Cuckoo's flight by Wendy Orr

Lame Clio longs to ride her horse again. She spends more time with Grey Girl than she should, neglecting her duties in the pottery but while on the hillside she spies a black sailed ship. The Lady consults the Oracle and sends the men of the village off to early market while bolstering their defences lest the ship brings war. Clio is of an age where she may be sacrificed to the goddess to avert disaster, but her aging grandmother fashions a ceramic goddess dressed in the fineries of the Lady as an offering in her place. She puts all of herself into the piece and dies when it is finished, hoping her granddaughter will be spared.

Clio and her family’s lives are wrapped around the clay and their kilns, making pottery for the village as well as for sale at far flung markets, where Hector, Clio’s father is now headed.

Clio is determined to ride her horse again, and Hector fashions a chariot to be drawn by the horse allowing Clio the movement denied her. But the process is being watched by the outcasts of the village, Dymos, and his sister, Mika. The lives of the two girls intersect after Clio uses her crutch to save the younger girl from the river.

This marvellous historical novel, with overtones of Greek Classic tales, reminded me of the best of British historical novels, Sutcliffe, Lucy Boston, Llewellyn Green, Rundell and Morpurgo to name a few combining marvellous story telling with wonderfully astute characterisation and incomparable settings.

Set in the Eastern Mediterranean the story buzzes with nods to the Greek myths, firmly rooted in the Bronze Age when metal was first smelted and stone fashioned for implements. A worthy companion to Dragonfly song and Swallow’s dance, the trio combines verse with the text adding flair to the narrative.

Themes: Bronze Age, Historical fiction, Greek myths, Disability, Pottery, Religion and beliefs.

Fran Knight