Anya Seton

[bibliogramma]

Anya Seton's historical novels were best-sellers in their time, narratives featuring, for the most part, resilient and determined women, their stories told in elegant prose, their lives and times well researched. Two of her books, Katherine (about Katherine de Roet, mistress and third wife of John of Gaunt, ancestress to the Tudor line) and Green Darkness (a complex tale of forbidden love and reincarnation set in two times) are among my favourites.

The Mistletoe and the Sword is one of Seton's lesser-known, and lesser-regarded novels. Intended for a young adult audience, it is a shorter and simper tale than most of her books. Set in Roman Britain during the time of the Iceni Rebellion, the protagonist is a young Roman soldier who falls in love with a British girl who is of the family of the Arch-Druid of Britain - assuming there ever really was such a thing. (Seton's research is solid on the Roman aspects of her subject, but she wrote during that period of time when the state of research into Celtic society tended toward romanticism.)

A light and pleasant tale, with a nice balance of action and romance, reminding us of a time when both young men and young women might be expected to read and enjoy the same books.