Mistress Of Time Travel

Best-selling children’s writer Caroline Lawrence tells Diana Bentley where she finds the inspiration for her pacy, impeccably crafted novels and why young and old alike continue to be fascinated by the ancient world

- Diana Bentley

In 1954, the remains of a Roman temple dedicated to the god Mithras was uncovered in the City of London. Now wonderfully restored on its original site, the Mithraeum (2) is incorporated into the basement of the European headquarters of Bloomberg, the international multi-media company, on Walbrook. Almost 50 years later the skeleton of a young girl, dating from the 3rd to 4th centuries AD, was found in a graveyard near the Tate Modern. Together, these two archaeological discoveries gave Caroline Lawrence the launchpad for her latest gripping children’s novel, The Time Travel Diaries. Hurtling back through the centuries from contemporary London, its young hero Alex finds himself in Roman Londinium (3), an intriguing city of temples, arenas, huts, shops and muddy streets, occupied by masters and slaves. There, he tries to unravel a mystery.

Lawrence has achieved singular success with her historical novels for children, most notably The Roman Mysteries series. Published between 2001 and 2009, these 17 books chronicle the adventures of four spirited and canny young detectives who live in the Roman port city of Ostia Antica. Translated into 14 languages, over a million copies of the books have been sold in the UK; they were also adapted for a CBBC television series filmed in Bulgaria (4).

Raised in America, Lawrence read Classics at Cambridge and went on to teach Latin, French and art in a London school, before turning to writing full-time. In 2009 she won the Classical Association Prize for making a significant contribution to the public understanding of Classics. In 2013, she was elected President of The Joint Association of Classical Teachers (JACT), following in the footsteps of Boris Johnson, Bettany Hughes and Paul Cartledge. She also worked on