King Hereafter is often considered to be Dunnett’s masterpiece but also her most challenging read. Packed with historical facts, a great many non-fictional characters, and events reaching well beyond the shores of Orkney, this wonderful book opens eyes not only to the world of the “Viking,” but also, most interestingly, to a very moving, alternate view of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth. Read more…
Dorothy Dunnet’s love of Scotland shines through all she writes, but never more clearly than in the words she put into Francis Crawford’s mouth when he took a rather facile comment from Bishop Reid about distinguishing treason from patriotism “…as I know the difference between right and wrong.” Read more…
Dorothy Dunnett’s King Hereafter tells of Macbeth, whom she posits is in fact Thorfinn the Mighty, Earl of Orkney. It starts among Vikings and ends in the Scottish hills. The story of Thorfinn the Mighty comes to us through the Orkneyingasaga, an anonymous medieval account of the jarls of Orkney and Shetland, and the Heimskringla of the 13th century. Read more…
It was Dunnett’s genius to take bare facts and turn them into multi-sensory descriptions through which you could feel yourself part of the action. At the outset of Niccolò RIsing, we can experience the arrival in Flanders of the fabulous Venetian galleys, setting in train the events that will turn into an amazing eight-book series exploring the expanding world of fifteenth-century trade. Read more…
Congratulations to Lily, the Dorothy Dunnett Centenary website editor. What a treasure trove this is! Years ago, I was half way through my 1st read of Lymond. My every spare waking hour was spent thinking about the books. A family member came to visit and found me strangely withdrawn. "What's wrong with you? Should I be worried?" The truth was, I was no longer walking the paths of the real world, but those of 16th century France. These books are the read of a lifetime.
Congratulations to Lily, the Dorothy Dunnett Centenary website editor. What a treasure trove this is!
Years ago, I was half way through my 1st read of Lymond. My every spare waking hour was spent thinking about the books. A family member came to visit and found me strangely withdrawn. "What's wrong with you? Should I be worried?" The truth was, I was no longer walking the paths of the real world, but those of 16th century France. These books are the read of a lifetime.
Ann Looker
I would never have chosen to read it with that cover. But I went to a Star Trek convention in the USA in 1978 and, just as I was leaving, a US fan gave it to me to read on the flight. There was a whole bunch of NY Trek fans who had been raving about "Francis" and who were sure I would become similarly addicted. They were right... Ten days later I moved to Germany to join my husband who was working there. By then I was hooked on Francis Crawford but the English bookshop at Munich University didn't... Read more
I would never have chosen to read it with that cover. But I went to a Star Trek convention in the USA in 1978 and, just as I was leaving, a US fan gave it to me to read on the flight. There was a whole bunch of NY Trek fans who had been raving about "Francis" and who were sure I would become similarly addicted. They were right...
Ten days later I moved to Germany to join my husband who was working there. By then I was hooked on Francis Crawford but the English bookshop at Munich University didn't have the series. Fortunately, a very good Star Trek friend was working in Oxford public library. She got the rest of the series from Blackwells and posted them to me - becoming a DD fan herself in the process!
I didn't surface to real life until I had completed the saga. I had to put up with husband and son chanting "Whodunnit? Dorothy Dunnett" whenever anyone commented on my unavailability.
I still have those Sphere books with the "romantic" Mills & Boon covers. They're useful for everyday reading. But I now have signed copies of the hardbacks to treasure.
Pam Thomas
from Devizes
I cherish the first three Lymond novels in hardback, which I found in a charity shop. The previous owner had stuck in family trees, pictures of locations, maps, portraits of historical characters, even a (truly awful) depiction of Lymond. I took them to the Edinburgh Gathering in 2000, and showed them to Dorothy, who was delighted, and signed them for me. Now they're safe on my shelves next to my other, tidier copies, and I can't help feeling that I was *meant* to find them.
I cherish the first three Lymond novels in hardback, which I found in a charity shop. The previous owner had stuck in family trees, pictures of locations, maps, portraits of historical characters, even a (truly awful) depiction of Lymond. I took them to the Edinburgh Gathering in 2000, and showed them to Dorothy, who was delighted, and signed them for me. Now they're safe on my shelves next to my other, tidier copies, and I can't help feeling that I was *meant* to find them.
Simon Hedges
from Exeter, UK
As Chairman of the Dorothy Dunnett Society, I'd like to encourage the rest of you to leave your memories of Dorothy Dunnett and her works here. She was a wonderful writer, highly re-readable, and a woman who was kind, friendly no-nonsense, and with a mind like a steel trap. So write away, and tell us about her and her books.
As Chairman of the Dorothy Dunnett Society, I'd like to encourage the rest of you to leave your memories of Dorothy Dunnett and her works here. She was a wonderful writer, highly re-readable, and a woman who was kind, friendly no-nonsense, and with a mind like a steel trap. So write away, and tell us about her and her books.
Dorothy Dunnett Society from Edinburgh, Scotland
Welcome to the Dorothy Dunnett Centenary Guestbook. If you'd like to leave your comments with memories of Dorothy, your experiences reading her works, or thoughts about the centenary, please do so here. All comments will be moderated. Please be kind to others.
Welcome to the Dorothy Dunnett Centenary Guestbook. If you'd like to leave your comments with memories of Dorothy, your experiences reading her works, or thoughts about the centenary, please do so here. All comments will be moderated. Please be kind to others.
