Silence and Shadows
James Long

Former rock star turned archaeologist Patrick Kane has pulled himself from a depression to head up a dig just outside Oxford. He arrives to find a collection of misfit volunteers, a disturbing familiar looking redheaded young woman and her silent brother Joe, who only speaks through song. When a greedy developer destroys the evidence found at the first site, Joe leads Patrick to a nearby hill where he discovers evidence of a grave. Could it be that of the German Queen about who Joe sang in the pub? When a television producer hears of the find, his publicity seeking threatens to interfere with the integrity of the dig, while Patrick's obsession with the past and his inability to move beyond the tragedy take their toll as well.

Long's evocative prose paints a glorious picture of the English countryside while his aptly drawn characters develop throughout the story. Patrick's former life is slowly revealed in flashbacks triggered by seemingly innocuous events as well as by his growing attraction to Bobby Redhead, who has secrets of her own. Intertwined with the main plot is the Anglo-Saxon Hild's story, who becomes her famous father's heir after her brothers are massacred by their enemies.

The plot moves forwards at a steady pace and Long's literary style is well suited to the story he tells, though the sometimes ambiguous point-of-view and frequent author intrusion might prove bothersome to some readers. Also, the paranormal element of Hild's story, while interesting, did not seem integral to the story as it occurred independently of the central characters, something I'd not expected. The novel is as much about Patrick uncovering his true self as it is about him and his volunteers uncovering the German queen, as he must eventually decide between guarding his own privacy or silent Joe's, of whom Bobby is fiercely protective.

This historian found the archaeological details fascinating, while the developing romance between Patrick and Bobby remained a gentle undercurrent, never threatening to overwhelm the main plot. And though the last chapter proved to be a little anticlimactic it did not in the end detract from the appeal of this intriguing novel. I am not certain I would classify it as historical fiction, but it most certainly will intrigue readers of the genre.

© Teresa Eckford, 2000/2001