Kinstrife
When the fiercest wars are fought within the bloodline
Historical fiction is always a balancing act. I begin with what we can know: the chronicles, the genealogies, the scraps of record that survived. Then I look for what history rarely preserves: the private moments, the tensions in a household, the choices made behind closed doors, and the emotional cost of living inside power.
That is where Kinstrife was born.
This is a little-known story from medieval Wales, based on real Welsh and Norman people and real events, brought to life by the messy, human truth behind the dates and names.
A king in his prime, and the heirs who could save or ruin everything
At the centre is Gruffydd, a king in his prime, battle-tested, in full command of his realm, and determined that his bloodline will not become the weakness his enemies exploit. He has fought for what he holds. He intends to keep it.
But he has three sons, and the struggle to be seen, to be valued, to be chosen, does not stay contained.
One is convinced he was born to rule.
Another is certain he would rule better.
The third says little and watches, waiting for the moment he can no longer be ignored.
Their rivalry is not simply personal. In a royal household, emotion becomes politics. Jealousy becomes faction. A rash act can become the spark that sets a nation alight.
The queen who holds the family together, until she cannot
Beside the king stands his beautiful wife, Angharad, the quiet strength at the heart of the family. She is his rock, his counsellor, and the steady hand that keeps pride from turning to ruin. She understands the things that win wars long before men draw swords, the management of tempers, the timing of concessions, and the patient work of keeping the household intact.
Yet even that bond can be shaken, because a queen’s hardest war is not fought with steel.
There are moments when a mother may be forced to choose between the husband she loves and the children she would die to protect, and no crown in the world makes that choice easier.
Two daughters on the same fault line
The king’s two elder daughters stand on that fault line, too.
Gwenllian is a warrior princess in truth as well as title, trained to ride and fight, to endure, to decide, and to accept the consequences when men call her courage inconvenient. She is married to a rebel, a landless prince outlawed by the Normans, and that match makes him a peril to all who shelter him. The man she chose, or was given, becomes a threat to her own family’s fragile peace, a spark that could draw Norman attention straight to their door.
The other, Annest, is drawn into a love she should never touch, a married man, a forbidden attachment, and a choice that could scorch more than her own name.
These women are not decorations at the edge of men’s stories. They are players, protectors, strategists, and risk-takers, shaping outcomes in ways records rarely bother to explain.
What to expect in Kinstrife
This is a story of court politics and kin loyalty, of oaths sworn and broken, and of battle scenes that are part of the age's reality. It is also a story of love under pressure, written as a clean, slow-burn, emotionally intense tale, driven by consequence rather than explicit detail.
Enemies gather. Rivalries sharpen. Norman pressure tightens. Everyone wants what this family holds.
They can be broken, betrayed, and outmanoeuvred, but only together can they become more dangerous than the forces that would tear them apart.
Coming soon: Kinstrife
Kinstrife is coming soon.
Over the coming weeks, I will be sharing more about the real history that inspired it, the women at the heart of the story, and the theme that drives every chapter, the truth that kin can be shield or blade.
If you would like to be the first to hear about the release, the cover reveal, and early reader opportunities, keep an eye on the blog and join the mailing list.