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Annie Whitehead
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The Sins of the Father: Tales of the Iclingas Book 2 Kindle Edition

by Annie Whitehead (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 41 ratings
A father’s legacy can be a blessing or a curse...

AD658: The sons of Penda of Mercia have come of age. Ethelred, the youngest, recalls little of past wars while Wulf is determined to emulate their father, whose quest to avenge his betrayed kinswomen drew him to battle three successive Northumbrian kings.
Ecgfrith of Northumbria is more hostile towards the Mercians than his father was. His sister Ositha, thwarted in her marriage plans, seeks to make her mark in other ways, but can she, when called upon, do her brother’s murderous bidding?
Ethelred finds love with a woman who is not involved in the feud, but fate intervenes. Wulf’s actions against Northumbria mean Ethelred must choose duty over love, until he, like his father before him, has cause to avenge the women closest to him. Battle must once more be joined, but the price of victory will be high.
Can Ethelred stay true to his father’s values, end the feud, keep Mercia free, and find the path back to love?
This is the second of the two-book series, Tale of the Iclingas.
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  1. Print length
    269 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    September 15, 2021
  4. File size
    3.7 MB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09CPZ3LBV
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (September 15, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 15, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.7 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 269 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 41 ratings

About the author

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Annie Whitehead

Annie Whitehead

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Annie Whitehead is a prize-winning writer, historian, and elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and has written four award-winning novels set in ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Mercia. She has contributed to fiction and nonfiction anthologies and written for various magazines. She was the winner of the inaugural Historical Writers’ Association/Dorothy Dunnett Prize 2017 and is now a judge for that same competition. She has also been a judge for the HNS (Historical Novel Society) Short Story Competition. She has twice been a prize winner in the Mail on Sunday Novel Writing Competition, and won First Prize in the 2012 New Writer Magazine's Prose and Poetry Competition. She has been a finalist in the Tom Howard Prize for non-fiction, and was shortlisted for the Exeter Story Prize and Trisha Ashley Award 2021. Her nonfiction books, Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom and Women of Power in Anglo-Saxon England, are published by Amberley Books and Pen & Sword Books. She has recently signed a contract to contribute to a new history of English monarchs, to be published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2023.

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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Anna B
    5.0 out of 5 stars Like being immersed in a distant time
    Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    We are in Mercia. It is late in the 7th century. The hall is dim and shadowed, the Mercians are still licking their wounds after their defeat at the battle of Winwaed—a battle which also cost their king, Penda, his life. Since then, his family has been dispersed, two of his surviving sons hidden away, some of his daughters missing, and as to his wife, well it seems the brave Derwena is dead, cruelly murdered by the victorious Oswii, king of Northumbria.
    Sins of the Father is primarily the story of Ethelred, the youngest of Penda’s children. Having witnessed how Oswii advanced on his mother with his sword held high, he is plagued by guilt: should he have tried to save his mother? Why did he survive when she died? The fact that he was only ten or so at the time is of little comfort, and four years on he is still suffering from nightmares.

    Mercia has somehow recovered from the loss of Penda. One of his sons, Wulfhere, has been acclaimed as the new king—and he wants revenge. In difference to his older brother, Ethelred is a thinker, less prone to rushing headlong into anything. Also, Ethelred is constantly aware of how much the conflict with Northumbria has cost his kin: his father dead, his brother dead, his sisters gone missing, his mother lost.
    Ms Whitehead has crafted a wonderful protagonist out of Ethelred. Considerate and kind, slow to anger and strategically inclined, Ethelred is one of those men who builds relationships based on loyalty and trust.

    Ms Whitehead’s evident familiarity with the period and its various movers and shakers combine with her beautiful prose to deliver one of those books you sit down to read on a Wednesday afternoon and then it is suddenly well after midnight and you reluctantly emerge from 7th century Mercia to cope with life in the 21st century. The people she writes about have been dead over a thousand years, and yet she breathes such life in them I can almost imagine inviting them in for a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit.

    Ethelred’s life isn’t easy. There is loss and loss and more loss. But now and then, there are glimmers of joy, moments of utter contentment. And that, Ethelred knows, is more than most people get.

    Most authors invest a lot of heart and soul in their writing. For many, that investment gets “lost in translation”, but Ms Whitehead’s pulse beats strong and true throughout Sins of the Father, wiggling its way under my skin and into my bloodstream. That, I believe, is the signature of excellent writing: it not only entertains, it touches something deep inside!
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  • Karen Heenan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Sequel to an Excellent Book
    Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Cometh the Hour was the first of Annie Whitehead's books that I read, and I've been watching and hoping for a sequel ever since. I am happy to say that it was worth the wait.

    My original plan was to re-read the first book, to refresh my memory and make sure I had all the characters straight in my head, but alas, with the arrival on my Kindle of that long-awaited book, I dove right in.

    I was happy to find, within just a few pages, that I remembered all the main incidents and characters, and then I was sucked right in.

    Ms Whitehead handles a complex period of history with confidence, and she has a deft hand with her people, giving even minor characters enough personality that they are easily separated from a host of other similarly-named characters.

    Time passes quickly in these books, and Ethelred, the main character, goes from a lost and lonely child to a self-assured but still questioning man. It makes for fascinating reading as Ethelred tries to find his own path in the complicated world his father - and other warlike men - left for their sins to handle.

    I could go on, but it would be better if you just read the book for yourself. (If you haven't read Cometh the Hour, you really should. While this can be read as a standalone, you'll get a deeper understanding if you know the characters' backstory).
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  • Cody C. Engdahl
    5.0 out of 5 stars Richly textured with detail only a medieval scholar could bring.
    Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2024
    Sins of the Father should really be called Sins of the Fathers because it follows the children of both King Penda and King Oswii in the ongoing feud between these two royal families. Sins of the Father is the sequel to The Cometh Hour, however, I don't think you need to read that book to understand this one, even though I recommend that you do because it's also excellent.

    Sins of the Father picks up a few years after the Battle of the Winwaed, where Penda was slain by Oswii's forces. Penda's eldest son takes back the Mercian throne and then reunites with his siblings who've been cast asunder and have been living in hiding since the death of their father. The joy of reunion is short-lived as the old grudges between the families come back to haunt them.

    Whitehead does a great job of painting seventh-century Britain with vivid details like clothing, customs, food, crafts, and medicine. She even gets the flora with the seasons right. I felt I could see, smell, touch, and taste the scenes. The Mercians, Northumbrians, and Welsh had different and unique cultures from each other. I liked that the main character was sensitive, self-conscious, and, at times, full of self-doubt. It made him seem real and relatable and not some "biggus dickus" with a sword. All the characters were well-fleshed out with understandable motivations.

    In the end, this is a tale of how a feud between families can spiral into an endless cycle of tragedy that can last for generations. If you want to visit seventh-century Britain, Whitehead takes you there with a well-researched story of Britain's last Pegan king and his legacy. Be sure to read the historical note at the end of the book, where she explains much of the real historical aspects of the story.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • cb
    5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent
    Reviewed in Canada on October 3, 2021
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    Annie Whitehead’s writing is an absolute joy to read. Her prose is lyrical, her research is meticulous, and she recreates the Anglo-Saxon world so faithfully that it’s easy to lose yourself in the pages of the story. Whenever I read any of her stories, I can’t help but feel that I’m sitting in a mead hall, being entertained by the scup while I dine on fresh cheese and honey.

    The Sins of the Father, the sequel to Cometh the Hour, delivers everything I’ve come to love from one of Annie’s novels and more. She can’t produce a time travel machine, but she’s given us the next best thing. From the opening scene until the last, I was hooked.

    The war between Mercia and Northumberland is far from over.

    Years after King Penda’s death, his sons have come into their own. The eldest, Wulf, has taken the king’s helm and is determined to avenge his father and take back what they had lost to Oswii of Northumberland. But it’s Ethelred, the youngest son, who works to bring his family all together after years of being separated from them for his own safety. When Oswii passes away, his son Ecgfrith takes over the kingship, and despite him growing up in Mercia, he shares his father’s relentless ambition to expand his power.

    Ethelred is a character to admire. He’s thoughtful, empathetic, and strategic to his older brother, Wulf’s fire and impetuousness. Even though Ethelred compares himself to his brother and questions his abilities to lead their people, if anything should happen to Wulf, it’s precisely these qualities that make him an excellent leader.

    Against the backdrop of empire building and political manoeuvring, the author weaves in a beautiful, heart-breaking romance between Ethelred and Arianwen, the sister of a Welsh lord. With careful, light brushstrokes, Whitehead introduces tender moments effortlessly. They’re visual and emotionally stirring:

    “Today though, with the summer heat and the calm before harvest began, he was drowsy and all he could think about was Arianwen: the back of her neck when her long plait was pulled forward over her shoulder, the shape of her hips when she hefted a basket and it pulled her kirtle tight, the slenderness of her fingers when she reached out to place something on the tables.”

    The Sins of the Father has it all: rich historical descriptions, compelling three-dimensional characters and page turning story. Annie Whitehead breathes life into these “dark” ages and, as with her other books, I was sad to leave when the story ended. Highly recommended!
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  • Patricia Bunting
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for lovers of historical fiction and great storytelling.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 29, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Having really enjoyed Cometh the Hour, I was delighted to find that Annie Whitehead had written a sequel to it. Whereas the first book focuses on Penda’s rise to power through to his defeat and the end of his life at the battle at Winwaed, this book revolves around the ongoing struggle for power between Mercia and Northumbria during the lifetimes of Penda’s children.
    Following the events at Winwaed, the kingdom of Northumbria – ruled over by the ruthless and treacherous Oswii – now controls the North. Derwena, Penda’s wife and mother of his children, is presumably dead, murdered by Oswii soon after Penda’s defeat. Wulfhere (Wulf), Penda’s eldest son, now rules Mercia, and is bent on avenging his father’s death and re-taking control of the northern kingdoms. Most of the other siblings are scattered elsewhere. Some of Penda’s daughters are now in religious houses, and the youngest son, Ethelred, on whom most of this story focuses, is living in exile in Wales, vigilantly watched over by the trusted and battle-hardened warrior, Sikke.
    The Sins of the Father is an engrossing read from start to finish and the fabulous cast of characters bring the story to life. There are too many to list and describe here, but Ethelred, in particular, is an unforgettable character and it is wonderful to see him grow from strength to strength. The ongoing relationship between Ethelred and the beautiful Welsh lady, Arianwen, is lovely yet heart-breaking although, to a degree, later developments compensate for the disappointments imposed upon them by life and circumstance.
    There are also many notable characters amongst the Northumbrians. King Oswii of Northumbria still envokes contempt, as does his son Ecgfrith, who follows him to the throne. Ecgfrith’s hatted of Mercia is particularly callous, considering that he was sent to Mercia as a child hostage by Oswii and was safely cared by Penda and Derwena, who treated him as one of their own. Oswii’s daughter, Ositha, a lady striving to be noticed and loved, also becomes a character to be reckoned with. Despite her actions, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her at times.
    I’ve read four of Annie Whitehead’s books now, two of which are novels, the others being her wonderfully informative non-fictions dealing with aspects of the early medieval kingdom of Mercia. Annie’s extensive knowledge of this period shines through in all her work and I can say that I’ve learned much about Mercia and its people through reading her books.
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  • Theresa Tomlinson
    5.0 out of 5 stars A touching sequel!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 25, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I read COMETH THE HOUR, a novel inspired by tales of the fierce King Penda of Mercia. I enjoyed it hugely, so was looking forward to a sequel - I was not disappointed. As with the first book Annie Whitehead delves beneath the surface of known history to discover complex humanity of people and places of which we have only limited records. This follows the life of Ethelred, Penda’s youngest son and is probably best read in sequence, though it could stand alone. Though there is adventure and struggle aplenty, the aspect of the story that came over to me most powerfully was the portrayal of Ethelred as a sensitive, vulnerable and thoughtful man, who accepts kingship more as a duty than an ambition. He submits to an arranged marriage with Ositha of Northumbria, believing that it is in the interests of his kingdom. His bride too is portrayed with depth and sympathy. I admire the way that Annie Whitehead deals with the complicated Anglo- Saxon names and I found the Authors Afterword to be fascinating and enlightening. Annie Whitehead’s deep knowledge of this period in history shines through. An essential read for anyone who likes historical fiction, especially books which throw light onto the dark ages.
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  • BenmaricKindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Sins of the Father by Annie Whitehead.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Another beautifully written book by Miss. Whitehead. I did find, however, the names and relationships a little difficult to follow. When Miss. Whitehead gave us the real names of these people, it was a little confusing. So many diphthongs and names beginning with ‘M’. But it didn’t spoil the story. The 7th century was a very dark age - literally. The men seemed to enjoy fighting and battles whilst the women, who were brought for all 4 corners of what is now, England, to marry strangers and bear and bury not only their husbands but their children too. Some women may have had happy periods of their lives, but most were used abysmally, most died tragically young and most unloved. A very sad period of our history. It would be nice to know some found happiness in their marriages. Thank you Miss Whitehead for four interesting novels.
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