Devon Book Club discussion
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Collaboration for historical fiction writers with the Devon and Cornwall Record Society.
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Hello Ian,This sounds interesting and as both of my books are set in Devon I would be grateful if you could put me in touch with Dr Todd Gray.
Thanks
Marcia
Mod
This sounds interesting and as both of my books are set in Devon I would be grateful if you could put me in touch with Dr Todd Gray.
Thanks
Marcia"
Thanks Marcia - done
Mod
The Devon & Cornwall Record Society is running a series of posts written by authors who have set historical fiction in either county.
Each writer is commenting upon their research in writing up the two counties’ history. The aim is to help connect readers with writers during this period of isolation.
The series is running through the month of March and can be found on the society’s FaceBook page as well as on its website.
https://www.facebook.com/Devonandcorn...
I am delighted to share a message with you from Dr Todd Gray at Exeter University that explains all. Let me know if you are interested and I'll put you in touch with Todd
Hello,
I am writing to you on behalf of the Devon & Cornwall Record Society, a local charity. We are running a series of posts in March which will be written by historical fiction writers who have based in part or wholly at least one of their books in the two counties. These posts will run on our Facebook page and on our website. We are currently having many thousands of hits on our FB page each week.
The society is aware that at this time readers are particularly searching for books but there are a great number of challenges during this Lockdown. We are hoping that this series will help connect writers and readers.
Would you have the time to write a post of some 500 words? Some points to consider:
Why did you choose Devon or Cornwall?
What kind of research did you undertake and how easy was this for you - did you find the evidence you wanted?
What unanswered questions did you have about Cornwall or Devon once you finished writing?
Have you had unexpected reactions from readers?
I would need a short one-line biography, details of how to purchase the book(s) and a jpeg of a cover.
I have attached our first post.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Todd Gray, DCRS
1 March 2021
1. Our first post has been written by Derek Gore, author of Kings, Lords and Warriors
The original inspiration for the novel was a series of lectures on the early medieval period in the South West which I gave to Continuing Education classes for the University of Exeter. These concentrated on the archaeology and history of the 5th to 7th centuries in Devon and Cornwall. The starting point was Rome’s withdrawal from Britain. What filled the subsequent power vacuum? What could be learned from other areas in the British Isles and on the continent. This is the period of kingdom formation by, for example, the Visigoths in Spain, the Franks in Gaul and the Picts in Scotland. Closer to home a number of small kingdoms in Wales have their origin at this time too. Gildas writing probably in the middle of the sixth century and perhaps in a monastery in Wales, condemns in strong language a king named Constantine in the South-West calling him ‘a tyrant whelp of the filthy lioness of Domnonia’. Archaeology shows us high status occupation of a small number of sites, the best known being Tintagel in north Cornwall. A recent find from excavations at the site is a slate inscribed with the name Artognou.
We agreed in class that the written and archaeological evidence for the post-Roman period in the South West raised more questions than answers. Only imagination in the form of a novel could attempt to fill in the gaps. The plan to make it a class project fell through and finally I took it upon myself. I set the scene in my first novel, Isca, the background to which was the final days of Roman Britain and featured a struggle for local power in the Exeter area. A prominent land-owning family were tightening control over their own tenants and free farmers in their area and at the same time equipping and training young men to fight. The family eventually aspired to control the city of Exeter. They were successfully opposed by another high status family and their followers living east of the city.
Kings, Lords and Warriors develops this local war into one family attempting to control the whole of what is now Cornwall and Devon as well as casting covetous eyes further east into Somerset. Lesser lords accept, sometimes grudgingly, the protection of this ‘royal family’ and its higher status. Kingship in this period seems to develop out of lordship and this is illustrated in the novel. But eventually this family are opposed, not because their royal status is questioned but because of their younger son’s actions. In attempting to increase his own power the prince was heavily involved in terrorism, murder and kidnapping to bring about a forced marriage. Lords and their followers move against him and eventually kill him. But they stand before their king to answer for their actions.
The background therefore is replacement of centralised Roman power with that of local land-owning families, who see themselves as natural inheritors. They raise and support retinues of fighting men and inevitably there is competition for power. Out of this kingdoms are born, some quite small, as families acquire more land and greater power and status while others accept their leadership and some become wholly dependent upon them.
This novel benefitted from reading various publications of the late, great Cornish scholar Charles Thomas. The excavation reports on the site at Tintagel were also useful especially Barrowman, R.C. Batey, C.E. & Morris, C. D.2007 Excavations at Tintagel Castle, Cornwall 1990 – 1999. I also dipped into Oliver Padel’s A Popular Dictionary of Cornish Place-Names (1988) for some of the place-names. However, the greatest input came from discussions with students who brought not just their own reading but most importantly their life experiences to the period.
Derek Gore is Honorary Fellow, University of Exeter. His latest book is The Vikings in the West Country
Kings, Lords and Warriors can be ordered through any bookseller or direct from Stevensbooks at www.stevensbooks.co.uk, sales@themintpress or on 01392 459760. It is priced at £8.