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#BookReview The Tide Between Us by Olive Collins

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The Tide Between UsAbout the Book

1821: After the landlord of Lugdale Estate in Kerry is assassinated, young Art O’Neill’s innocent father is hanged and Art is deported to the cane fields of Jamaica as an indentured servant. On Mangrove Plantation he gradually acclimatises to the exotic country and unfamiliar customs of the African slaves, and achieves a kind of contentment. Then the new heirs to the plantation arrive.

His new owner is Colonel Stratford-Rice from Lugdale Estate, the man who hanged his father. Art must overcome his hatred to survive the harsh life of a slave and live to see the eventual emancipation which liberates his coloured children. Eventually he is promised seven gold coins when he finishes his service, but he doubts his master will part with the coins.

One hundred years later in Ireland, a skeleton is discovered beneath a fallen tree on the grounds of Lugdale Estate. By its side is a gold coin minted in 1870. Yseult, the owner of the estate, watches as events unfold, fearful of the long-buried truths that may emerge about her family’s past and its links to the slave trade. As the body gives up its secrets, Yseult realises she too can no longer hide.

Format: ebook, paperback (372 pages) Publisher: Poolbeg Press
Publication date: 7th September 2017 Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Tide Between Us on Goodreads

My Review

In the first and, for me, the most powerful part of the book Art O’Neill sets out to record, for the benefit of his children, the story of his life from the time he was transported to Jamaica from Ireland and forced to work as an indentured servant on the Mangrove Plantation. The author vividly depicts the cruelties and privations of the voyage and Art’s sense of unfamiliarity with his new environment. The book also exposes the harsh conditions and savage treatment meted out to slaves on the plantation.

Over the next decades Art experiences love, marriage and the birth of children but also the loss of loved ones. He is witness to turbulent events on the island, including slave rebellions and outbreaks of disease. Rising to the position of overseer, he faces moral dilemmas over the treatment of slaves under his control. And, underlying it all, is the ever present hatred he bears towards the Stratford-Rice family that at times seems to provide the only meaning in his life.

In the second part of the book, the reader sees events from the point of view of Yseult and, briefly, from the point of view of her daughter, Rachel. Yseult and Rachel have a rather strained relationship with Yseult dismissive of Rachel’s ideas for developing the Lugdale Estate. I’ll confess I found Yseult an unsympathetic character and difficult to warm to. Interspersed with events following the discovery of the skeleton are Yseult’s memories of her childhood including her friendship with Mary O’Neill whose family owned land adjoining Lugdale.

Eventually the unfinished stories of the characters from the first part of the book are brought to completion, revealing a tale of secrets, revenge and feuds continuing down through the generations.

You can read my earlier interview with Olive here in which she talks about the inspiration for The Tide Between Us, the historical background to the events in the book and her view that we must examine the past in order to fully understand the present.

I’d like to thank Olive for providing me with a review copy of The Tide Between Us and apologize for the length of time it’s taken to reach the top of my review pile.

In three words: Dramatic, authentic, powerful

Try something similar: Sugar Money by Jane Harris (read my review here)

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Olive CollinsAbout the Author

Olive Collins grew up in Thurles, Tipperary, and now lives in Kildare.

For the last fifteen years, she has worked in advertising in print media and radio. She has always loved the diversity of books and people. She has travelled extensively and still enjoys exploring other cultures and countries.

Her inspiration is the ordinary everyday people who feed her little snippets of their lives. It’s the unsaid and gaps in conversation that she finds most valuable.

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#BookReview Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy @Aria_Fiction

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Wolf of WessexAbout the Book

AD 838. Deep in the forests of Wessex, Dunston’s solitary existence is shattered when he stumbles on a mutilated corpse.

Accused of the murder, Dunston must clear his name and keep the dead man’s daughter alive in the face of savage pursuers desperate to prevent a terrible secret from being revealed.

Rushing headlong through Wessex, Dunston will need to use all the skills of survival garnered from a lifetime in the wilderness. And if he has any hope of victory against the implacable enemies on their trail, he must confront his long-buried past – becoming the man he once was and embracing traits he had promised he would never return to. The Wolf of Wessex must hunt again; honour and duty demand it.

Format: ebook                                              Publisher: Aria
Publication date: 14th November 2019 Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Wolf of Wessex on Goodreads

My Review

Dunston and Aedwen, daughter of the murdered man, make a great partnership as they set off on the trail of the ruthless killers and try to uncover the reasons behind the murder. Dunston’s foraging and tracking skills, learned from his father and grandfather, prove extremely useful and Aedwen becomes an eager pupil as the pair retrace the journey made by her peddler father in the days before his death.

As you would expect from the author, there are some terrifically exciting and vividly described action scenes in which Dunston’s fighting prowess, gained from his former membership of the band of warriors known as the Wolves of Wessex, is amply demonstrated. Plus there are some heart-stopping moments as Dunston and Aedwen become the hunted rather than the hunters.

The book is rich in period detail – of food, dress, domestic life, weaponry and so on – which really immerses the reader in the atmosphere of the time and gives a sense of authenticity. During their journey along the roads and through the dense forests of Wessex, Dunston and Aedwen encounter all manner of people – traders, hunters, farmers, charcoal burners, not to mention the feared ‘wolf-heads’.

I really enjoyed getting to know the two main characters. Aedwen, despite her traumatic experience, is brave and resourceful. She spurs on Dunston to join her in the quest for justice and comes to respect and depend upon him. Dunston faces a moral conflict between the oath he gave to his dying wife and what might be necessary to protect Aedwen and bring the murderers to justice – unleashing the wolf inside him once again.

Wolf of Wessex will keep fans of Matthew Harffy’s ‘Bernicia Chronicles’ series (such as Storm of Steel which I read and reviewed recently) satisfied until such time as they can get their hands on the next instalment. Equally, Wolf of Wessex with its mixture of action and mystery would make a brilliant introduction for readers new to the author’s writing. And perhaps, just perhaps, this isn’t the last we’ll hear of Dunston and Aedwen.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Aria via NetGalley.

In three words: Action-packed, exciting, mystery

Try something similar: Vindolanda by Adrian Goldsworthy (read my review here)

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Harffy_MatthewAbout the Author

Matthew grew up in Northumberland where the rugged terrain, ruined castles and rocky coastline had a huge impact on him.

He now lives in Wiltshire, England, with his wife and their two daughters.

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