Product Description

The powerful new timeslip novel from the worldwide bestselling author of Lady in Hay, in which the fate of a young woman becomes entwined with the extraordinary history of a Celtic princess. Jess, a young teacher in London, is attacked by someone she fears knows her well. Fleeing to her sister's house in the Welsh borders to recuperate, she is disturbed by the cries of a mysterious child. Two thousand years before, the same valley is the site of a great battle between Caratacus, king of the Brtitish tribes, and the invading Romans. The proud king is captured and taken as a prisoner to Rome with his wife and daughter, the princess Eigon. Jess is inexorably drawn to investigate Eigon's story, and as the Welsh cottage is no longer a peaceful sanctuary she determines to visit Rome. There lie the connections that will reveal Eigon's astonishing life - and which threaten to reawaken Jess's own tormentor. Barbara Erskine's ability to weave together the past and the present, shedding light on a real but little-known figure, makes this a tremendous novel of Roman and Celtic history, passion and intrigue.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2562 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
Praise for Barbara Erskine The Warrior's Princess: 'An engrossing race against time' Woman and Home 'This is one of the most gripping page-turners I've read' Sun Barbara's many bestsellers: 'A riveting timeslip novel' Fanny Blake 'Her forte is mood, atmosphere and the toe-curling frisson' Elizabeth Buchan, Sunday Times 'Stephen King meets Ruth Rendell' Frank Delaney 'Barbara Erskine's storytelling talent is undeniable' The Times 'Erskine's novels offer the reader an intriguing and interesting insight into the day to day lives of women who lived many centuries ago, and whilst the story itself is ficiotn, the characters and places are mainly based on fact, as are some of the events that took place. Erskine is a great historian and by using thses facts in novels she is introducing many people to life long ago.' Crimesquad.com

From the Author
I first came across Eigon, the historical heroine of The Warrior's Princess, when my father bought a cottage in the parish of Llanigon some forty years ago. Who, we wanted to know, or what, was Eigon? The church guidebook answered our question. But only sort of. There are two theories. Either he was a bishop or she was the daughter of the great Welsh hero, Caratacus. Obviously I preferred the second option.
But then came the $64,000 question. If Caratacus had a daughter called Eigon and if she was taken to Rome as a captive as history records, how would she have ended up as the patron saint of an ancient church in the Welsh borders, 300 years before the official conversion of Britain to Christianity? This was the question which inspired this book. My curiosity was further piqued by a splendidly framed engraving of Fuseli's painting of Caractacus at the Tribunal of Claudius at Rome, which has hung for years in the hall outside my study. In the picture Caratacus is portrayed as the noble warrior, his fists clenched in iron manacles, his moustaches to the fore, his brow steely. His daughter and his wife and even the Empress Agrippina are depicted as respectively, wilting, fainting, theatrical and buxom. The picture is I have to admit not really to my taste, but for us it is doubly interesting, firstly for its depiction of Eigon and the obviously dramatic story it tells and secondly, because the engraver was my great, great, great grandfather, Andrew Birrell. I had to find out more.
Caratacus, the warrior king and opposer of the invading Romans was the son of Cunobelinus (or Cymbeline), king of the Catuvellauni. We know a great deal about his opposition to Rome, his battles, his defeat. We know he was taken with his family to Rome, made the famous speech to the Emperor as they stood facing an almost certainly horrific death and won the Emperor's approbation by the brilliance of his address, whereupon he was pardoned.
This much is described by the Roman historians, principally Tacitus. There is however another Caratacus, or Caractacus, or Caradoc. Here he is a legendary and mythic hero, the father of many children, the descendant of gods and from the novelist's point of view it is the many gaps and inconsistencies in all the information and misinformation that have come down to us about this period that are interesting. Here we are at the cusp between history and legend and it is from this mixture that I have teased out the single thread of my story.
I asked myself: how and why could Caratacus just disappear from history? Where did he live in Rome? Why did he not immediately plan to return to Britannia to continue his fight? Surely so great a hero cannot have been seduced by a Roman retirement plan. The only reasonable explanation was that he died. If so, what happened to the daughter who was taken with him to Rome?
To call Eigon herself shadowy is an understatement; what we know of her is full of inconsistency. `Caratacus's daughter' disappears from history after the great set piece speech in Rome. But then we have her mysterious reappearance as a saint in the foothills of the Black Mountains.
So, if Eigon existed at all, was she as she is depicted by Elgar in his cantata Caractacus, where she is old enough to have a lover, and in the painting by Fuseli, where she is a full-grown woman at the time of her capture? Or was she a child? The latter would, I thought, make more sense as she was still with her mother on campaign.
Then I wondered where Christianity came in and that at least was obvious. The Rome to which Caratacus and his family were taken was the Rome of St Peter and St Paul; if they survived they would have been there at the time of the Great Fire of Rome and the Christian persecutions under Nero and they would almost certainly have met up with Pomponia Graecina while there; her arrest and the charge that she was following a foreign religion is recorded, again by Tacitus. Some say she had been influenced by Druidry during her time in Britannia; some by the new Christianity. I have covered my options by making her interested in both.
It seemed to me a good guess that Eigon eventually returned to the country of her birth and, if she is remembered here as a saint, then she must have returned as a Christian. In the early Celtic church the term saint meant someone who served God and lived a holy life. The Llan in Llanigon (still spelt Llaneigon in Victorian times) did not imply that this ancient place was originally a parish or even a church. Llan came to mean both those things in later Welsh but in the original meaning the term referred to a small religious community or centre, focused around a particular spiritual person, which would fit in with it being the place where Eigon chose to settle down. She was actually there. In person.
Thus from very slender threads I have woven her story. I can't claim it to be history but I feel I have given a good guess.
That leaves me with one last mystery which Caratacus has bequeathed us. Where did that last great battle take place? It seems strange, but no one knows for sure. There are many places which claim to be its site. In the end I invented one of my own. My Valley of Ravens does not exist as such! If you are interested in finding out more about some of the possible locations for the battle please look at my website (barbara-erskine.com) where I have listed some of them and posted some of my own photographs.

About the Author
A historian by training, Barbara Erskine is the author of many bestselling novels that demonstrate her interest in both history and the supernatural, plus three collections of short stories. Her books have appeared in at least twenty-six languages. Her first novel, Lady of Hay, has sold over two million copies worldwide. She lives with her family in an ancient manor house near Colchester and in a cottage near Hay-on-Wye.

Customer Reviews

Absolutely gripping story
I was hooked from the very first page. The tension builds until you almost can't bear to read any more. I had to read it in small chunks until I got to the last 150 pages - when I couldn't bear to put it down until I knew what happened. Jess goes through a traumatic time in her own life and finds herself haunted by Eigon - a princess from Romano Britain - when she escapes from her problems to stay at her sister's Welsh farmhouse. Her pursuit of the truth about Eigon leads her into danger and also to Rome where her sister is staying with a friend. Jess starts to see friends and enemies in a new light. Can she uncover the truth about the present as well as the past? If you like 'Lady of Hay' you will love this. It is Barbara Erskine on top form.

Really sorry to be negative
For the first time ever, I have been unable to finish a Barbara Erskine. I'm a fan of her work, read all her books, buy them in hardback on the day of release, normally have them in pre-order with Amazon for months in advance. A month down the line, I've not finished this book and this morning I've taken the bookmark out and I've given up. I simply don't care what happens. I've no interest in the characters, found them incredibly annoying and can't relate to them at all. I'm gutted. I'm giving it a 3 just in case it's my own tastes that have changed. I will be buying her next one, after all, her last one, I read in 2 days flat, this one, it's been a hard slog and I've not reached the finish line. Sorry!

All the magic of Lady of the Hay
This story for me of Jess a teacher who is attacked by someone she has known and trusted for along time was a scary beginning, then the ghosts take over and she finds herself in Rome seeking Eigon a girl from the past who also has been attacked, the description of Rome, you actually feel as if you are there with them, this for me was on par with lady of the hay, i read it in a week i ate, slept and dreamt about it, fans of Barbara Erskine will not be dissapointed. I wait in awe for her next one.