"Paris, 1784. Following a tragic battle in Quebec, we join William Neilson's grandson - also William - as he strives to find purpose in a changing world, amidst a backdrop of terror and conspiracy, and battles so bitter, they break even the strongest of wills.
Full of colour, and with rich and detailed research, the tales of William Nielson and his family are hugely entertaining and a must for readers of swashbuckling fiction.
'An epic voyage well worth taking' Telegraph
'There is nothing quite like a James Buchan novel' Financial Times"
"France, 1755. William and Jeanne Neilson, together at last, are living in the deep country and are happier than either ever expected to be. Their children, the foundling Marie-Ange and young William, are growing up. Jeanne devotes her mornings to scientific research while William has exchanged soldiering for agricultural improvement.
Yet both are restless. Jeanne, herself married to a poor Scotsman outlawed in Great Britain, is determined her adoptive daughter shall have a throne. Marie-Ange's grace and rich dowry have caught the eyes of princes all over Europe. But Marie-Ange's heart is firmly elsewhere.
William, still haunted by the loss of his men at the battle of Culloden in 1746, dreams of one last fight to purge his shame.
Then war breaks out again with England, and the family is torn apart and scattered into the unknown.
'An epic voyage well worth taking' Telegraph"
"The astonishing story of William Neilson continues.
New Year's Eve, 1746. A castle in the depths of France. A thunderstorm. A pair of lovers in a hay-loft. A wounded soldier toppling from his horse. So begins the second instalment of the life of William Neilson, Scottish soldier in French service and Jacobite agent against his will. Around his neck, William carries the most precious jewel on the surface of the earth, but it is not his, and he must carry it to the exiled King of England, Scotland and Ireland in Italy. Before that, he wishes to see for a last time the woman he has loved for more than half his life. The scene shifts from the wastes and marshes of the Sologne, to the disorderly houses and prisons of the Most Serene Republic of Venice and the desolate court-in-exile of James Stuart in Rome. Along the way are sword-fights, love stories, intrigues, assassinations, blasphemies, kidnappings, musical performances, and treacheries."
"One of Britain's outstanding historical writers delivers a romantic and picaresque masterpiece that tells the fascinating story of William Neilson.
In 1720, the young William Neilson leaves Edinburgh to make his fortune in Europe, first sailing to Rotterdam and then on foot to Paris, where he meets and is immediately employed by the banker John Law. A day later he is in the Bastille, but not before he has encountered a young woman of surpassing beauty to whom Neilson will be devoted for the rest of his life.
Imprisoned in the Bastille, he has no possibility of seeing or communicating with his beloved. When at last he recovers his freedom, he is despatched at once to sea, bound for the Indies. He will be shipwrecked, become an equerry on the Île-de-France, anon command a disorderly legion in Persia, become a linguist able to hold his own in diplomatic and mercantile circles, all the while anticipating a summons from the Stuart king in exile in Rome, until he is sent back to France, and thence to Scotland in the service of the Young Pretender.
This is brilliant, irresistibly entertaining fiction. A whole world of adventure and romance comes alive in the hands of one of our most ingenious storytellers, one of our finest writers."
