Author Interview with Nancy Jardine

Today, I am delighted to welcome Nancy Jardine back to Yarde Book Promotions to talk about After Whorl: Bran Reborn, the second novel in her Celtic Fervour series.

Following the devastating events of The Beltane Choice, the story returns to northern Britannia, where the Roman legions are tightening their hold over Brigante territory. Brennus, once a formidable tribal warrior, has survived the Battle of Whorl, but his injuries have left him facing a very different future from the one he had imagined. Now known as Bran, he must learn to live with his physical limitations while finding new ways to resist the Roman occupation.

Alongside the resourceful Ineda, Bran becomes involved in a dangerous world of trade, deception and espionage, where gathering information can prove just as valuable as wielding a sword.

Nancy joins me today to talk about Bran's transformation, the historical research behind the Roman occupation of Brigantia, and the challenges of portraying a conquered people determined not to surrender their independence.

But first, let's check out After Whorl: Bran Reborn

Publication Date: 19th April 2018

Publisher: Nancy Jardine

Page Length: 261 Pages

Genre: Ancient World Historical Romance

An altered survivor. An enterprising young woman. A ruthless abduction.

AD 73 Hope and loss

Seriously injured at Whorl, Brennus goes from surviving to thriving the trauma of battle. Taking on the new identity of Bran, he vows to disrupt the Roman conquest of his Brigante territory. Though how can he do this when he is forced to labour for the Roman Ninth Legion?

Ineda helps Bran adjust to his new role. The pair trade with the detested Romans, a fantastic cover for their spying activities. She’s a determined young woman, but making Bran accept her as a lover is the hardest thing she has ever attempted. All seems well till they are attacked by a Roman patrol. Afterwards Ineda cannot be found, the chains of Roman slavery binding her to the Roman tribune named Valerius.

Distraught with Ineda’s loss, can Bran find a new occupation?

The adventures of Bran, Ineda and the Garrigill Clan continue.

After Whorl: Bran Reborn picks up after the devastating events at Whorl, with Brennus seriously injured and eventually assuming the new identity of Bran. What interested you about exploring not simply his physical survival, but the creation of a new identity after such a traumatic experience?

In  Book 1, The Beltane Choice, Brennus is presumed dead after the battleground of Whorl though his body was not found by his family members. Research seemed to indicate that bodies, severely damaged in pitched battle, were sometimes not identifiable so not finding a family member wasn’t all that unusual. This gave me leeway to have Brennus recover far from his own hillfort. I wanted to explore his slow physical recovery and the inevitable more lasting mental recovery. In today’s world, severely maimed soldiers need to find an inner strength and purpose to continue with a different lifestyle from before and thus it is for Brennus. Returning to being a tribal champion or trainer of young warriors isn’t a future for him but only with a renewed mental attitude, in a new form of himself, is he able to survive and thrive.

Bran emerges from battle determined to resist the Roman conquest of Brigante territory, yet circumstances force him to work for the very army he despises. What opportunities did that contradiction give you when developing his character?

As a strong secondary character in Book 1, Brennus is seen to be highly capable yet in some ways restricted in his designated tribal role. When writing Bran Reborn it just seemed too easy to have Brennus recover, as best as is possible, and return directly to his former home. To ensure that he isn’t over-cossetted by his Garrigill relatives, as a returned maimed warrior, I decided he needs to remain in territory now-occupied by Romans because that gives him experiences and insight that his family won’t have, since they remain largely unoccupied for a bit longer at the Garrigill Hillfort. Trapped in the territory that’s under control of the Roman legions means, as Bran, he is able to function in a different way from his former self. Where he was not cunning before, he needs to be now – in his dealings with the enemy. His mental state has been so tattered by his experiences at the Whorl battlegrounds that he now has to think differently from before. However, I wanted his personality change to be mainly focused in thwarting his oppressors rather than him just becoming a shadow of his former self.

Ineda plays an important role in helping Bran adapt to his changed circumstances, but she is also a determined character with ambitions and desires of her own. What did you most enjoy about developing her as Bran's partner in both trade and espionage?

Choosing what they can do to interact with Roman forts took some time since I wanted a credible idea. The Roman Army was such a well-oiled machine, with superb organisation and transport systems in place, mostly sourcing their own needs from across their empire. What Ineda and Bran can provide has to be something that is a specific, local product – something used innovatively, or something that takes too long to source from across the Roman Empire. Having a woman (Ineda) directly dealing with Roman soldiers for anything other than trading her body would likely have been very unusual during the Roman occupation of new territory. Ineda needs to be clever,  a bit sneaky, a little coquettish but successful in luring in the important soldiers at the fort. In using her feminine wiles, she is enabling Bran to have more opportunity to accomplish his objectives.

Bran and Ineda use their trading activities with the Romans as a cover for gathering information. How plausible would movement and interaction between local people and the Roman military have been during this stage of the occupation?

I believe interaction would initially have been Roman soldiers acquiring whatever goods they wanted by brute force. Using native labour for their own purposes was a strategy employed across the Roamn Empire, till the territory recently-gained was subdued, stabilised and working under Roman rules and laws. The Roman way was to segue into a situation where the natives provided what was expected by the Roman Empire in a more agreeable, and non-challenging manner – ideally with the original tribal leader still ‘nominally’ in charge. This took time, and by the last stages there would have been more direct co-operation.

Book One showed the Roman advance largely through open conflict, whereas After Whorl allows readers to experience what happens once Roman forces have established themselves within the territory. What did you want to explore about the realities of living alongside an occupying army?

I wanted to establish that life was never going to be the same after occupation. Absorbing new rules and regulations comes easier to some people who are forced to accept changes under duress, knowing there is little they can do about it. But there are also many others who hanker after what has been denied them and they continue to resist in much more vehement ways.

Looking forward to what happens as the series progresses, Brennus living under Roman occupation is contrasted by what the other Garrigill warriors experience after they choose to become refugees, and progress northwards into Caledonia.

The Ninth Legion has an important presence in the novel. What research did you undertake into its activities in northern Britannia during this period, and how much is known about its movements around AD 73?

Knowledge of the Ninth legion is mainly from the work of Roman writer, Cornelius Tacitus. By AD 73, the Ninth legion was based in the earliest wooden fortress of Eboracum (York). However, the Governorship of Britannia changes around this time from the leadership of Quintus Petillius Cerialis to that of Sextus Julius Frontinus. Cerialis, according to Tacitus, was aggressive in pressing his Ninth legion northwards in Brigantia (present day Yorkshire/Cumbria/Northumberland) with support from the current Emperor Vespasian. Tacitus also indicates that the new Governor Frontinus was more concerned about stabilising territory that had already been invaded in mid-Britannia, while also being heavily involved in subduing the tribes of present-day Wales. The twentieth legion’s domination of the western area of Britannia allowed me to have the interaction between them and Ineda and Bran towards the end of After Whorl: Bran Reborn.

Ineda's abduction and enslavement by Valerius dramatically change the direction of the story. How did you approach portraying the vulnerability of individuals to enslavement during Roman expansion without losing Ineda's strength and individuality as a character?

Slavery comes in many forms and the enslaved person does not necessarily see the captivity in the same way as the captor. I wanted to make Valerius determined to make Ineda his personal slave, his own vulnerabilities regarding his past interactions with his young cousin informing his decision. As Valerius’ personal slave, Ineda is not enduring many of the hardships that most female slaves would have had to endure. Her incarceration isn’t really physically destroying but it’s only her inner strength that makes her withstand the loneliness, and the mental degradation she has to work her way through day after day.

Resistance in this novel isn't confined to the battlefield. Bran and Ineda use intelligence, observation, trade and deception against the Romans. Was it important to show that opposition to conquest could take quieter and potentially more dangerous forms?

Yes, absolutely. Very little is really known about the tribes who managed to resist domination but there are references, in Caledonia for example, about tribes who excelled at what might be termed as guerilla warfare today. And using insider information, gleaned through spying in some form, has always been a tactic employed by opposing factions. I’m sure this happened in areas of Roman occupation in Britannia just as much as elsewhere across the Empire.

Bran's injuries inevitably change what he can do and the future he once imagined for himself. How important was it to show him finding new ways to contribute rather than simply returning him to the warrior he was before Whorl?

My Garrigill warrior brothers in the first book of the series are initially all strapping, healthy males. However, it’s not realistic to me that all of the brothers would have survived intact, having gone to battle against the Roman legions using spears, swords and shields. Though severely maimed after the Battle at Whorl, I wanted Brennus to gradually accept his physical limitations and learn to use the inner strengths he didn’t realise that his father Tully had instilled in him. In Book 1, Brennus is in many ways blinkered by his physical prowess as tribal champion and has never needed to use his intellect. During his convalescence after the Battle of Whorl, I wanted to convey his gradual acceptance that there was always more to him than his physical strength.

After Whorl: Bran Reborn is described as the first part of Bran and Ineda's adventures. What did their story allow you to add to the wider world of the Garrigill Clan and the continuing Roman advance that you couldn't explore through Nara and Lorcan in The Beltane Choice?

In The Beltane Choice the purpose is to develop Nara’s and Lorcan’s romantic relationship but also to highlight the need for aggressive iron-age clans to work together towards a successful common outcome – as in repelling the Roman Legions from their territories. 

In After Whorl: Bran Reborn I’ve explored the fact that the Roman legions have triumphed (as they clearly did in Britannia) and are determined about their occupation of Brigantia. Possibilities for different types of relationships within inter-tribal partners are explored in Book 2, and I’ve introduced the potential for some form of a relationship between a Roman soldier and a local tribeswoman.

A huge thank you to Nancy Jardine for joining me once again and sharing more about After Whorl: Bran Reborn.

If you enjoy richly researched historical fiction, Roman Britain, courageous characters and stories of survival, loyalty and resistance against overwhelming odds, then After Whorl: Bran Reborn is certainly one to add to your reading list. Pick up your copy HERE! Read with #KindleUnlimited

Nancy Jardine

Nancy Jardine lives in the spectacular ‘Castle Country’ of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Her main writing focus has, to date, been historical and time travel fiction set in Roman Britain, though she’s also published contemporary mystery novels with genealogy plots. If not writing, researching (an unending obsession), reading or gardening, her young grandchildren will probably be entertaining her, or she’ll be binge-watching historical films and series made for TV. 

She loves signing/ selling her novels at local events and gives author presentations locally across Aberdeenshire. These are generally about her novels or with a focus on Ancient Roman Scotland, presented to groups large and small. Zoom sessions have been an entertaining alternative to presenting face-to-face events during, and since, the Covid 19 pandemic restrictions.

Current memberships are with the Historical Novel Society; Scottish Association of Writers; Federation of Writers Scotland, Romantic Novelists Association and the Alliance of Independent Authors. She’s self-published with the author co-operative Ocelot Press.

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