Once upon a Marriage

Stuck in the wrong history department in a small Minnesota college, Nicole's focus on medieval feminism and marriage is disparaged by her war-obsessed colleagues and her fiancé. During a research trip to Paris, she dons a sixth-century dress and is transported back in time as the guardian and traveling companion for Ingund, a Frankish princess on her way to an arranged marriage with a Visigothic prince. Surprised to watch love blossom for Ingund, Nicole begins to reevaluate her own betrothal back in the twenty-first century.

Immersed in the political and religious intrigues of the sixth century, she witnesses first-hand the challenges facing even privileged women of the time, and uncovers the final chapter of Ingund's life, up to then unknown to historians. As Nicole helps Ingund navigate religious conflict, and personal loss, she comes to terms with her own future, ultimately choosing authorship and independence over traditional academia and marriage.

Weaving together historical research, feminist critique, and magical realism, ONCE UPON A MARRIAGE honors a forgotten woman of history and embraces female agency in both love and career. Based on the true story of Ingund and Hermenegild and brimming in wit and quotidien detail, Nicole's journey brings the Middle Ages to life for those of us stuck in the present.