The latest series of Digging for Britain was as fascinating and informative as usual, but I think the one item uncovered that generated the most interest for a lot of viewers, including myself, was the dodecahedron. 33 of these objects have been discovered in Britain with a number of others throughout Europe. But no one knows what they were used for. Theories abound with no idea why they were created. Perhaps it was an early version of a Rubik’s cube.
I’ve always been interested in British Roman history. So, it was a natural choice to explore some elements of it in my debut novel, Starting Over. At the outset, I knew that an archaeological dig was going to feature as part of the story. However, until about three quarters of the way through the first draft, I didn’t know what the great find would be.
Then my mother gave me a book she’d had for many years – a history of the Brigantes tribe. As I live in a part of Yorkshire that was pretty much in the middle of the territory covered by this tribe – stretching from below Manchester up to the much-disputed border with the Picts – I was quite taken with the story of Queen Cartimandua. The Roman historians gave her the title of ‘queen’. She was really the tribal chief. Although much has been written about Boudica’s exploits, Cartimandua barely gets a mention. She disappears from history and her remains have never been found.
Time to step in and rectify this. Over the three books of what became the Starling Hill trilogy, I was able to give Cartimandua her due – recognition as a leader who aimed for peace with the invading Romans, and a fitting tribute.
As I was writing the second part of the trilogy, Arc Over Time, the discussions about where to reinter the recently discovered bones of Richard III under the car park in Leicester were ongoing. This led me to speculate in the third book, Carved in Stone, about the location of Cartimandua’s final resting place. I ventured briefly into the paranormal as the Queen was able to have her say in where she wanted to be buried, along with a fitting memorial to her reign. In each of the books, Cartimandua gets a chance to give her point of view, as in this extract from the end of Starting Over: The Last Word, A voice from the Past:
…She had lain a long time in the cold ground, unheralded, forgotten, surrounded by a few tokens representing her position and her wealth, ill-gotten gains some would have said, including her poor excuse of a husband. What did they know? She had kept the peace, traded with the invaders. She had taken care of her people. Her tribe lived free.
Why did that bitch, Boudica, and her rabble grab all the attention? Iceni upstarts. Bunch of foul-smelling horse breeders, rampaging about the countryside, killing, looting. No better than the Romani. Numerous books were written about the marauding queen, a statue erected in a place she’d burned to the ground, and what recognition did she, the peacemaker, achieve? The occasional one line in dry historical tomes. A footnote in the history of the greatest tribe in northern Britain.
And now, her final resting place disturbed. She had chosen to retire here. Away from the conflict raging in her formerly peaceful queendom. It had been a tranquil, healing time with her lover, away from the strife, watching the starlings swoop and play in the clear air across the moors…
(from Starting Over by Jen Silver, published by Affinity Rainbow Publications)
Print and eBooks by Jen Silver are available from Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple Books
Audiobooks – narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent:
Country Living: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books
Darcy Comes Home: Audible UK / Amazon UK / Amazon US / iTunes
Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / iTunes
Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / iTunes / Beek / Chirp / Scribd / Google Play / Kobo / Nook (also on Spotify)
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