Rebels and Traitors

by Lindsey Davis

Hardcover, 2010

Status

Available

Call number

823.914

Genres

Collection

Fiction

Publication

St. Martin's Press (2010), Edition: 1, 752 pages

Description

During the terrible struggle of the English Civil War, two people--Gideon Jukes and Juliana Lovell, who are on opposites sides of the conflict--meet during one of the era's most crucial events, their mutual attraction brings the comfort and companionship for which they both have yearned. But shadows from the past soon threaten their hard-won peace.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Romonko

This is definitely an epic tale as it runs upwards of 700 pages. The book is entirely different than Ms. Davis’ Falco series, but her skill as a writer is apparent throughout. The book is set in England during the English Civil War. The book shows both sides of the revolt and it also shows how

this devastating war affected the people from both sides. It was a very turbulent and unsettling time for citizens with untold costs and sacrifices. The book shows how women struggled to keep families and businesses together while their men were out fighting this war. All walks of people were adversely affected by this war by deprivation, loss and death. I particularly liked how Ms. Davis incorporated her fictional characters in with the many historical ones that she brings to life on these pages. And that is the secret. These characters both fictional and historical live and breathe on these pages. It is easy to tell that Ms. Davis’ era is this time and this place. She knows it well. This is a wonderful book for those who love sophisticated historical fiction.

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LibraryThing member richardgarside

A long intense novel, well researched with a great deal of detail of the period. Sometimes one thinks the author may even be showing off her great knowledge at the expense of the story. I got a bit bored by the end of its 742 pages.

LibraryThing member louiseclaire217

Plenty of detail but too long and characters not well defined or memorable.

LibraryThing member Eyejaybee

A fascinating novel set against the English Civil War. Quite a departure from Davis's habitual classical context, but equally well researched. All her characters were entirely plausible, and the complex plot was very well thought out.

LibraryThing member DottyMermaid

Not a rattling good yarn. Disappointing for a fan of the Falco mysteries. A cross between a history textbook and a novel. Too long, too much historical detail, sketchy and unengaging characters. I was looking forward to really getting stuck into this doorstop of a book but abandoned it half way

through - and I'm usually a sticker to the bitter end. It isn't actually bad, just rather dull.

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LibraryThing member otterley

An enjoyable book set in the British Civil War, this follows the course of the war mainly through a set of characters located on either side of the struggle - royalists and republicans, levellers and those at the bottom of society doing what they need to do to get by. Davis takes us through the

historical detail in a way that occasionally lags, but is mostly a well judged narrative of a very complex period of history, paced in a way that enables the reader to understand the bigger pattern of events as well as the personal events affecting her characters. Only towards the end does the distinctive comic style she uses in her Roman Falco novels appear, when she describes the happy relationship and domesticity some of her characters reach against the odds and with some serious hurts and compromises. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in an introduction to the period in the guise of a very readable book

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LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35

A rather thick and ambitious project, Rebels and Traitors explores the 17th-century English Civil War in great detail. Overlapping stories of Royalists, Parliamentarians, men, and women allow the reader to vividly imagine life in this era with all its struggles and uncertainty. With the detail

provided, this novel does not always make for the easiest reading and at times I wondered if the author might have been better suited to write a history of this era instead of a novel.

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LibraryThing member pierthinker

Davis, better known for her Falco series of crime/mystery novels set in Ancient Rome, sets Rebels & Traitors against the whole sweep of the English Civil War. We follow two families, the Royalist Lovells and the Roundhead Jukes, as they become caught up in the key events of the War. Davis clearly

has a deep knowledge of and love for the period, its politics, social impacts and military manoeuvres, and this is the key problem with this book. Davis has put all her knowledge onto the page and this has crowded out the story and the characters we are asked to follow. Long stretches of the book read more like popular history than fiction. Davis is a good writer and her book reads well and keeps the reader's interest; it is just that the history overpowers the narrative. I enjoyed it.

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LibraryThing member KarenDuff

I really enjoyed this book although at times I also found it really hard going. I liked that the story focused on ordinary people caught up in the English civil war and that the likes of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax are essentially bit part players in the story.
I thought that this

was well researched and did a good job of showing what life was like for those on both sides of the conflict. I felt the author was unbiased and she didn't just write about atrocities being committed by one side.This book also showed that while fighting for democracy and freedom was the right thing to do nobody on the Roundheads side had given much thought about what would happen after they had won.

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LibraryThing member MJWebb

Well researched but unfortunately I found it a little tedious.

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