Hilary Cawston

Seeking Osiris Hilary Cawston

Eric Evers made his name with films and books based on the hypothesis that ancient cultures were kick-started by visiting aliens. He claims that these super-beings survive in the folk memory as gods like the Egyptian Osiris. In developing his theories he ruthlessly exploited, without acknowledgement, the work of a young PhD student, H. P. Beaumont, who has since become a world-renowned expert on archaeobotany. Evers sees a way to revive his now flagging career when his nephew, Simon, becomes Dr Beaumont's research assistant. He tries to insinuate himself into the real archaeological world but reckons without the devoted support of her friends and relations, who mount a campaign to discredit Evers' over-imaginative theorising. But in their pursuit of the Osiris myth, Beaumont and her colleagues reach some surprising conclusions. This search for truth blends the ancient with the modern, history and archaeology with science fact and fiction. The story is carried in two strands, following the work of the archaeologists and the progress of the alien Experiment. The intertwining of those strands resolves some of the 'what ifs' but raises other questions which are left to the reader's imagination.