A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, January 2022
A TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR
A BBC HISTORY MAG BOOK OF THE YEAR
A DAILY EXPRESS BOOK OF THE YEAR
Soaked in mist and old magic, Storyland is a new illustrated mythology of Britain, set in its wildest landscapes.
It begins between the Creation and Noah's Flood, follows the footsteps of the earliest generation of giants from an age when the children of Cain and the progeny of fallen angels walked the earth, to the founding of Britain, England, Wales and Scotland, the birth of Christ, the wars between Britons, Saxons and Vikings, and closes with the arrival of the Normans.
These are retellings of medieval tales of legend, landscape and the yearning to belong, inhabited with characters now half-remembered: Brutus, Albina, Scota, Arthur and Bladud among them. Told with narrative flair, embellished in stunning artworks and glossed with a rich and erudite commentary. We visit beautiful, sacred places that include prehistoric monuments like Stonehenge and Wayland's Smithy, spanning the length of Britain from the archipelago of Orkney to as far south as Cornwall in a vivid, beautiful tale of our land steeped in myth.
In Storyland, Jeffs reimagines these myths of homeland, exile and migration, kinship, loyalty, betrayal, love and loss in a landscape brimming with wonder.
PRAISE FOR STORYLAND
'Expressive, bold and quite beautiful' The Lady
'[a] delight of a book' Antonia Senior, The Times
'ravishingly lovely' The Times Ireland
'[a] lively retelling of British myths' Apollo Magazine
Quercus is a vibrant, internationally successful & award-winning publisher. Home to @riverrunbooks, @maclehosepress and @jofletcherbooks.
✨HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY @amy_historia!!✨ Following the bestselling Storyland, Amy Jeffs returns with Wild. Delight in tales from early Medieval Britain, admire original wood engravings and reflect on your relationship with nature. Out now @Waterstones🔗https://t.co/yyseG6oo1f https://t.co/5md5zGLnwU
Author of Love And Let Die, William Blake Versus The World, Watling Street, Stranger Than We Can Imagine, The KLF etc
@kilroy_s Ooh, where to start? Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman is a must, obvs. Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden. Anything by David Keenan or RAW. Storyland by Amy Jeffs. Dominion by Tom Holland. And I'm very much looking forward to Alan Moore's new one!
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Two-book @riverrunbooks deal for Storyland author Dr Amy Jeffs (@amy_historia), who has created 'from Britain’s deep history, magical tales and beautiful images' - Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain is out in October https://t.co/RrU0T4OZOS (£) https://t.co/1Fo8d5EsNu
Jeffs writes beautifully, erring just on the right side of florid, and her linocut prints make for attractive illustrations. The stories come with explanations of sources and legacies, and she has a lovely knack of rooting each one in the landscape that birthed it. This gorgeous book should live on the bookshelves in every house that cares about "the idea of Britain, what is was and where it came from."
--The Times