Alina, The White Lady of Oystermouth

By Ann Marie Thomas

Alina's husband John de Mowbray takes control of the Lordship of Gower in 1320, in an attempt to secure her inheritance. But her father had sold it to the king's favourite, and the king takes it back. The Marcher Barons side with de Mowbray and rebel against the king. But although it eventually leads to the king's downfall, Alina and John will pay a heavy price.
Amazon Reviews:
1. Very nice illustrations, easy to read. This book is a delight for boys or girls interested in learning about some very interesting moments in history.
It goes to show that sometimes true life and history is even more interesting than tales.
2. The story of Alina de Breos, a little-known but fascinating figure of Swansea history, whose family was instrumental in the downfall of Edward II and his favourite Hugh le Despenser in 1326. Residents and visitors to Swansea and the Gower Peninsula will enjoy this account, as will anyone who is interested in the intrigue and drama behind historical events.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ann Marie Thomas
• Release date: Mar 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476236568

Ann Marie Thomas

Writing poetry and making up stories since I was a child, I only started to write seriously when my children were grown. My main ambition is to write science fiction, but along the way I got fascinated by local history and distracted by a major stroke. I wrote poetry about my stroke and spent my recovery writing a local history book. Taking early retirement gave me the chance to concentrate on my writing. I have been married for over 45 years, with 4 grown children and 8 grandchildren.I had already written up my research into the de Braose family before my stroke, but the long hours in hospital gave me time to think about it in detail. Once I came home, rather than sitting doing nothing, I rewrote the book, and taught myself to format and publish in both ebook and print. My husband contacted the art department of the local university, who helped me find a wonderful artist to illustrate my books.Alina, The White Lady of Oystermouth came out as an ebook and in print for the locals and the tourist market at Easter 2012 and it's success gave me the impetus to write another, Broken Reed: The Lords of Gower and King John, which came out in September 2013.The 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in 2015 led me to adapt and enlarge my Broken Reed book and produce The Magna Carta Story: The Layman's Guide to the Great Charter. This came out in May 2015.During my research I found other fascinating stories which are not long enough for a book, so I collected them together into Medieval Gower Stories, published in October 2017.I am now working on another great story from Gower medieval history: Swansea Miracle.When I was in hospital I wrote a flood of poetry, about my stroke, my therapy, my faith, and random things like the rain outside my window. I have now published them as an ebook and print, My Stroke of Inspiration. 22 poems in all: verse, doggerel, and blank verse. The poems talk about suffering and patience, therapy and faith, and are surprisingly cheerful. If you are a stroke survivor or know someone who is, or just enjoy poetry, these poems will comfort, encourage and inspire you.There is also a Christian non fiction book, Blinded by the Light, warning of the traps Christians can fall into, published in February 2020.I continue to work on my recovery from the stroke, and although I am disabled I lead a very busy life. I am involved in my church and active on social media. I am still writing science fiction, a series called Flight of the Kestrel, about the adventures of the crew of the Fast-Response spaceship the Kestrel. The first book in the series - Intruders - was published in April 2016, and the second - Alien Secrets - was published in October 2017. The third - Crisis of Conscience - was published in June 2021. Watch out for book 4 Planet Fall.

Book preview

Alina: The White Lady of Oystermouth

Ann Marie Thomas

Cover Illustration by Edward Martin, used with permission from Edward Martin's family and in support of The Gower Society

Illustrations by Carrie Francis

Published by Alina Publishing

Copyright 2012, 2021 Ann Marie Thomas

Ann Marie Thomas has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

ISBN for epub format: 978-0-9571988-1-4

This book is also available in print: ISBN 978-0-9571988-0-7

Smashwords Edition, Licence Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Note on the Second Edition

The only changes made from the first edition were to standardise the family name as Braose, not Breos, and the removal of all endnotes, which readers did not find helpful.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 - Beginning

Chapter 2 - Family History

Chapter 3 - Inheritances

Chapter 4 - Schemes

Chapter 5 - Undone

Chapter 6 - Restored

Conclusion

About the Author

Other books by the same author

Bibliography

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Praise for this and other history books:

Ann Marie Thomas has collected together the back story of this tragic figure from Swansea's past. A fascinating account of what really happened in a local landmark many, many years ago... (Swansea Life magazine)

Though this piece of writing is based on facts, I couldn't help sense a bit of a storyline. Sometimes non fiction can get too caught up in story telling that the underlying facts are put on the backbench but I must stress that while there is an interesting storyline to this piece, the emphasis is on the facts - which is needed in any good non fiction writing. It is a great short piece. The amount of information isn't overwhelming and certainly