Now in Print and with a lovely new cover - Buried Treasure by @gilliallan

It's no secret that I love Gilli Allan's latest story Buried Treasure - so much that when I finished reading it, I immediately began reading it again.  When Gilli told me she was preparing to release a print copy and working on a new cover for it, I thought I would burst with curiosity; covers are such tricky things and every author knows the crucial value of finding exactly the right one.  I think Gilli has succeeded, and furthermore, has made my week by allowing me to reveal it here.  She also agreed to share a few words about the pain and pleasures of writing.  Over to Gilli. 

Writing - the pain and the joy, by Gilli Allan

It had been too long since I wrote something new.  There were always other things to do, and I’m not one of those lucky authors who brim with new plot ideas and can’t wait to get them down. What I need to confess here is I that actually hate writing.  Up until that precious moment when I cease trying to tell my story where to go, and it begins to tell me, beginning a new book is like carving a lump of granite with a teaspoon.  The urge to create, however, is quite another thing.  This becomes increasingly demanding even when I don’t know what I want to create.  

And so it was with BURIED TREASURE, except I just called it “New Book”, nor did it have a plot, characters or location, but I trusted in the fact that once I actually began, the scenario would spring into focus, the characters come to life and the plot would gradually unknot and spool out in front of me. 

There are always personal elements in my stories– something I’ve experienced, or events I’ve heard about or seen. So, in order to come up with my background theme I began by reflecting on subjects I already had an interest in or an understanding of.  This gave me my initial building blocks. 

I’ve always had a fascination with archaeology, probably stemming from the fact that my great uncle Sydney Ford uncovered a hoard of silver Roman table-ware on his Suffolk farm. Known as the Mildenhall Treasure it is now one of the most famous UK discoveries housed in the British Museum. http://gilliallan.blogspot.com/2020/06/my-connection-to-mildenhall-treasure.html 

And before the current crisis, I have been involved for more than a decade in the organisation of biannual conferences held at Queens’ College, Cambridge.

If I made my hero an academic archaeologist, and my heroine an events & conference planner, and the back drop for a proportion of the story a university college in Cambridge, I could use my own experience to flesh out the detail and then trust, once set loose in this world I’d created, my imagination would do the rest.  After all, I already had another ingredient – a historian and archaeologist I could call on to advise on the plausibility of my plot, and to assure me I’d made no howling errors - my son, Thomas Williams, author of ‘Viking Britain’ and ‘Viking London’.    What could go wrong?  This book was going to be easy-peasy.

In reality, BURIED TREASURE was probably the most difficult book I have ever attempted.  I won’t go into the whys and wherefores; it would take too long and bore you to death.  But it became a total joy when I realised how to navigate the maze, iron out the wrinkles, and unravel the knots.  (Apologies for the mixed metaphors!)

I am sure you will agree that when something has been a struggle, you love it even more. For those of us who have given birth…..!  Need I say more?  And it is a proud and thrilling moment, but also sad, to release your book into the world and wave it goodbye. All you can do is wish it well.

*****

So true, Gilli.  It's exactly a year since I read Buried Treasure, but I remember it vividly and think about it often.  In case you need any further incentive to read this haunting story, this was my 5 star review: 

I was delighted to receive an early copy of Gilli Allan’s latest story, since I have read her other books and have the highest regard for this talented author.  The title intrigued me from the outset; who hasn’t at some time in their life dreamed of finding buried treasure?  I know I have, and found this treasure of a story deeply satisfying.

The story concerns two very different people, and two diverse ‘treasure’ hunts.  For university lecturer Theo, his quest relates to evidence he needs to find of an ancient civilisation on the site of a proposed new supermarket near his university campus, in order to prevent its construction on a possibly sacred site.  Events and conference planner Jane’s treasure is much closer to home.  Her great uncle Alf uncovered the haul while ploughing one of his fields with his son during World War II.  Sadly, the find was confiscated by the government and placed in the British Museum without recompense, but, according to family rumour, one special artefact was missed, and subsequently secreted away.  In the fullness of time, Jane will inherit this, and her curiosity about it is as immense as the moral dilemma it will create if and when it comes into her possession. 

You might expect this common ground between the two would lay the groundwork for a promising relationship, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Jane sees Theo as an ‘upper class fogey’, a ‘brain on legs’, while a typical ‘Essex girl’ is at the forefront of Theo’s mind whenever he considers Jane.  But there is a far more powerful area of common ground between them, if only each could break down the barriers to discover it.  Both characters have been damaged by their pasts, far more so than each realises. 

This richly-drawn pair drive the action of the story and I would defy any reader not to empathise with them and become engrossed in their personal histories.  There are several other colourful supporting characters, all adding depth and interest as well as helping to reveal more about these two, but it is Jane and Theo who will stay in your mind long after you’ve finished reading.

I don’t want to give away too much of the story because you owe yourself the pleasure of reading this and discovering it for yourself.  And I promise you will not be disappointed.  It is a very satisfying romance, to be sure, but as always with Gilli Allan’s stories, Buried Treasure is about so much more than the relationship between two people.  Parental relationships, sibling, marital, workplace and that all-important relationship with oneself all come under compelling scrutiny.  The writing is intelligent and honest, and made all the more interesting by the author’s knowledge and evident love of archaeology, which gives the story that extra credibility.  I wholeheartedly recommend Buried Treasure as a must-read this summer.

Buried Treasure - Blurb

Jane thinks he sees her as shallow and ill-educated. Theo thinks she sees him as a snob, stuffy and out of touch.

Within the ancient precincts of the university the first encounter between the conference planner and the academic is accidental and unpromising. Just as well there’s no reason for them ever to meet again. But behind the armour they’ve each constructed from old scars, they’ve more in common than divides them. Both have an archaeological puzzle they are driven to solve. As their stories intertwine, their quest to uncover the past unearths more than expected.

About Gilli Allan

Gilli began to write in childhood - a hobby pursued throughout her teenage. Writing was only abandoned when she left home, and real life supplanted the imaginary kind. 

After a few false starts she worked longest and most happily as an illustrator in advertising and only began writing again when she became a mother. 

Living in Gloucestershire with her husband Geoff, Gilli is still a keen artist. She draws and paints and has now moved into book illustration.

All of her recent books TORN, LIFE CLASS, FLY or FALL and BURIED TREASURE have gained ‘Chill with a Book’ awards.

Following in the family tradition, her son, historian Thomas Williams, is now also a writer.

BURIED TREASURE LINKS:

mybook.to/BURIEDTREASURE

Find Gilli’s other books TORN, LIFE CLASS and FLY or FALL at

author.to/GILLIALLAN

Contact Gilli at

http://gilliallan.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/gilli.allan.1

https://twitter.com/gilliallan