Book Launch Guest Post by Keira Morgan, Author of The Importance of Wives: Chronicles of the House of Valois

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Recently orphaned Duchess Anne of Brittany is not quite 12, yet her situation could not be more perilous. She is a girl, she has just inherited one of the richest duchies in Europe—and enemies surround her.

I'm please to welcome author Keira Morgan back to The Writing Desk:

Tell us about your latest book

The Importance of Wives is the first book in the fictionalized series about Anne of Brittany’s life. Duchess Anne of Brittany is not quite 12, yet her situation could not be more perilous. She is a girl, she has just inherited one of the richest duchies in Europe—and enemies surround her.

It is 1488, and men do not believe that women can rule. The French want to seize her duchy. Across the channel, the English hover, ready to attack. And Anne’s guardians want her power for themselves. They plot to marry her to their chosen candidate, and rule in her stead. It is the traditional fate of heiresses.

But Anne has ideas of her own. She is strong-minded and trained to rule. When she refuses to obey, she finds herself in a civil war, supported by only a few loyalists. Then France invades. Will a girl so young be able to defend her duchy against two adversaries?

Even her most trusted allies advise her to marry. Can a husband save her people from the invading French? Must she give up her duchy? Or will she find another way to guard her inheritance? 

Based on the extraordinary life of young Anne as Duchess of Brittany, this is the dramatic story of a strong-willed girl beset by impossible choices.

Do you continue the same major characters from one book to the next?

If the characters continue to play a part in Anne’s life I continue them in the next books. This is fortunate, since I wrote the books out of order. So, Mme de Dinan, Baron Philippe de Montauban Sire d’Albret, King Charles, and Duke Louis, all important historical characters in The Importance of Wives, continue to appear in some of the sequels, although not all of them.

Why did you write this as a prequel to The Importance of Sons?

I wrote all three novels out of order. I didn’t do it intentionally and I wouldn’t do it again on purpose. I was a new author when I began. I intended to write The Importance of Pawns as a mystery, but soon discovered the historian in me would not allow me to change the facts. That story took place at the end of Anne’s life, and it raised questions for me about events that occurred earlier.

I had difficulty imagining a girl as young as Anne behaving with such independence and authority as she is reported to have done when I began writing. Only as I did more research, and her life became so vivid to me that I could imagine how she felt and acted when so young could I write the novel. Then it seemed necessary to tell that story.

Is this the end of the series?

No, there is one more book, the third in the series, The Importance of Heirs. I am writing it now. It tells of Anne’s second marriage, this time to King Louis XII of France. Their efforts to secure an heir for France and Anne’s continued struggle to protect Brittany’s independence are its themes.

Will you still write about women in Renaissance France?

Absolutely. First, I am working on a non-fiction book about the queens and princesses of the period that I have been researching and posting about in the blog on my website as I write these novels.

As well, I plan to write novels about many of these women who have captured my attention about whom little has been written in English. Louise de Savoie is the antagonist in three of my novels, but she has her own story to tell. She could easily be the heroine of her own series. And she is only one, so I am not sure who will be the heroine of my next novel, but I will be writing more.

Keira Morgan

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About the Author

Keira Morgan retired from training and management in the Canadian Public Service to follow a career as an author. As a kid Keira was a bookworm. It was then that she discovered the Renaissance as a wonderful place of queens, princesses, and castles. She studied the period at university and realized that life for those same queens and princesses in their castles wasn’t nearly as romantic as she had dreamed, but it was much more fascinating. The clothing, the food, the way people travelled, how they lived, how they brought up their children, what they thought about, and why—all these things intrigued her Keira studied the Renaissance and Reformation at university, after which she pursued a career in the Canadian public service, during which she wrote fiction about the period. Then, she moved to Mexico where she pursues her writing full time. She has just completed The Importance of Wives, her third published novel about Anne of Brittany. It is the first in chronological order of her The Chronicles of the House of Valois series. The Importance of Sons and The Importance of Pawns continue the story of this determined woman who was also twice queen of France. She now writes from Mexico where she lives happily with a husband, two cats and two dogs. Her doctoral level studies in Renaissance history underlie her historical fiction. She writes about the turbulent sixteenth-century French Renaissance. Her stories tell of powerful women who challenged tradition to play crucial roles in French affairs.  Keira also maintains a non-fiction website, All About French Renaissance Women, https://www.keiramorgan.com where she writes about the lives of Frenchwomen during the era. She plans to collect their biographies into a book. Find out more at Keira's website https://kjmorgan-writer.com/  and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @KJMMexico