I am Somerled. The summer warrior. What am I, if not a warrior?

In the twelfth century, the lands bordering the Irish Sea are riven with violence as Gaelic, Norse and Norman warriors battle to control the sea roads. A fleet sails from Ireland to reclaim a lost Gaelic Kingdom. Aboard the ships is a boy called Somerled.

The son of an ageing chieftain, Somerled must prove his own worth as a warrior. He will rise to lead his men into battle and claim the title of Lord of the Isles - but what must he sacrifice to secure the glory of his name?

The Winter Isles is an astonishingly vivid recreation of the savage dynastic battles of medieval Scotland: an authentic, emotional, powerful read.

Antonia Senior's writing has all the best ingredients of meaty historical adventure battles, passion, ambition, authentic characterisation and outstanding world-building. There's a huge appetite for historical storytelling at the moment, from WolfHall to the TV adaptations of Outlander and of Bernard CornwelI's The Last Kingdom: The Winter Isles is perfectly positioned to capture this audience; Treason's Daughter, Antonia Senior's debut novel, was published to critical acclaim; Somerled, the hero of The Winter Isles, has been identified as the patriarch of Clan Donald: this is the story of the origin of one of Scotland's most powerful clans; Antonia Senior has been a journalist at The Times for thirteen years. She will write features and columns to support the publication, and will use her contacts in the industry.

About the Author
Antonia Senior is a former staff writer for The Times. She is now a freelance journalist, and her columns, features and book reviews have appeared in a number of national newspapers. Antonia lives in London with her family. She has travelled extensively through Scotland's Highlands and Islands.

Reviews
In Somerled, the boy with integrity and a fighting spirit, who grows up to be a leader of men, Antonia Senior has created a perfect hero for our times: caught between the old gods and the new, Somerled and those who love him show us ourselves, reflected back in a simpler, harsher world. This is passionate, wonderful, windswept writing, full of the wonder of hill and heath and sea. If you care about Scotland, if you care about life, this is an anthem to passion and the duties of power. Wonderful. One of the must-reads of the year. -- Manda Scott
Senior's prose is beautiful and powerful, poetic and yet immediate... She has taken a Norse-Gaelic legend and made it ring true, which is no small feat. The historical setting of twelfth-century Scotland and its islands is incredibly well-evoked... Fearlessly and deftly done. I loved this book deeply. -- Giles Kristian
Antonia writes so beautifully, so convincingly about the west coast of Scotland in the 12th century that the reader is instantly whisked back to those stormy days of Viking-style raids, Celtic marriage alliances, heroic warriors and hardy women and their battles to live and love and prosper on the watery edge of the world. Her prose is exquisite - lyrical, sensitive, constantly and delightfully surprising. Her characters are utterly believable, rounded, engaging and absolutely of their time... Antonia has proved herself once again to be in the very first rank of British historical novelists. -- Angus Donald
A spirited narrative that combines the violence and energy common in such sagas with a subtlety that is much rarer -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *
Scottish history, rebooted... The world as described here is brutal, violent and dangerous but Senior finds moments of tenderness and humanity in her characters, making them sympathetic and surprisingly modern-and the action is as fast-paced as a thriller. -- Rachel Joyce * The Times *
There's passionate love and battlefield gore, and everything between... It is epic historical fiction to perfectly suit modern tastes. -- Ronald Frame * Sunday Herald *



Book Information
ISBN 9781782396819
Author Antonia Senior
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint Corvus
Publisher Atlantic Books
Weight(grams) 544g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 157mm * 29mm