Nikki Marmery explores the ancient stories that made her ask: where is the mother in the creation myth? This question inspired her to write Lilith, an allegory of the demise of female divinity and equality in prehistory – in other words, the Fall of Woman. The legend of Lilith, Adam’s first wife in the Garden […]
Savage Beasts by Rani Selvarajah
Calcutta in 1757. Bengal is on the brink of war. The East India Company, led by the fearsome Sir Peter Chilcott, is advancing and nobody is safe. Meena, the Nawab’s neglected and abused daughter, finds herself falling under the spell of James Chilcott, nephew of Sir Peter, who claims he wants to betray the company […]
Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman
London, 1799. Dora Blake lives with her uncle in what used to be her parents’ famed shop of antiquities. When a mysterious Greek vase is delivered, Dora is intrigued by her uncle’s suspicious behaviour and enlists the help of Edward Lawrence, a young antiquarian scholar. For Edward, the ancient vase is the key to unlocking […]
The Fairy Tellers by Nicholas Jubber
Who were the Fairy Tellers? In this far-ranging quest, award-winning author Nicholas Jubber unearths the lives of the dreamers who made our most beloved fairy tales: inventors, thieves, rebels and forgotten geniuses who gave us classic tales such as Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and the Beast and Baba Yaga. From the Middle Ages to […]
Review: Feminine power: the divine to the demonic
James Burge reviews the Feminine power: the divine to the demonic exhibition at the British Museum and finds contradiction, transgression and dazzling mental gymnastics in 4,000 years of art, faith and history from around the world. Visitors to this show are guided through a well-lit labyrinth, past a series of displays – one might almost […]
Spear by Nicola Griffith
She grows up in the wild wood, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake drift to her on the spring breeze, scented with promise. And when she hears a traveller speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she decides her future lies at his court. So, brimming with magic and […]
Vikings in Georgia: history or myth?
Fans of SJA (Simon) Turney’s Roman novels may be surprised to see that his latest book, the first of a new series, is about 11th-century Vikings. Researching the background to Blood Feud couldn’t have been be more different, he tells Historia, and involved a saga which mixes history with myth, backed up by archaeology, and […]
Remembering Culloden
The battle of Culloden was fought 275 years ago, on 16 April, 1746. While the date of the battle may not be as well known as 1066 or 1314, the battlefield itself, just outside Inverness, is an important tourist destination. Apart from this year’s being a major anniversary, Frances Owen asks, why and how should Culloden […]