We all have certain topics that if someone mentions it in conversation, puts out a movie about it, or publishes a book even tangentially related to it, we're there. I have several: the last Romanovs, Joan of Arc, certain ancient Egyptian monarchs, the Salem Witch Trials, and the Black Death, to name a few (I have a lot). Jason recently sent me a link to a board game he had seen that he didn't know much about, simply because it was about the Scarlet Pimpernel and he knows that's something I love.
One of the authors that I'll read pretty much anything by is Neil Gaiman. A little while ago, I was searching Amazon for one of his books. Down below that book's info, it has that little "people who bought this also bought" section and I started scrolling along to see if there was anything new or interesting I didn't already have on my (very long) "to read" list. And what do you know, there was! (Amazing how that happens...) Up popped a book I hadn't heard of before (and as a Gaiman fan who worked in libraries for almost 10 years, that is saying something).
It was a graphic novel that essentially boils down to the Marvel superheroes in the court of Elizabeth I. (The actual title is Marvel, 1602.) As a big fan of alternate history, genre blending, and just Elizabethan England in general, I was already very intrigued. But then, as I read the summary, I came across a line about how the young Virginia Dare was traveling from Roanoke to the Queen's court.
Virginia. Freaking. Dare.
For those of you who may not be familiar, a brief history lesson:
In 1587, the English founded a colony on the coast of Virginia (present day North Carolina), called Roanoke. Shortly after its founding, Eleanore Dare, the daughter John White, one the founders, gave birth to a daughter and named her Virginia. She was the first child of English parentage born in the New World. Shortly after this, Virginia's grandfather and others returned to England for supplies, promising to return soon. But there was this little thing called the Spanish Armada... England was at war with Spain and the return was delayed by about 3 years. When White finally returned in 1590, the colony was abandoned (or worse). The fort was in ruins; the only clue to the whereabouts of the colonists was the word "Croatoan" carved into a post. When white had left, John had made an arrangement with his Eleanore - if they had to leave, she would make sure they left the name of where they had gone. Croatoan was a nearby island. White immediately set out in search of his family, but found that the island had been obliterated by a hurricane. The Roanoke settlement went down in history as "the Lost Colony;" America's first unsolved mystery (and favorite fodder of many conspiracy theorists).
Fast forward approximatly 400 years...
One summer when I was about 10, we went to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. While we were there we watched an outdoor play about the Lost Colony. My mom also bought me a book (gee, go figure) about the Legend of the White Doe. One of the old tales about what happened to the colonists is that they sought refuge with a neighboring tribe of natives*. Virginia grew up as one of the tribe and when she became a young woman, had 2 rival suitors for her hand. And, as these things tend to go, the suitor who was not chosen sought revenge: he was a powerful medicine man and turned her into a white doe, so that she would not be able to be with the man whom she had chosen over him. It was one of those tragic love stories that I have always been so drawn to...
*There may be something to this, as the next round of settlers to the Virginia Outer Banks reported that in one tribe in the area it was not uncommon to encounter someone with blue eyes.
While I don't often hear or see things about the Lost Colony or Virginia Dare, it is always something that piques my curiosity. So, once I saw this title and read the "back cover" summary, obviously it also had to go on my (increasingly long) "to read list.
Neil Gaiman. Elizabethan superheroes. Virginia Dare. I mean, really, what more could I ask for in a story?