Monday, 10 July 2017

A Discovering Diamonds review of The Orange Autumn by Judith Thomson


Amazon UK £3.99

Adventure
Late 17th Century
England, France, Holland and Egypt


Giles Fairfield is the main protagonist in this story about the invasion of William of Orange. A man who fought for Monmouth in the rebellion against James II, Giles was wounded but escaped from the field of Sedgemoor only to find a price on his head. He flees to France and then to Egypt where he becomes a slave trader.

Meanwhile, his brother-in-law, Philip Earl of Southwick, plots once again to place William on the throne and sends his servant to find Giles, intending him to be the bearer of an important document that will convince William to invade and Giles finds himself embroiled in the intrigue he so much wanted to avoid.

A well paced novel, with some interesting cameos from Samuel Pepys and Judge Jeffreys amongst others. I thought the plot had one or two 'holes' and there was a little over-use of exclamation marks, but overall well written, and the passages of when Giles was a slave trader were quite impressive.

Recommended for those who have an interest in this era of English history which, I feel is under-subscribed: Ms Thomson has made a good start in filling that gap.



© Richard Tearle



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