Welcome to my stop on the Whistlers in the Dark by Victoria Williamson book tour, which is run by The Write Reads with Scotland Street Press. Thank you to both for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
On one side of the Antonine Wall, thirteen-year-old Felix is trying to become a good Roman soldier like his father. On the other, twelve-year old Jinny is vowing revenge on the ‘metal men’ who have invaded her Damnonii tribe’s homeland. At the Damnonii’s sacred circle of standing stones, her planned attack on Felix goes badly wrong, awakening a legend that threatens to bring fire and destruction down on them all.
Can Jinny and Felix overcome their differences and soothe the stones back to sleep before it’s too late?
About the Author
Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com
With The Whistlers in the Dark, Victoria Williamson weaves an adventure of history, fantasy and betrayal.
Scotland, 158AD and the country is divided. On one side we have Felix, a Roman boy who’s heritage makes him ridiculed in the fort he lives in. His people, are on a path taking over Britannia, ‘freeing’ the people and creating an empire they rule. They are currently at a fort with a tenacious peace with the Damnonii tribe, whose land the Romans invaded.
On this side, is twelve-year old Jinny who vows revenge on the ‘metal men’ after a horrifying accident involving Felix. Her tribe are distrustful of the Romans, and very protective of their people, and their sacred circle of standing stones. When her plan to attack Felix goes wrong, they awaken a legend that threatens her tribe and more and they must work together to fix it.
The really cool thing about this is that Victoria Williamson takes a very common part of history that most kids know about, with the expansion of the Roman Empire and doesn’t old any punches in showing how life really was back then but in a very appropriate way. It’s really good to take these eras of history and make them honest for children and not get a washed up version of it but she also took a very unknown part of history and made it her own.
There is little known about the Damnonii, where Ptolemy is the one known person who mentioned them in their work Geography, where even then there is not much to go on. This is a great way to develop a story and make this period of history your own. Williamson brings about traditions, community, and legends to give this tribe a new breath of life and highlight it to children who are interested in history.
The two children themselves are such stark contrasts of each other. Felix is very quiet but fights for what he believes in and always tries to do good. He beats himself up for the things that have gone wrong and because his parents are Roman and Damnonii, he has experience of both cultures but never really fits anywhere. He wants to train to be a soldier but the other Romans hate that he is part Roman, and bully him. So Felix has to be a translator for their people.
Jinny, on the other hand, is brash and angry that she cannot take part in her coming-of-age ceremony to make her a woman and putting her behind her age mates, struggling to get over the death of her puppy and her brothers injury. She wants revenge on Felix but the two both have to come together to save the Damnonii.
The two of them are on the edge of this life changing moment where they meet challenges, and really become their own people as the join together to save the Damnoni
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