A Handful of Earth is a powerful saga of ancient Russia. Here spinster princess Yaroslava faces strife and danger as a Mongol hoard draws near her village, threatening her people and complicating a dire situation in which her father is too old and ill to deal with them; yet her people refuse to follow a woman.

When her kingdom falls Yaroslava becomes a slave, destined to be a concubine to a Mongol lord, and even then faces enemies from within those ranks. To gain her freedom and any remnants of her kingdom she must use tools foreign to her: magic, deception, and even treason.

This saga is wonderful, packed with historical details and lively action; but best of all is the powerful and captivating language of a writer who begins the story with a bang: “I needed to be Princess Olga. Her people had followed her into battle when she ruled Rus three hundred summers ago. I, on the other hand, couldn’t even talk my townswomen into
evacuating before the Tartar siege.”

A Handful of Earth is a first-person story of nobility, courage, and survival told in a spirited, involving voice that is packed with drama and psychological reflection: “I kept my silence, for I had learned from my father that when a man aches inside, he doesn’t necessarily want you to draw him out of his dark thoughts. Trying to talk to him at a time like this only makes the thoughts grow darker and that darkness can turn on you if you aren’t careful.”

Romance, changing allegiances and issues of courage and survival of oppressors makes this a powerful and fast-paced novel packed with supernatural elements that spice the protagonist’s conflicts with man with her ultimate conflict with forces on the dark side.

Ultimately Princess Yaroslava must face these dark forces both within and outside of her kingdom, and must find a way to overcome them to realize her true destiny and that of her world.

A Handful of Earth charts bravery, leadership, and a woman’s struggles to become a winner. You could say it’s an epic historical novel of ancient Russia, but that would be simplifying the novel’s force and strengths.

More than a singular piece of historical fiction, it’s a saga of what it means to be female, a leader, and how deals with the devil are contemplated in the course of a struggle for freedom.

It’s a saga replete with psychological tension and struggle, and is a top recommendation.

As the Mongol Horde draws near her tiny Russian principality, a spinster princess Yaroslava fears the worst. Her father is too old and ill to organize the defense. Yet her people would not follow her because she is a woman. The princes from the neighboring city-states and principalities won’t come to help because of the old feuds. Worse yet, Yaroslava receives a foretelling that she will betray her people.

Yelnik, the principality’s throne town, falls. Most of its defenders perish. Attractive women and craftsmen are taken into slavery. Yaroslava herself becomes a slave, destined to serve the Mongol khan as his concubine. In captivity she faces many enemies. Among them are: a Russian slave with a grudge; a fellow concubine that can kill with the power of the evil eye; her uncle whom Yaroslava mistakenly thinks she can trust. To survive and regain freedom for herself and the other slaves from Yelnik, she will break a religious taboo against using magic, commit treason and defeat vodyanoy, an elemental being that wishes to imprison her soul in its river for eternity.

“A Handful of Earth” is available from Amazon