4.5* Really enjoyed this book ( )

A fabulous time slip story set in the present day and 775AD in Hereford near the English/Welsh border and Offa’s Dyke. Bea lives with her husband, Mark, who is Canon Treasurer of the local cathedral. When author Simon, who is writing a book about Anglo Saxon King Offa, hears a recurrent strange voice and has disturbing visions, he calls upon Bea for help.

I’ve been a huge Barbara Erskine fan since I read Lady of Hay in the 1980s and when I saw that her latest book, The Dream Weavers, would be available via the Pigeonhole app, I was thrilled to bits. This is a wonderful dual timeframe story. As the title suggests, it beautifully weaves the two timelines together in a dreamlike style. I love the combination of historical fiction and fact with a little bit of fantasy and paranormal. It’s such a gripping tale and I was totally immersed in the lives of the characters, both modern and distant past. I particularly enjoyed following Elisedd and Eadburh’s journeys. I found myself completely transported to the time and place and was eager to find out what happened to them.

An engrossing and thoroughly enjoyable read. A page turner. Highly recommended for historical fantasy fans. ( )

A historical timeslip novel with dual narrative set both in the present day and back in the time of King Offa of Mercia in the 8th Century.

In the present day, mystic Bea is called by her friend to help a historian, Simon, who has rented her holiday cottage in the Welsh Marches for 6 months while he completes his latest book - an Anglo Saxon history of the old kingdom of Mercia. Simon is being regularly disturbed by a woman endlessly calling for 'Elise' outside his remote cottage, and occasionally banging on his door.

While not a ghosthunter as such, Bea is able to connect to troubled spirits and lost souls and help to ease them on their way, or lay them to rest. It's an ability she keeps very private and shares only with a select few people she trusts. Her husband is Canon Treasurer at Hereford Cathedral and the last thing Bea wants to do is cause difficulties for him in his role within the church.

Bea feels excited by what she can sense when she goes to visit Simon at his cottage and can't resist becoming embroiled in what becomes one of her greatest challenges and most dangerous callings yet. Soon her dreams are drawn into the 8th Century and the very troubled life of Eadburh, the youngest and most headstrong daughter of King Offa. Bea becomes increasingly less able to control her visits to the 8th Century and when Simon's teenage daughter, Emma, become embroiled in Eadburh's life, Bea isn't sure she has the skill and experience to bring about a safe resolution.

Some interesting history, following Eadburgh from Mercia to Wessex, where she became queen, and later exile across the seas to Charlemagne's empire; mysticism, witchcraft, and at the heart of the story an all-encompassing romance.

This was my first Barbara Erskine novel and I really enjoyed it. There was one complex character I felt needed to be developed better and I felt slightly dissatisfied with the way, or the pace at which, the novel resovled but on the whole I'd really recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good historical epic.

The Dream Weavers is published on 15th April 2021 (UK) ( )