June 26th Sunday. The American hoard descended on me this afternoon, bringing me a present of a scarlet sweat shirt with ‘Warrior Scarlet’ printed in white across the bosom.

For anyone stumbling upon this blog who is new to author Rosemary Sutcliff and her work, Warrior Scarlet was one of her finest historical novels. The scarlet of the sweat shirt may have been a careful choice by what I take to be some fans who wanted to visit her, or a group of school students. For Warrior Scarlet is the story of Drem, a boy who is growing up in a bronze-age settlement on the South Downs in Britain.  Born with a withered right arm, Drem imagines that he will never be able to become one of the hunters of the tribe and win the right to wear the scarlet cloak of a warrior.  The book follows him as he grows to manhood, and learns to overcome his disability. Those of you new to Rosemary Sutcliff should note that she herself was seriously physically disabled …

• Click here for more about the novel Warrior Scarlet by Rosemary Sutcliff on this blog