This is book one of the Songs of Albion trilogy by Stephen Lawhead, I was enthralled from the start. It was a quick paced story with a foot in the present time, and the other in the past. I was lost in the magical and mystical land of Albion. This book is rich in Celtic mythology,
Wolves in Oxford; extinct beasts in Scotland: the barriers between our world and the Celtic Otherworld are breaking down. Two men are drawn into Albion, and changed for ever.
The book is both a profound window into a world where protocols must be adhered, and scandals must be avoided at all costs. The intimate love between Anna and her lover lead to isolation and despair. It gips the heart with emotional turmoil at a time of political changes occuring in Russia at the time.
In 1872 the mistress of a neighbouring landowner threw herself under a train at a station near Tolstoy's home. This gave Tolstoy the starting point he needed for composing what many believe to be the greatest novel ever written.
In writing Anna Karenina he moved away from the vast historical sweep of War and Peace to tell, with extraordinary understanding, the story of an aristocratic woman who brings ruin on herself. Anna's tragedy is interwoven with not only the courtship and marriage of Kitty and Levin but also the lives of many other characters. Rich in incident, powerful in characterization,…
The fictional Titania McGrath described by her maker as "a militant vegan who thinks she is a better poet than William Shakespeare". This book had me in stitches. It is exceedingly funny, satirical and thought provoking, if not a little dangerous in certain political arenas.
his is an historical novel based in iron-age Brigantia [Yorkshire]. Queen Cartimandua is forced to decide between a loveless marriage - a political necessity for tribal defence - and a forbidden love with another warrior. The story explores the complexities of tribal life in celtic Britain as the threat from Roman invasion grows. Druid magic plays a part in the decision making. The story is based on the life of the real Queen Cartimandua and her marriage to King Venutius of Carvetii [Cumbria].
