In the Shadows of Castles

It’s the 1060s, and William of Normandy is establishing a new and brutal regime in England, but there are those who would defy him. As Norman soldiers spread like a plague across the land, resistance builds, but will it be enough to topple William and restore the rightful king to his throne? The English have the courage to fight, but the Normans, already victorious at Hastings, now build castles seeking to secure their tenuous foothold in these lands.

And what of the people caught up in these catastrophic events? Dispossessed but not defeated, their lives ripped apart, the English struggle for freedom from tyranny; amongst them, caught up in the turmoil, are a soldier, a thane and two sisters. As events unfold, their destinies become intertwined, bringing drastic changes that alter their lives forever.

Firmly embedded in the history of the Conquest, ‘In the Shadows of Castles’ is ultimately a story of love, hope and survival in a time of war.

G. K. Holloway did several jobs after leaving school before taking A Levels at his local college and later a degree in History and Politics at Coventry University.

Once he had graduated, he spent the next twenty years working in education in and around Bristol. After reading a biography about Harold Godwinson, he studied the late Anglo-Saxon era in detail and discovered a time of papal plots, court intrigues, family feuds, loyalties, betrayals, assassinations and a few battles. When he had enough material to weave together fact and fiction, he produced his award-winning novel, '1066: What Fates Impose', the first in a series about the Norman Conquest.

G. K. Holloway lives in Bristol with his wife and two children.

"In The Shadows Of Castles is interested in the ordinary people, the survivors and heroes of Hastings, the people with most to lose, and the many potential leaders of a ‘new’ England they hope will see William scurrying back on his boats to Normandy..."

"Through its opening chapters, the overwhelming feeling I picked up is that both sides are stunned by what happened at the battle at the hoary apple tree. The English by their defeat; the Normans – and especially King William – by their victory. The English didn’t think they would lose, the Normans for all their later arrogance, weren’t really sure they were going to win. William certainly doesn’t subsequently really seem to think winning the rest of England would fall easily into his hands. He’s hoping that the rest of England – or the many, many who weren’t at Hastings – will now bow down to their rightful king, having rid himself of the userper, Harold. And the English stunned/staggered by their loss, do seem to have given up. Or have they?"

Read the full review at Speesh Reads here