The Word Smith's Tale

This is an evocative and compelling tale of an ordinary family living in extraordinary times.

In 1087, Thomas the Piper (a survivor of the Battle of Hastings) sits down to recount his life story.

Written with great verve and wit, and bringing to the page the sights, smells and sounds of a tumultuous, often brutal period in English history, this is a timeless tale - still relevant, a thousand years on - of how love, laughter and language are the best defences, when hardship and oppression bear down on you.