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    A Crowning Mercy
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    A Crowning Mercy
    Unavailable
    A Crowning Mercy
    Audiobook17 hours

    A Crowning Mercy

    Written by Bernard Cornwell and Susannah Kells

    Narrated by Judith Franklin

    3.5/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this audiobook

    In a country at war, a secret inheritance reveals a dark conspiracy …

    On a sunlit afternoon in seventeenth-century Dorset, a young girl falls in love with a stranger.

    But when her Puritan brother tries to force her into an unbearable marriage she flees, taking with her only the gift left to her by her unknown father, a gold pendant sealed by an engraving of an axe, and the words: St Matthew.

    One of four intricately wrought seals – each holding a secret within – it can, when combined with the other three, bring great wealth and power. This power is her true inheritance – but it’s a perilous legacy others will kill for …

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 28, 2014
    ISBN9780007599059
    Unavailable
    A Crowning Mercy
    Author

    Bernard Cornwell

    BERNARD CORNWELL is the author of over fifty novels, including the acclaimed New York Times bestselling Saxon Tales, which serve as the basis for the hit Netflix series The Last Kingdom. He lives with his wife on Cape Cod and in Charleston, South Carolina.

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    Reviews for A Crowning Mercy

    3.5/5

    67 ratings4 reviews

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    • 2/5
      One afternoon during the 1640's when King Charles I of England's Royalist forces are at war with Parliament's Roundheads a pretty young girl, illicitly swimming naked in a stream, is surprised a passing stranger. Her parents call her Dorcas, but he calls her Campion and she immediately falls in love with him.So when an unbearable prospective husband is forced upon her, Dorcas flees to seek her lover, taking with her the one gift left to her by her unknown father- a golden seal.There are four of these jewels, each owned by a stranger. If one person can gather them all then that person will have access to great wealth and power. This is Campion's inheritance.I am normally a great fan of Bernard Cornwell's books and this one was supposedly written in collaboration with Susannah Kells (which I believe is the pen-name of Cornwell's wife). I rather suspect that it was she who did most of the writing and the publishers cynically exploiting her husband's fame. The historical background was well researched and the plot if rather absurd moved along at a decent pace, but the characterisation was poor and stereotypical, whilst I wasn't ever tempted to throw in the towel the final supposed twist so transparent I found it laughable. All in all I found this one a dud and I won't be rushing out looking for any more in the series.
    • 4/5
      Set during the 1640s when King Charles I of England was at war with his own people, this story follows the up and downs of a beautiful woman with an ugly name: Dorcas Slythe. Not surprisingly, when she meets her dream man, who adores her but hates her name, she readily agrees to being called Campion after a beautiful flower.Campion is raised as a Puritan. Her unloving father beats her with his belt whenever she does anything he considers as sinful. Yet he’s hiding something from her; something that holds great riches and a means of escape from her miserable home. At length Campion discovers her father’s secret and leaves for London. For the rest of the story she experiences a mixture of great happiness and humiliating horrors. The two authors have done a good job of intermixing themes. Some readers won’t like this whilst others – including me – will appreciate the blend of different tones. In some instances they do this in the same scene. For example, early on in the book Campion’s enemies are trying to force her to marry an ugly man. During the service, while she’s being manhandled by someone she knows would rape her with pleasure, there’s also a comedy being acted out with the drunk priest. Again, some readers may not like this, but I found it high entertainment and cleverly written.I did consider some sections as dull but these were few. On the whole I thought this was an excellent tale, well-plotted, blending humour and horror to great effect, featuring a likeable heroine along with several strong characters.
    • 5/5
      A wonderfully exciting read with a great twist in the tail
    • 4/5
      You can tell this is by a younger Cornwell - the characters are less rounded and interesting than in his later novels and are rather simplistic stereotypes - the innocent young girl, dashing Cavalier hero, strict Puritan father, strict and sadistic Puritan brother.