Ken Follett jumps onto the Stonehenge bandwaggon

 

Here we go again.  One would have thought that there were quite enough dodgy Stonehenge novels, but here comes another.  I have not read any of them, but the feedback from those who have does not inspire confidence....

The best-known Stonehenge novel is of course the one by Bernard Cornwell, published back in 2011.  It had mixed reviews, but several reviewers referred to the novel's "well researched historical content" and its "historical authenticity"..........  what that means is that Cornwell has accepted and adopted the standard establishment  mythology about Stonehenge as the basis for his story, going on to build his own fantastical tale on top of it. You take "the truth"and then build on it.  That is what always happens with historical fiction -- I have tried to do it myself with my Angel Mountain novels. 

Of course Bernard Cornwell wanted to use Stonehenge as a setting for a novel because it's a guaranteed money-spinner.    I don't blame him for that........

Anyway, the latest venture into "Stonehenge fiction" is the novel by Ken Follett, published about a month ago and called "Circle of Days".  Again it assumes that the "basic facts" about Stonehenge (including the human transport of stones from Wales) are known and accepted as "the truth", and are then used as an underpinning for the fantastical story invented by the author. He puts people and their interactions into the setting.   Ken is a Welshman who has sold millions of copies of his books, and maybe the link with Wales gave him an extra prod for the writing of the novel.  He was on BBC R4 the other morning playing his part in promoting the book, as all top authors are encouraged to do by their publishers.  Again this novel has had very mixed reviews, but that won't worry either the author or the publisher, since you can't please all of the reading public all of the time.

So I'm not blaming any of the Stonehenge fiction writers for jumping onto the bandwaggon and writing their tales.  But this reminds us of just how successful EH and the archaeological establishment has been in their marketing of Stonehenge mythology, which is endlessly marketed as "the truth".  That marketing is what inspires authors to weave their tales for the entertainment of the novel-reading public -- and every new novel reinforces the myth.  The real truth?  To hell with the truth, when there is money to be made........