‘Perhaps I make a singing magic . . .’
For those of you who haven’t yet heard, we were delighted to publish two new titles in our Slightly Foxed Cubs series of highly collectable classic children’s books last month: Frontier Wolf and The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff.
Sutcliff’s four great novels set during the last years of the Roman occupation of Britain, The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, Frontier Wolf and The Lantern Bearers (winner of the 1959 Carnegie Prize), tell the story of several generations of the Aquila family, from the Empire’s glory days to its final withdrawal, weakened by increasing pressure from Saxon raiders and internal power struggles at home.
She wrote an array of novels which bring the early history of the British Isles vibrantly alive, including those which continue the story of Britain after the last of the Legions have departed, Dawn Wind, Sword Song and The Shield Ring, all forthcoming in our series series in 2021 and available to order now.
Though most of her books were written primarily for children, the flesh-and-blood reality of her characters, her convincing plots and her brilliant reimagining of everyday life in a remote and mysterious Britain have always attracted adult readers too. They have been difficult to find for some time and we’re delighted to be reissuing them with their original illustrations.
Please read on for an excerpt from Chapter III of The Lantern Bearers, and follow the links below to buy this and Frontier Wolf as single titles, or a limited-edition set of all four books, to include The Eagle of the Ninth and The Silver Branch which we published last year.
We do hope you’ll enjoy travelling back to Roman Britain with Rosemary Sutcliff.
With best wishes from the SF office staff,
Jennie, Anna, Hattie, Jess & Helen