The Silver Branch (1957)

Not sure why I didn't like this as much, when I was younger. Maybe I'd just wanted more time with Marcus and Esca, and felt a little cheated by Flavius and Justin. Not so much, now: it was like meeting up with an old, old friend, to read this book again. It's a quick read, like the first book, and maybe the reread of this one was even more of a pleasure, because I was truly discovering something new in it this time.

I love the way Rosemary Sutcliff bases her books so strongly on real things -- on an attempt at reconstructing the real history behind something like the Eagle found in Silchester. I wish we knew what the real story is -- but maybe it isn't nearly so interesting as the story Sutcliff has told.

In any case, I have got to love Flavius and Justin, and Cullen, and to feel a little of their same loyalty for Carausius. I'm glad they go together at the end. ( )

Up until very recently I was unaware that Eagle of the Ninth, one of my all-time favorite Sutcliff books had a sequel. This is not the first time something like this has happened to me, and it's very demoralizing. Anyway, I made haste and got out The Silver Branch to read immediately. And then it sat in my To Be Read pile for ages until I made myself read it because I had to return it. Well, made myself read it isn't quite the right phrase, because I enjoyed every minute of it (except when a certain character died, which was very traumatic--two certain characters, I suppose).

I've read enough Sutcliffs by now that I can pick up the thread. Rutupiae light, for example, is only briefly mentioned in this book, but anyone who's read The Lantern Bearers (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) will know how important it is there. Similarly, there's the familiar old flawed stone with the dolphin carved in it. This book is a bit different from most of Sutcliff's though, in that it arguably has two main characters.

Justin (Tiberius Lucius Justinianus) has just been posted to Roman Britain as a surgeon to the Eagles who are supporting Carausius, the self-styled Emperor of Britain. He's excited because his family was originally from Britain. On his first day there he falls in with a young centurion about his age who turns out to be a cousin of his (Flauvius). And, as it further turns out, they are both descendants of Marcus Flavius Aquila, of Eagle of the Ninth fame (YAY!).

This being a Sutcliff novel, naturally they run into quite a bit of trouble. While I like Flauvius, Justin became the real hero of the novel for me. I think that's what Sutcliff intended (most of it is told primarily from his point of view), and it worked.

This is highly recommended for almost all ages (her prose is occasionally difficult). No bad content, except for a bit of violence.

Quotes:

"And above him towered the ramparts of Rutupiae: a grey prow of ramparts raw with newness, from the midst of which sprang the beacon-crested tower of the Light." (Okay, so I wrote that down solely for the Lantern Bearers reference. I love that book. I can't help it.)

"[Justin] was a friendly soul himself, but he was always gratefully surprised at any sign of friendliness from other people, and with his gratitude, his liking went out, hesitant but warm, to the red-headed centurion [Flauvius]."

"Here we are on the run, with the hunt up behind us and the world falling into shards around our ears and you bring your instrument-case away with you."

"The young Centurion, who had been completely still throughout, said very softly, as though to himself, 'Greater love hath no man--' and Justin thought it sounded as though he were quoting someone else." ( )

Up until very recently I was unaware that Eagle of the Ninth, one of my all-time favorite Sutcliff books had a sequel. This is not the first time something like this has happened to me, and it's very demoralizing. Anyway, I made haste and got out The Silver Branch to read immediately. And then it sat in my To Be Read pile for ages until I made myself read it because I had to return it. Well, made myself read it isn't quite the right phrase, because I enjoyed every minute of it (except when a certain character died, which was very traumatic--two certain characters, I suppose).

I've read enough Sutcliffs by now that I can pick up the thread. Rutupiae light, for example, is only briefly mentioned in this book, but anyone who's read The Lantern Bearers (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE) will know how important it is there. Similarly, there's the familiar old flawed stone with the dolphin carved in it. This book is a bit different from most of Sutcliff's though, in that it arguably has two main characters.

Justin (Tiberius Lucius Justinianus) has just been posted to Roman Britain as a surgeon to the Eagles who are supporting Carausius, the self-styled Emperor of Britain. He's excited because his family was originally from Britain. On his first day there he falls in with a young centurion about his age who turns out to be a cousin of his (Flauvius). And, as it further turns out, they are both descendants of Marcus Flavius Aquila, of Eagle of the Ninth fame (YAY!).

This being a Sutcliff novel, naturally they run into quite a bit of trouble. While I like Flauvius, Justin became the real hero of the novel for me. I think that's what Sutcliff intended (most of it is told primarily from his point of view), and it worked.

This is highly recommended for almost all ages (her prose is occasionally difficult). No bad content, except for a bit of violence.

Quotes:

"And above him towered the ramparts of Rutupiae: a grey prow of ramparts raw with newness, from the midst of which sprang the beacon-crested tower of the Light." (Okay, so I wrote that down solely for the Lantern Bearers reference. I love that book. I can't help it.)

"[Justin] was a friendly soul himself, but he was always gratefully surprised at any sign of friendliness from other people, and with his gratitude, his liking went out, hesitant but warm, to the red-headed centurion [Flauvius]."

"Here we are on the run, with the hunt up behind us and the world falling into shards around our ears and you bring your instrument-case away with you."

"The young Centurion, who had been completely still throughout, said very softly, as though to himself, 'Greater love hath no man--' and Justin thought it sounded as though he were quoting someone else." ( )

When Justin, a Surgeon in the Eagles of Rome, is sent to Britain, he doesn't know what to expect. He soon finds a kinsman, Flavius, with whom he becomes fast friends. They uncover a possible plot against the Caesar Carausius, and attempting to warn him changes their lives forever.

This is the second of Rosemary Sutcliff's books that I've read, the second chronologically and third published in the Dolphin Ring series. Justin and Flavius are both related to a character from the previous book, and a key symbol from the first book returns as well. Sutcliff uses descriptive prose to carefully include historical details that add to the realistic feel of the book without ever packing in her research in a heavy-handed manner. The plot is impossible to describe; you get the feeling reading that she won't show you all her cards to the end, and then you'll know what it's all about. I do wish that I could have better understood the characters and their motivations, and I became annoyed with how often various occurrences or items in the story were referred to as "the thing." As in The Eagle of the Ninth, I felt that the dialog was a bit stilted. But when the book was in my hands, I still wanted to see where the story was going and kept reading to find out what would happen to Justin and Flavius. ( )

I do so love oldish first editions, former library hardcovers published in the 50s and still sturdy, with lovely thick pages and a general sense that the words printed on the page are actually worthy of being there. I don't know what it is but there's something so wholesome about such books. My copy of Rosemary Sutcliff's The Silver Branch is one such, an honorable old edition dignified in its share of library stamps and heavy with a promising weight.

The Silver Branch is the second in the Dolphin Ring Cycle and picks up more than a century after the events of The Eagle of the Ninth. Rome still holds Britain, but the hold is tenuous as Rome's power has already begun to disintegrate. Justin, a young military surgeon, is posted to the Roman town Rutupiae to serve under Emperor Carausius. Soon Justin and his kinsman Flavius happen upon a plot by Carausius's treasurer, Allectus, to overthrow the emperor. But when he hears of it, Carausius only sends them away to an even more dismal assignment in the British backwaters. How can they warn an emperor who won't even believe them?

Sutcliff's characters are wonderful, as usual. Justin is very believable as a stuttering young man who has honest fears and carries the bitter knowledge of having disappointed his father on several levels. Flavius is much more the hero type, but Justin is the focus and though the story is told in the third person omniscient, it's Justin's thoughts we follow. The secondary characters are also skillfully drawn: Aunt Honoria with her no-nonsense courage, Flavius's old nurse Volumnia, Evicatos of the Spear, and the one I've always remembered from my childhood reading: fussy, fastidious, soft Paulinus who willingly lays down his life for his friends.

The silver branch of the title refers to a musical instrument played by Carausius's Hound, the court fool Cullen, and crystallizes the idea of beauty created from chaos. I love this description of its music:

"Then, very quietly, and clearly for his own pleasure, he began to play—if playing it could be called, for there was no tune, only single notes, falling now soft, now clear, as he flicked each silver apple with knuckle or nail; single notes that seemed to fall from a great height like shining drops distilled out of the emptiness, each perfect in itself" (29).

Profound and beautifully rendered, Rosemary Sutcliff's work is the standard for historical fiction. ( )