Dawnlands

England in 1685 is a country split down the middle. Ned Ferryman returns from America with his Pokanoket servant to fight for the charismatic Duke of Monmouth against the Catholic King James, and finds an unexpected love along the way. At a frightened court, Livia pulls her son Matthew and his foster mothers, Alinor and Alys, into a plot to protect the queen from invasion. Matthew is rewarded with the Manor of Foulmire, on the same tidelands where the family once scraped a hard living, so Alinor finds herself lady of the manor just as Ned marches towards the rebellion's last battle.

This is the third Fairmile novel, following Tidelands and Dark Tides, and it ranges from London palaces to the Sussex marshes and the shores of Barbados. It suits readers who enjoy history seen from below, through families caught between loyalty and ambition.