A Shape On The Air by Julia Ibbotson
A haunting Anglo-Saxon time-slip of mystery and romance
Can echoes of the past threaten the present?
They are 1500 years apart, but can they reach out to each other across the centuries? One woman faces a traumatic truth in the present day. The other is forced to marry the man she hates as the ‘Dark Ages’ unfold.
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How can Dr Viv DuLac, medievalist and academic, unlock the secrets of the past?
Traumatised by betrayal, she slips into 499 AD and into the body of Lady Vivianne,who is also battling treachery.
Viv must uncover the mystery of the key that she unwittingly brings back with her to the present day, as echoes of the past resonate through time. But little does Viv realise just how much both their lives across the centuries will become so intertwined.
And in the end, how can they help each other across the ages without changing the course of history?
My Review
The book is basically a time slip story in which modern-day Dr Viv DuLac finds herself in the year 499 AD as the Lady Vivianne. The first time it happens she is deeply shocked and disbelieving. How did she get there? And what is the connection with water and the mere?
Viv’s partner Pete suddenly decided to leave her for one of her best friends. She cannot understand why, when they have always had such a strong relationship, living together in her beloved apartment. He also seems to have undergone a major head transplant, as he has become a totally different person, no longer kind and caring, but bullish and selfish. She is devastated and traumatised by his behaviour.
Viv is understandably distraught until she meets Rory, who reminds her of Sir Roland in her ‘other’ life. But how can that be? And why doesn’t he treat her as if she is going mad?
As the story progresses, she slips back and forth with increasing frequency, but while she can spend hours or even days in the past, time stands still in the here and now.
The author has undertaken a considerable amount of research, because we are not talking about slipping into a made up fantasy world. I know very little about the so-called ‘dark ages’, but I can see that the references to the language, artifacts, lifestyle, and beliefs of the time are both detailed and accurate, or the book would have little authenticity.
I was interested to learn about the term ‘shapes in the air’ and also the information about the Einstein-Bridge Theory. It involves parallel universes and wormholes, but that’s all I’m going to say as it’s hard to understand and I don’t want to dig myself into a hole (wormhole?) of ignorance.
I wouldn’t usually choose this genre (I’m not generally a fan of time travel, fantasy or sci fi), but it’s the richness of the history and storytelling that made this such an interesting and entertaining read.
Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the Author
Dr Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of resonances across time. She sees her author brand as a historical fiction writer of romantic mysteries that are character-driven, well-paced, evocative of time and place, well- researched and uplifting page-turners.
Her current series focuses on early medieval dual-time/time-slip mysteries. Julia read English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language/ literature/ history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. After a turbulent time in Ghana, West Africa, she became a school teacher, then a university academic and researcher.
Her break as an author came soon after she joined the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme in 2015, with a three-book deal from Lume Books for a trilogy (Drumbeats) set in Ghana in the 1960s. She has also indie-published three other books, including A Shape on the Air, an Anglo-Saxon timeslip mystery, and its two sequels The Dragon Tree and The Rune Stone. Her latest, Daughter of Mercia, is the first of a new series of Anglo-Saxon dual time mystery/romances where echoes of the past resonate
across the centuries.
Her books will appeal to fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, and Christina Courtenay. Her readers say: ‘compelling character-driven novels’, ‘a skilled story-teller’, ‘evocative and well-paced storylines’, ‘incredible writing style’, ‘intricately written’, ‘absorbing and captivating’, and ‘an absolute gem of a trilogy’.
