Heather Hibl

Attercoppe Hall Heather Hibl

Inspired by the embroidery known as the Bayeux Tapestry, Attercoppe Hall is a novel which explores the mysteries that have been hidden in its threads for nearly a thousand years. Why was it commissioned by Bishop Odo, brother of William the Conqueror? Why is such a violent depiction of Norman invasion so riddled with griffons and drakes and smiling horses and men pressing shushing fingers to lips? What is the meaning behind the shocking scene labeled - WHERE A CERTAIN CLERIC AND ÆLFYGA - ? And why is the end of this two hundred and thirty foot long embroidery missing?Attercoppe Hall is the story of a Norman bishop who will stop at nothing to seize the papacy for himself. It is told from the viewpoints of three he ensnares in his plans.Ælfgyva, the girl who stole a forbidden embroidery and stitched it secretly in a forgotten Saxon hall. Magdalena, the hardened Benedictine nun, compelled to cross the sea with a human skull in hand, who is forced to take charge of Canterbury's nuns. And Vitalis, the slave turned knight who is coerced into aiding in crime because he knows the bishop's secrets. It is also the story of how an aged English prioress, who happens to descend from Viking seiðrs, sees into the future and carefully plots the bishop's undoing. Set against the backdrop of a culture that is being forcibly erased, Attercoppe Hall is ultimately a tale of how an embroidered length of linen becomes a treasure for the ages.