The Story Spinner
Wales, present day, and poet Cadi Jones works on a retelling of tales from the Mabinogion, the famous book of Welsh legends. Her cottage overlooks a flower-studded meadow, shimmering in the heat haze. Beyond is a hill, topped by an iron age hill fort, with sparkling views of the Bristol Channel. When she descends back to the village, there are goodies from the cafe/bakery/deli, and gossip from the Post Office. But a property developer disrupts Cadi’s idyll, threatening her meadow. At night she is awoken by tramping feet. Her neighbour’s dog disappears.
So opens a book in which ancient Welsh mythology and the decline of Roman rule in Britain are entwined in a summer romance. All the right ingredients are here. Independent woman of a certain age, check. Supportive friends, check. Drinking of wine, check. Nasty ex, a thoroughly modern Bad Guy, check. Handsome new man, good company, supportive, but not controlling, check.
As Cadi gathers opposition to the development, her Mabinogion work focusses on a local princess, Elen, who married a Roman general, Maximus. Briefly, in 383, Maximus became emperor. Researches and imagination come together as Cadi begins ‘free-writing’ Elen’s story. Or, are there other forces involved? Enter Uncle Meryn. He’s not quite Merlin, but Meryn has surprising talents, including physics professor, part-time mystic, and explainer of the time-shifting wormhole.
Cadi’s story of Elen probes murky times, when the Roman legions departed and history melted into myth. Cadi explores Elen’s life: a life of palaces and soldiers, kings and Druids, jewelled swords, and religious relics. Recommended for those who enjoy mythology, pretty Welsh landscapes, yummy food, and a dash of the spooky, all confected into a readable romance.
