Avalon - Anya Seton

Shipwrecked off the Cornish coast on his quest to find King Arthur's legendary Avalon, Rumon meets a lonely girl named Merewyn, and their lives soon become intertwined. Rumon brings Merewyn to England, but once there he is so dazzled by Queen Alrida's beauty that it makes him a virtual prisoner to her will. nPrinces, Vikings, and the history of tenth-century England come together in this saga of exploration and unrequited love.

nPrince Rumon of France, descendant of Charlemagne and King Alfred, is a searcher. He has visions of the Islands of the Blessed, perhaps King Arthur's Avalon, where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow. Merewyn grows up in savage Cornwall--a lonely girl, sustained by her stubborn courage and belief that she is descended from the great King Arthur.

Chance--or fate--in the form of a shipwreck off the Cornish coast brings Rumon and Merewyn together, and from that hour their lives are intertwined. Bound by his vow to her dying mother, Rumon brings Merewyn safely to England and keeps from her and all others the shameful secret of her birth. But there his responsibility ends.

At court, Queen Alfrida dazzles him with her beauty and holds him in subjection to her will. When her murderous bid to capture the throne for her son comes to light, Rumon is finally freed, and he turns to Merewyn, only to find that he has lost her. His search leads him across the Atlantic to an unknown land, disappointment, and, at last, fulfillment and peace.n