In Game of Kings, Christian Stewart, as she is dying at Flaw Valleys, says to Francis Crawford, "I mourned a little because nobody would ever point to a page of history and say, 'The stream turned there to the right, or to the left, because of Christian Stewart.' You could make that come true for me, if you think you owe me anything." I think it is true for Dorothy Dunnett. She changed history starting in 1961 with The Game of Kings by changing the lives of everyone who reads her books. Near the end of Checkmate, when she thinks Francis Crawford has been killed, Philippa thinks, 'Is it for this thou wast created?' I like the idea that Dorothy Dunnett was created to write such books as these that have brought so much pleasure and knowledge to those readers lucky enough to have picked up one of her books while browsing through a bookstore or library and then been willing to follow her through forty years of writing and two centuries of setting scattered over three continents. For me it has been a journey like no other author has taken me on and one I enjoy making often through endless re-reading. Thank you, Dorothy Dunnett, for sharing your life with me. Helen Kerr
Herndon, Virginia, USA |