This novella is a “must read” for anyone interested in thinking about our place in history, what human qualities are innate and what socially constructed. At her father’s insistence, seventeen-year-old Sylvie and her mother Alison participate in two weeks of an Experimental Archeology field trip with “the Prof” and his three reluctant students. The aim is to live like Iron Age Britons, an opportunity father Bill, a bus driver, has been saving his vacation time for. Bill’s fascination with “real” British heritage has as much to do with his own insecurities and desire to dominate as it does with any true desire to gain skills through experience. For Sylvie, however, the sojourn is a chance to prove to herself her own survival skills and perhaps assert her independence from her parents. The experience throws into contrast gender roles and class privilege in ways that are subtle and intriguing: who makes social rules and why? Who does what sort of work and why? And who bears the costs of these decisions (or are they conventions backed by force)? Fascinating, and an interesting follow-on to Jon McGregor’s ‘Reservoir’ books.