Heart in mouth read!

-

The Blood Covenant (Simon Westow #4) by Chris Nickson 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️




Gripping continuation of the Simon Westow thief taker series set in Leeds. Nickson’s channeled the historical injustices of the time, the brutality of the majority of factory owners and overseers towards the children who worked in the mills, the cheapness of life, the bullying of the powerful who are never called to account. Until they are!
Two young factory lads die from injuries received from brutal mill overseers at Seaton’s Mill. Simon is enraged. It brings back memories of his time in the factories. He still carries the marks.
Wealthy factory owner Thomas Arden, and his associate, mill owner Seaton have a long relationship, and Simon and his family are in their sights.
Jane is as usual slipping around the city. Some strange happenings have her on high alert and she continually senses someone following her.
When Simon’s children are targeted Simon, Rosie and Jane become a focused combination of vengeance.
Jane comes face to face with her nemesis. It’s not pretty. My heart as always goes out to her.
I am overawed by Nickson’s dedication to historical truths about his beloved Leeds, his research and the depth of his visceral reaction to the more unpleasant aspects. This is the icing on the cake that gives legs to this novel. In his Author’s Notes Nickson gives a measured explanation about the source of the energy in writing this novel.
“ Simon Westow novels have always been carried along on a wave of anger, and mine was certainly there. It was sparked by the excavation of bodies in the graveyard of the old Ebenezer Chapel. The dead factory children brought from the earth had been starving when alive, always hungry although they and their families worked twelve hours a day. Then the pandemic arrived, and the fury evaporated, replaced by sorrow and the sense of fragility and impermanence of life.”
I loved this episode in the lives of this little community.

A Severn House  ARC via NetGalley 
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between Bea  and Amien,  and an investiga
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, their vows to each other, and their braver
Read more

A sparkling ride!

-
Image
An Inconvenient Earl  (A Royal Match #4) by Julia London      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ What an untidy, meandering, convoluted, and strangely joyous tale! Emma Clark’s abusive husband Albert, the Earl of Dearborn had decamped to Africa, leaving Emma to wander Butterhill Hall and manage the estate alone. Months later a man turns up to give Emma the news Albert has died in Cairo from yellow fever. Said gentleman then promptly has some sort of attack and dies on Emma’s receiving room floor. Emma’s stunned. What to do? She knows her sister-in-law Adele, will toss Emma out of Butterhill Hall when she learns of Albert’s death, so Emma says nothing. Almost a year is gone when Luke Olivien, the Weslorian Comte ve Marlaine, son of the Duke of Astasia, turns up to deliver Albert’s pocket watch to Emma. Luka is an anthropologist. He’s been travelling with Bedouin tribes studying their migratory habits and trade routes. Emma does all she can to avoid having Luka tell her that Albert is dead. She ignores him, fl
Read more