Rosemary Sutcliff did not like gadzookery

Anthony Lawton3 Comments
Rosemary Sutcliff features, of course, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature. Her entry concludes:
Critics of Sutcliff’s work sometimes comment on its difficulty both in terms of the language she employs and in terms of the historical depth her novels embrace. But for Sutcliff herself, these sorts of evaluations of her writing were welcomed as compliments. She prided herself on never writing down to her readers, expecting them instead to be enticed into enjoying a compelling and demanding tale by the pageantry of history and the warm humanity of people in every era. She carefully creates dialogue in her novels that recollects the speech of a bygone era without falling into what she termed “gadzookery.”

Rosemary Sutcliff taught archaeologist about Roman toilets

Anthony Lawton2 Comments

A review of Rosemary Sutcliff’s novel The Flower of Adonis, historical fiction for adults, said

The Flower of Adonis is an excellent grown-up novel on the theme of Alcibiades, if the Peloponnesian War and Athens in the fifth century BC interests you. As for Eagle of the Ninth, I became (briefly) an archaeologist partly because of the book. All I know about Roman toilet behaviour I learned from her at the age of 12!

Cross and bed found in Anglo-Saxon grave | New light on ‘dark ages’ | The Guardian

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What would Rosemary Sutcliff have made of this (pointed out to me on Twitter by Janet Webb)? Perhaps those of you who are archaeologists would have an inkling?

The dead are often described as sleeping, but archaeologists in Cambridgeshire have uncovered a bed on which the body of a young Anglo-Saxon woman has lain for more than 1,300 years, a regal gold and garnet cross on her breast. Three more graves, of two younger women and an older person whose sex has not yet been identified, were found nearby.

Source: Cross and bed found in Anglo-Saxon grave shed new light on ‘dark ages’ | The Guardian.

Rosemary Sutcliff’s Diary for 1992

Anthony Lawton5 Comments

I have found amongst my books when tidying my study the diary Rosemary Sutcliff was keeping in 1992, the year of her death, 20 years ago now.  She kept a diary every year from 1950 when her first book was published. Mostly it was prosaic, about the days events. Occasionally she wrote about progress of a book, or a particularly interesting visit. Sometimes she described some glory in her much loved garden. I am minded to start posting the daily entries, which start on 29th March, from that date this year, at this blog. What do those who follow this website, and love her work, think?

I have also found her notes about the love of her life – who is referred to in her autobiography of her early years, Blue Remembered Hills. These I will not be publishing, here or anywhere, but they are most touching, especially since when I was young, I met the person in question several times. And I often spoke with Romie (as I knew her) about them.

Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novel ‘Bonnie Dundee’ | American 1985 Review

Anthony Lawton3 Comments

In a brief review in The Dallas Morning News in 1985 (12 May)  Cherie Clodfelter commented that the historical novel for children and young adults, Bonnie Dundee by Rosemary Sutcliff (published in USA by Dutton) was:

… historical fiction at its very best, a blend of fact and fiction. The writing style is immensely informative and engrossing, although the American teenager may lack the knowledge of British history to appreciate the complicated plot and the Scottish idiom. John Graham of Claverhouse (called Bonnie Dundee by his followers) was a Scottish Royalist who died fighting to keep the House of Stuart on the throne. Both the legendary leader whom King James entitled the Viscount Dundee and the period of history where battle was both elegant and horrible is carefully developed to maintain the pace of a suspenseful adventure story.