I’ve had fun putting together this mini playlist for my new novel, THE WANDERING QUEEN. The novel is a historical fiction reimagining of the legendary Queen Dido, who left her home and travelled across the sea to found the ancient city of Carthage. The chosen songs are all great matches for the novel and for Dido’s story, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
ELASTIC HEART – SIA
Well, I've got thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade, it might be too sharp
I feel like the lyrics to this song really sum up Dido’s emotional journey in THE WANDERING QUEEN. She goes through some real heart ache, heart break, and betrayal, yet through all of it she shows so much resilience. She learns how to protect herself, how to wrap up her heart after it is wounded, but she is still willing to risk everything and fight for love. Dido fights, but can she ever win? Even elastic hearts have a breaking point.
DOG DAYS ARE OVER – FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE
Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back
This is such a beautiful and subtle song, with lyrics open to interpretation. But it seems to be about how happiness can be scary and even destructive, how love and survival can feel incompatible. Is it upbeat, or is it melancholy? I love the contrast of tragic sweetness, and I think there are a lot of similar themes in THE WANDERING QUEEN.
YOU OUGHTA KNOW – ALANIS MORISSETTE
And I'm here to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
This song goes so hard, I’m amazed every time I listen to it. Morissette’s lyrics are raw and truthful, darkly witty and poetically cutting. There’s so much female rage here – the anger level is more dialled up than what we see from Dido, I think – but the theme of betrayal, and the consequences of broken love, is what really makes it a good complement to the novel.
STAY GOLD – FIRST AID KIT
What if our hard work ends in despair?
What if the road won't take me there?
This song has been an anthem for me, and it suits the themes of THE WANDERING QUEEN so well. It’s a song about the fear of failure, and of trying to keep hold of things that we have to let go, but it’s also about moving forward despite our fear. When Dido fails, she carries on, always looking for her next victory.
TRICK ME – KELIS
Might trick me once, I won't let you trick me twice
While this song fits the theme of betrayal in love, it actually makes it onto the playlist because Dido herself is a bit of a trickster. She likes to play clever games and win them. Her tricks are key to her triumphs, and to her survival. She is wily and cunning when she needs to be, and that’s part of what made her such a fun character to write!
Narrator: Meg Hateley
A Novel of Dido
An epic and fiercely imaginative retelling of the story of queen Dido, the legendary founder of Carthage, from the author of the national bestseller Daughters of Sparta
When the King of Tyre dies, he decrees that the rule of the kingdom will pass equally to both his children: Elissa, his clever and strong-willed daughter, and Pygmalion, her young half-brother. But Elissa, not yet skilled in the machinations of court, quickly finds herself sidelined by a band of powerful merchants in favor of her more malleable brother.
Forced out of her palace home, Elissa resolves to forge her own path. Both triumph and heartbreak await in the life that she builds, transforming herself from a sheltered princess into a strong and formidable leader. When she leads her followers on an epic journey in search of a new home in a faraway land, she earns herself a name that will echo through millennia: Dido, the wanderer.
Then one day, a mysterious stranger, Aeneas, arrives at the city gates, fleeing the Trojan War. As Dido and Aeneas are increasingly drawn to each other, Dido is forced to make an impossible choice between power and love.
Historical [ Dutton, On Sale: February 10, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780593476123 / eISBN: 9780593476130 ]
Claire Heywood is a scholar of the ancient world, having gained a 1st Class BA in Classical Civilisation and an MA with Distinction in Ancient Visual and Material Culture, along with two academic prizes, from the University of Warwick.
Her writing is inspired by her love of Greek mythology, her knowledge of ancient cultures, and her fascination with women’s forgotten voices.
Her first novel, Daughters of Sparta, was a USA national bestseller, and is a vivid retelling of the Trojan War from the perspective of two key female characters, Helen of Troy and her sister Klytemnestra. Her second novel, The Shadow of Perseus, reimagines the heroic legend of Perseus through the eyes of his mother, Danae, his trophy, Medusa, and his wife, Andromeda.
Originally from Coventry, she now lives and writes in Bristol (UK).
No comments posted.
© 2003-2026