Dark Tides
A Novel
Book - 2020
Philippa Gregory's new historical novel tracks the rise of the Tidelands family in London, Venice, and New England. Midsummer Eve 1670. Two unexpected visitors arrive at a shabby warehouse on the south side of the River Thames. The first is a wealthy man hoping to find the lover he deserted twenty-one years before. James Avery has everything to offer, including the favour of the newly restored King Charles II, and he believes that the warehouse's poor owner Alinor has the one thing his money cannot buy--his son and heir. The second visitor is a beautiful widow from Venice in deepest mourning. She claims Alinor as her mother-in-law and has come to tell Alinor that her son Rob has drowned in the dark tides of the Venice lagoon. Alinor writes to her brother Ned, newly arrived in faraway New England and trying to make a life between the worlds of the English newcomers and the American Indians as they move toward inevitable war. Alinor tells him that she knows--without doubt--that her son is alive and the widow is an imposter. Set in the poverty and glamour of Restoration London, in the golden streets of Venice, and on the tensely contested frontier of early America, this is a novel of greed and desire: for love, for wealth, for a child, and for home.
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Publisher:
New York : Atria Books, ♭2020.
ISBN:
9781501187186
Characteristics:
452 pages :,illustrations ;,24 cm.
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Add a CommentPhillipa Gregory has an excellent sequel to "Tidelands," that ranges between Restoration London and Venice, and across the sea to the frontiers of the New England colony. All of the main characters continue to live with the tides (whether the Thames or the Canal Grande or the Connecticut River), and wrestle with the ebb and flow of women's place in society, of siblings and family, of starting fresh to create or restore a new world, and of all of the many ways we need to ask who we are and what are our deepest allegiances. Characters live "between water and land, between tribal lands and English village, between one world and another." As always, her narrative is rich in historical detail, especially conscious of historical women, but grippingly readable.
Not my favourite Philippa Gregory book. I found the characters to be silly and unbelievable especially Livia, the main villain in the book
Escape to Restoration London.
Don’t worry. If you haven’t read the first book in the Fairmiles series, you will still enjoy this book. I love a book with a clear villain in it and Livia, a widow from Venice, who has come to live with her mother-in-law and family in London. Livia is a conniver and she’s out to take advantage of her in-laws as she seeks to sell antiquities. But Livia fails to recon with her mother-in-law who doubts Livia’s tale and send her intelligent granddaughter to Venice to find Livia’s husband. While Livia ensnares people in her trap, a second story is taking place in New England. Ned, a son for Grandmother Alinor, has fled to New England because of his ties to the Roundheads and Oliver Cromwell. While I’m not sure how this fit into this story, other than to continue the characters from the first book, I enjoyed reading about a Puritan sympathetic to the Native way of life in the 1670’s. But the best part of the book is the end when granddaughter, Sarah, shows her iron strength and Livia gets her come-uppance. I really enjoyed this book. So often, historical fiction set during the 1600’s focuses on royalty and this book focused on strong women finding a place for themselves in business. I hope there’s a third book in the series, focusing on Sarah and where she directs the family fortunes.
Read Tidelands, read Dark Tides next