Synopses & Reviews
Set in Rome during Nero's reign of terror, The Blood of the Martyrs is a disciplined historical novel tracing the destruction of one cell of the early church. With a cast of slaves, ordinary Roman people, exiles and entertainers, it is thorough in its historical interpretation and in its determination to make the past accessible and readable. Written in 1938-9, the novel contains many symbolic parallels to the rise of European fascism in the 1930s, and to the desperate plight of persecuted minorities such as the Jews and the left-wing activists with whom Naomi Mitchison personally campaigned at the time. With the invasion of Britain a real possibility, she felt compelled to write a testament to the power of human solidarity which, even when faced with death, can overcome the worst that human evil can achieve. The Blood of the Martyrs is the least autobiographical of Mitchison's major works of fiction, yet, with its implicit credo, is her most passionately self-revealing.
About the Author
Naomi Mitchison was born in Edinburgh in 1897. A member of the Haldane Family, she became equally distinguished as one of the foremost historical novelists of her generation after a literary career that began in 1923 with The Conquered. In 1961 she married the Labour politician Dick Mitchison, later Baron Mitchison, QC, and during their years in London took an active part in social and political affairs, including women's rights and the cause of birth control. She returned to Scotland in 1937, where she was involved with local politics, conversation and Highland affairs. She travelled widely, and her long association with an African tribe in Botswana led to her adoption as an honorary chief in the 1960s.