Mercedes santos She is a journalist, bookseller and writer and has a new novel on the market, The Lady of Jacobsland (Edhasa), set in a historical context and with characters that always attract attention: the Vikings. This is my review.
Mercedes santos
Degree in journalism from the Complutense University, she worked for many years in the written press for Diario 16 and El País, and also in radio for Antena 3 and Cadena Ser. She also has training as a scriptwriter and text editor.
He has already published several historical and romantic novels such as difficult forgiveness o Indomitable. As well Secrets and ashes, published in Argentina, and its previous title was Besieged (Pàmies, 2019). Additionally, he has self-published a series of essays on Aranjuez, his city.
Among its hobbies Favorites are reading, practicing yoga, painting watercolors and traveling.
The Lady of Jacobsland — Synopsis
We are in Jacobsland at 968. Nunilo Fáñez, Countess of Breixos, She inherits some rich properties on the Galician coast, and knows that she must choose a husband from among the northern clans. But these are difficult times because there are continuous wars on the border of Al Andalus and the Viking attacks have multiplied. The route to Jacobsland is in danger, and with it, the influx of gold and tribute. Therefore, when Nunilo asks for freedom of choice for his marriage, Princess Elvira, a nun who rules in the name of the child king Ramiro III, grants him only one year's time. Nunilo must abide by his destiny, despite the head of those clans and the suspicions that he is conspiring against the Crown itself.
On the other hand, king gondrod has accepted the proposal of his most controversial but also fearsome berserk, Olaf the Black, and they prepare a new departure towards the Galician coasts, a incursion brutal with a fleet never seen before. Then everything will begin: the abduction of women to populate Hibernia, the heroic resistance of Compostela, the ceremonies in the forests, the longships devastating the bay of Adobria... And Nunilo will be the key to getting out of it safely? of everything.
The Lady of Jacobsland. Review
With royal base in the Viking attack on Galicia that occurred in 968, Mercedes Santos has known how to combine historical events with fictional events to the right extent. Likewise, she offers a good portrait of the real characters with the imagined ones, who fit and mix well in the scenarios and intrigues.
So the most data-analytical readers have them, as well as those who prefer to get more into the story and stop looking for who was who.
Also very successful tapestry of an era very epic (forgive the paronymy) of struggles both on the Muslim borders to the south and on the external ones, with the waves of invasions by the peoples of the north, especially the Vikings, who always come into play. And before that, the goings-on, alliances and betrayals of the nobles and rulers of each kingdom to gain more power or extend it.
Characters
At the same time, some stand out very relevant and powerful female characters, both royal and the queen regent and nun Doña Elvira Ramirez, as fictional, as the protagonist Nunilo Fáñez. This is the compendium of the woman who knows the role she must play and what to abide by for her family and inheritance. However, at the same time she cannot help but be carried away by heart and passion.
Therefore, at first their actions are aimed at surviving after the Viking attack by Olaf the Black, who devastates Breixos looking for the countess, about whom he has heard a lot and thinks he can get more. And then, hiding her identity, she will determine to ally herself with him, or at least please him in any way. The point is that neither one nor the other will be able to avoid feeling attracted and end up falling in love, with what that means for everyone. It is in this relationship and the details of it where the romantic hand of the author is also noticeable, as she knows the genre.
Meanwhile, Nunilo's family—his little sister Onneca and its owner Sisaldaa sweet in every rule—in addition to some men of his guard They have managed to escape and reach Compostela, next destination of the Vikings. However, they delay their attack too much, which favors the different clan troops to regroup and repel it.
That's when cthe tables turn and Nunilo will regain both his identity and his power. and now it will be Olaf who comes to your service, although he feels betrayed again by a woman, because evidently he carries a very hard personal history. What remains is to know how Nunilo manages to accept his destiny and preserve that love. And how he will ruin the most intriguing plans of his enemies.
Ultimately
a good story with attractive ingredients of the genre and very well mixed.