She was born into nobility. She became a wife, a mother, a loyal subject. But when the crown of France betrayed her family, Jeanne de Clisson became something else entirely-something the sea would remember.
Jeanne de Clisson: The Widow's War is a sweeping, historically-accurate adventure novel based on the real-life Breton noblewoman turned privateer in the 14th century. From the lavish courts of Brittany to the bloodied decks of the Black Fleet, this is the story of how one woman's grief forged a legend.
Jeanne loved deeply and lost terribly. When her husband Olivier IV de Clisson was wrongfully executed on charges of treason-his head displayed above the gates of Nantes-Jeanne vowed revenge not just against the men who killed him, but against the very idea of unchecked power. She raised a force of loyal men, sold her lands, and took to the seas in ships dyed black with sails of red, striking at French supply lines in the Channel.
For thirteen years she harried the crown's vessels, her name spoken in fear by French sailors and in awe by English allies. Alongside her son Olivier V and her secret daughter Isabeau, Jeanne navigated treacherous politics, shifting allegiances, and the brutal cost of war. In her later years, she would marry the English commander Walter Bentley, but her story never softened-it ended with defiance and silence in a castle on the coast, her grief never fully laid to rest.
Meticulously researched and grounded in historical record, this novel explores the war of succession in Brittany, the fragile balance between love and vengeance, and the impossible choices faced by women in a world ruled by kings. Note: Halfdan Ragnarsson-also known by some sources as Hvitserk-is mentioned briefly in historical reference due to overlapping mythologies but is not a character in this novel.
This is Book 14 in the Pirate Women series, with each installment offering a unique, stand-alone adventure rooted in the lives of real people. The book includes a detailed historical timeline in the back to help separate fact from fiction and dispel centuries of myth.
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"This book broke my heart and rebuilt it on the bones of the past. Jeanne de Clisson's story is unforgettable." - Penny Nicholson, Historian
Hilmarj Torgrim is an American author with deep roots in Viking and Scottish lore. She's spent a lifetime studying the myths and stories of her ancestors so that she might make them more accessible to all ages. Hilmarj writes primarily fiction, with historical roots in fact.
