Dawnlands - Philippa Gregory

Written by Philippa Gregory
Read by Louise Brealey
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Series: Fairmile: Book 3
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Release date: November 8, 2022
Duration: 19:51:03

It is 1685 and England is on the brink of a renewed civil war. King Charles II has died without an heir and his brother James is to take the throne. But the people are bitterly divided, and many do not welcome the new king or his young queen. Ned Ferryman cannot persuade his sister, Alinor, that he is right to return from America with his Pokanoket servant, Rowan, to join the rebel army. Instead, Alinor and her daughter Alys, have been coaxed by the manipulative Livia to save the queen from the coming siege. The rewards are life changing: the family could return to their beloved Tidelands, and Alinor could rule where she was once lower than a servant.

Alinor’s son is determined to stay clear of the war, but, in order to keep his own secrets in the past, Livia traps him in a plan to create an imposter Prince of Wales—a surrogate baby to the queen.

From the last battle in the desolate Somerset Levels to the hidden caves on the slave island of Barbados, this third volume of an epic story follows a family from one end of the empire to another, to find a new dawn in a world which is opening up before them with greater rewards and dangers than ever before.

With so many places and characters in the mix, the story can be difficult to follow, but Gregory is as adept as ever at creating convincing atmosphere. The author’s fans will not be disappointed.

“Philippa Gregory is one of the best loved writers of historical fiction. In DAWNLANDS, narrator Louise Brearley’s firm voice takes listeners to the chaotic world of England in the late 1680s, when James II was king. There are characters from earlier novels in this installment in the Fairmire series, including the villainous but intriguing Livia– with her syrupy voice and Italian accent. One new character is the Pokanoket captive, Rowan, who enchants listeners with her gentle voice and fierce spirit. This audiobook reveals the political turmoil and religious bigotry of the Stuart years, as well as confrontations between former lovers and enemies, and the author’s own takes on historical mysteries such as the “Warming Pan Baby.”— AudioFile