Book 3 of the Celtic Fervour Series set in northern Roman Britain AD 73-84, when Romam Governor, Agricola, expands the boundaries of Rome's Western Empire all the way to Beinn Na Ciche, Taexali Territory.
Pursued by Rome.
AD73 Northern Britannia
After King Venutius’ defeat, Brennus of Garrigill – known as Bran – maintains a spy network monitoring Roman activity in Brigantia. Relative peace reigns till AD 78 when Roman Governor Agricola marches his legions to the far north. Brennus is always one step ahead of the Roman Army as he seeks the Caledon Celt who will lead all tribes in battle against Rome.
Ineda of Marske treks northwards with her master, Tribune Valerius, who is responsible for supplying Agricola’s northern campaigns. At Inchtuthil Roman Fort Ineda flees seeking fellow Brigantes congregating on the foothills of Beinn na Ciche.
Will the battle against the Romans bring Ineda and Brennus together again?
Excerpt
“What did they think to achieve?” Lorcan moved awkwardly around his dwelling, his agitation quite clear to Brennus.
Brennus had just returned from a journey that had been beset by high winds and driving rain, Lughnasad having passed more than a moon ago, the season changing to fallen leaves earlier than usual. “What does one small tribe ever think to achieve when they attack the forces of Rome, my brother?” He was exhausted and hungry; not a good combination to tolerate any ranting by Lorcan.
“They destroyed an ala? The Ordovices had the gall to storm and destroy the fort housing a mounted regiment?” Lorcan’s sarcasm was not often seen these days. Anger? Aye! And censure a-plenty, but biting sarcasm was a thing of his past.
His answer was cool, not rising to Lorcan’s taunts. “They have been successful, my brother: burned the defences, set the beasts free and destroyed the innards of the fort. Why do you not rejoice for them?” He knew the reason perfectly well but could see that Lorcan needed to vent some frustrated anger that had been simmering for some time.
“It bodes ill for all of us now! Agricola will not sit back. We can expect a relentless retaliation from all the legions he now commands, not just his old Legio XX.”
It was the truth. Agricola was indeed the new Governor of Britannia, having recently arrived in the far south. All who had knowledge of Agricola’s former methods knew he would not tarry in the Romanised Britannia of the southern coast as his predecessor had done. The Ordovices had thwarted Agricola’s plans when he was at Viroconium Cornoviorum as Legate of the Legio XX. As governor, he now had more might at his disposal.
Professional Reviews
5 * A Wonderful Series! By Mary Rose
I just can't say enough to express how much I enjoyed this book. Having read the first two in the series, I anxiously awaited the launch of "Donning Double Cloaks," and I definitely wasn't disappointed. The author has painted a clear picture of the life of the early Celts under Roman domination - domination being an unfamiliar and bitter pill for them to swallow. I am once again eagerly anticipating the fourth in the series - I hope Nancy Jardine has more adventures in store!
5 * Well-researched, wonderfully atmospheric and a delightful read! By FrancineHowarth
It’s Northern Britannia AD73, and through the eyes of Lorcan and Brennus, two Brigante brother warriors, Nancy Jardine casts the reader back in time to Celtic Britain. It all seems such a far off point in history until the first light of dawn streaks the horizon, mists rise from deep dark dells to creep wraithlike across hills, and the sound of wood on wood is heard. That sound alone was the moment I stepped into Nancy Jardine’s Celtic world of the The Beltane Choice. Subsequently, Whorl: Bran Reborn was next on my agenda. I then eagerly awaited the publication day of book 3 After Whorl: Donning Double Cloaks, and this is why:
Book 1 of Nancy Jardine’s Celtic/Roman series brings to the fore two brothers with wooden swords, who grow to manhood and become hardened Brigante warriors. Thus this reader lived through their hopes; their dreams; their love of their homeland and their struggle to survive the advancing might that is the Great Army of Rome. The Celtic tribes have little choice but to fight and die by the Roman Gladius or capitulate and serve their new overlords. And yet love still blossomed within the sanctity of the Celtic hearths, and the hero Lorcan discovered a happiness he never thought could be his. But he lost something dear to his heart too, and that something became the heart of book 2.
By Book 2 the Celtic struggle to regain sense of freedom has the reader riding with Brennus who becomes separated from his kin in tragic circumstances, and all the while the might of the Great Army of Rome advances steadily northward. After a great battle, Brennus is all but a broken man, his survival and enslavement serves only to instil greater loathing for every Roman standing on the land of Britannia. And for Brennus love springs from an unexpected source and brings with it great healing and greater determination to survive, and to escape and once again challenge the might of the Roman invader. But with freedom comes tragedy.
By Book 3, Brennus and Lorcan are again as one in mind, body and spirit. Rebellion is on the ether. And while Brennus has already sacrificed much for his freedom, the woman (Ineda) who made him whole again sacrifices even more. Torn between loyalty to her Roman master (for personal reasons) and that of her people, she risks her life to relay vital information to Celtic spies and couriers. Likewise Lorcan could lose everything that is close to his heart, but if the Celts are to achieve freedom from oppression, the rape of their lands, the slaughter of their people and hold fast to the dream of one day setting the might of the Roman Army to flight, they must stand and fight! This Book (3) is every bit as thrilling as 1 & 2, and I’m fingers crossed this is not the last of Brennus, Lorcan and their children.
5 * A powerful tale of ordinary people responding to extraordinary circumstances By Dr. Mark A. Patton
This novel, the third in its series, follows directly on from “The Beltane Choice” and After Whorl: Bran Reborn.” Each novel carries us forward in time, but each novel also changes the viewpoint. In the first, we followed the fortunes of the lovers, Nara and Lorcan; in the second, those of Lorcan’s brother, the warrior, Brennus. In this third novel, the focus is on Ineda, who helped her grandmother nurse Brennus back to health after sustaining terrible injuries in battle against the Romans.
“After Whorl: Donning Double Cloaks” covers the period of a decade, beginning in 74 AD. The Brigantes, under their King, Venutius, fight a guerrilla campaign against the legions of the Roman Governor, Cerealis. Everything changes, however, with the death of the Emperor Vespasian in 79 AD. A new Governor, Agricola, is in post, and embarks on a far more ambitious campaign to conquer the whole of Britannia. The overarching narrative remains close to the account given by the Roman historian, Tacitus. Modern historians and archaeologists still argue over where (and even whether) the “Battle of Mons Graupius” happened, but in this novel it happens on the slopes of Beinn na Ciche.
The great political and military events, however, form only the backdrop to the novel, the real story being about the lives of ordinary people, and how these events impact upon them. How does an individual react to enslavement? If the master of the slave shows kindness, and offers protection from the brutality of others, what is the nature of the bond that forms between them? If, following a union that is neither an act of love nor a rape, an enslaved woman bears a child to an enemy of her people, what conflicting loyalties arise? What happens when she finds herself back among her own people?
It would be difficult to say more without spoiling the plot, but this is a powerful tale of ordinary people responding to extraordinary circumstances.
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