Paula de Fourgerolles – The Chronicles of Iona: Exile

‘The Chronicles of Iona: Exile’ by Paula de Fougerolles is a historical fiction novel set in Scotland during the Dark Ages. I am a history geek so this book really was a no brainer for me and I am so glad I accepted the invite!

“The Chronicles of Iona: Exile tells the story of the Irish monk and Scottish warrior, Saint Columba and Aedan mac Gabran, who would band together to lay the foundation of the nation of Scotland.  They were a real-life 6th-century Merlin and King Arthur and their story has never been told.
The book begins in 563 A.D.  The Roman Empire is long gone, freeing the region of Scotland from the threat of imperial rule but opening it to chaos from warring tribes vying for control. Columba, a powerful abbot-prince, is exiled from Ireland to the pagan colony of Dal Riata on Scotland’s west coast for an act of violence. There he encounters Aedan, the down-and-out second son of the colony’s former king, slain by the Picts.
Together, this unlikely pair travels the breadth of a divided realm, each in search of his own kind of unity.  Their path is fraught with blood feuds, lost love, treachery, dark gods and monsters, but also with miracles and valour.  Beset on all sides, their only hope is to become allies—and to forge a daring alliance with the pagan Picts.
How Columba overcame exile and a crisis of faith to found the famous monastery of Iona (one of the greatest centres of learning in Dark Age Europe) and, from it, the Celtic Church in the British Isles; and how Aedan avenged his father’s death and became, against all odds, the progenitor of Scottish kings and the greatest warlord of his age, begins here.
For both, what begins as a personal imperative becomes a series of events that lead to the foundation of Iona and the kingdom of Scotland—events that literally change the world.”

A novel that took me all the way back to 563 AD. Along with St Columba and Aedan two very real historical figures, I travelled the breadth of a Scotland that I could easily picture due to Paula de Fougerolles excellent vivid imagery. A story based on historical truth and seamlessly interwoven with fiction to create a masterpiece of a book. I know nothing of Scotlands history and I really got caught up in this tale that brought heroics on the battlefield, ordinary life and their loves too.  This is a story that highlighted the similarities between the present day and then. Politics and other things are changed now but the same land still stands and the basics are the same.

Paula de Fougerolles is clearly passionate and very knowledgeable about Scotland and this historical period. The amount of research that must have gone into writing this book has to be immense. The love for this time shines through as the story unfolds and its grasp tightens on you. It is a technicolour history lesson almost.

I am looking forward to having the time to read the other books in this series.

Thanks to The Write Reads for inviting me on this tour and Paula de Fougerolles for my copy of this enthralling and captivating book.