Daughters of Fire (75 page)

With each book I write I realise I am more and more indebted to people who give their enthusiastic time and advice. This story is no different. Amongst the many who helped me I should especially like to thank, first and foremost, Annie McBrearty for our brainstorming sessions up in Wester Ross when I was first planning the story. I must reiterate my assurances, as I do in every book, that no one and nothing in this book bears any resemblance to anywhere or anyone real - especially in this case, not to any other Department of Celtic Studies at Edinburgh University! Thank you to Mandy Morton and Jon Hope-Lewis for their technical advice and to Jo and Ian McDonald for their wonderful hospitality and for showing me Traprain in all its stunning stark beauty. To Peter Buneman for geographical updates. To the members of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids who have given me their wisdom and their friendship over the last few years and guided me on my own spiritual journey. To Nick Kerr and AJ Hope-Lewis who, when my visits to Ingle-borough failed, in spite of prayers and propitiation, to produce a single ray of sunshine went and explored on a day the sun did come out, triumphantly videoed for me and phoned me from the top(yes, their mobile did work!) to answer my questions about the view! They did a stirling, energetic and enthusiastic job. To Lis Redfearn who introduced me to the wonders of Shiatsu and rescued my creaking body from the horrors of RSI. To Rachel Hore for her immense patience and clear thinking, to Carole Blake for her support and enthusiasm and Lucy Ferguson for her eagle eye for detail. And above all thanks to Pat Taylor who showed me round her beloved Yorkshire and for her untiring companionship and humour as we explored the moors and the dales, hunted down the ghosts and sought out the glamorous and fascinating settings for this book. Just as I have taken liberties, I’m afraid, with the geography of Yorkshire, so I have with names for my characters from the annals
of Wales and Ireland and Scotland. But then, unlike Viv, I make no claims to be an academic. In the absence of written information one has to make do with imagination, dreams and deductive techniques of however dubious a nature! Sadly the star of the story did not appear to me save in one or two wild and wonderful dreams, but I trust even that much contact meant I have her approval. I have tried to be as accurate as possible with period detail and historical fact, but then this is, by and large, pre-history and above all, it is fiction. This is the place to confess that there is, as far as I know, no connection between Cartimandua and Ingleborough recorded. We don’t know her tribe, or if she had children, and although far more is known about her life than that of her much more famous contemporary, Boudica, she is still an enigma.

So, for all that is known historically about Cartimandua I refer the reader to the Roman historians.

For the truth of her life we must consult archaeology and the oracles.

The rest is silence.

Buy great books direct from HarperCollins
at
10%
off recommended retail price.
FREE
postage and packing in the UK.

To purchase by Visa/Mastercard/Switch simply call
08707 871724
or fax on
08707 871725

To pay by cheque, send a copy of this form with a cheque made payable to
‘HarperCollins Publishers’to: Mail Order Dept. (Ref: BOB4),
HarperCollins Publishers, Westerhill Road, Bishopbriggs, G64 2QT,
making sure to include your full name, postal address and phone number.

From time to time HarperCollins may wish to use your personal data
to send you details of other HarperCollins publications and offers.
If you wish to receive information on other HarperCollins publications
and offers please tick this box

Do not send cash or currency. Prices correct at time of press.

Prices and availability are subject to change without notice.

Delivery overseas and to Ireland incurs a £2 per book postage and packing charge.

DAUGHTERS OF FIRE

A historian by training, Barbara Erskine is the author of ten best-selling novels that demonstrate her interest in both history and the supernatural, plus two collections of short stories. Her first novel,
Lady of Hay
, has sold well over a million copies worldwide and has now been reissued in a new cover for a new generation of fans. Her books have appeared in twenty-three different languages. She lives with her family in an ancient manor house near Colchester, and in a cottage near Hay-on-Wye.

For more information about Barbara Erskine visit her website
www.barbara-erskine.com and for exclusive updates,
visit www.AuthorTracker.co.uk.