Two women, separated by almost a thousand years, but united in the terrifying visions they see of the future, come together in a medieval garden in Glastonbury where all is not what it seems. In this sequel to I, Morgana, Marie is Morgana’s daughter, pregnant and destitute, and now stranded in our world. Morgan is a rebellious runaway, mourning the loss of everything she holds dear. My inspiration for the character of Marie came from the enigmatic Marie de France, troubadour and poet from the 12th century, who described herself as being ‘from France’ (although she seems to have spent most of her life in England) and who dedicated her lais to ‘a noble king’, who may or may not have been Henry II. I’ve chosen to place ‘my’ Marie in the courts of Henry and Eleanor of Aquitaine. In writing the novel, and describing how Marie recites her lais to the court (based on Breton and Celtic legends – and also the stories of Camelot with which my Marie was familiar?) I found that my story also became a meditation on writing and telling stories – their inspiration and how they are crafted, and also how they may be changed and changed again in the retelling. In the process, I tried to understand the ‘real’ Marie de France behind the shadowy figure from history, just as I tried to understand the ‘real’ Morgana behind traditional versions of the legend. It was a fascinating journey! NB the e-version of I, Morgana is available free this week from all e-book retailers. The Once and Future Camelot will be published tomorrow (Thursday 26th May) and I’ll be sharing the e-launch with the fabulous Serene Conneeley on Friday from 6.30 pm Australian time – hope you can join us at https://www.facebook.com/events/1613074745677188/
