Gloriana's Torch: A Novel [Paperback]

Patricia Finney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2004

The year is 1587. The Spanish are preparing to launch the Armada against the English and Queen Elizabeth. Ex-soldier David Becket, now responsible for the Queen's Ordnance discovers that large quantities of gunpowder are going astray. Can someone in the heart of the English government be selling it to the Spanish? Unaccountably he is plagued by vivid dreams of England invaded, an alternative story where the Armada is victorious. Patricia Finney's brilliant reworking of the Armada legend is an imaginative tour de force. Thrilling, intricate, and inspiring, this is a tale of courage, of love, and, ultimately, redemption.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Third in a series of related but stand-alone historical thrillers (Unicorn's Blood; Firedrake's Eye), this brooding, multifaceted tale is set on the eve of the sailing of the Spanish Armada in 1588. David Becket, clerk of the ordnance and sometime spy for Elizabeth I, is ordered by the queen to discover the details of a top-secret Spanish plot dubbed the "Miracle of Beauty." In addition, Becket is commanded to rescue his fellow English spy and friend, Simon Ames, who has been condemned by the Spanish Inquisition as a heretic. Simon escapes burning as a Jew only to be consigned as a galley slave to a new and powerful Spanish warship that may prove to be England's undoing-especially when coupled with Spanish plans to take a key French port. Ames's wife, Rebecca, insists on traveling with Becket to find Ames, and when he tries to stop her, she outwits him and takes his ship, assisted by one of Becket's old enemies. Becket, undaunted, makes his way to France with Rebecca's former servant, Merula, a black woman with shamanic powers who has, by guile bordering on magic, worked her way north from Africa in search of her enslaved son. Becket was a deeply wounded soul after his wrongful imprisonment and torture in Unicorn's Blood, and Merula offers him spiritual healing. The various threads of this wide-ranging tale of intrigue do not come together neatly, but Finney's vivid prose and the high level of historical imagination on display make for a satisfying read.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"One of the most extraordinary novels that I've read this year. [Finney] keeps her plot driving forward, combining terrific suspense with a kind of wild history safari... The muscular poetry of her writing lights up with the sheer glee of invention and gives readers a rare feeling of living other lives in other times." Mat Coward, MORNING STAR, 22/12/04 'an action-packed historical thriller...' WOMAN'S OWN 15/9/03 'A substantial and historically-satisfying book' tangledweb.co.uk, September 2003 'Finney takes us into the 16th century with conviction, giving us a vivid account of the sights, sounds and smells of London, Lisbon and life aboard the Spanish galleasses, while building up to a soaring denouement as the Spanish fleet makes its way towards the English Channel. A superb piece of historical writing.' GOOD BOOK GUIDE, 1 October 03 '[Finney writes] wonderfully atmospheric Elizabethan thrillers... Finney explores how very differnt England would be had the Spanish invasion succeeded' GLASGOW EVENING TIMES, 4 October 03 '... the books' language is a triumph... [Finney] is good at villains with complex motives. Her unpreparedness to compromise with her prose is yet another of her passionate intensities.' THE INDEPENDENT, lead review by Roz Kaveney, 26 November 03 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (October 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312312865
• ISBN-13: 978-0312312862
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,948,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Thrilling, If Graphic Book!, January 26, 2004

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gloriana's Torch: A Novel (Hardcover)

It is very difficult to write a review on one of Ms. Finney's books. Her books are very complex and they are quite brilliantly written. This book is even more sweeping and majestic than the previous two in the David Beckett Series (Firedrake's Eye and Unicorn's Blood). If you want explosive historical fiction that is absolutely beautifully written and plotted, then I recommend this series. You probably shouldn't read this particular book on it's own either since the other two are required in order for the reader to fully appreciate all of Ms. Finney's characters. This book is written about the Spanish Armada and the Spaniards attempt to take England in 1587. It gives quite a unique perspective to this historical fact, and the book is peopled with characters who are also brilliant and alive. We see our old favourites - David Beckett and Simon Ames, but we meet some wonderful new characters - Merula, Snake, the Padrone and some truly evil villains - Pasquale and Edward Dormer. This book is not for the faint of heart either because Ms. Finney is just as descriptive with her killings, maimings and tortures, as she is with her bird's eye view of the sea from the deck of a Spanish galliasse and the most descriptive portrayal of an early sea battle that I've ever read! This is a wonderful, heartwarming and heartrending book that will tear you apart as you read it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous historical fiction, January 31, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Gloriana's Torch: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is the third book in a series by Patricia Finney, all centered around Queen Elizabeth I and the unsung heroes of her regime. This time Simon Ames (alias S. Anriques) and his old friend David Becket have no smaller task than attempting to foil the greatest threat to challenge Elizabeth's reign-- the Spanish Armada. There's a mysyery to be solved first, though, known as the Miracle of Beauty, which somehow plays a crucial role in the Spanish scheme for the conquest of England.

Finney's greatest talent is putting the history we know in the eyes and mouths of characters who might really have particpated in history. There are no dry historians or exuberant poets or slighted aristocrats for our heroes, but a slender expatriate Portugese Jew and a street-tough Tar from the underside of Elizabethan London. Both have faults, and become very dear to the reader as the book develops. She weaves them, and all of her characters, into the historical backdrop so skillfully that they seem to become real; a part of that nameless group of individuals who turned the tide of history yet go unheard of in the annals as we know them. Best of all, there is real grit to the language they speak and events that they experience, and Finney never minces words or excludes the worst of human nature from her narrative. The courage and loyalty of our heroes stands out all the more remarkably in contrast.

This is high historical fiction, and a suitable successor to Patrick O'Brian or Dorothy Dunnett for the best that the genre has to offer. I recommend only that you start with the first book of the trilogy, Firedrake's Eye, to get to know Ames and Becket better before embarking on this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gloriana's Torch, February 2, 2005

By 

K. Freeman (Apple Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gloriana's Torch: A Novel (Hardcover)

A gorgeous book, stand-alone but probably most effective when read after the first two, FIREDRAKE'S EYE and UNICORN'S BLOOD.

GT is about the Armada, and features the characters from the earlier books, damaged warrior David Becket and clerkly but surprisingly resilient Simon Ames, as well as new personalities. Merula, the African shamaness, is portrayed skillfully, as a real person rather than a stereotype. Elizabeth, as in the earlier books, is a both powerful and human figure.

My favorite part of this book was the dream sequences, alternative-history bits in which the Armada actually lands; but I really wanted one more sequence, one offering resolution for Becket, who is seen at a very important moment only through Merula's point of view. I wasn't crazy about the repetition of events in different POVs; usually Finney had shown the character's reactions already from another character's point of view so that the repetition really wasn't needed. In general, though, I felt the plot was fast-moving, plausible and gripping.

Finney's work in general and this book in particular should appeal to readers who enjoy the work of Mary Gentle and Dorothy Dunnett.