The Capricorn Bracelet

“The Capricorn Bracelet” is a collection of linked short stories telling the tale of Roman Britain from the rebellion of Boudicca in AD 61 to the withdrawal of the troops from the north in AD 383. The stories are told through the device of the capricorn bracelet that the patriarch of the Roman family is awarded for his bravery, which is then passed down through the generations of the same family. The stories are fairly violent (it was a very violent time, after all), but generally written for middle-school-aged children. Entertaining and a quick read; mildly recommended.

The Capricorn Bracelet is a collection of six stories told by various members of a family in Britain over a period of three hundred years. The common link among these six stories is the Capricorn bracelet, a family heirloom earned for distinguished conduct by the centurion Lucius who was a boy when Londinium fell. The last story is told by Lucian, whose father is executed with Maximus during Maximus' failed bid to be emperor of Britain.

The stories are told in the first person, which is a different device for Sutcliff but one that works quite well for her in this collection. This collection grew out of Sutcliff's work about Roman Scotland for a BBC radio program called "Stories From Scottish History." I enjoyed this book and recommend it show more to anyone looking for a short piece of historical fiction about Roman Britain. show less