View source for The Hills of Varna

{{short description|1948 novel by Geoffrey Trease}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = The Hills of Varna
| title_orig    =
| translator    =
| image         = The hills of varna cover.jpg
| caption       = Macmillan, 1958 edition
| author        = [[Geoffrey Trease]]
| illustrator   = Treyer Evans
| cover_artist  =
| country       =
| language      = English
| series        =
| subject       =
| genre         = [[historical fiction]]
| publisher     = [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan & Co]]
| pub_date      = 1948
| english_pub_date =
| media_type    =
| pages         =
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| oclc          =
| preceded_by   =
| followed_by   =
}}
'''''The Hills of Varna''''' (published in the USA as '''''Shadow of the Hawk''''')<ref>{{cite book |title=Writers Directory 1976-78 |last=Duin |first=Nancy E. |year=1976 |publisher=St. James Press |isbn=0-900997-30-3 |pages=1079 }}</ref> is a children's historical novel by [[Geoffrey Trease]], published in 1948. It is an adventure story based on the revival of classical scholarship in the [[Renaissance]].
==Plot==
===Introduction===
The book is set mainly in [[continental Europe]] during the first decade of the 16th century.  The central character, a young Englishman, is sent by [[Erasmus]] to find the lost manuscript of an ancient Greek play at a [[monastery#Orthodox Christian monasteries|monastery]] in the [[Balkans]].<ref name=crouch>{{cite book |title=Treasure Seekers and Borrowers: Children's Books in Britain, 1900-1960 |last=Crouch |first=Marcus |year=1962 |publisher=Library Association |pages=108}}</ref>
===Summary===
In 1509, Alan Drayton, a young Yorkshireman, has to leave his college in [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] after a tavern brawl. His tutor Erasmus sends him to the continent to try to retrieve a manuscript of ''The Gadfly'', a lost play by the ancient Greek writer Alexis from the time of [[Socrates]]. He believes that it is in the [[monastery]] of Varna in the Balkans. Alan intends to deliver the play to the printer [[Aldus Manutius]] in [[Venice]], refusing to take employment with the ruthless Duke of Molfetta, who wants the play for his private collection. He is joined on the arduous journey to the monastery by a young Italian woman, Angela d'Asola, who disguises herself as a boy.  They encounter [[Adriatic]] pirates, shipwreck, [[janissary|Turkish janissaries]] and sinister monks, all the while being doggedly pursued by the agents of the Duke. They find the manuscript but lose it again. In the end, their love of learning saves the day.
The author avoids the obvious ending of having the two leading characters marry each other, instead following the custom of the time Angela marries an older wealthy man whom she has had in mind for some time. Alan returns to England, on the verge of [[English Renaissance|its own Renaissance]], to continue his education.
==Literary significance and reception==
The book has been widely praised by critics,<ref>{{cite book |title=Literature for Thursday's Child |last=Sebesta |first=Sam Leaton |author2=Richards, Roy Martin |author3=Iverson, William J. |year=1975 |publisher=Science Research Associates |isbn=0574186158 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/literatureforthu00sebe/page/283 283] |url=https://archive.org/details/literatureforthu00sebe/page/283 }}</ref> as illuminating the historical process<ref>{{cite book |title=Children's Literature: An Illustrated History |last=Hunt |first=Peter |year=1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-212320-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/childrensliterat00hunt/page/266 266] |url=https://archive.org/details/childrensliterat00hunt/page/266 }}</ref> and is considered by some to be the author's greatest work.<ref name=crouch/>
==Allusions to history and geography==
[[Desiderius Erasmus|Erasmus of Rotterdam]], the Dutch scholar and humanist, taught at Cambridge for a time, and was associated with the Venetian publishing house the [[Aldine Press]] and its founder [[Aldus Manutius]]. The author states: "Whenever possible, I have used actual opinions of Aldus and Erasmus in the dialogue."<ref>''The Hills of Varna'', Author's Note</ref> [[Marcus Musurus]], Aldus's Cretan assistant, was a Greek scholar who taught at the University of Padua and was closely involved with the publication of Greek texts. Alexis the playwright is a fictional character, not to be confused with the [[Alexis (poet)|real Greek writer of this name]] who lived somewhat later, but he represents the many ancient authors whose work was lost.
The novel starts in [[Cambridge]] and moves to the [[Republic of Venice]], then to [[Dalmatia]] and the mountainous central Balkans. The monastery at Varna is a fictional place, not connected with the real town of [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]] or [[Lake Varna]] in [[Bulgaria]].
==''The Crown of Violet''==
In 1952 Trease wrote a [[prequel]] to ''The Hills of Varna'', '''''The Crown of Violet'''''. The title is taken from a quote from [[Pindar]] (see [[City of the Violet Crown]]).  Set in ancient [[Athens]], it is about how Alexis wrote ''The Gadfly'', a comedy defending [[Socrates]], and contains vivid descriptions of the [[Theatre of ancient Greece|Greek theatre]]. As in ''The Hills of Varna'' and ''[[Cue for Treason]]'', the hero befriends a spirited, convention-defying girl who plays a vital role in the adventure (in this case Corinna, a [[metic]]).
Its American title '''''Web of Traitors''''' refers to the subplot of a planned [[coup d'état]] against the [[Athenian democracy]]; a speech in Alexis's play is used to trick the plotters into revealing themselves.
This could be a record, outside of [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy]], for how far the events of a prequel have preceded the first novel.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hills Of Varna, The}}
[[Category:1948 British novels]]
[[Category:1948 children's books]]
[[Category:British children's novels]]
[[Category:Children's historical novels by Geoffrey Trease]]
[[Category:Novels set in the Renaissance]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 1500s]]
[[Category:Novels set in the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Macmillan Publishers books]]
[[Category:Children's books set in the 1500s]]
[[Category:Children's books set in Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:Children's books set in Venice]]
[[Category:Children's books set in Croatia]]