RUNNER-UP Historical Novel Society New Novel Award 'Assured, evocative, compelling. A fascinating reading experience.' Catherine Cho, Lead judge HNS At five Katharina is placed in a convent. At twenty-three she escapes. At twenty-five she marries Martin Luther, the most controversial man in Europe. This is her story - of courage, resilience in the face of adversity and a determination to choose her own life. It is very shameful that children, especially defenceless young girls, are pushed into the nunneries. Shame on the unmerciful parents who treat their own so cruelly.' Martin Luther Germany 1505 Following the death of her mother and her father's remarriage, five-year-old Katharina is placed in the convent at Brehna. She will never see her father again. Sixty-five miles away, at Erfurt in Thuringia, Martin Luder, a promising young law student, turns his back on a lucrative career in order to become a monk. The consequences of their meeting in Wittenberg, on Easter Sunday 1523, will reverberate down the centuries and throughout the Christian world. A compelling portrayal of Katharina von Bora, set against the turmoil of the Peasant's War and the German Reformation ... and the controversial priest at its heart. From award-winning historical fiction author, Margaret Skea (Historical Fiction Winner Harper Collins / Alan Titchmarsh Competition; Beryl Bainbridge Award; Runner-up Historical Novel Society New Novel Award), a well-researched and beautifully written novel that breathes life into the 'woman at Luther's side.'

Prizes

Runner-up for Historical Novel Society New Novel Award 2018

`Margaret Skea has a brilliant eye for historical detail. She creates characters who take us by the hand so that we never stumble or wonder where we are. An engrossing read.' A. Bacon Between the Lines. - `A dramatic and most moving story, which transported me back to the 16th century and into Katharina's mind. I felt what she was feeling and was both fascinated by and anxious for her right from the start. I loved it.' Books Please - 'A wonderfully vivid portrait of how a headstrong girl grows into a wry, steely and impassioned woman, carves a path for herself through tumultuous times, and changes the course of history in the process. Skea knows her history, but more importantly, she writes with imagination and humanity.' Professor Alec Ryrie, Durham University, author of Protestants.

Margaret Skea grew up in Ulster at the height of the 'Troubles', but now lives with her husband in the Scottish Borders. Awarded the Beryl Bainbridge Award for Best First Time Author 2014 and Historical Fiction Winner in the Harper Collins / Alan Titchmarsh People's Novelist Competition for her debut novel Turn of the Tide, the sequel A House Divided was longlisted for the Historical Novel Society New Novel Award 2016. The third book in the series, By Sword and Storm, is due for publication in July 2018. Katharina: Deliverance is the first of two novels based on the life of Katharina von Bora, the escaped nun who married Martin Luther. It was Runner up in the Historical Novel Award. the sequel, Katharina Fortitude, was shortlisted for the Bookbrunch Selfies Award. She is passionate about well-researched, authentic historical fiction and providing a 'you are there' experience for the reader. An Hawthornden Fellow and award winning short story writer - recent wins include, Neil Gunn, Chrysalis Prize, and Winchester Short Story Prize. Placings and listings include Historical Novel Award, Bookbrunch Selfies Award, Rubery Short Story, Historical Novel Society Short Story, Mslexia, Fish - Short Story and One Page Prize and the Matthew Pritchard Award. She has been published in a range of magazines and anthologies in Britain and the USA.