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From September 1939 to August 1945, Naomi Mitchison kept a diary at the request of the social research organization Mass-Observation. ... Read more

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A young woman is transformed by a magical journey from the dark ages to modern times, from brooding medieval forests to bustling Constantinople. Halla is turned out of her father’s castle by her new stepmother. Her nurse transforms herself into a bear to look after Halla. This is just the first of the wondrous and natural changes in Naomi Mitchison’s magical 1952 novel. Travel Light will appeal to fans of the Harry Potter series and Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, as well as to readers of Ursula K. Leguin and T.H. White. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

excellent reprint of a 1950s young adult fantasy
The new Queen took one loathing look at her dead predecessor's daughter and informed her spouse the King that the infant must go.The monarch not interested in female offspring or reminders of his late wife agrees so before she can crawl Princess Halla is tossed out of the castle to die.Her shapeshifting nurse turns into a bear to save her charge and takes Halla into the woods to live with her and her bear kin.

However, no one is available to tend to the child during hibernation until an aging dragon arrives changing the youngster from Halla Bearsbairn to Halla Heroesbane. She soars with her dragon who takes the human child to the dragon lair where they teach her their ways including abducting maidens.As the years pass, Halla looks forward to her wings, but they never arrive so she knows she must move on though she loves her mentors especially after her beloved Uggi dies.As a new religion based on the teachings of the Christ begins to move across the continent, Halla's adventures continue. these enabling her to become human and more than human.

Fans of Potter will enjoy this excellent reprint of a 1950s young adult fantasy starring a wonderful heroine and a terrific support cast who makes shapeshifters and dragons seem real.The story line is more a coming of age series of vignettes in the life of Halla with her fifteen adventures fun to follow especially soaring with dragons.Fans will appreciate this fine tale of a heroic child and the "heroes" who adopt her.

Harriet Klausner

Life on heavenly roads
This book is a magical gem that transports the reader to the mythopoetic era, when angelic beings interact freely with ordinary mortals.

If you want to gain vision into paradise, lost or found, read this little beauty. Your mind will expand as you stretch your wings in the pages of this world. This parable teaches lessons that may take a person a lifetime toappreciate.

A magical tale of quest and transformation
This slender book, first published in 1952, should be of interest both to the curious reader and to Naomi Mitchison fans. This is a story about magic, transformation and quest. In some respects it resembles Mitchison'smuch earlier novel, The Corn King and the Spring Queen, though more throughthematic similarities than the style of writing. Both books have anengaging central heroine and both involve travel between various lands,actual and invented by the author herself, and both deal with religion andmystical forces. Travel Light, however, is suitable for young adults aswell as grown-up readers. It is written in clear, precise English (which,admittedly, does come across as somewhat old-fashioned now). The tone ofthe writing is tinged with a certain sadness. But Travel Light it is not aneven vaguely depressing book - the story is full of magic and mystery! Thereferences to bears and dragons made me think of the sagas of Norsemythology (there are many fairy tale elements too) and, as ever with NaomiMitchison's historical novels, the reader finds him or herself fullyimmersed in a captivating alien word. Travel Light a charming book whichoffers an easy read full of many pleasures. ... Read more

Product Description
Naomi Mitchison, Scotland's grand old lady of literature and celebrated left-wing political thinker, kept a wartime diary at the request of Mass-Observation, a social research agency. From the day Hitler invaded Poland to the day America dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, she recorded this picture of how one (extraordinary) family and their friends lived...and what actually happened. "She writes enviably, with the kind of casual precision which...comes by grace."--Times Literary Supplement. "...as in a good novel, the people, their feelings and reactions are instantly recognizable and as fresh and immediate today as they were then."--Emma Tennant, Guardian.
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This groundbreaking book, an important contribution to Naomi Mitchison criticism,examines three novels,The Bull Calves (1947), The Big House (1950) and Lobsters on the Agenda (1952),and a selection of short stories, with particular regard to the supernatural, fairy-tale and mythical content which is a recurrent element in her work. Naomi Mitchison (1897-1999) was a highly practical person - a social and political activist, a feminist and a pacifist - yet was drawn to the idea of an 'irrational' dimension to life, and reported inexplicable experiences from her childhood onwards. An awareness of the supernatural and mythical pervades her writing. This book shows that Mitchison perceived a strong connection between 'the irrational' and questions of creativity, sex and fertility, which she saw as being themselves interconnected and central to her life. Moira Burgess is a professional writer in the genres of fiction, drama and poetry, and has published widely on Scottish literature and women's writing. Dr Burgess is the author of The Glasgow Novel: A bibliography. Her novels The Day Before Tomorrow and A Rumour of Strangers are shortly to be reprinted by Kennedy & Boyd, and she is working on an edition of Naomi Mitchison's collected prose. Like Mitchison, she comes from Kintyre. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Please reprint this wonderful book
I first read The Land The Ravens Found in 1955, when I was 10 years old. I enjoyed it then and I have reread it ever since. It functions on several levels: on one level it tells the coming-of-age stories of three boys living in northern Scotland in the ninth century: Anlaf, the son of a viking chief, Yrp, his Irish foster brother, and Vivill, a Scottish slave. On another level it's the story of a powerful woman, the real heroine of the story, Aud the Deep Minded, Anlaf's grandmother. Although already an old woman when the story begins, she is the person who really propels the action. When her son dies fighting the Scots she decides to look for a more peaceful way of life. She builds a ship and sets sail for Iceland with her household, not only her family but also their followers and freed slaves. Once in Iceland the promise of a better life is fulfilled for everybody and she dies peacefully the night after Anlaf's wedding.

This is definitely told from the women's point of view. Fighting is only reported, all the action takes place in the world of house and farm, following the rhythm of the seasons. One of the revelations in this book is that a viking woman's skills as a housewife literally meant the difference between life and death during the long northern winters.

The most amazing thing is that all the characters are REAL PEOPLE who were among the first Icelandic settlers.For anybody who thinks women of the past were meek and submissive, Aud will be a revelation. As a viking woman she had a great deal of freedom along with her responsibilities, and she was able to make important decisions that radically changed the life of those around her. The three boys are each interesting in their own way as they grow into men with the strength and judgment to run their own lives. It's good to know that, as the author tells us in her afterword, their descendants are living and thriving in modern-day Iceland.

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Product Description
A new addition to the popular Christian Epics series. In a society where worshiping God is a crime punishable by death, and brutality to slaves is commonplace, Roman citizens Flavius Crispus and his son Beric struggle to become Christians and to treat their slaves as brothers and sisters in Christ. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

They weren't victims -they were victors
The focus of this novel is a Christian church in Rome during the time of Nero.Most of the members are slaves, the others are poor, though free.Part one gives us the background of some of the church members: where they came from, how they got to Rome (if not born there), and how they became a Christian.The second part deals with the fire and the beginning of the persecution of the Christians, who were blamed with starting it. The last part details how individuals responded to the persecution.Among the Christians, there is heroism and cowardice - mostly the former.Among the non-Christians, there are those who become Christians because of the witness of those killed for an IDEA.

Although Paul, Luke, Nero, Claudia Acte and other well-known historical people appear in this book,the main characters have humbler backgrounds.With one exception - Beric, son of a British king and adopted by Roman Senator Flavius Crispus.However, he was subject to humiliation like the others which opened the door to his salvation.Manasses, Lalage, Euphemia, Phaon, Persis, Niger, Eunice and the others showed the roots of the Church: the poor, the outcasts, the uneducated.This novel allows us to see underneath: they were individuals with different strengths and weaknesses, personalities and talents.

It was refreshing to read a novel set in ancient Rome that focused on the lower classes.Life was hard, perhaps unbearable, but these people had the Kingdom to look forward to. Far from being victims, or seeing themselves as victims, they were victorious in Christ.Forgiving those who hated and/or persecuted them was not always easy, but gave them a freedom and a joy that others could not know or understand. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

old fashioned sciencefiction
with the small twist of having a society of homosexuals, the story was interesting, alittle slow in the beginning, and it gives you a sense that your getting a very brief lesson on population genetics, But IT IS still a Great "what If" book,and one which i enjoyed. ... Read more

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Had journalists plied their trade in the days of KingArthur, how would they have reported breaking stories like the Questfor the Holy Grail? Or the love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere?Or the fall of the Round Table? In answering these intriguingquestions, Naomi Mitchison offers keen and humorous insights into notonly how the news is reported, but also how conflicting accounts ofthe Arthurian story may have grown. The resulting novel, To the ChapelPerilous, is a remarkable work of wit and style. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent satire
Green Knight Press produces (and reprints) some of the best Arthuriana available today, and this 1955 book by Naomi Mitchison is a very rare treat.

"Chapel Perilous" follows a pair of Arthurian journalists, Lienors and Dalyn (of the "Camelot Chronicle" and the "Northern Pict") who are scooping the big story: The Grail. But other developments crop up as well -- interviews with famous personages, the affair of Lancelot with Queen Guinevere, and more.

We follow Lienors, Dalyn, and other characters such as Ygraine la Grande (whose hair is "revolting" due to hair dye from Nimue) and Lord Horny (don't ask). We also have old favorites like Queen Guinevere, Morgan-Morgause (one person in this book), Sir Lancelot, the somewhat chattery Sir Galahad, the somewhat angry Elayne (you can tell that in this one, Galahad got his personality from his dad), and Merlin of course. (Addressed occasionally as "Mr. Merlin" -- this particularly interpretation of the old wizard is delightful)

Mitchison's writing is very clear and evocative; dialogue is very enjoyable, often lapsing into a "veddy veddy English" manner of speaking (Galahad is the most prominent of these). The usage of such terms as "O.K." never detracts from the dialogue, which is less pompous and self-conscious than many Arthurian books. These characters are willing to lampoon bishops, talk about hair dye, and discuss teen girl crushes on Lancelot.

Like all the GKP books I've read, this book has a lovely cover, and a very good binding and fine quality paper. It's shorter than most of the books by this publisher (219 pages) though significantly longer than many successful spoofs that I've read. And perhaps "spoof" is the wrong word for it — satire is infinitely better. There's a wry, sideways feel to this story, with some serious scenes and some that are outright hilarious. (It's not really suitable for kids, due to some mild subject matter connected with the original stories -- as well as one mildly dirty scene in Spiral Castle -- but is fine for teens)

This is a must-read for any Arthuriana fan, especially those who enjoy seeing sacred cows barbecued. And it will insure that you will never again read the stories about King Arthur and his knights without imagining Lienors and her dwarf in the background.

Ingenious twist on Arthurian legend
This is one of the more inventive Arthurian novels I have read. It is set in an Arthurian world with certain anachronistic qualities, specifically the presence of journalists and newspapers, and everything that goes alongwith them, such as cameras. It is centered around the quest for the HolyGrail and raises some intriguing questions. Worth reading if you can findit. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review
A novel ahead of its time (1931) in many ways due to its quietfeminism and its insistence that women could have fun, andquest-plots, as well as men, this was acclaimed as one of the mostimportant books of the year it was published. Mythical and historicalat once, the story follows Erif Der in her journeys through the worldof her time as she searches for atonement, reconciliation andcleansing. Lyrical descriptive writing, lucid treatments of politicsand war and intensely intimate observation of the needs and deeds ofhuman beings fill this book, which manages to be earthy andtranscendent at once. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A magical book which is as brutal as it is dreamy
Naomi Mitchison¹s masterful recreation of ancient Scythia must surely stand as one of the most enduring historical novels of the century. In clear, pristine prose (which reminds me of Ursula LeGuin), Mitchisondescribes the mystical, sometimes horrible, world of her protagonist ErifDer (Red fire backwards). I first stumbled across this long novel in 1988while at university. Rereading it last year was a sheer pleasure. Theold-fashioned, very British, tone of the writing is not in the slightestbit off-putting. Here is aremarkable writer at the height of her powers.Like Ursula LeGuin, again, Mitchison has the uncanny ability to transporther readers to alien cutures and to make these foreign worlds, and thepeople who live there, as relevant as they are mesmerising. If you haven¹texperienced Naomi Mitchison before, then I can¹t think of a better place tostart than with The Corn King and the Spring Queen. ... Read more

Product Description
The Conqueredwas young Naomi Mitchison's first novel, published in 1923, just five years after the end of the First World War, in 1918. Mitchison chose to write about wars, but about historic ones, Julius Caesar's bloody and gradual conquest of Gaul. Instead of Caesar's serene lists of victories and setbacks, we have the impact of these wars on her Gallic hero Meromic. Profound and traumatic. From being heir to a proud tribe, the Veneti, he becomes by turns a slave, a revenge killer, a wanted man - and a slave again, with a severed right hand, a man looking to end it all.But his life was remediably complicated by his loyalty to and affection for Titus Barrus, the Roman who bought him, and treated him as man, not brute. His conflicts of loyalties are powerfully central.Mitchison was conscious that after the Great War there was still fighting in Ireland. Just as her natural and immediate sympathies were for the Gauls under Vercingetorix fighting the Roman giant, we are shown her own comtemporary sympathies were with the Irish against the might of the British Empire. ... Read more