The Daughter of the Mists by Elena Collins

AD 61

Brittania is in the hands of the Romans but when the conquering army betray the dead King Prasutagus by defiling his daughters, his Queen, Boudicca, is determined to regain her land.

Iceni slave Brea remembers little of the time before the Romans and has grown used to their louche and indulgent customs. She diligently goes about her duties looking after the artless Aurelia, wife-to-be of the handsome war hero Marcellus, but her longing for freedom and her desire to find her lost father, are never far from her mind.

Present Day

When Hanna returns to Norfolk from years working abroad, the strange dreams of her adolescence return: indistinct figures in tunics, mighty soldiers in armour, gladiators, temples, an Iceni warrior woman leading her people. Gradually Hanna’s dreams begin to slip into the present as visions in the famous mists rolling across the fens, and as shocks of recognition when a new face moves to her childhood home.

As Hanna realises that she has a connection with a tragedy that occurred many years before, so Brea has to understand that her fate is bound up with her Roman master. And as the drumbeat of rebellion gets ever closer Brea must make the fatal choice between love and loyalty while Hanna has to find a way to make peace with the past.

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The instant her head hit the floor, something changed forever.

PROLOGUE, NORWICH, 2006

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(Boldwood Books, 2 October 2023, e-book, 444 pages, borrowed from AmazonKindle via PrimeReading)

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I’m a fan of the author and really enjoyed The Daughter of the Mists. The author writes time slip novels which weave in and out of different eras, entwining the stories and gradually unwinding the threads between them. I like this form of storytelling. Some chapters start in the present with Hanna before abruptly switching to Brea’s story in the past. It took a few chapters to get used to this structure. I think this change of viewpoint could have been signposted better. It didn’t stop me enjoying this book though and I was gripped. I’d recommend this.

4/5