Raider's Tide

A vividly physical recreation of the northern borderlands in the sixteenth century where the ever-present fear of raids by plundering Scots is one part of the hard daily life we see through 16-year-old Beatrice's present-tense narration. An actual raid and beating it off is powerfully told but the aftermath as Beatrice secretly attempts to save the life (and diseased arm) of one of the Scots is the real drama. The tension of her love for her Scot is just another layer in the secret and forbidden relationships which make her 'family a disaster' but no simple romanticism here. Hurt is puss and maggots. And Beatrice is a resourceful and spirited character always fighting to make her way in this world.