Editorial Content for The Dig

In 1939, the citizens of Great Britain are preparing for war. It’s a precarious time, as discussions about the future and what’s to come are constant, but for a small group in Suffolk, they turn their focus to the past. Edith Pretty, a widow with a young son, decides that it’s time to excavate one of the many mounds on her farm. It was something she talked about with her husband, but due to one thing or another, they never got to it.

Now, Edith wants to know what’s buried --- if anything --- on her land. She employs a local man named Basil Brown, who is a self-taught expert in archaeological digs of this sort. There’s no luck with the first mound, and with international tensions mounting, Basil and Edith decide to go after the largest mound on the property. Basil believes the mound to be empty and possibly looted, but they agree that it’s not the time to wait. After a few days, Basil makes a find, and following some inquiries among friends, it turns out that the little piece of metal may be a clue to something much larger.

"What I truly enjoyed about this story...is the way that author John Preston weaves the past and future and draws together a small band of ordinary people making an extraordinary find."

What started out as a wife fulfilling a late husband’s curiosity becomes a frenzy of historical finds. Basil knows that he might be on to something huge, and his simple queries among friends have brought down the interests of the Ministry of Works and the British Museum. Players of all sorts try to lay claim to the finds on the farm. The country prepares for war, but in Suffolk, the residents are stuck squarely in the past --- not only dreaming of amazing riches, but actually pulling them from the ground. For three months, archaeologists and residents hold their collective breath and wait to see what will emerge from the past while hurtling toward another war and a very uncertain future.

The Sutton Hoo dig is fascinating for several reasons --- one is surely the number of finds uncovered but also the pristine quality of the objects. And to have these finds made shortly before war erupts is even more astounding. What I truly enjoyed about this story, though, is the way that author John Preston weaves the past and future and draws together a small band of ordinary people making an extraordinary find. Neither the past nor the future is clear, but each person involved with the dig is impacted in some way.

Told from a few of the characters’ viewpoints, THE DIG brings to life a three-month period of mass anticipation for an entire country. It brings you in, feeding on the same anticipation and anxiety of the characters. I read this book on a chilly weekend --- a perfect way to spend hours with a cup of tea in a comfortable location. In fact, it made for a great weekend.