Rebecca's Children
A saga of love & betrayal in 19th Century Wales
by Kate Dunn
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Pub Date 18 Nov 2018 | Archive Date 2 Jan 2019
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Description
Lives are on the line as the workers fight back in the Welsh countryside…
1829, Wales
For centuries. generations of the Jenkins family have eked out a living from their Carmarthenshire hill farm.
But when a fire destroys virtually all of their possessions the children witness their lives crumbling around them. Mary and William find they have barely enough land left to provide for their basic needs.
Their only option is to take on more work, but William longs for action, and Mary begins to suspect that he has become embroiled with the Rebecca-ites, a shadowy group of nationalists pitted against the English landowners whose tolls have bankrupted so many Welshman.
As tensions mount, Mary becomes ever more torn between her mistrust of the rebels’ violence and her growing attraction to Jac Tŷ Isha, one of their leaders.
And when the British government decides to put a stop to the revolt, the danger to the men she loves increases a hundredfold…
REBECCA’S CHILDREN is a poignant, beautifully crafted saga of love and betrayal, set against the background of Wales in mid-1800s – a country aflame with political and social unrest.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781912786701 |
| PRICE | |
Featured Reviews
Charissa T, Reviewer
Good read. With a good inlook into that period. I found the story easy to read and follow. I did find my attention drifting but that may be due to my lack of reading stories from this era and area
Thank you for allowing me to read.
Kay S, Reviewer
Rebecca's Children, by Kate Dunn, introduced me to an entire chapter of life in Wales that I was previously unaware of. Dunn is a fantastic storyteller. She interweaves the tale of her protagonist, Mary, with the facts of the Welsh Rebecca Riots of the nineteenth century. Dunn cleverly tells us the main story in the form of a flashback. This helps to shield our hearts from despair and grief since we know who is alive to tell the tale. This was a hard time in a hard land where death was frequent.
Through Mary's eyes we witness the events that lead up to the riots: failed crops, a divided class system, unfair taxation, dire poverty, starvation and workhouses. While all these negative events were swirling around Mary she is a character who endures nothing but misfortune – the loss of her family's farm, the swindling of her father, the loss of her parents, the prejudice against women in the workplace, sexual harassment, the maiming of her brother, loss of her beloved, as well as numerous rapes.
Dunn has done her research in preparation for writing this book. Her descriptions of Rebecca's Children from their inspiration from Genesis 24:60, their leaderless uprising, dressing in white petticoats with blackened faces, their mandate to avoid violence, their infiltration by criminals and the the increased troop levels required to shut them down are all documented in her accurate portrayal.
Her character development along with her descriptive passages showcase Dunn's excellent writing skills. The reader believes they understand exactly what makes each of the characters tick and have a clear picture, in their mind's eye, of both the Welsh towns and countryside during the 1840s.
I recommend this book.
I received a free copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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