 First edition | |
| Author | Rosemary Sutcliff |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Richard Kennedy |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | OUP |
Publication date | 1955 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
Outcast is ahistorical novel for children written byRosemary Sutcliff and published in 1955.
It takes place inRoman Britain and tells the tale of an orphanedRoman child who is shipwrecked on a coast ofDumnonia inCeltic Britain, outside of Roman rule. He is adopted by a childless couple, grows up within the tribe, eventually leaving to rejoin Roman society, and being carried along by a chain of events all the way toRome and ultimately back to Britain. Like many Sutcliff novels, the plot is driven by the protagonist's search for identity amidst several cultures in which he feels himself to be an outcast.[1]
The story is about a boy named Beric, who is raised amongst theDumnonii. Aftercoming of age, his status within their culture comes under pressure, shown in a conflict between the acceptance of the villageBard and the condemnation on religious grounds by the villageDruid. After a bad harvest is linked to his presence, thesuperstitious views of the Druid win out, and Beric is exiled from the tribe.
He journeys toIsca Dumnoniorum, where he falls afoul of aGreekslave trader, who tricks Beric and takes him as aslave. He is ultimately purchased by Publius Pio, a RomanMagistrate, and becomes part of Pio'spatrician household on theViminal Hill. Beric antagonizes Glaucus, son of Publius Pio, embarrassing Glaucus at a dinner celebrating Pio's election to the office ofAedile. This scene is witnessed byCenturion Justinius, and results in Beric being condemned to work in thesalt mines, a certain slow and painful death.
Beric makes his escape from Pio's household, hiding in a disused temple ofSylvan Pan, and making his way north on theVia Flaminia, hoping to walk back to Britain. He is caught in the Roman countryside, condemned as abandit, and sentenced to live out his life as agalley slave. He works in the Rhenus Fleet, stationed inColonia Agrippina, living many years on thegalleyAlcestis. His galley is eventually sent to Britain, surviving a great storm, during which Beric is thrown overboard for dead. Beric washes ashore for the second time in his life, this time to be rescued by theRoman British household of the centurion Justinius, who had returned to his duty station after his leave in Rome.
Beric now joins in the work on the Rhee Wall ofRomney Marsh, where the Romans led by Justinius are working toreclaim land from the sea. The progress of the Rhee Wall and the lives of the workers are threatened by a great storm, during which Beric bonds with his new comrades, and after which he concludes that he has finally found a place and a people where he belongs.
Like in many Sutcliff novels, the theme ofOutcast revolves around Beric's struggle to find belonging as he is caught in various degrees ofacceptance and discrimination by the various societies through which he travels. Another theme common to other Sutcliff novels is theCeltic native hound strongly featured inOutcast; Beric's progress is paralleled by renouncing his native dog in the beginning of the novel, later adopting amixed-breed dog near the Roman camp by the Rhee wall, and ultimately having his breakthrough moment of feeling accepted when the second dog drops her newborn pup on his feet.[2]
Richard Kennedy's cover art is in colour, while the illustrations within the novel are black-and-white charcoal drawings.
