Dark Earth
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Dark Earth
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Narrated by:
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Hannah Morrish
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By:
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Rebecca Stott
About this listen
The new novel from the Costa-Award winning author of In The Days of Rain.
AD 500. An island in the Thames.
Isla has a secret: she has learned her father’s sophisticated sword-making skills at a time when even entering a forge is forbidden to women. Her sister, Blue, has a secret, too: at low tide on the night of each new moon, she visits the bones of the mud woman, drowned by the elders of her tribe who wanted to make a lesson of someone who wouldn’t hold her tongue. When the local Seax overlord discovers Isla's secret there is nowhere for the sisters to hide, except across the water to the walled ghost city, Londinium. Here Blue and Isla find sanctuary in an underworld community of squatters, emigrants, travellers and looters, led by the mysterious Crowther, living in an abandoned brothel and bathhouse. But trouble pursues them even into the haunted city.
Dark Earth takes us back to the very founding of Britain to explore the experience of women trying to find kin in a world ruled by blood ties, feuds and men in quest of a nation.
‘Superb … radically new and beautiful’ Observer
‘Thrilling’ Alice Albinia, author of Cwen
‘Pulses with the energy of a brave new world, a world as beautiful as it is dangerous, where a belief in myth and magic can save your life’ Katherine J. Chen, author of Joan: A Novel of Joan of Arc
©2022 Rebecca Stott (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Superb.... This is a book that seeks to do for British myth what Natalie Haynes and Madeline Miller have done so brilliantly for classical literature: uncovering stories of feminine power that have been occluded by the male hand of history." (Observer)
"Gripping...puts a female perspective right at the centre of a time period usually dominated by men’s stories." (Independent)
"Female defiance blazes through as Stott’s women reclaim this brutal period...this novel will make you appreciative of the revelatory historical treasures beneath our feet." (Telegraph)
What listeners say about Dark Earth
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Mrs Katie Wheeler
- 22-07-22
An ambitious book that really disappointed
I bought this after reading a blog on LitHub describing how the author was inspired to write the story based on a brooch found in the British Museum and the speculative discussions she'd had with the curators and other history buffs and how it had taken two years to write. I saw the author was a professor of English lit at UEA so thought this would mean the book would be well-written (unlike a lot of popular historical fiction). Like anyone with an interest in ancient or early medieval history this period is a fascinating blank so I was intrigued by the possibility that someone could at least half-convincingly recreate this lost world.
Unfortunately the book wasn't able to live up to this ambition. Although there are attempts to paint a picture of post-Roman, the early Saxon London, it's very low resolution and the historical context is limited to a few references to tribes, customs and gods and a bit of ethnic mixing that doesn't even come close to exploring the complexity of what must have happened during those transitional years. 99% of the content is about a small group of protagonists with distinctly 21st century thoughts, manners, disease and social customs (although to be fair this latter criticism applies to most historical novels set during the middle ages) . The female characters are modern and paper-thin, and albeit nowhere near as much as the male ones. There's a strong 'sisters are doing it for themselves' vibe which might have worked if woven in to a more detailed and convincing plot but here just irritates. The main villain is pantomime-like and the plot to escape his evil clutches is utterly predictable and formulaic.
The quality of writing was competent but completely uninspiring or imaginative, making it even harder to place oneself in the time and place. Most content was dialogue or fast-paced action. I hate writing bad reviews but I feel a bit cheated. It should and could have been a lot better than this!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- J. Dixon
- 05-05-23
A good story that was let down by detail
I enjoyed this but was annoyed with details that didn’t fit the era and the ending felt rushed.
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