Why read The Lantern Bearers?

Book cover of The Lantern Bearers

Book description

The last of the Roman army have set sail and left Britain for ever, abandoning it to civil war and the threat of a Saxon invasion.

Aquila deserts his regiment to return to his family, but his home and all that he loves are destroyed. Years of hardship and fighting…

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Rome

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Lantern Bearers as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Wendy J. Dunn

Author

This is my all-time favourite novel by Rosemary Sutcliff—an author whose works inspired me to become a writer of historical fiction, and, long in the future, encouraged me to craft my own Tudor young adult novel.

Set in early Britain, it tells the story of Aquila, a young man of British birth. A Viking raiding party destroys Aquila’s home and family. After he is left to die by the original raiders, a leader of another Viking group takes Aquila across the sea to his home as a slave. For years, bitterness and hopelessness also enslave Aquila.

The Lantern Bearers is…

From Wendy's list on Rosemary Sutcliff for history loving teenagers.