Naomi Mitchison's Early in Orcadia, The Big House and Travel Light

Naomi Mitchison was one of the most prolific, skilled and original writers of the twentieth century, whose novels range in setting from prehistory to outer space. Her work displays a breadth of knowledge and a sympathetic understanding for humanity: whatever out time, or our culture, or our beliefs, we are all still very much the same under the skin. Moira Burgess's SCOTNOTE study guide covers three of Mitchison's historical novels: Early in Orcadia, a sequence of stories set in prehistoric Orkney; The Big House, a children's fantasy of time-travel back to the early nineteenth century; and Travel Light, following a young Viking girl on a magical quest. Each novel is examined, and the plots, and the author's beliefs and influences, are discussed and explained for senior school pupils and students at all levels.