SIGNE PIKE was born in Ithaca, NY, and graduated from Cornell University. She worked as an acquisitions editor at Random House and then Penguin before leaving to write her first book, a travel memoir entitled Faery Tale: One Woman's Search for Enchantment in a Modern World. In 2018 she published her debut novel, The Lost Queen, which became a bestselling series, and is currently in development for television by an Emmy award-winning production company. Pike has researched and written about Celtic history for over a decade. Her non-fiction has been published by Salon, Charleston City Paper, Book Riot and NPR.org.
For fans of Philippa Gregory, Ken Follett, and Outlander comes a legend-steeped story of the real King Arthur and his contemporaries. A saga that transports the reader to a vivid world of meticulously researched early medieval Scottish history. Even the Loch Ness monster makes an appearance in this kaleidoscopic epic with deep roots in both history and myth.
This sweeping historical fiction saga breathes new life into the story of Camelot, it is truly Philippa Gregory meets Game of Thrones. A Litchfield Books staff favorite author for years, Signe Pike writes a fantastic book. Full of adventure, forbidden romance, and incredibly well researched, The Lost Queen series is worth sitting down and devouring in one sitting. You will be completely captivated by the ancient Scottish landscape, Pike brings life to a forgotten time.
Signe’s novels tell the story of the tragically forgotten historical queen of 6th-century Scotland, —twin sister of the man who inspired the legendary character of Merlin. Pike continues her chronicle of the swirling intrigue and bloody confrontations among the kingdoms of the Arthurian period. It is 580 C.E.; Languoreth, Queen of Strathclyde, has just been reunited with the daughter she’s believed dead for years. Once the truth of the events surrounding her daughter’s disappearance emerges, long-awaited justice will be served. Languoreth’s husband insists she stay at home to monitor the troublesome Christian monk. To top it off, she has renounced her affair with the warrior Maelgwn Pendragon: “I am a woman of the Old Way, married to a Christian. Adultery is not tolerated. Should we be discovered, our people would lose an irreplicable advocate.” Meanwhile, Artúr mac Aedan (Arthur) must answer a call from his father to assume his destiny among the Scots. (Kirkus Reviews)
Those who have read The Lost Queen (2018) and The Forgotten Kingdom (2020) will be right at home.
A deeply researched, sweeping, and utterly compelling tale of magic, betrayal, battle, and destiny, The Shadowed Land is this winter's can't-miss historical epic."
—New York Times bestselling author Kristin Harmel