A Noble Cunning : The Countess and the Tower

A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower by Patricia Bernstein 266 pages

“Based on a true story of Winifred Maxwell, a Catholic in Anti-Catholic England.”

As the novel opens, Bethan Glentaggart, Countess of Clarencefield, is pulled from her bed by loud banging on the front door.  A group of men barge in, accusing her of hiding a Catholic priest in her home. The men search high and low yet cannot find their quarry. I found myself holding my breath as the men tracked in mud and snow, peering into private places and generally making a mess of things. Luckily Bethan’s husband, Gavin, was not at home and unluckily her children and servants were home in their beds.  I really liked that Bernstein dropped the reader into the middle of the action.

In the following chapters, readers learn that is 1710 in Scotland. The Catholic religion has been banned, yet those who were practicing their religion continued to do so, hiding chapels in their homes and attending masses often held in unusual places.

I was really confused as Bernstein explained who was king, who should have been king, and what was happening and who sided with who. It made my head spin, and I wanted to give up, but I trudged ahead. I’m glad I did.

Gavin gathered the men of the region to go a Crusade-like mission to restore the rightful king. Unfortunately, the king’s men were better equipped and outnumbered Gavin’s throng. If the rebels weren’t killed in battle, they were taken to the London Tower.

Jails weren’t like they are today. The men had to purchase their meals, water, blankets, and everything they needed. If a prisoner had no money, they often died of malnutrition or lack of sanitary conditions. An eye-opening experience for this reader.

The last third of the book was Bethan’s determination to get the monies Gavin needed to purchase fresh foods.

As I watched Bethan take charge, I admired her strength and determination. Many times, I found myself holding my breath, worried that Bethan would not be able to succeed in her mission.

My suggestion to anyone who plans (and you should) read this, study Appendix B first. It’s a Chart of Stuarts and Possible Heirs to the Throne of Great Britain. If I had found that sooner, I probably wouldn’t not have struggled so much early in the story.

I enjoyed reading “A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower,” even though this is not preferred time period or setting. I loved the history and the escapades that the characters found themselves embroiled in. “A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower,” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

Easter 1916

Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion by Charles Townshend, 359 pages

One hundred years ago, a small force of armed men (and a surprisingly large number of women auxiliaries) seized control of the center of Dublin on Easter Monday and proclaimed the birth of the Irish Republic.  The British authorities, at first taken entirely by surprise, soon responded vigorously, and within a week the rebels were dead, under arrest, or in hiding.  The surviving ringleaders were almost all executed as traitors to the King.  But many Irish continued to recognize the Republic as the legitimate government of Ireland, and the Easter Rising became the inspiration for a guerrilla war which led to independence - though not as a republic - five years later.

A history of the Rising is difficult for a number of reasons.  The near-mythic status of the Rising as the founding event of Irish Independence and the subsequent prominence of participants like Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera clouded the memory of what actually happened even for people who were there.  Furthermore, the secrecy surrounding the planning of the insurrection and the subsequent deaths of everyone involved in that planning leave unanswered key questions - most importantly, whether the planners understood at the outset that the Rising had no real chance of success, and therefore whether it was a doomed struggle or blood sacrifice.

Townshend is fully cognizant of these difficulties, manages to overcome many of them, and is candid when they are insurmountable.  One of his central concerns is placing the Easter Rising into the broader context of World War I.  Obviously, for the Irish nationalists "England's difficulty" was "Ireland's opportunity", but this created tremendous pressure among nationalists who believed it was "now or never", and splintered the nationalist movement between those who believed in a self-governed Ireland within the UK and the republicans who demanded total separation.  The War also aggravated the economic differences between Ireland and England, while the simultaneous establishment and suspension of Home Rule eviscerated the moderates' support, and the continuing threat of mass conscription not only contributed to the radicalization of the populace but also the Catholic clergy who supported Pope Benedict XV's calls for peace.  Perhaps most important historically, the War conditioned the British response to the Rising, transforming the perception of it from a primarily Irish affair into an attack on the UK as a whole in collusion with her continental enemies.  The result was a broad crackdown that further weakened the moderates and strengthened the republicans.

Overall, Townshend is remarkably successful in balancing the many revisionist views on the Rising and its key figures, and is commendably willing to admit that some facts are unknown and some will never be known.

To Purge This Land with Blood

To Purge This Land with Blood: A Biography of John Brown by Stephen B Oates, 361 pages

"He said if a man stood between him and what he considered right, he would take his life as coolly as he would eat his breakfast."  So spoke Mahala Doyle about the man who ordered her husband and two sons hacked to death outside their Kansas cabin for the crime of supporting the anti-abolitionist Law and Order Party.  The man was John Brown, and he had come to Kansas to fight against slavery in the name of God and Justice.  A friend of Frederick Douglass, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Thoreau, in 1859 Brown and a handful of supporters attacked the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia - the spark intended to ignite a slave revolt throughout the South.  Brown was captured, tried for treason and murder, convicted, and executed.

Was Brown a hero who fought, unsuccessfully but selflessly, for an end to centuries of slavery?  Or was he a madman, a religious fanatic, a bitter failure driven by hatred?  In Stephen Oates' telling, he was a little bit of both, and perhaps also something more.  On the morning of his execution, Brown prophesied that "the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with Blood."  His life and death continue to pose questions about when violence is a suitable response to injustice.

The Caller

The Caller by Juliet Marillier, 437 pages

This seems to be the final book in the Shadowfell series.  Neryn still needs to see the final two Guardians to finish her training as a Caller.  Once this is done, she hopes to be ready for the fight against the current king, Keldec, who has been a tyrant for several years and is on the verge of completely destroying their country of Alban.  Unfortunately, Keldec has acquired a Caller of his own.  Unsure of how this will affect their fight, Neryn and the rest of the rebels forge forward with their plans and hope that when midsummer comes everyone is ready and that they will be able to persevere over the king.  Neryn also hopes that not too many of her friends will die and that at the end, perhaps she and Flint can find a way to be together.  This was a pretty good fantasy series that many teens will enjoy discovering.