A 2013 Historical Novel by British-American writer Nicola Griffith about the first roughly 18 years of the life of Saint Hilda of Whitby, a Northumbrian noblewoman who lived in the early 7th century AD. The novel focuses on the titular character's almost entirely fictional role as a seer and advisor to her Uncle Edwin, the most powerful king of the Angles at that time (yes, this was the back when the Anglo-Saxons were still just the Angles and Saxons. And Jutes.), her relationship with her family and the changes brought about in Britain by the conversion of the Angles and Saxons to Christianity.
Notable for it's extremely immersive writing style, with lots of Shown Their Work. The novel seems determined to place the reader firmly in Hild's head as much as possible which it accomplishes by focusing much more on the protagonists very early (read pre-teen and pubescent) years than most Historical Epics, including a massive amount of detail about the routines of daily life in early England and depicting many events, especially early in the novel, in a disjointed manner as though reflecting only the most salient memories that an adult would recall from childhood. This immersion can also lead to some Viewers Are Geniuses effect: readers who do not have at least an interested layman's knowledge of Dark Age Britain's history and society, as well some basic familiarity with some relevant Old English terminology will likely find that the book presents a steep learning curve.
Planned as the first novel in a trilogy, with no solid release date for the sequel yet available.
Tropes in this novel include:
- Action Girl: Hild is physically larger and stronger than most men and eventually learns to fight well enough to lead a small war band and kill several trained men in straight-up combat. Deconstructed as the aftermath of her violent experiences lead her to suffer several severe bouts of depression over the violence she has seen and her guilt for killing people. Subverted in the book's climax, where she actively rejects this role even after she and her Gesiths rescue Cian, telling him that the path of the sword is his path, not hers.
- Anti-Hero: Hild is generally a very moral person but she definitely shares many aspects of her personality with her uncle and mother. She has a possessive and controlling streak with people she considers hers and she's completely willing to scheme, torture and kill to accomplish her goals.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Hild's mother Breguswith is a ruthlessly scheming social climber who poisons Edwin's first Queen in order to advance her eldest daughter's status and attempts to manipulate the King's cousin into seizing the throne. Nevertheless she is portrayed quite sympathetically.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Hild and her half-brother, Cian, are romantically attracted to each other, though he doesn't know that they're related. The drama this results in is one of the main conflicts of the novel.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: The revolution in communication technology that literacy represented is heavily emphasized.
- Young Future Famous People: Almost nothing is known about Hild's life until she was much older than the time portrayed in the books. The only biographical events that are not purely fictional are the death of her father, her living in her uncle's Court, and her conversion to Christianity.
