About A Land Apart Betrayal by Vic Selby:
A LAND APART Betrayal1
Synopsis
The story is set in Northumberland during the wars of Scottish independence in the 14th century. The action revolves around the moderately wealthy land owning family of Sir Walter de Radulf. In the face of frequent Scottish raids and plundering into Northumberland, Sir Walter makes a clandestine agreement with Robert de Bruce, the young pretender to the Scottish throne, and leader or instigator of many of the raids.
He hopes his treasonable arrangement will protect his estates from the most costly of the plundering.
With the English king showing little interest in the north, and an absence of the travelling court (the king s eyre) to dispense justice, Sir Walter is not above a little freebooting himself, hiring his services and those of his crown subsidised troopers, to resolve local squabbles and law enforcement, when it suits his purpose and his pocket.
To the exasperation of his wife Agnes, he introduces his fifteen year old son Walt to this lifestyle. His younger son William is still being educated by monks at the local priory.
Returning from a meeting with Bruce, whilst accompanied by Walt, his squire and four troopers, they rescue a young girl from abusive slavery. Sir Walter believes the girl, Freda, may be a lost relative of his wife, orphaned during a particularly vicious raid by William Wallace.
Unfortunately, this act of charity stirs up a hornet s nest of outlaws, who attack them when they continue their journey homeward.
Young Walt is betrothed to the daughter of a wealthy neighbour whose mother is fiercely protective of her daughter s honour, to the extent that they can never be alone together.
Both sets of parents are agreed that the couple should not marry until after Walt has completed training to run the estate, and some formal training for future knighthood. Frustration on Walt s part, leads to a tempestuous and clandestine affair with his newly rescued cousin Freda.
As time goes by the secret notes passed between Sir Walter and Bruce generally provide the protection from the Scots that they paid for.
Returning from a Tynemouth visit, one of their troopers reports that he had heard rumours that the outlaws they had previously encountered had escaped from custody. Sir Walter, concerned for his family s safety, sent scouts around the area to seek news of their whereabouts, finally concluding that they had fled to Scotland to escape English justice.
Just when everything seemed to be peaceful, with Bruce apparently weakened and on the run from English forces in Scotland.
The family home is attacked by a large group of outlaws, led by the leader of those Sir Walter had previously encountered. This vicious revenge raid ends with tragic results for the Radulf family and some of their employees. The Radulf s subsequent retribution takes the form of cruel and summary justice.
One sad outcome of the event fuels an ongoing minor dispute between the Prior of Tynemouth and the Radulf family, into a hate filled feud on the prior s side, causing continuing problems for years to come.
The story concludes after Sir Walters involvement in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, with family and servants waiting anxiously for news of their loved ones.
First of a trilogy, followed by A Land Apart- Rebellion and Atonement.
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Author Bio:
Born in the Wirral, Cheshire, England a very long time ago, I have traveled widely, both as a child and as an adult. My interest in history probably began in childhood from the love of books set in past times, such as Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe and Ivanhoe.
At the age of 16, I joined the army as an apprentice tradesman, graduating into the Royal Corps of Signals, travelling and living in many counties, before returning to UK and retiring from the army. These experiences sharpened my interest in people and history, but in that era of my life I had little time for research.
On resignation from the army, I needed to find a job to keep food on the table and a home for my family.
I worked until retirement with a large international company, and specialized in electronic security. There were opportunities to travel around the UK and to the United States.
Shortly before retirement, I began to take notice of family history and found much of interest, dating back as far as the twelfth century. It was not until some years after retirement, that I set about verifying what I had learned through a two-week stay in Northumberland, cataloging local history books and speaking to local people.
Home again, I acquired the local history books I needed, and confirmed my findings with records in the national archives and British history on line.
The resulting knowledge was so amazing that it inspired me to write my fictional A Land Apart trilogy.
I originally began with the framework of the idea for writing a novel around 2010 and published the first book A Land Apart Betrayal in the summer of 2013.
References
- ^ Learn more about the writer.
Visit the Author s Website.
(vicselbyauthor.co.uk) - ^ Buy the Book On Amazon. (www.amazon.co.uk)
- ^ Visit the Facebook Fan Page. (www.facebook.com)
- ^ Visit the Twitter page. (twitter.com)
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