By Her Hand is a work of remarkable feminist historical fiction about survival, female rage, and writing your own narrative.

Set in Mercia, 910 AD, Freda has grown up being no stranger to the violence of men, either by the constant threat of the Danes seizing their lands or by her father’s own hand. She longs to write more than anything else and tell her own stories of heroism and adventure. But when her sister is killed in a savage raid by the Danes and her father goes missing, Freda has no choice but to find solace in the local church. There, she falls under the wing of Bishop Ælla, who devises a cunning plan to exploit her story as the sole survivor of a Viking attack, and thus attract pilgrims, who bring wealth. Freda’s dream to learn how to write comes true, but is it worth the cost of the bishop’s growing ownership and control over her? What will she have to do when the Vikings return for more pillaging and war?

Marion Taffe easily belongs alongside renowned authors of the genre such as Geraldine Brooks, Maggie O’Farrell, Lauren Groff, and Robyn Cadwaller, making it all the more impressive that By Her Hand is Taffe’s debut. Towards the end of the novel, Freda bluntly states that ‘for a woman, living in the world of men is to be always ready for battle.’ In various centuries and nations, all of the authors I’ve mentioned have shown us the hardships and traumas of women in the past, and how they chose to fight the destinies set out for them – either by sword, pen or their own words – and discover a sense of freedom for themselves. By Her Hand is another thread woven into the beautiful tapestry emerging today of women’s stories and female empowerment.