Author(s): Barbara Erskine

General Fiction

This sweeping new novel from the bestselling author of Hiding from the Light and Whispers in the Sand switches between Roman Britain and the present day, where history dramatically impacts on the lives of three women. Historian and university lecturer Viv Lloyd Rees resigns from her university post when the BBC express interest in making a programme based on her book on Cartimandua, Celtic queen of the Brigantes and peer of Boudicea. Together with biographer Kate Kennedy and actress Pat Taylor, she forms Daughters of Fire, a company dedicated to making dramas about women who have made history on their own terms. But the three women soon discover that tension exists between them as they travel to the Pennines - where Cartimandua lived - for inspiration and research. Slowly and inexorably, Cartimandua begins to take them over. Pat deliberately courts the memory of Cartimandua, trying to put herself into the warrior queen's shoes, Viv searches for archaeological evidence, while Kate fights a growing realisation that the spirit of Cartimandua is not at rest. As Cartimandua's presence becomes more and more real, Pat's hold on reality begins to waver and ancient rivalries are rekindled alongside modern ones!