Glass Island by Gareth Griffith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

About a year ago I read a book by David Ross, ‘Wales: History of a Nation’, in which the Battle of Dyrham was briefly mentioned. There was very little said about the battle other than it occurred in 577 AD, near to Bath, and that it was significant at that time regarding the relentless advancement of the Saxons westward. Quite how significant this battle was became much more “real” and obvious to me through the reading of ‘Glass Island’, a novel by Gareth Griffith.

The Romans had gone from Britain and frequent invasions were to follow. Little factual history is known about the succeeding couple of centuries other than information found during the later archaeology of those times. The book tells the story of events that occurred around the time of the Battle of Dyrham, together with the effects that influenced several characters, such as Eleri Gwir, the daughter of a king, and Gwion a young man who was her life-long friend. The author skilfully involves the reader in Eleri’s complicated romantic and political relationships, as well as those between other kings and princes, and the inevitable internecine squabbling when tribes need to combine forces against the pressing Saxons. It takes patience and time for the reader to get their head around the many characters and places with their difficult Welsh names but a helpful list is provided at the start of the book. This is the kind of historical novel that is very true to its genre with much “real” history to back up the story and therefore more enjoyable for it. In addition there are constant discussions and objections expressed by the characters about their beliefs in their old gods and the ‘new’ monotheistic religion of Christianity - a nice touch.

The characters and their conversations are strong and generally believable, although I did find a couple of expressions a little too idiomatic of more recent times. For example: “According to Eleri’s father it was a lot of rubbish.” The descriptions of the battles, places, and the innermost feelings and thoughts of the main protagonists are sensitive and real, at times poetic. It was hard to believe that ‘Glass Island’ is Gareth Griffith’s first novel. Recommended to lovers of historical fiction.


View all my reviews

Imagining Violet by Mary E. Hughes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was not the kind of book that I like to read. A succession of letters without some real interaction between characters seems unexciting and lacking in intrigue. But “Imagining Violet” was both surprising and full of incident with a main character who was engaging and beautifully written; a mark of the talented author. Violet’s charming approach to life, together with her undoubted ambition to become a concert violinist, in an age of Victorian expected “proper behaviour” led to this reader rooting for her from the beginning. We see her burgeoning growth from a mild mannered, young English rose into a sophisticated woman.

The author has imagined the late-Victorian life of her own grandmother, with family photographs throughout the book, and with a collection of letters written by Violet to her family and friends. There are charming descriptions of Violet learning to ice skate, and when she plays at her first concert. There is the hoped-for romance, both suspected and real, with holidays filled with friends and acquaintances, and the smells, sights and sounds of Germany before the Weimar Republican era. This series of letters, written by Violet, who was born in Ireland and raised in Edinburgh, and who travels to Germany to advance her studies, are a fine example of the epistolary novel. It will appeal to anyone who enjoys historical novels with a difference and as I will in future.

View all my reviews