Customer Reviews

2 reviews

• Barbara Kittel

  Inge Veecock has taken a real event – the discovery of a Bronze Age tomb containing a coffin with the skeleton of a male holding a cup made of amber – and has woven around it the story of the life of a man, called Sail, who lived in Bronze Age Britain.
  
  To start with we learn about the way of life in the settlement where the protagonist’s family lived. Later, when grown up, Sail becomes a trader and travels around north-western Europe and the Mediterranean. The writer skilfully explores the different cultures and customs that Sail may have encountered during his travels. She imagines the contacts between the traders from Albion and the inhabitants in various different countries (among them the Baltic Sea area, Carthage, Egypt) and the difficulties they had communicating without a common language.
  
  I found Sail to be a very likable character who found great pleasure in exploring new countries and meeting their inhabitants.
  
  Last but not least, I learned about one of the most famous legends in Lithuania, that of Jurate (the goddess who lived under the Baltic Sea in an amber castle) and Kastytis (a young fisherman) with whom she fell in love.
  
  Overall I found the book very imaginative, interesting, and entertaining.
  
  

• Shirley Anne Jaspert

  Inge Veecock has skillfully and imaginatively woven a series of interesting stories based on the finding of a Bronze Age coffin containing the skeleton of a male skeleton on whose breastbone rested an amber cup. He was obviously a wealthy person of importance and she has made of him a trader, travelling from England through the Mediterranean. Each story focuses on an aspect peculiar to life in the visited country during the period of the Bronze age in which Sail, her hero, lived.
  The origin and importance of the amber cup in Sail's life give the opportunity to learn the legend of Junate, the goddess of amber and supposedly his ancestor. The family life of the period is portrayed as having been similar to that of the present time and a reminder that human emotions and needs have probably been the same from the beginning of time, as well as social challenges which have existed throughout the ages.
  I can unreservedly recommend this book as being an excellent read.

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