GILLES OF BEC AND THE CAGE FULL OF BIRDS by T D OWEN

An historical novel and mystery set in 12th century Oxfordshire and Berkshire.

The Cage Full of Birds is story of real people who lived and struggled in The Anarchy of twelfth century England; a stirring tale of self-discovery, the triumph of hope over doubt and, ultimately, of good over evil.

REVIEWS

‘I have been devouring A Cage Full of Birds! I love it, truly! The characters are so well drawn,
and Gilles shines through like a Candide.’

‘Such detail, characters, description, pace… brilliantly done.’

‘What a dance you’ve done there, so good. You made the landscape and period integral
to the reading experience, not just the characters and plot.’

‘The descriptive passages are very lyrical and beautifully evocative of their local settings.’

‘Great suspense building and humour too. I have laughed out loud at many places.’

TIM OWEN is an historian, author, public speaker, teacher and battlefield tour guide with a flair for the dramatic.

“Dr Lorna Robinson is the founding director of the Iris Project, a charity which runs a range of classics-based initiatives in state schools and communities. She is also the founding director of the Rumble Museum at Cheney School, the first accredited museum in a school.

Her latest novel is “Oread”:

“Two hundred years have passed since the UK government instituted a bold new programme to pair every citizen with a tree. Known as the Hamadryad Charter, it created vast national forests, major civic festivals and a whole new system of personal names. Deep in the tunnels beneath London, a community has been growing which rejects the Charter. Tensions between the two societies are rising sharply. When a lone Hamadryad finds his way into the underground, a terrible tragedy threatens to unfold. Oread is the sequel to Hamadryad, but can be read as a standalone novel.”

She is also the author of three other novels.

Hamadryad – is a blend of sci-fi, ancient Roman religion and dystopian fiction, the novel imagines a near future where humans are bonded to trees.

The Birder – is a magical realist novel set in a world where people transform into animals instead of dying. The novel is illustrated throughout with linocuts depicting birds in locations around the city of Oxford.

Flower Gathers – is inspired by the mysterious Minoan Civilisation, the novel re-imagines both ancient lives and modern ones in a new exploration of an ancient setting.”

Stories that stay with you. Ink&Ink Publishing is an independent publishing house dedicated to timeless stories that inspire, entertain and touch the earth. Listen, Nurture, Publish.

Established in 2016, Oxford Writers’ House connects, inspires, and gives voice to Oxfordshire’s writing communities. We are an inclusive community of writers, a bridge between Town and Gown, and a portal between shire and multiverse.

“C Fleming has been writing fiction since junior school, even forming a “writers’ circle” with classmates at thirteen. Her professional career has spanned broadcast journalism, PR and publicity, and more recently transport behaviour change and social marketing.

Writing remains a passion and a source of enjoyment in her spare time. She has published four novels in the past 12 years, with a 5th about to launch.

Her first published novel, Dark Horse, received enthusiastic feedback, followed by Drowning in 2016, a humorous and thought-provoking story set against the backdrop of the environmental crisis. In 2020, she published a sequel, Staying on Track, revisiting the characters of Dark Horse and introducing the memorable Moody Muppet.

Her nostalgic 1980s novel What About Jayne? was published in 2023. She is now set to publish a new novel, Gordon’s Gift, featuring a male protagonist with an extraordinary ability. Chat to Claire to find out more!”

Pamela Roberts is an award-winning creative producer, historian, author and founder of Black Oxford Untold Stories, a cultural platform dedicated to uncovering, documenting and bringing to wider public attention the histories and contributions of Black scholars at the University of Oxford.

Through books, heritage experiences, talks, exhibitions, film and creative projects, Black Oxford Untold Stories creates new ways to encounter histories that have too often remained hidden or overlooked.

The new, substantially updated and extended edition of Black Oxford: The Untold Stories of Oxford University’s Black Scholars will be published in October 2026. Based on new research, it revisits the stories of Black scholars including Christian Frederick Cole, Britain’s first Black barrister, and Alain LeRoy Locke, intellectual architect of the Harlem Renaissance. It also highlights African and African American women, the contribution of the Windrush Generation, and a new generation of Black scholars and leaders at Oxford.

Pamela is also the author of The Adventures of a Black Edwardian Intellectual: James Arthur Harley. She has contributed to BBC History Magazine, academic journals and Oxford University Press reference works.

She is an alumnus of the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Historical Society.