Trease or Treece - February 2010
As a child I was always confused by Geoffrey Trease and Henry Treece, perhaps because I never read any of their books. It was almost as if all historical fiction had to be written by people called Treece, however it was spelt, or maybe as if men called Treece were obliged to write historical fiction. Anyway, as a child I somehow missed out on their books, just as I missed out on Rosemary Sutcliff and many others. I made up for it later, and with Rosemary Sutcliff in particular I tracked down and read nearly everything she wrote, including her wonderful memoir, Blue Remembered Hills. I read quite a bit of Henry Treece, too, especially his Viking quartet, but somehow Geoffrey Trease continued to elude me until I came across an old Puffin in a charity shop. I must admit that I bought The Red Towers of Granada mainly because of the fabulous Charles Keeping cover, but I was hooked from the first sentence. How could you not be? 'It is a strange and terrible thing to listen t...