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{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Daughters of Fire
|author=Barbara Erskine
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=480
|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
|date=2 April 2007
|isbn=978-0007174270
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>0007174276</amazonuk>|amazonusaznuk=<amazonus>B000PCA3TQ</amazonus>0007174276|aznus=B002SR2QK0
}}
Dr Viv Lloyd Rees is in danger of losing her job. A Celtic historian at Edinburgh University, she has a book about to be published about the forgotten queen of the north: Cartimandua, High Queen of the Brigantes. Professor Graham's problem with the book is the degree of detail which cannot be supported by the historical evidence. Her filling in the gaps with imaginative deduction - he feels - undermines not only her own scholarship, but also the reputation of the whole department. He is furious - to a degree which Viv cannot fathom. She will admit (if only to herself) that she is not sure where some of the more intuitive deductions originated, but will not admit - even to herself - that there is anything particularly odd or unworthy about them.
As a 'historical romance' ''Daughters of Fire'' will not appeal to everyone, but I'm not prepared to down-rate it on that basis. I was engrossed from start to finish, and I'm still playing with and pondering some of the ideas and nuances and possibilities raised.
For those familiar with Erskine's earlier work - ''Daughters of Fire'' does use the formula that was so successful in [[''Lady of Hay]]'', the interplay of two lives across time, but has successfully developed it beyond that original concept to produce a more subtle cross-time connection, that works far better. Reactions to the earlier book were mixed, and many felt the historical part of that story the weaker of the two angles. In ''Daughters of Fire'', the balance is redressed and in the final analysis there is only one story being told.
Take a step out of time, and enjoy.
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