British Author Challenge January 2023: Rosemary Sutcliff and Fred D'Aguiar

Rosemary Sutcliff was born in Surrey in 1920; she spent her childhood on various naval bases as her father was an officer in the Royal Navy. Sutcliff used a wheelchair for most of her life due to suffering from a type of juvenile arthritis. While her health and the family's travels interfered with her formal schooling, she learned many Celtic and Saxon legends from her mother.

Sutcliff graduated from art school and painted miniatures before publishing her first novel, The Chronicles of Robin Hood, in 1950. She soon became a celebrated author of children's historical fiction and went on to write dozens of books for both children and adults, including the Carnegie Medal-winning The Lantern Bearers. Sutcliff was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to children's literature. She died in 1992.

Selected works
The Eagle of the Ninth
The Shining Company
Outcast
The Mark of the Horse Lord
The Sword and the Circle
Sword Song
Frontier Wolf
Warrior Scarlet
Blood Feud
The Hound of Ulster
The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup
Bonnie Dundee
The Flowers of Adonis
Brother Dusty-Feet
Shifting Sands
We Lived in Drumfyvie
The Witch’s Brat
The Armourer's House
The Lantern Bearers

Poet, novelist, and playwright Fred D'Aguiar was born in London in 1960 to Guyanese parents; he lived in Guyana with his grandmother before returning to London in 1972. D'Aguiar trained as a psychiatric nurse before reading African and Caribbean Studies at the University of Kent, Canterbury. He graduated from university in 1985, the year he published his first poetry collection, Mama Dot.

D'Aguiar moved to the United States in 1994 and taught English and creative writing at several universities. His writing has garnered a number of accolades, including a Whitbread First Novel Award for The Longest Memory.

Selected works
Mama Dot
British Subjects
The Longest Memory
Dear Future
Feeding the Ghosts
Bloodlines
An English Sampler
Bethany Bettany
Continental Shelf
Children of Paradise

I am not familiar with either of these two authors, but they both seem to have created work I need to explore.

>3 laytonwoman3rd: I haven't read D'Aguiar yet, but Sutcliff is a favorite of mine; she had a gift for bringing an era to life. The Eagle of the Ninth is a good place to start.

I've read a few by Sutcliff and have Sword Song near the top of my tbr pile so will try to get it read in January.

I've already downloaded The Eagle of the Ninth, so I'm ready for January!

It will be The Eagle of the Ninth for me too. It conveniently arrived yesterday.

I will read Bloodlines by D'Aguiar.

>5 avatiakh: I haven't read that one, but I hope to get through the entire Dolphin Ring Cycle next year.

>6 cbl_tn: & >7 PaulCranswick: I've pulled my copy off the shelf, but I'm probably going to start with The Changeling.

And I've decided on Children of Paradise for my D'Aguiar read.

I remember Rosemary Sutcliff fairly fondly from my childhood, though I preferred both Ronald Welch and Geoffrey Trease. Fred D'Aguiar is entirely new to me.

I've no idea what books by either of them will be easily accessible to me here in the US (I grew up in Canada), given that I prefer to get books from the library unless I know I'll be rereading them. But I guess it's about time I find out.

ETA: 6 books total between the two authors, at the more convenient local library; and of those, 3 are ebooks, and 2 of the others are currently checked out. I prefer my books on paper, and don't really want to use a hold to grab a book from some child reader, so I guess I'll be trying the more distant library system or, failing that, inter-library loan.

>10 ArlieS: Sorry to hear that pickings are slim for you. If you get desperate enough to overlook your aversion to ebooks, Open Library has books by both authors available.

Not familiar with Rosemary Sutcliff, but looks interesting - I also pick The Eagle of The Ninth.

>11 amanda4242: I've used Open Library before and I agree. It's a good place to explore.

>11 amanda4242: Inter-Library Loan to the rescue; I've requested all 3 volumes of the Eagle of the Ninth Trilogy which are also the first 3, chronologically, of the Dolphin Ring Cycle

I liked Rosemary Sutcliffs books, they could be found in our village library when I was a child. I’ll be looking for a copy of The Eagle of the Ninth.

>8 amanda4242: I read some of her books a few years ago including The Eagle of the Ninth. I have a few of the Dolphin Ring cycle on my shelves.

Following along, will read as it suits me. I love learning about new (to me) authors, whether I do the reading or not!

Back in 2019 I did a major re-read of Sutcliff's Dolphin Ring Cycle, and, well, it was more for boys than I recalled. Also I didn't feel the vast unpeopled areas were accurate.

I’m not sure how much of this challenge I will be along for, but I am intending to read The Eagle of the Ninth in January.

New to me authors. I plan to read The Eagle on the Ninth and Year of Plagues: memoir.

The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup is a fine one to balance off
upcoming lengthy challenges of Richard Powers on the American Author Challenge.

My daughter loves dragons, I love puppies,
and minstrels are often intriguing.

This book worked from the start at the meeting on the shore,
with illustrations and borders plain and gentle.

Happy to add this one to my Save Shelves.

>21 m.belljackson: I've requested that one from the library.

I started with The Changeling, a very short book that's a twist on the stories of fairies stealing human children and leaving one of their own behind. Sutcliff comes up with a clever non-supernatural reason for such a swap, but the book is so short that everything's over before you know it. Not bad, but definitely a minor work.

Hmm, I've not heard of Rosemary Sutcliff but I think I'll see what I can find at the library to participate in this one.

I finished Eagle of the Ninth. It was as good or even better than I remembered it. Doesn’t always happen with a childhood favorite, but here it did. I didn’t remember anything of the story, just a vague feeling of familiarity. But very satisfying!

>24 EllaTim: It's so lovely when a childhood favorite stands the test of time!

I finished Eagle of the Ninth. A quick read and entertaining.

I brought The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch. and Frontier Wolf home from my local library this morning; they had brought them in for me by interlibrary loan. Reading will commence soon, but not until I get a few more chores accomplished.

Bloodlines arrived yesterday and I am already immersed in the poetry and the story.

I've finished The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff and loved it. My review is here:

When Centurion Marcus Flavius Aquila is badly injured in an attack on his first command, Isca Dumnoniorum on the western frontier of Roman Britain, he is at a loss to know what to do with his life. All his plans so far have been focused on following his dead father's footsteps into the legions. But Marcus's father disappeared with the Ninth Legion over ten years previously, as they marched into the now abandoned frontier province of Valentia beyond the new wall built by Hadrian. But whether that disappearance was due to annihilation in battle or desertion nobody knew.

A chance encounter with a friend of his uncle, with whom he has been staying while convalescent, sends Marcus and his freed slave Esca on a dangerous journey to Caledonia, where the Roman Empire has never held sway. Rumours have told of the existence of the Eagle of the Ninth Legion, the missing legion of Marcus's father.

‘A Legion which went rogue would probably hide its Eagle or hack it to pieces, or simply topple it into the nearest river. It would be most unlikely to have either the wish or the chance to set it up in the temple of some local godling. But an Eagle taken in war is in a very different case. To the Outland Tribes it must seem that they have captured the god of the Legion: and so they carry it home in triumph, with many torches and perhaps the sacrifice of a black ram, and house it in the temple of their own god to make the young men strong in war and help the grain to ripen.

If the Eagle can be recovered perhaps the secret fate of the Ninth Legion can be discovered and the honour of the Legion be regained, and with it the reputation of Marcus's father.

A wonderful adventure story which at the same time paints a fascinating picture of Roman Britain. Highly recommended! There are several more books in this series and I will definitely be carrying on with it.

The Longest Memory by Fred D'Aguiar

I approach novels written by poets with trepidation, but D'Aguiar's tale of slavery in early 19th century Virginia is a masterful work. The rotating cast of narrators are well drawn characters, painting a heartbreaking story. Very recommended.

I love Sutcliff; I've lived in Guyana (well, my dad did, and I visited him over summers) but never heard of D'Aguiar. I'll look at some of his.

>10 ArlieS: And I loved the one Ronald Welch I've been able to get hold of, so I'm going to look at Geoffrey Trease!

>29 SandDune: Thanks for your great review! I checked out all three of the books in the Romain Britain series and read them back to back. The second two were just as good as the first: as you said, wonderful adventure stories. All three have chance encounters and juxtapositions. I thoroughly enjoyed them and that's part of the reason I am grateful for these challenges! I would have missed out on these great stories.

>32 witchyrichy: I’m definitely going to be reading the next books in the series as well.

I've just finished Sword Song which is one of the books in Sutcliff's Dolphin Ring Cycle. Enjoyed it and makes me want to read the other book in this set. I read Eagle of the Ninth a couple of years back.
I noticed that I have a couple of her adult novels - Lady in Waiting & Sword at Sunset so I'll have to read them at some point.

I've finished The eagle of the Ninth and started The Silver Branch. I enjoyed it. Farther comments are in my own thread.

I finished Year of Plagues: a memoir of 2020 by Fred D’Agular. A good taste of memoir but also poetry and essay on cancer.

I might not get to The Eagle of the Ninth this month, but I did read Sutcliff's The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup , which is a lovely picture book, and The Witch's Brat, a children's novel set in 12th century England with an exceptionally well crafted main character.

I read Bloodlines by Fred D'Aguiar. I haven't read narrative poetry for a long time but D'Aguiar's story telling and mastery of language and rhyme melded perfectly to create an often horrific story. It was authentic but also mysterious and magical. I definitely need to read it again, I think, to get more meaning. I would not have read this except for this challenge so thank you!

>38 witchyrichy: D'Aguiar was more or less a random choice, so I'm glad that people are enjoying him.

I finished The Eagle of the Ninth last night. I loved the adventure. It reminded me of capture the flag, and also of The Thirty-Nine Steps and Richard Hannay's flight for his life across the same terrain a couple of millennia later.

The February thread is up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/348109

I'm coming in under the wire, with a second book meeting this month's challenge: The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff. One again, my review is in my own thread.

I've also got a third one waiting for me, but it won't be read in time to count for this. However, if the books were readily available locally, I might go on a Rosemary Sutcliffe re-reading binge.

>42 ArlieS: You don't need to read books in their featured month to count them. Anytime this year can count!

Since I did a fairly recent re-read of all of the Sutcliff books my library carries in as eBooks which include the first 5 of Dolphin Ring Cycle, and 2 others. I didn't enjoy the Boy's Life feel of those enough to dive in again so quickly, so I picked up Sword Song and even though it is more of the same, at least it is new to me.

UPDATE: I did complete it, , it does not stand out among Viking adventures I've read.

I've read The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff as well. My review is here:

Towards the end of the 3rd Century A.D Justin, or Tiberius Lucius Justinianus to give him his full name, arrived at Rutapiae on the south-east corner of Britain (where his grandfather had been born and bred) to serve in the legions as a company surgeon. A chance meeting with a distant cousin, Marcelus Flavius Aquila (descendant of the Marcus of The Eagle of the Ninth) provides Justin with the companionship that he needs, and his posting seems at first to be going well. But Britain is now ruled by a breakaway emperor, Carausius, and while Justin and Flavius soon come to respect and admire him, the high taxes he has imposed to combat the growing Saxon threat means that he is not universally loved. When the two cousins find Allectus, Carausius's chief minister, meeting secretly with one of the Saxon raiders, they try to warn the emperor. But their warning is seemingly unheeded and the cousins are sent to the frontier of the Empire, to Hadrian's Wall. But even there they cannot escape the political machinations than are brewing ...

This is not the Roman Empire seen in The Eagle of the Ninth - confident and dominant and expected to last forever - this is a more uncertain time. Things are starting to go downhill and Rosemary Sutcliff portrays that beautifully. As Carausius says:

‘Oh, she is not finished yet. I shall not see her fall—my Purple will last my life-time—and nor, I think, will you. Nevertheless, Rome is hollow rotten at the heart, and one day she will come crashing down. A hundred years ago, it must have seemed that all this was for ever; a hundred years hence—only the gods know ... If I can make this one province strong—strong enough to stand alone when Rome goes down, then something may be saved from the darkness. If not, then Dubris light and Limanis light and Rutupiae light will go out. The lights will go out everywhere.’

This second book in the trilogy is not quite as good as The Eagle of the Ninth as the plot is a little more convoluted, but it's a good read nevertheless, and a very evocative depiction of what Britain might have been like during this period.

I've also finished The Lantern Bearers as well, which I thought was marvellous, but haven't done my review yet.

Heather, Oak, and Olive by Rosemary Sutcliff

Collection of three short stories unified by themes of friendship, honor, and sacrifice. The final story, "The Truce of the Games," about the friendship that strikes up between an Athenian and a Spartan as they compete at the Olympic Games is a five star story.