Taking Liberties: 2 (Makepeace Hedley) - Softcover

Norman, Diana

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0425198154 ISBN 13: 9780425198155

Publisher: Berkley Books, 2004

Synopsis

From the author also known as Ariana Franklin-the thrilling sequel to A Catch of Consequence that "moves at a cracking pace."( London Times)

Makepeace Hedley is frantic when she learns that her young daughter, sailing home to England from the rebelling American colonies, has been taken prisoner by the British. With her usual determination, Makepeace sets out for Plymouth to rescue her child.

And when Countess Diana Stacpoole is asked by an American friend to help his son, also a British prisoner, Diana responds quickly and leaves her genteel past behind.

In the chaos of wartime Plymouth the two women face social outrage, public scandal, and even arrest. Amidst docks and prisons, government bureaucracy and brothels, they forge an unlikely and unshakable friendship. And in freeing others, they discover their own splendid liberty.

About this title

Review:

‘Diana Norman creates an exhilarating sense of these times and their possibilities.’ Daily Telegraph

‘A sparkling historical novel.’ Sunday Tribune

‘Diana Norman wears her erudition lightly...Moves at a cracking pace with a stunning denouement.’ The Times

From the Back Cover:

She had been a dignified wife, ever mindful of her husband's status, even if she could not respect the man. But now, however young, she was the Dowager Countess, so Diana felt that she had earned her freedom. When a friend now living in the American colonies appealed for help to find her missing son, caught up in the colonial struggle, she was determined to respond whatever her family felt.

Diana Stacpoole's search takes her to Plymouth, only to meet another and very different woman searching for her young daughter. Outraged at the conditions in which the American prisoners – not being given prisoner of war status, the non-combatants of their era – were kept, the two women from such opposite backgrounds form an unlikely alliance to improve the prison conditions, outwit the authorities and assist their friends to escape.

But how can the highly controlled aristocrat, with her assumptions of privilege and respect come to terms with Makepeace Hedley, the former innkeeper and now outspoken owner of one of England's richest mines, with her passion for liberty and freedom for all? The changes in both of them allow them to become remarkable friends, defying family pressure, social outrage and political scandal, to ally themselves with libertarians, French prisoners, English smugglers and American escapers. Finding liberty for others leads them to splendid liberty for themselves.

'Taking Liberties' is an unusual novel and a delight to read. It may be set in a historical period but the contemporary echoes are vivid and clear. Diana Norman has written an excellent successor to 'A Catch of Consequence'.

PRAISE FOR DIANA NORMAN AND HER BOOKS:

"Diana Norman is quite simply splendid."
'Frank Delaney'

"Cracking historical novels."
'Daily Mirror'

"Drama, passion, intrigue and danger. I loved it and didn't want it to end ever."
'Sunday Times'

"It's all good, dirty fun shot through with more serious insights into the historical treatment of women and perhaps, in its association of sex, sleaze, greed and politics, not so far removed from present realities after all."
'Independent on Sunday'

"Diana Norman creates an exhilarating sense of these times and their possibilities."
'Daily Telegraph'

About this edition

• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0425198154
• ISBN 13: 9780425198155
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448