Customer Reviews

Rebels and Traitors

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I feel a bit curmudgeonly giving this magisterial and encylopaedic work only three stars, especially when it does such a wonderful job of capturing the daily life of London and England as a whole during the reign of Charles I, and an even better job of conveying to the reader what it must have been like to do battle during the bloody five-year civil war that would culminate in the beheading of that king in front of his own subjects, including, in Davis's fictional world, the hero of this novel.

That hero is Gideon Jukes, son of a London merchant, and apprenticed to a printer, who is fiercely opposed to the King's growing abuse of his royal prerogatives. When Parliament defies Charles, who raises his standard to summon troops to battle the elected government, Gideon is there to defend the rights of Parliament and the common man. And then, in the latter stages of the war, he encounters Juliana Lovell, whose Cavalier husband has vanished in the wake of the bloody battle of Naseby, and who is struggling to raise two young sons in poverty.

If that story made up the bulk of the book, it would be a great read. Don't get me wrong: I don't insist that every historical novel be a romance in disguise -- on the contrary, I enjoy strong plots with a lot of historical context. This book, however, ended up feeling like 500 pages of historical context (if you want to know the difference between a flintlock musket and other varieties, you'll learn, as well as techniques of 17th century printing, the history of the Levellers, etc. etc.) with about 250 pages left over for the people and events that make most novels move forward. I'm glad that Davis shunned the soft-focus romantic saga approach, but wish she'd found a way to better balance the history with the narrative.

Perhaps I was particularly disappointed by this book because I began reading it shortly after finishing an excellent novel that picks up in time roughly where this one leaves off -- the story of the illegitimate son of Charles II, James, Duke of Monmouth, as told by Jude Morgan in The King's Touch. In that, Morgan deftly weaves together the story of exile and restoration through the eyes of the bastard son of royalty, who is uncertain of his identity. There's no skimping on period detail or historical context, but that is always presented deftly as part of the story, not as almost a lecture.

I had hoped for better things from Davis, after reading her other standalone novelThe Course of Honour, which was a focused and compelling story set in the Roman Empire. This book is simply too unwieldy, with far too many characters for a reader not already familiar with the period and the players to keep track of, much less care about. Add to that the fact that the plot jumps around a lot among the different characters, and that Gideon and Juliana don't even meet until 2/3 of the way through the book, and the result is a potentially fascinating story that never lives up to its potential.

I'd find it hard to recommend this to any but the most devoted historical fiction reader with a compelling interest in the Civil War. Even then, watching all the episodes of the wonderful vintage BBC series, By the Sword Divided, on DVD will take far less time and give you a more memorable experience than reading this book. (Yes, it's more fluffy, but at least it's easy to follow!) For anyone interested in the Stuart era, I'd suggest King-s Daughter, The, a new book about Charles I's sister in the early years of the Stuart dynasty, or the Jude Morgan book about the latter years, The King's Touch. Reading and finishing Rebels & Traitors took a lot of willpower; the three stars I've awarded it are for the period detail and for the all-too-rare and too brief flashes of compelling fiction buried in this doorstop of a novel.

This is not the book to read if you want a novel that flows easily and lightly from scene to scene. But if you are interested in this period in English history (1649-1657) you will really enjoy this novel. It is a very large book because that period is a very traumatic one for the area, covering the buildup to the execution of King Charles and the period before the return of the monarchy.

Ms. Davis has brought ancient Rome to life with her Falco series. And she does the same for this period of English history with this book but in a more concentrated manner. She has characters from both sides that she follows, giving details of their lives and problems and solutions. The history is also given as the story develops which slows down the reading but it is what gives this book its difference from a normal historical novel.

When you finish this book, you will have a new perspective and understanding of life in England in those times. You will understand more of the attitudes and difficulties faced by both men and women in that time of war and change. The book is available from the UK division of Amazon.

Rebels and Traitors proclaims itself to be a novel about the English civil war. When I see the word "novel," I expect a story about characters set against an historical backdrop, filled with great details but focusing mostly on how aforementioned characters were affected by aforementioned historical backdrop. Not the case with Rebels and Traitors. Yes, the main characters are in there in the form of Parliamentary soldier Gideon Jukes and Royalist civilian Juliana Lovell, but Davis gets so bogged down in the historical details of battles and names and meetings that the people that we're supposed to care about and through whom we're supposed to be experiencing this journey completely fade into the background. While I appreciated the historical detail, I spent the majority of the time wondering when we'd see Gideon and Juliana again. I actually ended up skimming through some parts, which I never do! I will say that when they are around, Gideon and Juliana are great and very human characters, and it's extremely affecting to see the twenty years of upheaval through their eyes, but again, they're just not there enough! Like other reviewers have said, this book was extremely difficult to finish, and I wasn't terribly satisfied when I did.

I am almost ashamed to give this book only four stars, because I read it in every spare minute and cursed the library for making it only a 14-day book. And I loved it. Lindsay Davis did her research and then some...which counts, if you were married to a historian and are the mother of another one. I did not know enough about the English civil war(s) before I read "Rebels and Traitors," and now I know more, including what a slimeball Prince Rupert was, what pitiful conspirators were around in the 17th century, and where the really dangerous neighborhoods in London were. There was a lot of terrific costume detail too, and even some intriguing brothel tech. The fifth star is left off for those of lesser stamina who give up on all the hard-core history. There's a horse at one point who has to be led through a haberdashery shop so that he can be hidden in a backyard shed from Cromwell's officials (don't ask); this is accomplished by bribing the horse with holding his favorite treat out ahead of his nose, a bucket of ale. We, the readers, can expect the scenes with Gideon, Juliana, the children, and the smarmy and irresponsible Orlando to be our buckets of ale that we will follow through everything, the politics, the weird cults, the military history, eeeeeeverything. At the end I spotted a couple of possible cliffhangers. (I am an old hand at this.) I think Maud Tew has bigger business opportunities in mind, and I have never seen her equal for starting anew; and of course, the end of the book cries out for more of the story. Can we look for "Restoration"? If anybody can kick "Forever Amber" into the dustbin it's Lindsey Davis. Fetching blonde young Celia Jukes somehow ending up at the dissolute court of another inept and blundering King Charles? I can only hope.

This was a great read. Don't be afraid to skip the history if that's what you need to do.

The English Civil War provides the setting for this novel. The prologue, 30 January 1649, is the day of Charles I's execution. Two of those who watched the scene, Gideon Jukes, who leads the guard that escorts the executioner to safety, and Juliana Lovell, wife of a royalist, will be the main characters in this story which starts in 1634 and ends in 1657.

The stories of Gideon and Juliana are woven around the events of the period in a way that provides different perspectives of the conflict and its impacts on both the country and individual members of society. While Gideon and Juliana are the primary characters, there are many others from every strata of society who appear in these pages. Even in an epic novel, this can provide both strength and potential weakness. The strength is obvious: events are experienced and interpreted in many ways - the lives and views of the different Parliamentarians, the Royalists and the Tews (representing an opportunistic underclass with no interest in politics) provided a multidimensional view of events. The potential weakness is that by attempting to provide broad coverage of a complex set of events some aspects may interfere with the flow of the story. I found some of the sectarian involvements by Anne and Lambert Jukes jarred, even though I found the detail interesting.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. For me, the biggest attraction of this novel is the setting, rather than the characters and their relationships. I found the ending unsatisfying but strangely appropriate.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Saying that I must confess I'm a royalist sympathizer. I do believe that I've learned much that I didn't know about the Parlimentarians from reading this book albeit in a biased form. Another reviewer commented that they learned Prince Rupert was a swine from reading this. Why, because Ms. Davis says so? So much of history is interpretive and I try to read up on the facts afterwards instead of just going by what is written in novels to make up my own mind. I do give Ms. Davis credit for the enormous amount of research she must have done in writing this story but she's a bit obvious where her sympathy lies. We even get Falco spouting his republican sympathies in her other books. Sorry. but I find Puritans a snoozefest. I live in New England and can still see the Puritan influence here in the 21st century. I can only imagine what it was like to live under their regime in the seventeenth century. I found Gideon Jukes a stick in the mud. I did enjoy the parts of the story involving Julia (though being an intelligent woman I couldn't figure out why on earth she's marry Lovell in the first place) and Kinchen Tew's story was fascinating.

went into this historical novel. I kept thinking as I read it that Ms. Davis focuses mostly on ancient Rome and for her to write about England during this time period in such detail must have required a great deal of research and a significant mental shift. I truly enjoyed the book; the characters were well developed and I found I cared about what happened to them. When one of the towns was attacked by the Royalists I was completely shocked. The scenes were heart wrenching and unbelievable. I thought I knew quite a lot about this period of time but after reading this book I realized I knew very little about the lives and hardships of the times. I am grateful to Ms. Davis for opening my eyes and providing an enjoyable read as well.

After reading some of the reviews, I guess I'm in the minority. As a history enthusiast, I found her in depth research extremely interesting, and I could clearly tell that she had devoted months, perhaps more, of her time to thoroughly studying this interesting period in British History, when England was temporarily without a king. I only had one quibble with this: like one previous reviewer pointed out, she seemed to be a bit biased towards one side, and I felt that, given the nature of this Civil War, the author's voice should have been a bit more neutral. But this is just my opinion.

However, in terms of the actual 'story' that is billed in the synopsis, I felt that there was much to be desired in all areas. Firstly, without wishing to spoil this for anyone, I'll just say that the supposed 'romance' between the two main characters, Gideon Jukes and Juliana Lovell, does not even BEGIN to manifest itself until you're about 500 pages in, of my memory serves me correctly.

But, to be honest, I wasn't pleased with the execution of their romance. It felt somewhat rushed, and in doing so, forced Gideon and Juliana to make decisions that degraded them in my eyes. It's not a good thing when the reader closes the book, disliking both characters more than the supposed 'adversary'.

Overall, I would give it 3/5 stars for the in-depth research and historical attention to detail, and about 2/5 for the story-line. As someone who read this 600+ page novel, I just felt that I should have been rewarded with a more engaging story.

FINAL VERDICT: If you're still determined to read this, you'd best rent it from the library.

Traditional historical fiction at it's finest. Very nicely captures the
english civil war period. Highly recommended.

Gideon Jukes is a printer, but that does not stop him from joining London Trained Bands in support of Parliament fighting against King Charles Stuart. Juliana Lovell supports the monarch in the struggle. Gideon and Juliana are falling in love, but these are dangerous times for allies let alone defenders of opposing camps.

In 1649, Charles Stuart is executed and Oliver Cromwell takes charge of England. In 1657 his Protectorate collapses. Through these deadly civil war decades, Gideon and Juliana have each other in spite of others trying to divide these beloved enemies.

Rebels and Traitors is an entertaining historical epic that occurs over the mid seventeen century decade of the English religious civil war. Gideon is a terrific lead character whose role as a printer is more intriguing than his heroism as a musketeer. He brings to life the use of printed material as a propaganda means to support your side of a hostile debate. Although his relationship with Juliana seems overly forced to bring beloved enemy bedfellows together, Lindsey Davis moves from the first century Ancient Rome mysteries of private informer Marcus Didius Falco to the 1650s England epic tale to the delight of fans of historical sagas.

Harriet Klausner