Author: Lisa Chaplin
I am enjoying this book very much. I wasn't sure when I saw how small the print was plus the length of the book but it is such a good story and so well told.
Lisa develops her characters well you can almost see exactly what they look like from the descriptions she gives and the other characters thoughts about each other.
Lisa's main characters Lisbeth and "Duncan" are well worth getting to know as she slowly develops their relationship. The background on Lisbeth is well developed but Duncan is a mystery which makes the book that much more intriguing.
Lisbeth is from a very well placed and wealthy family in England. She has her mother's beauty and her father's willfulness. When she is 18 she falls in love with a man who she runs off with to France where he abuses her to the point of almost killing her.
The story takes place at the beginning of the Bonapart days in France and the history is quite interesting. The author mixes historical characters with her characters making the story interesting, exciting, and educational.
At the point in the story I am writing this review "Duncan" has rescued Lisbeth from a tavern that is a place for spies to meet and exchange information. The girls that work there buy and sell information and "other" things to make the money just to live. Lisbeth is a serving girl in the Tavern because her husband, who is described as blond with curls, very dashing and handsome has basically sold her to the tavern keeper after abusing her and keeping their son. Her husband Alain is cruel and kills and or tortures with out a second thought.
One night, as Lisbeth is making her way home, two drunken men attack her and suddenly "Duncan" appears and rescues her from them only to get her into all sorts of trouble and pain before he tells her what it is he needs from her. Lisbeth has a son born in her painful marriage and will do anything to have him rescued from her cruel husband and brought to her. This book is full of intrigue and adventure and I am looking forward to finishing it to find out what happens to Lisbeth and Duncan and Fulton the American inventor who can save England if he has the right motivation! Will Lisbeth provide that it remains to be seen!
I give this book four stars out of five taking away one only because of the small print and the length of story. Thanks to Eileen for this review.
Synopsis: In the tradition of Jennifer Robson, comes this compelling debut that weaves the fascinating story of a young woman who must risk her life as a spy to help stop Napoleon's invasion of Great Britain in the winter of 1803.
Though the daughter of an English baronet, Lisbeth has defied convention by eloping to France with her new husband. But when he breaks her heart by abandoning her, she has nowhere to turn and must work in a local tavern. Her only hope for the future is to be reunited with her young son who is being raised by her mother-in law.
A seasoned spy known by his operatives as Tidewatcher, Duncan apprenticed under Lisbeth's father and pledged to watch over his mentor's only daughter while he searches the Channel region for evidence that Bonaparte has built a fleet to invade Britain. But unpredictable Lisbeth challenges his lifelong habit of distance.
Eccentric, brilliant American inventor Robert Fulton is working on David Bushnell's "turtle"--the first fully submersible ship--when he creates brand-new torpedo technology, which he plans to sell to the French Navy. But when his relationship with Bonaparte sours, he accepts Tidewatcher's help to relocate to the French side of the Channel, but he refuses to share his invention. With an entire army encamped in the region, blocking off all access, Tidewatcher must get that submersible, along with someone who knows how to use it, to uncover Bonaparte's great secret.
When Lisbeth is asked to pose as a housekeeper and charm Fulton so she can learn to use the submersible before the invasion fleet sails, she will be forced to sacrifice herself for her country--but is she willing to sacrifice her heart when she's already lost it to another...?
A fast-paced, deeply-researched, and richly imagined novel, The Tide Watchers explores a long-hidden, chapter of Bonaparte's history.
Paperback, 320 pages
Expected publication: June 30th 2015 by William Morrow & Company
TLC Book Tours -
I hope you continue enjoying this book right through to the end!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour.