Daughter of Albion

Ilka Tampke's Daughter of Albion transports the reader to the village of Caer Cad in southwest Britain, 43 AD, where a swaddled baby is found, mysteriously motherless. She is named Ailia and although she is a remarkable girl - intelligent, curious and brave - she will be forbidden to marry, left out of tribal ceremonies, and barred from any sort of learning.Ailia is raised by Cookmother in the kitchen of the ruling family and as a young woman she serves the Tribesqueen of her township, until the day when an encounter with a magical fish (who also appears to her as a beautiful and enigmatic man named Taliesen) leads Ailia to the Mothers, the tribal ancestors who have chosen her to become their highest knowledge-bearer. Ailia's growing awareness of her future role as the tribal protector and her relationships with the two very different men she loves will be utterly tested by the imminent threat of Emperor Claudius preparing to take the island.With an incredibly compelling heroine, Daughter of Albion is a suspenseful and richly rewarding novel about women, about power, about love, and about the clash of cultures and the tenacity of belief.