River of Jewels, the companion volume to The Miraculous Mirror, is a second collection of the talks, interviews and articles Dorothy Dunnett have to a variety of audiences, including writers’ circles, library groups and literary luncheons. These have been selected from papers in the Dunnett archive, which is held at the National Library of Scotland.

In these pieces, Dorothy Dunnett discusses what drew her to writing about the periods she covers in her novels, the demands of research and authenticity, and the interaction between the author and her readers. The difficulties of getting down to her writing in the midst of the domestic dramas of family life are treated with Dunnett’s trademark warmth and wit.

The period of time spanned by these talks covers nearly thirty years, beginning in 1968, when Dunnett was juggling her writing with her work as a portrait painter, and ending in 1997 with the publication of Caprice and Rondo. Along the way, she reflects on the creation of her fictional heroes, Francis Crawford of Lymond and Nicholas vander Poele, and the many years of research that led her to identify her non-fictional hero, the real-life Thorfinn, Earl of Orkney, as King Macbeth of Scotland. She reveals what inspired the character of Johnson Johnson and, most importantly, we learn who knitted his woolly cardigans.

Forword by Lisa Hopkins and illustrations by Monica Murray. 60 pages. Size A4 (similar to US and Canada “Letter”).

ISBN: 978-0-9570046-8-9