The Missing Thread, Filling in the Holey Fabric of History

While writing my historical fantasy series based on the life of the Hittite Queen Puduhepa (named Tesha in my fiction), I kept closely to the known events of her life. They served as the scaffolding of my plot. It’s true, I wind in fantastical elements, such as griffins and sorcerers (although Hittite documents have many references to sorcerers). Nonetheless, flying griffins and magical curses aside, you can find the major markers of Puduhepa’s early known life in my four book series. But known is the key word. There is so much we do not know. Years of it. So an author fills in the gaps, or the missing thread.

Writing a Mended, Whole History in The Missing Thread

We expect that with a writer of fiction, more or less. Now a classicist, Daisy Dunn, has done it for nonfiction. She’s written The Missing Thread, A Women’s History of the Ancient World. In this intriguing-sounding book, she presents a fuller version of events than is usually given because she includes the women. However, Dunn faced a dilemma similar to mine–gaps must be filled. To quote from the delightful review in the New York Times:

“Much like the novelists turning out feminist retellings, Dunn has to rely on some creativity to fill in the gaps in the record. A huge amount of the historical weave is simply missing, and more work is needed to tease it out.” –NYT, Aug 6, 2024

Everybody’s History

I’ve got The Missing Thread on my reading list. I hope this scholarly but “sprightly” (NYT) work will help undo the assumption that I hear so often. When I present an ancient woman with agency, or worse yet, a woman with political power, I often hear, “You are being anachronistic. Women weren’t allowed to do anything like that. They were forced to live passive lives of limited influence.” It’s true women more often than not lived in patriarchal societies that did not leave them a lot of easy room for agency and power. But reading the pages (or clay tablets) of historical records and the archaeological evidence, we see women in active roles. It’s illogical to stick to the “they sat around all day doing nothing” stance. Have you ever met an entire society of women who would put up with that? Granted, they didn’t get openly acknowledged credit for their part in history and daily life. Hence, the gaps or tears. So, I’m looking forward to reading Dunn’s book. I hope she does a good job of mending the holey fabric of ancient history. Here’s to more books that continue the project.

Further Reading

To explore The Missing Thread, you may enjoy reading Lyta Gold’s engaging review, “The Warrior Queen Who Carried a Head in a Bag, and Other Omissions” in the August 6, 2024 NYT. The review includes a good discussion of Dunn’s previous books and interests and her place in the current “moment” of popularity for feminist retellings of myth. (My current project falls into this category, so stay tuned.)