Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
It’s set in Saxon and Viking times, in the tenth century, at the corrupt court of King Edgar of England, long before the Norman Conquest. It’s based on the obscure legend of a saint, Rumon, about whom very little is known. It is also about the lady he loves, Merewyn – and what happens to her.
And your last book, Avalon, is set in Viking times?
Yes, it’s set in Saxon and Viking times, in the tenth century, at the corrupt court of King Edgar of England, long before the Norman Conquest. It’s based on the obscure legend of a saint, Rumon, about whom very little is known. He is the central character. It is also about the lady he loves, Merewyn – and what happens to her. The story takes us along to Greenland – which the Vikings colonised, and where Merewyn was forced to make a new life. It’s just a beautiful love story. I read it first as a teenager, and found it quite striking and moving, and I still think it holds up very well now.
So in Avalon, there’s a bit more poetic licence, because not that much can be known about how people lived that long ago?
Again, it’s credible. Some of the characters are historic and it’s very, very well done. Seton has focused on people about whom hardly anything is known – which is a gift to any historical novelist because one can use one’s imagination creatively. And she’s done it well.
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Alison Weir is a British author and historian. She has written numerous popular history books, including, most recently, Captive Queen, about Eleanor of Aquitaine, and The Lady in the Tower, about the last days of Anne Boleyn.
