The Teller by John Clegg
The Teller is the story of a family struggling to survive in the late bronze age in an area now known as the Welsh Marches. The saga is related to a tribe in the mid-iron age by an itinerant story teller and describes how their ancestors coped with conditions existing then and how circumstances forced a quest on two sons of the principal family in the tale. All descriptions of clothing, weaponry, tools, animals, transport, food, drink, dwellings, and prevailing climate are based on what is presently archaeologically accepted and what is known regarding living conditions in Britain at the time. In order to bring the characters to life, a fairly contemporary dialogue is used. Of course there is no way of knowing how they really talked in those far off times and so no attempt has been made to simulate it. In fact the book is a tribute to the likelihood that intellectually, in everyday matters, they were probably pretty similar to ourselves. The inspiration for such a portrayal came when watching a programme about life in Papua New Guinea. A tribesman bedecked in paint and feathers stepped out of the stone age to board a light aircraft, valley hopping to nearby villages. His manner was completely matter-of-fact and the quip he came out with was subtitled. I smiled to myself and thought, 'That's just what one of the locals in Shropshire might have said.' With utmost respect to my friends in Shropshire I hasten to add.John Clegg grew raised in Cambridge and was born in Chester in 1986. He received the Eric Gregory Award in 2013. His writing was included in Carcanet's popular anthology New Poetries VI. He graduated from Durham University with a PhD in English Literature and now works as a bookseller in London.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781398408746 |
| ISBN 10 | 1398408743 |
| Title | The Teller |
| Author | John Clegg |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Austin Macauley Publishers |
| Year published | 2021-10-29 |
| Number of pages | 480 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |