Gillian Bradshaw

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Gillian Marucha Bradshaw (born May 14, 1956) is an American writer of historical fiction and science fiction. Her historical fiction has led to her being described as Rosemary Sutcliff's literary heir. She was born in Arlington County, Virginia and attended the University of Michigan and Newnham College, Cambridge, where she graduated in Classics.

Bradshaw spent part of her youth in Santiago, Chile. She is married to a mathematical physicist and has four children. Her husband was an inspiration for her portrayal of Archimedes in her novel The Sand-Reckoner, though she states in the novel's afterword of the novel that she based him on her personal knowledge of many physicists. She has been a judge in the Institute of Physics Paperclip Physics competition.

[edit] Works

Bradshaw started with the Arthurian historical fantasy trilogy, Down the Long Wind. These books, Hawk of May, Kingdom of Summer, and In Winter's Shadow were released between 1980 and 1982. Set in a very Celtic Britain, the trilogy's main character is Gwalchmai (Gawain), who must choose between supporting his evil mother Morgawse or his maternal uncle Arthur. The title Down the Long Wind is taken from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King:

"And fainter onward, like wild birds that change

Their season in the night and wail their way

From cloud to cloud, down the long wind the dream

Shrilled; but in going mingled

with dim cries."

Tennyson's verse describes the premonitory dream Arthur has before the Battle of Camlann; in it, the recently deceased Gawain warns him he will face doom should he face the traitor Mordred before Lancelot can arrive.

After Down the Long Wind, Bradshaw dropped fantasy and wrote straight historical fiction for some years. 1986's The Beacon at Alexandria features Charis of Ephesus, a female doctor cross-dressing as a eunuch in 4th century Alexandria, Roman Egypt. The Bearkeeper's Daughter tells the story of Theodora, empress consort of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. Theodora was born into the lowest class of Byzantine society, the daughter of Acacius, a bearkeeper for the circus. Imperial Purple, released in 1988 features Demetrias of Tyre, a woman born into slavery but becoming a skilled weaver. The plot focuses on her discovery of a plot to depose Theodosius II and remove from power his sister Pulcheria. 1990's Horses of Heaven is about a marriage alliance between the Saka Kingdom of Ferghana, Afghanistan and the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. The marriage of King Mauakes and Princess Heliokleia occurs around 140 BC and brings many changes at court.

She next gave two samples of children's literature set in ancient Egypt, 1991's The Dragon and the Thief and 1992's The Land of Gold. The latter features a Nubian princess who survives her parents' murder and attempts to regain her throne with the assistance of the dragon Hathor. These works were followed by her first effort at young adult literature, Beyond the North Wind (1993). The novel features a young magician assigned by Apollo to protect a tribe of griffins from a hostile queen. The title is again a reference to an earlier work, in this case Aristeas of Proconnesus, a 7th century BC Greek who reported that the griffins lived in Scythia, near the cave of Boreas, the North Wind.

Bradshaw returned to historical fiction with the Island of Ghosts in 1998. The work tells the story of Ariantes, one of 8,000 Sarmatians in military service to Marcus Aurelius. In 2000 she wrote her first science fiction novel, The Wrong Reflection, about an amnesiac who finds his given identity of "Paul Anderson" to be a fabrication. This was followed by historical novel The Sand-Reckoner, a telling of the story of Archimedes of Syracuse, Italy from his studies at the Library of Alexandria to his involvement in the Second Punic War (218 – 202 BC) and his conflict with Marcus Claudius Marcellus.

Her science fiction novel Dangerous Notes (2001) features Valeria Thornham, a young classical guitarist and composer whose brain was implanted with cloned stem cells in childhood after an accident. She is considered a potential psychotic and is arrested and detained at a mental research facility where she is threatened with the prospect of undergoing surgery to remove the part of her brain that is responsible for her extraordinary musical talent. Her 2001 historical novel The Wolf Hunt was based Marie de France's Breton lai Bisclavret, and features Marie Penthive of Chalendrey, a Norman forced to live in the Brittany and becoming involved in its plots.

Her next historical novel Cleopatra's Heir (2002) featured Caesarion, son of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII of Egypt, managing to escape execution at the order of his adoptive brother Caesar Augustus. The young man is then forced in a life of poverty in his new environment, the Roman Empire. This was followed by Render Unto Caesar (2003), featuring Hermogenes a Roman citizen of Greek origin meeting prejudice in Rome itself. She returned to science fiction with The Somers Treatment. The novel features neurosurgeon David Somers advancing his own unique treatment of specific language impairment. But his research receives its funding from MI5 for reasons that remain secret to the public. Her next historical novel was The Alchemy of Fire (2004) takes place in Constantinople under Constantine IV. Anna, former concubine to a prince of the Heraclian Dynasty, attempts to raise her daughter Theodosia on her own while protecting the secret of the girl's noble birth. Meanwhile alchemist Kallinikos of Baalbek works in creating Greek fire.

Her latest novel is The Elixir of Youth (2006), which looks at the complex relationship of a philosopher daughter with her molecular biologist father, who walked out of her family when she was a child and whose serum to repair the effects of aging on the skin is missing. Like her earlier novel Dangerous Notes (2001) the use of stem cells in research is a theme.

The next novel she will publish is Bloodwood, due to be published by Severn House Publishers in March 2007. This novel, according to the publisher, will be set in contemporary Britain, and focus on Antonia Lanchester, a terminally-ill employeee of a home furnishing company who hands over incriminating files from her employer's computer to an environmental campaign group.

Bradshaw has a vast knowledge of classical culture, of life in the Greek and Roman world, and she puts that to use in her historical fiction. Her novels with a scientific background are similarly highly credible. Her works have been published in English in Britain and the USA, and in translation in Denmark, France, Germany and Spain. In all five of her published languages her writing has earned critical acclaim. But it is sadly the case that Bradshaw's writing does not - yet - have the public prominence that the critical reception of her works indicates that it deserves.

[edit] Complete chronological English-language Bibliography

“Hawk of May” (1980) (Historical fiction with fantasy elements)

“Kingdom of Summer” (1981) (Historical fiction with fantasy elements)

“In Winter's Shadow” (1982) (Historical fiction with fantasy elements)

“Down the Long Wind” (Omnibus edition of the above trilogy) (1984)

“The Beacon at Alexandria” (1986) (Historical fiction without fantasy elements)

“The Bearkeeper's Daughter” (1987) (Historical fiction without fantasy elements)

“The Colour of Power” (1988) (US title “Imperial Purple”) (Historical fiction without fantasy elements)

“Horses of Heaven” (1990) (Historical fiction with fantasy elements)

“The Dragon and the Thief” (1991) (Historical fiction with fantasy elements)

“The Land of Gold” (1992) (Historical fiction with fantasy elements)

“Beyond the North Wind” (1993) (Historical fiction with fantasy elements)

“Island of Ghosts” (1998) (Historical fiction without fantasy elements)

“The Wrong Reflection” (2000) (Science fiction)

“The Sand-Reckoner” (2000) (Historical fiction, without fantasy elements)

“Dangerous Notes” (2001) (Science fiction)

“The Wolf Hunt” (2001) (Historical fiction with fantasy elements)

“Cleopatra's Heir” (2002) (Historical fiction without fantasy elements)

“Render Unto Caesar” (2003) (Historical fiction without fantasy elements)

“The Somers Treatment” (2003]]) (Contemporary fiction with strong scientific elements)

“The Alchemy of Fire” (2004) (Historical fiction, without fantasy elements)

“The Elixir of Youth” (2006) (Contemporary fiction with strong scientific elements)

“Shock Monday”, a book sometimes cited as being by this writer, was written by an Australian author of the same name.

[edit] External links

• Official page
• Gillian Bradshaw's page at Fantasticfiction