The Maiden Of Ireland
Susan Wiggs
Mira, Aug 26 2014, $7.99
ISBN 9780778316466
In 1658, weeping women attend the
execution of Father John the heretic. The
condemned man muses that for six years John Wesley Hawkins
worked undercover as Father John to remove the usurper Lord Protector Oliver
Cromwell from ruling the land and restore the rightful king to the throne, but
failed. As he is about to hang, he says his last words: “…God
save Charles Stuart…”. At the very last
moment with the rope tearing into his throat, Cromwell saves his life and that
of his daughter but demands in remittance John uncover the identity of the Fianna
Irish rebellion or else he and his family will die.
Wesley travels to Connemara, Ireland where Caitlin MacBride,
daughter of the local chieftain, notices him walking near her home Castle
Clonmuir. His shameful scheme is simply
seduce Caitlin into revealing who the Fianna chief is. What Wesley failed to anticipate was falling
in love with his target.
This “revised” version of 1993 The
Mist And The Magic (don’t know how much was
refreshed) is an enjoyable brisk Cromwellian romance with a unique locale;
instead of the usual London, Ireland shines during the era when Parliament and
the Lord Protector ruled the kingdom.
Leisurely-paced, this is an entertaining seventeenth century historical
even with the lead relationship
being typical of the subgenre.
Harriet Klausner
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