A Time For Treason: An Historical Novel [Paperback]

Anne Newton Walther (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 2001

A Time for Treason begins in Virginia's Tidewater region on the brink of the American Revolution and climaxes on the island of Bermuda a few months after the battles of Concord and Bunker Hill. Acting as an agent for her influential French constituency, Comtesse Eugenie Devereux must measure the patriots political intent while appearing to be a carefree guest at the Whittingtons elaborate Virginia plantation. Against a backdrop of thoroughbred auctions, a governor's ball in Williamsburg, and an unforgettable night of slaughter and carnage, it is Eugenie's measure that is taken. She flees to Bermuda, where she takes refuge with the Tucker family, determined to complete her mission. The Tucker patriarch is deeply involved in anti-British-government activity and draws Eugenie into his scheme. From the gentle landscape of the Virginia coast to the final moments of the historically significant event at Bermuda's Tobacco Bay, this novel delivers passion, intrigue, and power on a grand scale, along with a hurricane, sailing ships, pirates, privateers, and romance - all set against an actual historical event that was one of the sparks that set off the American Revolution.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nonfiction author Walther (Divorce Hangover) tries her hand at historical fiction with a tepid romance novel set before and during the American Revolution. The plot follows French countess Eug?nie Devereux as she is sent undercover to the American colonies by "the cartel of France's intellectual aristocracy," to try to determine whether the colonists will fight for independence from Great Britain, and whether Bermuda's citizens will also aid the cause. Eug?nie has a personal motive: the British killed her parents, and she wants revenge. Walther overdramatizes Eug?nie's undercover sleuthing, as the information she wants isn't really secret, but like a true spy, Eugenie charms the Whittington family on their Virginia plantation and then goes on to do the same with the Tucker family in Bermuda. All the men she meets fall hopelessly in love with her, but Eug?nie has eyes only for the British sympathizer and sea pirate Bridger Goodrich, with whom she engages in flowery love talk and has a lukewarm physical relationship. Walther effectively describes the Gunpowder Theft of 1775, in which Eug?nie helps conspire to steal gunpowder from the Bermudan governor. The author's extensive research is awkwardly evident in long, dry, textbook descriptions of historical events, which are poorly incorporated into the text. Even more annoying is her practice of conveying such information in dialogue, making for stilted and unrealistic conversation. However, Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty, or give me death" speech, brushes with Martha Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and painstaking details of colonial life do add historical color to the novel's overly ambitious scope. 10-city author tour. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"A TIME FOR TREASON is a novel rich in historical detail and juicy political intrigue." -- Katherine Neville, author of The Eight

"A banquet of compelling detail and romance." -- James S. Holliday, historian, author of Rush for Riches: Gold Fever and The Making of California --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Tapestries (February 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967670330
• ISBN-13: 978-0967670331
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,496,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you love Bermuda - you will find this worth reading, June 23, 2000

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Time for Treason: An Novel of the American Revolution (Hardcover)

I happened onto this book by chance. My wife and I were in Bermuda in late May into June this year, a place we have traveled to for decades. We found ourselves in Hamilton one day and in the window of The Bermuda Bookstore was a window full of this book with the information that the author would be there for a signing in a few days. We are members of Coral Beach and Tennis Club on the island and the name of the author rang a distant bell. On checking the house list on our return that day, we discovered that Anne Newton Walther was indeed among us. We soon discovered that good friends of hers were there also. Eric and Debbie Pennison, who are among the people to whom whe dedicates this book gave her a very lovely party to which they invited the entire club membership and as a result of that we came away with one of the books. I have now completed reading the book. I have found it informative as to the era it depicts which is the time of the American Revolution and the effect it had on this tiny outpost of Great Britain. She has chosen as her vehicle to tell the story a young Frenchwoman who is essentially a French spy who is won over to the American cause. In all honesty, the story moves predictably and I found it most interesting from the history of what was happening on Bermuda and the history of the island. I have read and enjoyed historical novels, and I do not envy the author's first foray into this type of genre. She does it creditably and holds ones interest. It is not a "page turner" nor do I believe she intended it to be. This is a first novel for Ms. Walther and I suspect that she might be able to turn her talents to a more contemporary Bermuda story, if she so desired.As I indicated in the title of this story, if you are a fan of this island, this book is worth reading and I consider myself fortunate that I have not only read the book, but met the author. She is a lovely lady.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a Time for Treason!, June 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Time for Treason: An Novel of the American Revolution (Hardcover)

A Time for Treason takes one back to when your Country came before affairs of the heart. A terrific page turner made all the better by imagining the past treachery whilst sitting on the beach in Bermuda.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Light on Romance and no historical accuracy, June 26, 2001

By 

Robert Ambrose (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Time For Treason: An Historical Novel (Paperback)

This books fails as both a romance novel and historical fiction. This author claims to have degrees in psychology and history. I cringed at her depiction of 18th Century life. In her attempt to portray the times, she fails completely. Many others have tried this genre and at the least have gotten the social basics correct about the times. Had this book presented itself as a harlequin romance, I may have understood from the beginning not to expect more, but the author presents this book as historical fiction. It is not even good soap opera.