Daughter of Prophecy (Bron) (Paperback)

Part I tells the story of Bron as her parents, aided by Veneta, priestess and friend, struggle to shield their young daughter from High Priest, Vortin, whose powerful determination to have Bron as his High Priestess becomes an unhealthy obsession...All this against the background of a changing Britain, as a new religion challenges Ashuba, their sun god, and the Roman empire falls apart. The authenticity brought by Iris Lloyd to this poignant novel makes it a fascinating read.

Born in Clapham, London, before the war, at the age of five Iris Lloyd moved out to a new estate in Queensbury, Middlesex, with her parents and her brother. They were caught at her grandmother's in Clapham on the first night of the Blitz, and soon were all evacuated by her father's employers to Chesham, Buckinghamshire, returning to Queensbury when she was 14 years old. Her sister was born during the post-war baby boom. When 17, she joined a superb church youth club, and wrote eight annual pantomimes for them to perform (usually directing and choreographing as well, as she has been dancing since the age of three), then nine more scripts co-written with a friend for his drama group. Three have been published by Cambridge Publishing Services Ltd. and are performed regularly by amateur companies. In the 1950's, Iris also wrote the script of a romantic musical set in 1730, which was performed by a church group. Recently, she entered two full-length plays for competitions at her local professional theatre, the Watermill, in Newbury. Two years (1959-61) were enjoyed as secretary to the Editor of Children's Books at Macmillan's publishers in London, where she met author Ray Bethers, and later she line edited for him five of his short children's books. In recent years, she wrote and performed, one Sunday morning on Radio Oxford/Berkshire, a dramatic monologue and (with a friend) a two-hander between Barabbas and the mother of the thief on the Cross. She has written sketches and plays for stage, church and parties. Two of her poems have been published in anthologies. A correspondent for many years for the Newbury Weekly News, her local independent newspaper, she had several half-page and full-page articles on various topics published. And in her last parish, she was chief editor of the church magazine and of a prestigious village book which was produced for the millennium. Having moved to Hungerford, Berkshire, eighteen months ago, she has now taken on sole editorship of their monthly parish magazine. Having been married to Denis, who for 27 years was self-employed in the construction industry, and widowed 19 years ago, Iris is the proud mother of two daughters and grandmother to three lively grandchildren. For exercise, she still teaches tap dancing to adults.