Review of Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris

‘From what is it they flee?’
He took a while to reply. By the time he spoke the men had gone inside. He said quietly, ‘They killed the King.’

1660, General Edward Whalley and Colonel William Goffe, father- and son-in-law, cross the Atlantic. They are on the run and wanted for the murder of Charles I. Under the provisions of the Act of Oblivion, they have been found guilty in absentia of high treason.

In London, Richard Nayler, secretary of the regicide committee of the Privy Council, is tasked with tracking down the fugitives. He’ll stop at nothing until the two men are brought to justice. A reward of £100 hangs over their heads – for their capture, dead or alive.

Act of Oblivion

Robert Harris

Hutchinson Heinemann

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Stephen Litten

The Indemnity and Oblivion Act of 1660, following the restoration of the English Monarchy, resulted in the pursuit and prosecution of those guilty of the regicide of Charles I. Naturally, the accused viewed the probable punishment, hanging, drawing and quartering and your head on a spike for all to see, with a bit of alarm and decided hiding abroad was a good idea. Two of these gentlemen were Edward Whalley and his son-in-law William Goffe. And their hiding place was New England.

Act of Oblivion is a novelised telling of history in the same vein as Schindler’s Ark. All the characters
are attested in history, with the exception of one: Richard Naylor, the man in charge of the hunt.Harris created him on the rational, if there was a manhunt, there ought to have been someone in charge. Naylor certainly comes across as a driven character, out to revenge the death of his pregnant wife due to the behaviour of Whalley and Goffe. These two have contrasting natures. Goffe appears to be a religious fanatic, known as Praying William to contemporaries. Whalley was apparently not as fervent in his beliefs.

Harris’s novel covers the period from 1660, when the two men flee to Massachusetts colony, to 1679, the last known mention of Willian Goffe. Harris covers the sliding support that various policies and religious factions enjoy: revenge for the King, millenarianism in some of the Puritan congregations, Cromwellian transportation of “undesirables.” Harris also demonstrates the effect of patchy and slow communication between the colonies and the metropolis. Interestingly, Harris doesn’t mention John Dixwell, another regicide who also hid in New Haven Colony alongside Goffe and Whalley.

I enjoyed this novel/novelised history. While I knew that several of the regicides were disinterred,
tried and convicted and their corpses dismembered, I had forgotten about the initial fervour for
revenge. Indeed, those that escaped the revenge are often completely ignored in the discussion of
history. I recommend this book for those with an interest in both English history and American
Colonial history. Well worth the read. Thank you to Penguin Random House for the review copy.

Review of Once Upon a Wickedness – Fleur Beale

Ten-year-old orphan Dance Violet might have had a short and troubled history, but it hasn’t dampened her warrior spirit – not in the slightest. And that’s a good thing, because something is rotten in her village, and no one else has the courage to try to put things right.

People have been disappearing overnight and the village children are left to fend for themselves under the tyrannical schoolteachers Murk and Misselthwaite. There are whispers that the trouble started ten years ago when a beautiful but wicked woman – ‘the golden-haired hellion’ – appeared at a wedding.
Dance has some powerful gifts that she’s only just beginning to discover, and while she knows it’s dangerous to ask questions, she’s determined to find this golden-haired hellion – even if it means getting disappeared.

When Dance finds her, the golden-haired hellion had better look out.

Review of Once Upon a Wickedness – Fleur Beale

Puffin

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jacqui Smith

This is essentially a modern fairy tale. The setting is timeless, though the school that plays a major part in the story adds something of a Victorian flavour to it. It’s the story of Durance Vile, better known as Dance Violet, and what happens when the wise woman who has been her guardian passes away, and Dance has to go to school. In the way of such things, the teachers are horrible, the children brave, and behind it all is an evil that must be defeated before all can be put to rights. Oh, and there is a dragon.

The book is beautifully illustrated by Lily Uivel, and that does add to the charm. I did find the use of ‘happy thoughts’ a bit twee, but cynical old me is hardly the intended audience for this story, and I should think that the message of thinking positively is entirely appropriate for the older children it is meant for. Just make surely there is a dictionary handy for the child, and don’t over-think it.

Review of Betrayal – Lesley Pearse

Trapped in an abusive marriage, Eve knows she must escape her abuser and protect her children. But when she finds the courage to leave and tries to teach him a lesson, everything goes horribly wrong. Eve loves her children but now she carries a terrible burden that she dares not share. Has she betrayed her and her children’s futures?

Review of Betrayal – Lesley Pearse

Michael Joseph

Supplied by Penguin Random House New Zealand

Reviewed by Jan Butterworth

In 1998 Eve is unhappily married to Don, a charming man in public but an abusive in private. Trapped by fear, she stayed for her kids as she got nowhere to go and no money to support them. One night the beating leaves her lying on the floor all night and she decides ‘enough is enough’, it was hurting her kids. She goes to the police to lay charges and is given the name of a solicitor specializing in women’s rights. An appointment is quickly arranged before Eve is taken to hospital by a sympathetic police nurse. At the appointment, things moved at break-neck speed and Eve and the kids left for a women’s refuge that afternoon, while the solicitor filed for restraining orders and possession of the house.

At the refuge she could rest and relax, slowly rebuilding her confidence. After a few weeks, Eve and her kids returned home and boarded with an elderly lady while the legal fights about the house were played out. She started making curtains with a view to building a business and gained quite a few clients. Finally Eve gained possession of the house and they moved back in, where she concentrated on building a future. Her long-term goal was to become an interior designer, sell the house, and move to the coast, so she went on courses and expanded her upholstery business in order to realise her dream. But Don couldn’t stand her success…..

\He kept sneaking onto the property at night to sleep in his garden shed and would yell abuse at her in the street. Until one night Eve woke up to find the garden shed on fire. Drunk, Don fell asleep and knocked over a candle, igniting the blaze that killed him. A horrific tragedy but she is now free to begin building a successful life for her and her children. But Eve has a dark secret weighing her down……

The plot follows Eve as she escapes from an abusive marriage and spreads her wings, making a new life for her and her kids and achieving success in both her personal and professional lives. When clouds gather though, she’s strong enough to overcome them. I really enjoyed this book and seeing Eve blossom, though I thought she was an idiot in her treatment of Tom. Later events did surprise me and I was slightly disappointed with her confession in the end- she shouldn’t have said anything! A good read that doesn’t require to much concentration to follow. A must-read for Lesley Pearse fans.