Murder and Redemption from Hereford to Crowland: The tragic story of Ethelbert and his bride-to-be, Alfrida

An intimate work of historical fiction set in the shadowed world of eighth-century Mercia, where royal daughters are valuable pieces in a dangerous game of power.

Alfrida, the youngest daughter of King Offa of Mercia, has grown up amid palaces, prayer, politics and uneasy family loyalties. When she is promised to Ethelbert of East Anglia, the match appears to offer security, status and a place of her own. But in a court ruled by ambition and fear, even a royal betrothal can become a trap.

Told in Alfrida's own imagined voice, Murder and Redemption from Hereford to Crowland gives life to a woman who stands at the edge of recorded history. Drawing on the few known facts and richly imagined detail, Liz Russell follows Alfrida from the world of Mercian power towards the quieter, harder landscape of faith, memory and survival.

This brief, reflective story blends Anglo-Saxon history with human feeling. It explores the cost of dynastic ambition, the loneliness of women used for alliance, and the strength found in retreat, service and spiritual purpose.

For readers interested in historical fiction, early medieval England, King Offa, Hereford, Crowland Abbey and women whose stories have been left in the margins.