Dark North - Hardcover

Bradshaw, Gillian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0727865242 ISBN 13: 9780727865243

Publisher: Severn House, 2007

Synopsis

Roman Britain, 208 AD - Emperor Septimius Severus has arrived in Britain to conquer the barbarians in the north of the island. Memnon, an African scout, comes to Britain with his cavalry unit. When he saves the life of a beautiful young attendant of the Empress, he becomes aware of tensions within the imperial house. The bitter war tests them all to the limit, and if any of them are to survive, it can only be through their friendship.

About this title

About the Author

Gillian Bradshaw's father, an American Associated Press newsman, met her mother, a confidential secretary for the British embassy, in Rio de Janeiro. She was born in Washington DC in 1956, the second of four children. They didn't move around quite as much as one might expect after such a beginning: Washington was followed merely by Santiago, Chile, and two locations in Michigan. Gillian attended the University of Michigan, where she earned her BA in English and another in Classical Greek, and won the Hopwood Prize for fiction with her first novel, ""Hawk of May,"" She went on to get another degree at Newnham College, Cambridge University, England in Greek and Latin literature, and she sold her first novel while preparing for exams.
She decided to stay in Cambridge another year to write another novel and think about what to do for a Real Job. However, while there, she discovered she could live on her income as a novelist and also met her husband, who was completing his doctorate in physics. Between books and children she never did get a Real Job, and she's been writing novels ever since.
She and her husband now live in Coventry. They have four children and a dog.

From Booklist

Bradshaw's latest is a very readable story set in 208 CE in Roman Britain. The Roman emperor is determined to subdue the heathens in the north once and for all. Memnon, a Moor from Ethiopia who has served the emperor for over a decade, is a member of one of the cavalry units chosen to fight. Despite the occasional harassment he suffers because of his black skin, Memnon loves army life. In the course of the battle, he becomes a hero, is appointed (much against his will) to lead his unit, befriends the emperor's staff, proves his worth as an army scout, and falls in love with not one but two women. In Bradshaw's capable hands, what could have been a dry description of the Roman battle for Britain becomes a lively, gripping, ultimately satisfying tale of love, war, treachery, intrigue, and heroism. Memnon is an unlikely but very human hero, as lovable as he is brave. Give this one to those who like a nice mix of adventure and romance in their historical fiction. Melton, Emily

Edition details

• Publisher: Severn House
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0727865242
• ISBN 13: 9780727865243
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 315