Thursday 6 April 2017

The Tyrant's Shadow - Antonia Senior

A court without a kingdom, a kingdom without a king...

England, 1652: since Charles I's execution the land has remained untethered, the people longing for change. When Patience Johnson meets preacher Sidrach Simmonds, she believes her destiny is to become his wife and help him spread the Lord's word. Simmonds sees things quite differently. Patience's brother Will has been bestowed the job of lawyer to Oliver Cromwell. Tasked with aiding England's most powerful man, he must try to overcome his grief after the loss of his wife. Then Sam Challoner, Will's brother-in-law, returns unannounced after years in exile, forcing Will and Patience to question their loyalties: one to a ruler, the other, a spouse. Who do they choose to save? Themselves, their loved ones or their country... 

My thoughts:
Set in the Time of Cromwell, yeah, I do not like that guy. It seemed like a really messy time. Everyone hating each other, well a civil war does that. They are trying to build a new world, but at the same time there is tension everywhere. Political and religious ones.

And in this world we have Will who lost his wife during those dark days. He honestly just tried to get by, and he did work near Cromwell so he kept his head down. His sister Patience who lives with him and she was the naive one who thought the best of everyone but will learn her lesson. But I did like her. She had a transformation. As for the preacher she marries, I did not like him. He was a zealot. There is also a third POV, Sam, Will's brother in law, and the one who wants the king back on the throne. I liked this POVS, the one who just wants to live his life, the one who sees so much more in life, and the one who wants to change the country.

Cromwell is trying to make the country better. People are still fighting. The court is in exile. We do get both worlds thanks to the different POVS. But it really is about the characters.

Conclusion:
It was an interesting time. I would for sure not have liked to live there. But it sure brings the drama. There are people to like, and people to dislike.

Cover
Nice

Hardcover, 368 pages
Expected publication: April 6th 2017 by Corvus
Historical fiction
For review

40 comments:

  1. I agree it does not sound like a fun era to live in.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Definitely does not sound like a time when I would want to be alive!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the blue of the cover! (And apologies if you get 6 variations of this comment - google and I are apparently fighting over multiple account sign-in today.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I completely get people who want to see the good in people. I tend to be that way, until I'm not. LOL. I'm also not a fan of zealots either. Those people are crazy. Glad you enjoyed this one.

    Melanie @ Hot Listens & Rabid Reads

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a nice thing to be, but some people are just bad, how good they try to pretend they are

      Delete
  5. "Everyone hating each other" sounds a bit like the time we're having now. Lol.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh agreed. I won't be making requests to travel back there anytime soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are other times that would not be pleasant to live in, but those I'd still like to see

      Delete
  7. I know so little about this time period, I should read this to find out more.

    ReplyDelete
  8. While it's not my kind of book, I'm glad you liked it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't know much about this time period either, but seems like good for drama in a difficult time?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was certainly a period that brought the drama

      Delete
  10. I do love a story where the focus is the characters.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This sounds like a really interesting time period to read about but I am very glad that I live in this time period.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I don't think I've read anything in this time period. Sounds interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good point, many of the most interesting historical eras to read about in books are not one anyone would actually want to live in.

    ~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Everyone was just so SO! I was all you people scare me. Though I confess I was a royalist here

      Delete
  14. I hope she got to ditch the preacher or that he had a transformation too!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I never read a lot of this period so it's interesting too

    ReplyDelete
  16. I understand the need to see the good in everyone. I tend to give persons the benefit of the doubt, well that is until their true colours are revealed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's an admirable trait, I just wish she had not trusted that man

      Delete
  17. Not my fav era and those damn puritans... But this sounds like a good one.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sighs...Cromwell...little weasel

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yeah, no, I don't think I would have cared to live then either. lol

    ReplyDelete

Contributors

Copyright © 2008-2020 Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell All Rights Reserved. Proudly powered by Blogger

  © Blogger template Starry by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008 Modified by Lea

Back to TOP