute Bride is set half a century earlier, when the later kingdom of
Northumbria was still two separate kingdoms, each with its own dynasty. Acha’s
life bridged both dynasties. What role she played in combining the two kingdoms
(if any), is not known – which is what historical fiction is for. I summarised
what is known about the historical Acha (not very much), in an earlier article Acha of Deira and Bernicia: daughter, sister, wife and mother of kings.
So I was very pleased to see a novel devoted to her.
Considering
that The Tribute Bride features
murder, betrayal, war and massacre, it is a surprisingly gentle read. Most of
it is told through the eyes of Acha, who is still only a girl at the beginning
of the novel – mid-teens, I would guess – and has a sunny-natured tendency to
think the best of people and to make the best of any situation. Her generous
and open-hearted character helps her to find unexpected friendships in
Bernicia, friendships that stand her in good stead in the long term. However,
it also means that she is largely oblivious to the darker undercurrents of
court life. Indeed, the older and wiser Bebba tries to warn Acha that Athelfrid
is not nicknamed ‘The Trickster’ for nothing and that Acha should be wary of
his intentions, but Acha does not understand the warning until it is too late.
Even when the worst has happened, Acha’s determination to make the best of
things probably contributes a lot to making the consequences of Athelfrid’s
actions much less adverse than they might otherwise have been.
Peaceweaver
brides like Acha, married to their families’ rivals and enemies, must have had
to do a lot of smoothing down of conflicts if they were to be successful. This
perhaps explains why The Tribute Bride
was so much more placid than I had expected for a novel set at the heart of
early medieval court life; the whole focus of the book is about defusing and
preventing conflict.
Athelfrid’s
historical nickname Flesaurs, usually translated as ‘The Twister’ or ‘The
Artful’ is here rendered as ‘The Trickster’ and cleverly linked with the
deceitful thief-god Loki. Whether the early English had an equivalent of the
Norse god Loki is unknown, but equivalents of some of the Norse gods are
recorded in Old English place names, so it seems not implausible that other
characters from the Norse pantheon may also have had early English
counterparts.
The
main characters are all women – Acha herself, Bebba, the elderly midwife,
Acha’s maids. I particularly liked the relationship between Acha and Bebba,
which develops in an unexpected direction. The male characters tend to be
secondary, even Athelfrid (perhaps because Acha at first does not know him very
well and then later does not wish to). The preponderance of strong female
characters was similar in Wolf Girl
and A Swarming of Bees. It makes for
a domestic focus, with plenty of detail of buildings, travel, food and textile
crafts. The variety of languages, cultures and religions among the plethora of
small kingdoms is well captured.
A map
and glossary of place names at the front are useful to follow the geography,
and a character list at the front may be helpful to readers unfamiliar with the
period. An Author’s Note and reference list at the back outlines the underlying
history and source material (I am flattered to see that I get a mention).
Gentle
tale of kindness and friendships found in unexpected places, set against the
background of early seventh-century Northumbria.
