Beyond the Wall by Tanya Landman

By Tanya Landman (author)

"Boudica-spirited slave girl fights to break the chains that bind her "

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A sumptuous feast of historical fiction fuelled by drama, deception, and a young woman’s determination to find freedom.

To be born a slave in Roman Britain is to lead a life of subjugation, and female infants are often killed at birth. But while Cassia is born into this brutal system, she’s also supremely strong, so her master deems her worth keeping, and marks her as a “concubine. A mistress. A whore.” When brought to his villa to fulfill this role, she’s filled with disgust; first at the opulence, which represents the suffering and violence done to her fellow slaves, and then by his touch.

And so she attacks and maims him, and must go on the run. Alone and vulnerable in unfamiliar Londinium, Cassie is aided by Marcus. He finds her work with a renowned pharmacist but she still feels trapped, and so resolves to find a way to the haven that lies beyond Hadrian’s Wall. But she’s not sure whether she can really trust Marcus, her master is hot on her heels, and her reputation as a “witch” and “creature of legend” is mounting…

The writing is crisply vivid, and packs a powerful visual punch, and I loved how Boudica’s spirit of resistance and rebellion permeated the book through Cassia’s indomitable strength. She’s an extraordinarily memorable heroine, and this is an extraordinary novel - historical YA at its best, no less.

From Tanya Landman, author of the 2015 Carnegie Medal winner Buffalo Soldier, comes a heart-stopping tale of love, corruption and the power of choice. Blood on her lips. Blood on her tongue.

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Blood that is not her own. Cassia does not fear to die, but for her - for a slave who has maimed her master - there are worse things than death. Yet the mighty Roman Empire has its limits.

Beyond her master's estate, beyond the river, far to the north stands Hadrian's Wall. And beyond the wall? Freedom.

With dogs on her trail and a bounty on her head the journey seems impossible. But then Cassia meets Marcus - slick, slippery, silver-tongued - a true and perfect son of Rome. And her only hope.

Slave girl Cassia escapes her master and sets out on a perilous journey north to Hadrian's Wall, and the freedom that lies beyond. I'm 100 pages in and captivated by Cassia's voice. The Bookseller Praise for Buffalo Solider

Gripping, vivid, superb The Independent

A historical epic The Times

Beautifully written Kiss

Tanya Landman is renowned for her prize-winning novels including the beautifully “deft and dark”, Carnegie Medal winning Buffalo Soldier . In 2019 she won the Scottish Teenage Book Prize for her critically acclaimed novella One Shot .

Tanya says that she loves how writing allows her to daydream – something she was always in trouble for at school!