![]() ![]() Silvie is short for Sulevia, a Northumbrian goddess of springs and pools, and it’s around the peat bogs that Moss’ story swirls. He’s usually out in the forest with an “experimental archaeology” professor, who brought along a few of his students so that they “have a flavour of Iron Age life.” One, a posh southerner named Molly, not only befriends Silvie but saves her from what quickly becomes a pagan nightmare heading toward “Heart of Darkness” proportions - the ghost wall of the title refers to the ancient Briton practice of placing ancestors’ skulls on a palisade. A dour bus driver, he wants to spend his two weeks off doing the only thing that fascinates him. ![]() The father makes allowances for toothbrushes, tampons and pajamas, but otherwise forces his family to live as authentically ancient as possible. Victorian hypocrisy isn’t the only anachronism that creeps into the Iron Age re-enactment. ![]() Yet Silvie’s domineering father becomes furious when she bathes naked in a stream, putting her up against a tree and beating her with his plaited leather belt. They eat only what they can gather, and wear soft moccasins and scratchy tunics. ![]() In Sarah Moss’ short yet haunting novel “Ghost Wall,” 17-year-old Silvie’s north English family spends the summer in the Northumberland woods, trying to live like their Briton ancestors before the Roman invasion. Many of us are attracted to the ancient past, but some take it further than others. ![]()
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