While working in New York City as a book editor, Signe Pike suddenly experienced a devastating loss that changed the trajectory of her life. After her father died, Pike found herself embarking upon what she described as “an era of exploration.”
Without much space and time to work through her grief amidst the demanding pace of city living, she decided to pack her bags and move to Mount Pleasant before hopping on a plane to traverse Europe in search of the sense of wonder and enchantment she felt she had lost along with her dad, who was a devoted nature-lover.
“Being ready for that adventure really began here in the Lowcountry,” she reflected. “I remember my sister-in-law brushing the sand off the table on the porch so we could sit and chat. The way nature infuses everything here was essential to the rest of my journey.”
Visiting England, Ireland and Scotland researching adults who believe in fairy folklore, holding fast to that sense of whimsy and magic, Pike had plenty to write about her for debut book, a travel memoir titled, Faery Tale: One Woman’s Search for Enchantment in a Modern World.
Returning to the Lowcountry with her sense of wonder renewed, it wasn’t until she was back in the UK for a book tour that inspiration struck again. “I have a practice of always buying something whenever I go into a bookstore because I want to support indie bookstores in particular,” Pike shared. “I found this non-fiction book by a Scottish attorney who had this theory that there were real historical figures who inspired the Merlin legends. That’s where I read about Languoreth for the first time.”
Languoreth — a powerful and, until now, tragically forgotten queen of sixth century Scotland; twin sister of the man who inspired the legendary character of Merlin. This historical figure became the subject of The Lost Queen, Pike’s breakout novel that made readers fall in love with the magic of Celtic history.
“I became so enraged by the fact that her political enemies tried to erase her from history,” she said. “The story found me, and I had the passion for it, so I underwent this crash course in how to write fiction. It was all very synchronistic because the author of that particular nonfiction book and I are now incredibly good friends, and when I go to the UK and Scotland we go around and visit a lot of the sites together, and he has given me his blessing to tell her story. We’re meant to tell certain stories and for whatever reason she and her brother have come across time through the fogginess of the past so I bent my life to that task.”
Traveling to historic sites and doing intensive research on Celtic history inform Pike’s detailed, historically accurate novels that bring the past to life with beautiful language and plenty of heart. “It is really difficult to write about the early Medieval period from a modern perspective,” she disclosed. “We see movies like Brave or Braveheart for that matter and we want to impose our very modern way of thinking on a culture that is foreign to us, that existed 1500 years ago. For example, though women were expected to operate their narrow parameters, they did have more agency than a lot of other cultures. Celtic women could get divorced, they could own property and retain it throughout the course of the marriage. It may seem like there’s this strong feminist core to the books, but it’s actually just the way the Celts viewed women.”
While Pike was immediately taken with Mount Pleasant — the history, the natural beauty, the slower pace — when she steps outside her door, it is a striking juxtaposition to Languoreth’s Celtic world that she spends so much time imagining. “It is difficult writing these books while living here in the Lowcountry,” she admitted. “I can see why so many writers write about the beach, the Spanish moss, the oaks, because it's easier to write about a place that you actually live [in]. I definitely feel like I'm walking in two different worlds at the same time. It can be jarring. I will say though I’m probably a Nordic person,” she laughed.
“I don’t love the heat, but life landed me here and I’ve built such an incredible community of writers and booksellers throughout the South, especially here in Charleston, and this has become the place that I call home.”
The third installment in the Lost Queen series titled, The Shadowed Land, is set to be released Dec. 3, which will be followed by the fourth and final installment.
“In book three you’re seeing the characters grow and develop to the place that they can step on the stage for the final act in book four,” Pike divulged. After the series ends, there’s a strong possibility that another travel memoir will be in Pike’s future. “I feel like I have so much more to say. It’s been 15 years since I wrote Faery Tale,” she shared. “I’m a mother, I’ve experienced so much more in my life, and I have a lot that I want to share about life and the nature of enchantment from a much more mature perspective.”
A Tartan Ball is planned for Dec. 9 to launch Pike’s new book as a part of Mary Alice Monroe’s Wild Dunes Literary Series. Readers will soon be able to register for the event on Signe Pike’s website, as well as on Mary Alice Monroe’s website.
Learn more about Signe Pike by visiting her website https://www.signepike.com/.
