It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey

Last week I finished The Sparks Fly Upward, thus completing Diana Norman's Makepeace Hedley Trilogy. Though I enjoyed all three books, Taking Liberties, the second in the series, still comes out as my favourite.

Today I have three books started. I'm enjoying Helen Dunmore's books at the moment and am slowly working through her back catalogue. Next up is A Spell of Winter. I've also added a classic to the mix, Moonfleet. I'm not sure if I read this one as a child. As yet I have no recollection of the characters or story. However, it remains to be seen which one of the three books grabs my attention overall. I suspect it will be South of Darkness. Somebody actually wants to be transported to Australia? What a wonderful idea for a story.

Then, if all goes to plan, I hope to take up The Dead Secret by Wilkie Collins. I've only read one of his novels, The Woman in White, and that was years ago. Another of his books, No Name, is in my reading pile, but I thought I'd reacquaint myself with this author by reading one of his earlier works.

What I Read Last Week

The Sparks Fly Upward by Diana Norman

Few of those Philippa loves in London return her affection. Not the love of her life, who has a new bride. Not even her widowed mother, Makepeace Burke. So Philippa decides on a marriage of convenience to a prudish, if kind, man. Across the Channel in France, the Reign of Terror is causing the beheading of thousands from the French nobility. Among those in danger is Philippa's friend, the Marquis de Condorcet. Not only has Philippa the means of rescuing him from the guillotine, she's got the courage. And as fate would have it, Philippa will find love where she least expects it-while staring death in the face.

What I'm Reading Today

A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore

Catherine and her brother Rob do not understand why they have been abandoned by both their parents, or know where their mother has gone. They are brought up by servants in the house of their grandfather, an Irishman who made his fortune somehow and is known in the neighbourhood as ‘the man from nowhere’. The children cling to each other because they have no-one else, but when they grow up their sibling love becomes incestuous. As the world outside moves towards war, Catherine and Rob are trapped in their own conflict. But little by little, the spell of winter that has held Catherine begins to break, and she starts to free herself from the weight of the past. 

South of Darkness by John Marsden

Thirteen-year-old Barnaby Fletch is a bag-and-bones orphan in London in the late 1700s.Barnaby lives on his wits and ill-gotten gains, on streets seething with the press of the throng and shadowed by sinister figures. Life is a precarious business. When he hears of a paradise on the other side of the world a place called Botany Bay he decides to commit a crime and get himself transported to a new life, a better life. To succeed, he must survive the trials of Newgate Prison, the stinking hull of a prison ship and the unknown terrors of a journey across the world. And Botany Bay is far from the paradise Barnaby has imagined. When his past and present suddenly collide, he is soon fleeing for his life once again. A riveting story of courage, hope, and extraordinary adventure.

Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner

Growing up the quiet coastal village of Moonfleet in Dorset, John Trenchard is fascinated by stories of the notorious Colonel John Mohune, whose restless ghost is said to stalk the churchyard at night, and his treasure: a great diamond stolen when he betrayed the King a hundred years before. John's life changes dramatically when he discovers a secret passage leading from the churchyard to the Mohune family vault beneath Moonfleet church. When he explores it in the hope of finding the treasure, he instead falls in with a gang of smugglers and joins the local contraband trade. Forced into hiding with a price on his head, little does John guess the adventures and misfortunes he will face before he sees Moonfleet again.

What I Hope to Read Next

The Dead Secret by Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins was the first great detective novelist. His dark and complex mysteries influenced the work of other writers, such as Anthony Trollope and Charles Dickens, with whom he developed a close personal friendship. Swinburne found his work worthy of serious criticism, and T. S. Eliot credits him even more than Poe with the invention of the modern detective novel and the popular thriller. Before such works as "The Woman in White," "The Moonstone," "Armadale," and "No Name," Collins demonstrates the full range of his talents for intricate plot and dramatic suspense in "The Dead Secret," one of his earliest novels. Like much of Collins's work, "The Dead Secret" explores the consequences of a single, hidden act. The Cornish mansion Porthgenna harbors the secret of such an act, one that has ruined the life of the servant girl Sarah Leeson. This same secret lies hidden for fifteen years until the heiress to Porthgenna, Rosamund Treverton, returns and exposes it. Her detective work may reveal the truth, but her revelation of a long-forgotten crime could mean disaster for her and the entire estate. Wilkie Collins's brilliant characters, suspenseful plots, and piercing look into Victorian-era society are on full display in "The Dead Secret."

Book Review: Scapegallows by Carol Birch

Scapegallows is the fictionalised story of Margaret Catchpole, a horse thief, who escaped the hangman's noose twice and was eventually transported to Australia in 1801, for life.

If you hale from Suffolk, U.K., you will probably be familiar with Margaret Catchpole's legendary status. In Ipswich there is a Grade 2 listed public house bearing her name, which reflects her connection to the brewing family, the Cobbolds.

In Australia, she is venerated as one of the country's first midwives and her letters are a great source for historians due to their descriptions of early nineteenth century life in the colony. A maternity ward at the Hawkesbury Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, is aptly named in her honour.

Margaret Catchpole was born into a family of Suffolk tenant farmers in Nacton, a village on the banks of the River Orwell. Her life had its share of hardship and family tragedy. Some of her misfortunes were the result of her own impetuous decisions and the company she kept.

Uneducated, Margaret found work as a servant, but her life improved greatly when she was employed by the Cobbold family as a children's nurse and then cook. Here, she learned to read and write and became a valued member of the household. Even when imprisoned and transported, she still remained in the family's affections and kept up a correspondence with Mrs. Cobbold.

Margaret's greatest weakness was her love for Will Laud, a boat builder and sailor turned smuggler. Will Laud is in and out of Margaret's life for various reasons, sometimes for years, but she remained loyal to him. As romantic as this sounds, this devotion proved to be her downfall.

For a novel described as "a wonderful adventure story", I'd expected a much faster pace than the slow, ambling read it was. My interest did wane three-quarters through, but I persevered to the end. While my emotions weren't totally engaged, I did enjoy this novel for its historical value: the social history of 18th century Suffolk and the life of one of Australia's convict pioneers.

Book Review: The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore

A novel with a World War II setting grabs my attention instantly, especially if it involves the R.A.F.  I also like well-crafted ghost stories. This novel fit the bill perfectly.

The Greatcoat is set in the early 1950s. Britain is slowly recovering from the war, rationing is still in force and the landscape bears crumbling reminders of the recent upheaval.

The novel opens with a prologue: a Lancaster bomber crew are embarking on their 27th mission to Germany, edging closer to the 30 required to complete a tour of duty. The strain is beginning to show and superstitions abound. A crewman sings a song, one that he sings before every mission and the pilot has lucky silk

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey

A slow reading week for me, but things are still on track from last week. I finished the second book of Diana Norman's Makepeace Hedley Trilogy and am well into the third. My intention is to read Spellbound by Helen Dunmore next, but sorting through my reading pile I've pulled out books by two authors I've not read before, South of Darkness by John Marsden and Return to Fourwinds by Elisabeth Gifford.

Shirley by Charlotte Brontë, a classic I began to read months ago, is crying out to be finished. I admit I'm having difficulty with this one. A novel I thought would grab my interest straight away has turned out quite the opposite and I'm thinking of abandoning it. Many have read and enjoyed this novel so it may be a case of persevering in the hope it will get better.

What I Read Last Week

Taking Liberties by Diana Norman

Makepeace Hedley is frantic when she learns that her young daughter, sailing home to England from the rebelling American colonies, has been taken prisoner by the British. With her usual determination, Makepeace sets out for Plymouth to rescue her child. And when Countess Diana Stacpoole is asked by an American friend to help her son, also a British prisoner, Diana responds quickly and leaves her genteel past behind. In the chaos of wartime Plymouth the two women face social outrage, public scandal, and even arrest. Amidst docks and prisons, government bureaucracy and brothels, they forge an unlikely and unshakable friendship. And in freeing others, they discover their own splendid liberty.

Though I enjoyed A Catch of Consequence, Taking Liberties was the better of the two. It was a great adventure story from start to finish.

What I'm Reading Today

The Sparks Fly Upward by Diana Norman

Few of those Philippa loves in London return her affection. Not the love of her life, who has a new bride. Not even her widowed mother, Makepeace Burke. So Philippa decides on a marriage of convenience to a prudish, if kind, man. Across the Channel in France, the Reign of Terror is causing the beheading of thousands from the French nobility. Among those in danger is Philippa's friend, the Marquis de Condorcet. Not only has Philippa the means of rescuing him from the guillotine, she's got the courage. And as fate would have it, Philippa will find love where she least expects it-while staring death in the face.

What I Hope to Read Next

A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore

Catherine and her brother Rob do not understand why they have been abandoned by both their parents, or know where their mother has gone. They are brought up by servants in the house of their grandfather, an Irishman who made his fortune somehow and is known in the neighbourhood as ‘the man from nowhere’. The children cling to each other because they have no-one else, but when they grow up their sibling love becomes incestuous. As the world outside moves towards war, Catherine and Rob are trapped in their own conflict. But little by little, the spell of winter that has held Catherine begins to break, and she starts to free herself from the weight of the past. 

South of Darkness by John Marsden

Thirteen-year-old Barnaby Fletch is a bag-and-bones orphan in London in the late 1700s.Barnaby lives on his wits and ill-gotten gains, on streets seething with the press of the throng and shadowed by sinister figures. Life is a precarious business. When he hears of a paradise on the other side of the world a place called Botany Bay he decides to commit a crime and get himself transported to a new life, a better life. To succeed, he must survive the trials of Newgate Prison, the stinking hull of a prison ship and the unknown terrors of a journey across the world. And Botany Bay is far from the paradise Barnaby has imagined. When his past and present suddenly collide, he is soon fleeing for his life once again. A riveting story of courage, hope, and extraordinary adventure.

Return to Fourwinds by Elisabeth Gifford

One house. Two families. A lifetime of secrets. At Fourwinds they gather: Alice and Ralph, Patricia and Peter, to celebrate the marriage of their children. The marquee is on the lawn, breathing in and out in the summer heat. But the bride is nowhere to be seen. As both families are drawn together, the past floods through the corridors of the old house. What secret has Ralph been keeping from his wife? What is it about Alice's wartime encounter with Peter that has haunted her ever since? And what could have caused Sarah to vanish without a word to any of the people she loves? Moving from the orange groves of Valencia and the spacious houses of the British countryside to the post-war slums in the north, Return to Fourwinds is a sweeping, lyrical story of the things we tell and the things we keep to ourselves. Is Sarah's disappearance a culmination of the pressures that have kept the two families apart? Or can they work together to bring her back to Fourwinds?"

Book Review: After Flodden by Rosemary Goring

Louise Brenier seeks news of her brother, Benoit, who is missing after the horrific defeat of the Scots at Flodden. She appeals for aid from Patrick Paniter, James IV’s Secretary,  who also survived the battle. He agrees to assist Louise due to the ties the Brenier family had to the King and to assuage his own guilt at his part in the defeat. The news is that Benoit may be a prisoner of the English or dead.  Clinging to the belief that her brother is still alive, Louise sets off to find him. She meets  Hob, a young boy who carried his mortally wounded father from the battlefield, and Gabriel Torrance, a courtier she has met before in the company of Paniter. While crossing the dangerous borderlands the trio encounter the Crozier clan, who are involved in a feud of their own against the English. They also become involved in Louise’s search for Benoit.

Interspersed through the story is the revelation of what happened prior to and during the battle of Flodden. This is told in flashbacks through the eyes of various characters and has the effect of slowing down the narrative and confusing the reader as it jumps backwards and forwards in time, particularly if the dates heading each chapter are overlooked. However, I felt this background was necessary for me to understand why James IV instigated this battle and the utter devastation it caused the population of Scotland. The deaths of their King and many Scottish nobles left an infant king on the throne, which history tells us never bodes well for any country. This background information also helps to put into perspective Paniter's state of mind and the need to appoint blame for the defeat.

As Louise continues her search, rumours circulate that a spy is responsible for the defeat at Flodden. Suspicion falls on Benoit and the need to find him becomes more desperate as she realises someone else is looking for Benoit.

Though this novel has a scattering of historical figures, the story belongs to the fictional characters. Louise is a very likeable heroine: honest, loyal and courageous. The ambitious Gabriel Torrance is also likeable, but not quite what he seems. Benoit, despite his dislike of the King, is still prepared to do his duty for Scotland. Madam Brenier was my least favourite character: cold and selfish. And the plucky little dog,“the vixen”, was a great addition to the cast.

I enjoyed this debut novel from Rosemary Goring. A little slow to start After Flodden went on to be a great adventure story and gave me a glimpse into a period of history I knew very little about.

I'm looking forward to Louise's story continuing in Rosemary Goring's next novel, Dacre's War, which is out this month.

Dacre's War is a story of personal and political vengeance. Ten years after the battle of Flodden, Adam Crozier, head of his clan and of an increasingly powerful alliance of Borderers, learns for sure that it was Lord Thomas Dacre - now the most powerful man in the north of England - who ordered his father's murder. He determines to take his revenge. As a fighting man, Crozier would like nothing better than to bring Dacre down face to face but his wife Louise advises him that he must use more subtle methods. So he sets out to engineer Dacre's downfall by turning the machinery of the English court against him. A vivid and fast-moving tale of political intrigue and heartache, Dacre's War is set against the backdrop of the Scottish and English borders, a land where there is never any chance of peace.

An Australian at Waterloo: Lieutenant Andrew Douglas White

The Battle of Waterloo, 1815
William Sadler II [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

June 18th, 2015, is the bicentennary of The Battle of Waterloo. Unfortunately circumstances and “the tyranny of distance” prevent me from attending any of the events being held in Europe and England to mark this day, though there is an event being held closer to home tonight at the aptly named The Hero of Waterloo, the oldest existing public house (pub) in Sydney.

However, I thought I would make my own personal commemoration of this day in history by way of a Waterloo post and went searching for an Australian connection to this battle. I’d expected the usual ones: veterans of Waterloo transported as convicts or arriving as free settlers; serving soldiers being posted to the colony; suburbs, streets, landmarks and buildings named for the battle, such as the aforementioned pub, but I wasn’t expecting to find an Australian who was actually there on the battlefield. Imagine my excitement when I found that a Lieutenant Andrew Douglas White fought at Waterloo and came through unscathed.

Andrew Douglas White was born in Sydney Town in 1793. He was the illegitimate son of convict, Rachel Turner, and First Fleet naval surgeon, John White, who later became Surgeon-General for the whole colony of New South Wales.

While some sources say that John White took his fifteen month old son with him when he returned to England in 1794, other sources quote that Andrew was sent to England when he was six years old.

In 1812 Andrew joined the army as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers and was promoted to first lieutenant in 1813, the same year he was posted to the Continent with the British Army.

At Waterloo Andrew served as the junior officer of the Royal Engineer staff and afterwards continued to serve as part of the Army of Occupation until 1818.

In 1822, Andrew returned to Sydney to be reunited with his mother whom he hadn’t seen since childhood. He remained in Australia for the next two years, then returned to England. He received another promotion in 1826 to second captain and was put on half-pay in 1831.
 
Andrew returned to Sydney in 1833, married in 1835, but sadly died in November, 1837. His Waterloo medal, which he received in 1816, was willed to his mother, who only outlived him by a year.

Andrew Douglas White is buried in the Liverpool Pioneer Cemetery, New South Wales. His chest tomb bears the following inscription:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
CAPTAIN A.D. WHITE
OF THE ROYAL ENGINEERS
WHO DIED 27TH NOV. 1837
AGED 44 YEARS

The only Australian at Waterloo, he is also considered to be Australia's first returned serviceman. I'm sure a few glasses will be raised to his memory at The Hero of Waterloo tonight!