The Ashes of London (James Marwood & Cat Lovett, Book 1)

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With Charles I beheaded and Oliver Cromwell in his grave, King Charles II has claimed the throne. Now his reign is threatened by unrepentant republicans, the most radical being the Fifth Monarchists who want a Puritan theocracy with King Jesus as ruler. Trapped in these shenanigans are Catherine “Cat” Lovett, whose father fought against Charles I, and James Marwood, whose father, now pardoned, followed Cromwell. While seeking her father in the aftermath of the fire, Cat lives with her Alderley cousins, who resent and exploit her. Meantime Marwood has been extorted into working for Whitehall by a shadowy figure he knows as Williamson, a man who apparently has significant influence with the king, Privy Council, and Common Council. Williamson demands Marwood find Cat’s father, still a threat. Soon Cat and Marwood find themselves in danger. Taylor's ( The Silent Boy, 2015, etc.) characterizations are distinctive, with Marwood cautious, constantly worried his physically weak and senile father will be returned to prison; and Cat fascinated by architecture, pushing against social barriers to become assistant to Master Hakesby, an artist rendering Christopher Wren’s plans to rebuild St. Paul’s Cathedral. Taylor is marvelous at replicating a historical world that might otherwise be relegated to dusty history books, especially through his renditions of the era’s arch speech and his approach to class and status. Additionally, when a character remarks after an assault that “it was well known that young women were lascivious creatures,” Taylor again shows his talent for adding depth by weaving in examples of the historical subjugation and oppression of women. It’s worth noting that these fascinating minutiae interlaced into the narrative have no negative effect on focus or pace. The punditry team will include Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook, Phil Tufnell, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Vic Marks and Hartley, with Andy Zaltzman returning as scorer. July: Third one-day international, The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton - England won by 69 runs Marwood is the better-drawn; everyman, trying to do right, trying to advance in the world while being unwillingly dragged into murder, plots and political secrets. He relates much of the always believable action in the first person and his gentle, sometimes frustrated, relationship with his dementia-affected father provides a touching counterpoint to the world of envy, self-seeking, debauchery, machinations and brutality in which he finds himself.

Ashes of London: The first book in the brilliant The Ashes of London: The first book in the brilliant

Story Behind The Scent of Death". Upcoming4.me. 18 October 2013. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013 . Retrieved 18 October 2013. His most recent books are historical novels as well as crime fiction. They explore different historical eras: Bleeding Heart Square, is set in the 1930s mainly in London (2008); The Anatomy of Ghosts (2010), set in eighteenth-century Cambridge; The Scent of Death, set in British New York, 1778–80; and its sequel, The Silent Boy (2014), during the French Revolution.

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In the year 2007, “The Roth Trilogy” was made into a three part drama for television that starred Emilia Fox and Charles Dance. It was given the title “Fallen Angel”.

Ashes of London Review The Ashes of London Review

I found the descriptions of London vivid, convincing and authentic with every sense catered for so that I could not have been more impressed by the quality of research and realism in this brilliantly conveyed narrative. The Ashes of London has a filmic quality I thought was simply fabulous.Andrew Taylor (born 14 October 1951) is a British author best known for his crime and historical novels, which include the Lydmouth series, the Roth Trilogy and historical novels such as the number-one best-selling The American Boy and The Ashes of London. His accolades include the Diamond Dagger, Britain's top crime-writing award. From the No.1 best-selling author of The American Boy and The Silent Boy comes a brand new historical thriller set during the time of the Great Fire of London. The first of an exciting new series of novels.

The Royal Secret: The latest new historical crime thriller

England won the final one-day international in Taunton by 69 runs on Tuesday to take the 50-over series 2-1 and draw the series. In this elegant, engrossing novel set during an extraordinary period, Taylor skilfully presents a London in which so many must still pay the price for the Civil War and the murder of King Charles I' Sunday Express Also, one of the characters gets away with murder far too easily. This is a major issue since they are meant to be a major character, going forward and yet - we're supposed to accept a person who killed two people as the sleuth or co-sleuth in future? I don't even buy the justification for their actions, at least not in the 2nd and 3rd instance. What is to stop them just casually stabbing someone every time they get angry? Our Fathers’s Lies” is the third novel in the “Dougal” series and was released in the year 1985. There is some unfinished business that Dougal and his father have that they have to sort out. It has a little to do with Celia Prentisse, who is William’s ex-girlfriend. Her father, a historian, is found drowned and the whole thing is called a suicide. Celia does not buy it for a minute, because his clothes (which he abandoned) were found with a brand of gin he did not drink, and a short volume of Schopenhauer’s essays. That really is not a lot to go off of, but it is enough to send his father (and her godfather) British intelligence officer Major Ted Dougal, who is retired and William off on the case. They find an arsenic poisoning that happened in the 1930s and a court martial that is still classified from World War One. This was an interesting historical mystery/thriller set during the Restoration Era or more specifically in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London. The setting was really good, and so was the description of the region and area.

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This is terrific stuff: intelligent, engrossing and, in its evocation of a long-vanished London, wonderfully plausible.' Toby Clements, Daily Telegraph Enter the story’s two main protagonists. James Marwood is the son of a Republican, who lost everything when Charles II regained the throne. Catherine Lovett is daughter of a regicide – one of that small circle directly involved in the trail and execution of the king’s father. Both are affected and their actions shaped by forces beyond their control. She is a spirited teenager who dreams of becoming an architect and escaping an unsatisfactory marriage her aunt and uncle have arranged. Marwood, the son of another old puritan, is a minor civil servant whose only desire is to live down his notorious name and make his way in the world. When Cat is raped by her cousin, she tries to kill him and is forced into hiding. My goodness I enjoyed The Ashes of London. It opens dramatically and continues with a fast, sometimes brutal, pace that makes the plot fly past right up to the exciting end. I was entirely entranced by Andrew Taylor’s writing. His style is accessible and yet authentic for the era with direct speech especially well attuned to convey class, social standing and gender. Andrew Taylor grew up in East Anglia. He read English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and has an MA in Library, Archive and Information Science from University College London.

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People in the 1600s did think differently to the way we generally do and Taylor puts in the different factors: fear of negative opinions of the aristocracy, distrust of those whom you don't know, a total inability to defend oneself against an employer, caution where different political or religious opinions might obtain and fear of long term dangers. You can feel the need to fear most people, most events, and anything out of the regular. Add something like this incredible fire and the destruction it caused and it would not be surprising if there were a number of strokes and other collapses during those last months of 1666.

Andrew Taylor provides a masterclass in how to weave a well-researched history into a complex plot.' The Times, Books of the Year There were a couple of things that bothered me. The protaganists had a rather too modern outlook and view of the world, especially in their attitude to religion. Religious people were depicted as either mad or bad, with very little in between and I think this is a very over-simplistic and silly depiction, especiallly in the context of the time. London, September 1666. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. Even the impregnable cathedral of St. Paul’s is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. Among the crowds watching its destruction is James Marwood, son of a disgraced printer, and reluctant government informer. Even if you've read Pepys on the Great Fire you don't get as vivid a portrait as Taylor gives in this novel. The heat, the winds, the burning embers, the almost spontaneous flaming and the fact that it went on for months after the main fire was subdued are all vividly portrayed in this novel, which is apparently the first in a series.