**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**  

We're thrilled to welcome author Judith Lindbergh, who has Ashland roots, to our virtual stage. Her book, "Akmaral" is about a nomad woman warrior on the ancient Central Asian steppe. “Fraught with conflict both internal and external. Thoroughly imagined and vividly described… Fans of Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes will relish how Lindbergh weaves fact and fiction to craft a gripping saga, a love story, and a convincing portrait of a time and people lost to history.” —Christina Baker Kline, #1 bestselling author of "Orphan Train" and "The Exiles". We hope you will join us for this fascinating conversation!

Register directly on Zoom HERE.

You can buy signed books (by bookplate) by Judith from Aesop's Fable. Just write that you would like the book signed in the notes section at checkout.

Buy signed books by Judith

RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Before the Silk Road had a name, nomads roamed the Eurasian steppes and women fought side by side as equals with men.

Like all women of the Sauromatae, Akmaral is bound for battle from birth, training as a girl in horsemanship, archery, spear and blade. Her prowess ignites the jealousy of Erzhan, a gifted warrior who hates her as much as he desires her. When Scythian renegades attack, the two must unite to defeat them. Among their captives is Timor, the rebels’ enigmatic leader who refuses to be broken, even as he is enslaved. He fascinates Akmaral. But as attraction grows to passion, she is blinded to the dangerous alliance forming between the men who bristle against the clan’s matriarchal rule. Faced with brutal betrayal, Akmaral must find the strength to defend her people and fulfill her destiny.

Inspired by legends of Amazon women warriors told by ancient Greek historian Herodotus, and evidenced by several archaeological discoveries in Central Asia: 

• the Ice Maiden on the Ukok Plateau, called the “Pasture of Heaven” by the people of the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia and
• and the Golden Man of Issyk, a warrior burial that researchers believe might actually be a woman.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Judith Lindbergh’s new novel, Akmaral, about a nomad woman warrior on the ancient Central Asian steppes, released on May 7, 2024, from Regal House Publishing. Her debut novel, The Thrall’s Tale, about three women in the first Viking Age settlement in Greenland, was an IndieBound Pick, a Borders Original Voices Selection, and praised by Pulitzer Prize winners Geraldine Brooks and Robert Olen Butler. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including in Newsweek, Zibby Magazine, Next Avenue, Writer’s Digest, Edible Jersey, Literary Mama, Archaeology Magazine, Other Voices, and UP HERE: The North at the Center of the World published by University of Washington Press. She has spoken at and published with the Smithsonian Institution and provided expert commentary in two documentary series for The History Channel. Judith received a 2024 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She is the Founder/Director of The Writers Circle, a creative writing center based in New Jersey.

Please register for this event and you'll receive the link in the confirmation and reminder emails - make sure to check your spam folder for them, the email will be coming from Zoom.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and in partnership with a multitude of MA Libraries.

Sign up for our Ashland Public Library Newsletters!

Return to main calendar