The Eagle and the Swan Readers Club enables members to read free previews, give feedback and participate in debates on historical and contemporary social issues relevant to the story.

London, United Kingdom – September 19, 2013

Erudition is pleased to announce the launch of the Eagle and the Swan Readers Club.  The Readers Club gives early bird readers the opportunity to obtain free access to the first four instalments of the publication in advance of its launch.  Each instalment has a number of key questions to stimulate discussion, and readers will be invited to give their views and debate key historical and social themes that are relevant to the story via an online forum and social media.  Carol Strickland, the author, will also address each debate herself.

The Eagle and the Swan is the tale of a beautiful dancer, Theodora, who performs in the Imperial Palaces; stirring hearts, rousing desires, and changing the course of history indelibly. Theodora was a circus performer and prostitute, before catching the eye of a clever young military officer. The soldier and the swan dancer set out on a treacherous path to power that would lead all the way to the throne. The events that ensue, amid the struggles and politics of a society in flux, will leave a great city in smouldering ruins.  The novel is not just a compelling story about a remarkable woman of antiquity, but also a tale of an empire at a crucial turning point and a moment that saw the birth of our modern Western World.

Previews of the publication will also be made available on popular writing platforms and online reading communities.  The full publication, comprising eleven instalments, is scheduled for launch in the latter half of October 2013 and will be available for purchase on popular online retail platforms and directly from Erudition’s website as an eBook.  An enhanced version of the publication is also under development and will enable the reader to immerse themselves in this ancient world through extensive images, maps, timelines, character portraits and supplementary information.  Beta versions of this enhanced publication will be made available to Readers Club members in advance of their launch.

Those who wish to join the Readers Club can register and gain immediate access to the first instalment of the publication at https://www.theeagleandtheswan.com/read/.   A comprehensive website featuring further background to the title and a blog written by Strickland on related historical and current affairs is available at www.theeagleandtheswan.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carol Strickland is an author, screenwriter and regular correspondent on art, architecture and cultural topics for various publications such as The Christian Science Monitor and Art in America, and has also contributed feature stories to The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.

She is the author of the acclaimed art history book The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in the History of Art from Prehistoric to Post-Modern, which has sold more than 400,000 copies.

Strickland has a Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of Michigan and has taught at Stony Brook University, Rutgers University, Southampton College, Stevens Institute of Technology and La Guardia Community College. She now has a home on Long Island in New York State.