A gripping historical drama of of love, rebellion and courage.
1685. King Charles II dies unexpectedly, and is succeeded by his brother James II, England's first Catholic monarch since Bloody Mary. English Protestants feel threatened, and King Charles’s illegitimate son, the handsome young duke of Monmouth, rises against his uncle in armed rebellion.
The rebellion turns young Ann Carter’s world upside down. Eighteen years old, she is betrothed to Tom Goodchild, a Protestant shoemaker; but secretly loves Robert Pole, an officer in King James’s army, who offers to take her to London as his mistress. Ann knows it is her duty to marry Tom, but does not love him; so when he marches away with the rebels, she imagines him being killed – which would set her free. But she knows such thoughts are wicked; her father is a rebel soldier too, like all the men of her village. So who should she pray for, when musket balls start to fly? What matters most – love or loyalty?
If God could see into my heart, she wonders, what would He tell me to do?
Her father, Adam, is a brave man tormented by fear. He has two fears: first, that he may be a coward, and run from the enemy; and second, that he is not one of God’s Elect, and will go to Hell when he dies. But like all the men of Colyton, ‘England’s most rebellious town’, he marches to war, risking his life for what he believes.
When England’s most notorious judge, Judge Jeffreys, is sent to punish the rebels, Ann and her father are faced with the hardest choices of all.
Professional Reviews
Fantastic Read!
When I was asked to review this book, I jumped at the chance. As readers of this blog will know I have a bit of a thing for all things Seventeenth Century (despite having not really done much on it recently...), and a book set in the midst of the 1685 West Country Rebellion seemed like my perfect historical novel. Now I've said in before, and I'll say it again - I'm not a big fan of historical fiction; but this turned out to be one book that was the exception to the rule. In a nutshell, I thought that this book was a masterpiece. My love of the Seventeenth Century includes pretty much everything from James I onwards, but I have a particular love of the English Civil Wars, Restoration and more recently, Monmouth's rebellion in 1685. Over the past year or so I have been devouring non fiction books on James Duke of Monmouth and his rebellion; and it also helps having grown up near many of the towns featured in both the historical rebellion, and this novel. And from the get-go, I devoured this book.
Vicary's writing style is second to none in this book. From the very first page, as we are introduced to the people of Colyton, and in particular the Carter family, the world in which the characters live in seems to burst from the page and come alive. Vicary weaves his prose together masterfully, and as I read I could quite clearly imagine the scenes being described. And as the story began to pick up pace, and the rebel armies of the Duke of Monmouth began to clash with the Royalist troops, it was as if I could hear the musket shots in my ears. It's not often that a book does this to me, and when it happens it is a real breath of fresh air. As I was reading through however, I did notice a couple of odd grammar mistakes such as full stops in random places throughout the sentences, but I can overlook this as it wasn't blindingly noticeable. As well as this, I really loved the way the Vicary made his characters speak. The town where the story is mainly set, Colyton, is a real town located in East Devon; and throughout the prose, the characters speak in a west country accent. And Vicary makes this clearer by having the characters actually speak as those in the West Country did (and still do for the most part!):
"Good day Mr Carter! Sorry 'bout Methuselah! Come here Methuselah, you stupid beast! You'm scarin' they 'orses!"
Almost all of the characters spoke like this throughout the story, and it really endeared many of them to me. It's little things like this that can change a book from a good book, to an excellent one.
As I mentioned previously, the story follows the inhabitants of Colyton (a fun fact: known as the most rebellious town in Devon due to their part in the Monmouth rebellion) as they hear of King Charles II's bastard son coming back from overseas to try and take the throne back from his Catholic uncle, James II. The main character of the story is Ann Carter, a young lady born to a good Puritan family, and she is betrothed to Tom Goodchild. The problem for Ann however is that she is secretly in love with Robert Pole, second son of the local Lord and a supporter of King James. Ann finds herself torn as the men of her village march off to war (including her father) and to fight for the Duke of Monmouth. She is betrothed to marry Tom, who she does not love; yet in love with a man who her father would likely end up meeting on the field of battle. The character of Ann is an interesting one and throughout the narrative you can really see how desperate she is to break free of the ties that bind her to the village and to see the bigger picture. So much so she finds herself highly tempted when Robert offers to take her to London as his mistress. And you can see this throughout the entire story - she fights to stay true to her family's wishes, to marry Tom and remain true to her faith yet at the same time delights in escaping the village and travelling with the army. And yet despite this new found freedom she finds herself entangled in a life where she must face life or death decisions and finds out that the world is not one to be viewed through rose tinted glasses.
I was incredibly pleased also with the amount of research that went into this book. As a bit of a seventeenth century nut (who, to my shame, was in the Sealed Knot at one point as a musketeer), I was paying quite close attention to the description of the battles, and the musket drill. And it was spot on. And even though I was only ever in a pike block once in my time with the knot (and was rather drunk at the time, thanks for that Nantwich!), I couldn't see any issues with the pike drill being described in the story either.
All in all, a fantastic story right from the get-go that includes some of the most names and faces of the Seventeenth Century - Prince Rupert, Judge Jeffries and the Battle of Sedgemoor. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Seventeenth Century and looking to read a well researched, action packed story of an incredibly famous rebellion in English history.
Samantha J. Morris.
Fascinating
When Charles II died and was succeeded by his Catholic brother, James, England was torn between loyalty to the Crown and fear of papists. The Protestants, who had flourished under Cromwell and Charles, now had to worship in secret. When the inevitable rebellion came, in support of Charles' illegitimate son, James Duke of Monmouth, a great deal of the support came from these dissenting groups. This is the story of the people of the village of Colyton, `England's most rebellious town', and their struggle to defend their faith.
Caught in the middle of a war that is none of her making, Ann Carter knows she should support the Monmouth cause and the men of her village, including her betrothed, but she secretly hopes that the war will release her from her boring fiancé, leaving her free to follow her illicit love, the dashing Robert Pole, son of the local lord and an officer in the King's army.
Tim Vicary has captured the era with deadly accuracy. In those days life was brutal and held cheap. Women were chattels and any life other than that of dutiful wife was considered improper. Amid the violence and horror of the rebellion, Ann struggles with her conscience and her secret desires.
This is a beautifully-written and well-researched work full of fascinating detail about life in 17th century England. In fact, if you want to learn history without trying, this is the way to do it.
But you should read it for other reasons too. Mr Vicary knows how to write a good tale. His characters are utterly believable and the plot is exciting, drawing the reader in to an alternative world. This is what I believe fiction should do, and if it teaches you something about a very interesting period of history, then that is a bonus.
I recommend this book without reservation. Jenny Twist
Solid Stuff
This really is very good stuff - and a must for anyone who's never read an historical novel before!
The characters of Ann and her father, Adam Carter are superbly written and one gets the impression of the puritan religious way of life and attitudes of the Civil War and Restoration.
And the dialogue is absolutely perfect! Every character we encounter is believable and well written.
A man haunted by the guilt of cowardice and a young woman torn between two lovers; yes, it is a stupendous tale but a realistic one; such things did occur, to Nell Gwynne for example.
Vicary's storytelling is smooth enough to make you not want to put this book down, and with realistic battle scenes and believable narrative about how war changes different men in different ways combined with the lawlessness and religious fervour of the period makes this a very English book, and predominantly Ann's story but is a tale for both sexes and a must for anyone interested in historical warfare.
Don't think I can recommend this enough really. It's a lovely piece of work. David Fenn.
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