For King or Commonwealth

Kit Faulkner #2

by Richard Woodman

An exhilarating high seas adventure set during the English Civil War |1649. England has been torn asunder by a civil war that has pitted Parliamentarians against Royalists. Captain Kit Faulkner, bound to the Royalist cause, has been living in exile for the past four years. Faulkner must now support himself with the tiny rump of the Royal Navy that remains loyal. But his loyalties are torn, partly by the desire of his old patron, Sir Henry Mainwaring, who wishes to return home, and partly by the predatory nature of Prince Charles, who has his eyes on the beautiful Katherine Villiers . . .|�This salty adventure is deepened by the introduction of real-life characters and the author�s considerable knowledge of British naval and mercantile shipping history� on A Ship for the King |"Woodman spins an exciting tale of naval warfare, seaborne commerce, piracy, royal intrigues, and civil war" on A Ship for the King

Genres: Historical Fiction, Nautical

205 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 26, 2012

About the author

Captain Richard Martin Woodman was an English novelist and naval historian who retired in 1997 from a 37-year nautical career, mainly working for Trinity House, to write full-time.

Reviews

[David Eppenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second part of this Woodman trilogy concerning the adventures of Kit Faulkner during the Commonwealth era of England. In this book the protagonist has become a trusted naval supporter of the exiled Charles Prince of Wales that become King Charles II following the execution of his father by Parliament. This is a very quick read and, for the most part, is not the usual seafaring adventure that Woodman usually writes. However the naval action does pick up toward the end of the book and is thus more satisfying for those of us that fans of Age of Fighting Sail adventures. Most of the beginning of the book is devoted to more political intriguing one might expect from this era. What the author also describes is our hero as a human being which is one of the reasons I enjoy reading Woodman's books. Kit Faulkner is human and he has faults and the author torments this character with his faults. In this book Faulkner's infidelity that is highlighted and is given considerable attention which may strike some readers as bit too much like a soap opera but it has parallels with the story and it works so it didn't bother me too much. I have the third part of this series sitting on my TBR shelf so I guess I'll open that tomorrow. I give the book three stars as a book that lives up to my expectations and worth reading especially for fans of this genre.

[Patricia O'Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In A Ship for the King, Richard Woodman left his readers wondering which side Captain Kit Faulkner would choose at the start of the English Civil War. In For King or Commonwealth we learn how Kit chose to side with the king against Parliament for reasons that have little to do with his loyalty to the monarch. Kit’s mentor, Sir Henry Mainwaring, to whom he owes his life, and the beautiful Lady Katherine Villiers, for whom Kit left his Puritan wife, went into exile with the court. Kit felt he had no other choice but to join them and pledge his loyalty to King Charles II. But after years living with the impoverished court in the Netherlands, Sir Henry wants Kit to take him home to England. Kit is not keen to leave Katherine especially when he discovers how much time she spends alone with the young king. But during a sea battle in the English Channel, Kit is captured by an unlikely foe, his own son, Captain Nathanial Faulkner. Imprisoned in the Tower, Kit wonders if he will survive Parliament’s charge of treason and, more importantly, if his family can ever forgive him for leaving.

This is strong sequel, full of wonderful details of naval life during the English Civil War and the first Anglo-Dutch War. Kit’s personal narrative compliments the historical narrative providing a good balance between the action scenes and the interpersonal ones. I love how Woodman has developed Kit Faulkner from a self-centered exile to a man who learns to accept his faults and his place in the world.