Hello hello and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Rebel Daughter by Miranda Malins. Having really enjoyed her first book, The Puritan Princess, I knew this second book would be something special.
Synopsis
A country torn apart by war. A woman fighting for her future…
Ely, 1643. England is convulsed by Civil War, setting King against Parliament and neighbour against neighbour. As the turmoil reaches her family home in Ely, 19-year-old Bridget Cromwell finds herself at the heart of the conflict.
With her father’s star on the rise as a cavalry commander for the rebellious Parliament, Bridget has her own ambitions for a life beyond marriage and motherhood. And as fractures appear in her own family with the wilful, beautiful younger sister Betty, Bridget faces a choice: to follow her heart, or to marry for power and influence, and fight for a revolution that will change history…
A gripping evocation of the Civil War, and the hidden stories of women at the heart of power… Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory and Anne O’Brien
Review
Where her first book focused on the rise to glamour and fame that the youngest daughter of Cromwell encountered, here we look at the other end of the family, with focus on the eldest daughter, Bridget. We encounter her in The Puritan Princess as a highly religous and somewhat standoffish character, so I was incredibly curious to see more to her in this book.
Bridget is old enough to have experienced the mixed fortunes of the family, and it has cut her into a force to be reckoned with. She believes so strongly in her faith, and clings to it as such a vital part of herself, and finds companionship in both romance and religion in her husband. I found myself awed by her character in these page, and her refusal to bow down to the traditional roles of a woman in many little acts of rebellion.
While this is a work of fiction, the amount of research that has clearly been done to fill this book is amazing and humbling. All of the characters felt so very real, and more than that, 1600s England jumps right out in a multi-sensory wonder, inviting the reader to tumble back to the clamour of the Civil War camps, the tension of hushed meetings, the fear and danger of the birthing chamber.
Beautiful, poignaint, and a bright new flame in historical fiction, The Rebel Daughter is a worthy addition to any book shelf.
Thank you for stopping by today for this stop, and a huge thank you to Orion for bringing this book into my world. The Rebel Daughter is out now in paperback, audiobook and ebook.
And On She Reads 