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| Welcome to my Blog! Wander through wonderful worlds real and fictional, meet interesting people, visit exciting places and find a few good books to enjoy along the way! |
my room was just to the right of where the photographer
(©Alison Morton) was standing
I had an enjoyable weekend recently at Dartington Hall, South Devon, attending the Historical Novel Society's bi-annual UK conference. (Dartington Hall is a fabulous place to visit if you're interested in history.) Heading for home I shared a taxi to Totnes Station - and met with fellow Nautical adventure writer, Jennifer Newbold, (Ifm only we'd met during the conference LOL). Anyway I invited Jennifer onto my blog...
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| Jennifer Newbold |
About Jennifer:
I've been a lot of things in my life, starting out in stage, TV, and film, moving on to production management, and finally becoming "Chief Herder of Cats" in the Newbold Family Partnership. I have always been a lover of history, and I'm a living-history educator and historical-fiction author. I write about 18th-century British history, but I live in Massachusetts with my husband, two adult sons, a 98lb Labrador, (now only a single pirate cat), and a pair of robot vacuum cleaners named Nelson and Victory.
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| About the Books |
The Private Misadventures of Nell Nobody
Nell has had as much as she can take. At the very end of her endurance, she steals away from her home and her marriage, and as "Ned Buckley," joins the British Army.
Sent to the Mediterranean in 1794, Ned is assigned by his commanding officers to work as a liaison during the siege of Corsica, to a naval captain who they consider a thorn in their side. His name is Horatio Nelson.
Ned remains with Nelson for three years, and witnesses Nelson's trajectory towards glory. But an enemy is stalking Ned, and that enemy isn't French. Ned's past may send him spiralling down into disgrace... and the distinct possibility of his own destruction.
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ON WOUNDS OF WOE
Recently ejected from the British military, Nell Anson rebuilds her life in eighteenth-century Gibraltar. She has a new baby, a new home, a new business partner, and a new tenant, the handsome but reserved Major Howard. She thinks her contribution to Britain’s war effort is over.
But peace is no more in Nell’s future than it is in Britain’s. When her hard-won prosperity is threatened, Nell and Major Howard, with Nell’s son Ned, escape to Naples. There Nell re-encounters the Hero of the Nile, a man with whom she has a complicated past.
In the weeks and months to follow, Nell will be drawn irretrievably back into the war against France. Crisscrossing the Mediterranean with a young child and an unlikely partner, she will do battle with instability, hardship, book ciphers, and an emotional conflict over two men that she never saw coming. When Nell’s past confronts her in a shabby Neapolitan market, she will be tested to the very limits of her strength and sanity.
Buy via Jennifer's website:
https://jennifernewbold.com/where-to-buy-my-books/
OR
The Private Misadventures of Nell Nobody on Apple Books
On Wounds of Woe at Barnes&Noble
Find Jennifer on
Twitter @JennNewbold https://x.com/JennNewbold
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| My Thoughts |
I only started reading The Misadventures of Nell Nobody a few days ago, so I'm only a few chapters in... but what a fascinating few chapters they're turning out to be! I took to Nell (Ned) straight away, even though the book is present tense which I'm not usually too keen on, because I find this style is like I'm being talked at - told, not shown what is happening - but in this case Ms Newbold has mastered the technique, and easily takes you into the lead character's narrative. Nell/Ned's voice is so clear I feel like I'm there, watching and listening as she/he is moving and doing. So, well written, intriguing and so far, very entertaining as a good read.
The research in all aspects seems to be spot on, the characterisation well done and the action compellingly real. I've read several seafaring books where the lead female character is disguised as a young man, and while some of them are good reads they are all a bit 'samey' and predictable. Nell/Ned is different, I think because her/his character is immediately believable. (There were a lot more women serving in the British Navy and army at the time of Nelson and during the Napoleonic War than we give credit for.)
I confess I am not a huge Horatio Nelson fan, but I'm liking Ms Newbold's portrait of him as a younger sea captain before his HMS Victory fame; the way she subtly draws his obvious gifted talent for knowing what to do and when to do it, his mastery of how to sail a ship to full proficiency - and thereby creating the legend that is Nelson - is well done.
Nell/Ned gradually reveals her/his background story as the story progresses, I'm looking forward to discovering more about this interesting character. My first impression? Nell/Ned could easily be a female version and rival to Richard Sharpe, written by Bernard Cornwell.
So far, thoroughly enjoyable...I think even though I have a lot more to read yet I'll give this one 5 stars.
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You might also like
books written by Helen Hollick
Website: https://helenhollick.net/
Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick
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The SEA WITCH VOYAGES
nautical adventures set during the Golden Age of Piracy
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The Jan Christopher Cosy Mysteries set in the 1970s |
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THE SAXON SERIES
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| The story of the events that led to The Battle of Hastings in 1066 Harold the King (UK edition) I Am The Chosen King (US edition) 1066 Turned Upside Down an anthology of 'What If'' tales |
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| The Forever Queen (US edition) a USA TODAY BESTSELLER A Hollow Crown (UK edition) |
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KING ARTHUR
The Pendragon's Banner Trilogy
The Boy Who became a Man:
Who became a King:
Who became a Legend...
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THE PENDRAGON's BANNER TRILOGY |
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| US editions |
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Historical Stories of Exile by 13 popular authors Cryssa Bazos, Anna Belfrage, Elizabeth Chadwick, Cathie Dunn, J.G. Harlond, Helen Hollick, Loretta Livingstone, Amy Maroney Alison Morton, Charlene Newcomb, Elizabeth St.John, Marian L Thorpe, Annie Whitehead. With an introduction by Deborah Swift |
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| Amazon: FREE ebook! |
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NON-FICTION
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Helen