Nancy L Owens
asked
Karen Maitland:
Just found your books--linked from a G-R friend's comments. What authors of historical fiction did you enjoy when younger (teens & 20's)?
Karen Maitland
I couldn’t afford to buy books as a teenager, so I devoured the historical novels that were available in the local library, binging on anything I could lay my hands on by Jean Plaidy, Georgette Heyer and Norah Lofts, before moved on to authors such as Robert Graves (‘I Claudius’) and Edith Pargeter (who later, as Ellis Peters, wrote the Cadfael series.) I read any novels I could find about King Arthur, a particular favourite being T.H. White’s ‘Once and Future King’ and Rosemary Sutcliff’s Arthurian series, as well as her ‘Eagle of the Ninth’ series in which King Arthur features.
But I have a student teacher to thank for my love of historical fiction. (I don’t know if he ever became a teacher in the end for, he vanished from our lives very abruptly and never returned.) He took over our class as a student teacher for about a term, when I was 10 years old. I don’t know what he was supposed to be teaching us, but every afternoon he read historical novels to us, mostly by Henry Treece. Once I remember him taking us to an old iron-age fort and us sitting down on the top while he read scenes of invasions and battles from novels to us. I actually convinced myself I could see the sun glinting off the weapons and hear the shouts and yells as the enemy charged up the hill. I wonder if he ever realised what a positive influence he had on one wide-eyed little girl.
But I have a student teacher to thank for my love of historical fiction. (I don’t know if he ever became a teacher in the end for, he vanished from our lives very abruptly and never returned.) He took over our class as a student teacher for about a term, when I was 10 years old. I don’t know what he was supposed to be teaching us, but every afternoon he read historical novels to us, mostly by Henry Treece. Once I remember him taking us to an old iron-age fort and us sitting down on the top while he read scenes of invasions and battles from novels to us. I actually convinced myself I could see the sun glinting off the weapons and hear the shouts and yells as the enemy charged up the hill. I wonder if he ever realised what a positive influence he had on one wide-eyed little girl.
More Answered Questions
Michael
asked
Karen Maitland:
Do you have any appearances scheduled at any public forums in the U.K. this summer?
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