In the
Museum of London is a Roman roof tile bearing the scrawled words "Austalis has been going off by himself every day for thirteen days".
In the nearby countryside of Kent is the beautifully-preserved
Lullingstone Roman villa, with its magnificent wall paintings, mosaic floors, and the earliest known private Christian chapel in Britain.
In 366 A.D. Austalis, a young warrior from beyond Hadrian's Wall, passes through the frontier of Roman Britain. Austalis finds a home, a wife, and a respected status in Roman Britain, but loses everything and takes a terrible revenge at great cost to all that he loves, to Rome, and to himself.
"...a strong whiff of authenticity" (The Historical Novels Review, May 2001).
The Summer Stars
The Summer Stars is a fictional account of his life by the bard Taliesin. There have been many fantasy novels about Taliesin, but as far as I know
The Summer Stars is the only novel to have attempted a reconstruction of his actual life as it might have been in sixth-century Britain. (The Lullingstone Roman villa, which features in
Lord of Silver, also appears in
The Summer Stars.)
"A story with strong holding-power, which kept me reading until much too late every night." (Rosemary Sutcliff).
"...a well-written, engaging blend of history, fiction, and memoir." (
The Historical Novels Review, February 2001).
Read the first chapter of The Summer Stars You will need Adobe PDF Reader. If you don't already have it, you can download it free from
this site.
The Strange Things of the World
My novel
The Strange Things of the World tells the story of what has been called "the world's first tourist cruise", when in 1536 a group of London scholars and merchants, eager to see "the strange things of the world", chartered two ships to sail across the Atlantic to Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland.
"One of the best books of its type to be published locally." (
Newfoundland Herald).
"This is what we ask of historical fiction." (
Atlantic Provinces Book Review).
Non-Fiction Books
Links to other websites
