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All Ye That Pass By: Book 2: Kingdom of Wolves
540 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 15, 2026
About the author
Avellina Balestri
19 books46 followersAvellina Balestri is a Catholic author and editor based in the historic Maryland-Pennsylvania borderlands. Her stories, poems, and essays have been featured in over thirty print and online publications including The Wisdom Daily, The Latin Mass Magazine, and The St. Austin Review. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Fellowship & Fairydust, a magazine inspiring faith and creativity and exploring the arts through a spiritual lens. Under its auspices, she had the honor of hosting a literary conference at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, commemorating the legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien. Her hobbies include listening to and performing folk music, watching and reviewing classic films, and chatting with a zany array of international contacts. Avellina believes that the Trinitarian and Incarnational mysteries are reflected in all things good, true, and beautiful, and that the image of God is wondrously woven into every human heart. These themes are at the forefront of the stories she chooses to tell.
For more information about the author and her various projects, please visit the following websites:
www.fellowshipandfairydust.com
www.avellinabalestri.com
For more information about the author and her various projects, please visit the following websites:
www.fellowshipandfairydust.com
www.avellinabalestri.com
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 26, 2026
All Ye Who Pass By: Book 2: Kingdom of Wolves, Avellina Balestri, 2026, self-published, 2026.
This second instalment of Balstri’s projected trilogy of novels on the American Revolutionary War follows the down turning of British fortunes. The main character, Lieutenant Edmund “Ned” Southworth, an Englishman from a recusant Catholic family who has submitted to Church of England Protestantism to serve in the British army. As readers of the previous volume, Gone for a Soldier will know, a fatal tragedy has left his reputation and innocence damaged. Removed in disgrace from the staff of his old friend and patron General Burgoyne, he is posted as an aide to General Fraser, a feared and revered former Jacobite. The army is marching at Burgoyne’s dogged insistence towards Albany on the Saratoga campaign, but without reinforcement from General Howe’s troops hope ebbs away and there is a sense of impending doom.
Fraser is tough but allows Southworth to slowly but surely redeem himself. One of Balestri’s great strengths is her development of engaging characterisation, without losing focus on Southworth, she beings a broad range of other figures vividly to life. We see Fraser, stern yet tender, in some ways like a Highland clan chief to his troops and the other aides are evoked well. Lieutenant Blanding, the diligent clerk with tuberculosis and atheism, ever straining under the stigma of his illegitimate birth, Lieutenant Talbot and Captain Vaughan, intimate friends with shared Celtic blood (Welsh and Irish). Lieutenant Fraser, a kinsman of the General and Donald Stuart, of the ill-famed dynasty. Initially Southworth is shunned by his peers on account of his earlier scandal, and he befriends a private Lofthouse and captured rebel drummer boy, his social circle by nature and necessity having a broader scope than his own officer class. In time he is accepted by his fellow aides having proven himself in adversity and is even initiated at Fraser’s request into the life-saving Highland art of knife-fighting by Stuart. Balestri certainly does not neglect historical details, but she is at least as interested in psychological states and interpersonal relations as dates and battle fields. Nor does she neglect to represent women and children, the relations between General Philipps and Elen, a young lady on the farm where he is quartered, and those between Nancy the blind girl Southworth leads back to her father in a less than straightforward way, are finely drawn. The contrast between the Fraser’s ferocity in battle and ability to befriend children as well as calm their mothers is telling.
There are many substantial dialogues, fleshing out the contexts of these characters, not least the figure of Fraser fighting to defend the Hanoverian dynasty he had previously opposed. Whilst maintaining a brave face in public he senses that this war is unlike previous conflicts between monarchs and would-be monarchs the world had seen: “what we are facing here is something I fear we cannot yet fully comprehend, something that will chew up the world and spit it out in shambles. What troubles me most is what they will replace us with should their dream prevail. I don’t think they’ve thought hard enough about what they’re tearing down and what will rise up in their stead. Perhaps, some day, they will look back, and regret the shedding of our blood and the desecration of our honour, wondering if the world was made richer by the change, or poorer.” (p302) He sees the terror which is to come as Saratoga beckons, but he bears his fate like a man, inspiring his men to do the same while worrying about the women and children. For the most part Balestri does an excellent job with her characters giving the cultural (including religious) and political context to the world of her novel. They speak in a manner that does not feel contrived, even if General Fraser’s apology for “unloading”(p47) on Southworth might seem better suited to a twenty-first century millennial than an eighteenth century general.
Balestri brings out well the complicated and bloody nature of what was in many ways a civil war. The Loyalist colonists who supported the British are given their due, from the troops inspired to Captain Vaughan to the farmer George Palmer who hosts Southworth overnight at great risk as he goes about a near-suicide mission as a courier. There is a grim realism in the accounts of atrocities committed with fratricidal fury by both sides, the rebel captive Forrester, with his still beloved brother fighting on the other side and his loyalty to his cause tested by severe torture embodies much of this. This is no book for children and the violence is harrowing, but its telling is warranted by the nature of the story, and it is told fittingly, without undue coyness or sensationalism. As the title of the novel relates, this is a brutal kingdom of wolves and humans being wolves to humans. The author is balanced in her depiction of all sides, including the Iroquois Native Americans who side with the British when it suits them but have learned to only trust and respect the white man within strict limits. Their so-called savagery, scalpings and all, is at least untainted by hypocrisy, as the Chief Red Elk observes contemptuously to Southworth, the whites have more customs than they know how to keep.
The past, and the coming future of America, catches up with Southworth. The faith of his fathers, which he had never truly submerged brings him to a public crisis. This story ends on a bleak note, but the reader will want to know whatever will happen in the final instalment of this saga. Balestri writes with great power and humanity capturing blood-soaked darkness and conflicting loyalties with unflinching realism while never succumbing to nihilism. Inspired by her deep and by no means simplistic faith, the author leads us with Southworth into a dark wood, but with the compass given to him by Fraser along with the moral and religious compass of his upbringing, the reader and the protagonist come through wiser.
This second instalment of Balstri’s projected trilogy of novels on the American Revolutionary War follows the down turning of British fortunes. The main character, Lieutenant Edmund “Ned” Southworth, an Englishman from a recusant Catholic family who has submitted to Church of England Protestantism to serve in the British army. As readers of the previous volume, Gone for a Soldier will know, a fatal tragedy has left his reputation and innocence damaged. Removed in disgrace from the staff of his old friend and patron General Burgoyne, he is posted as an aide to General Fraser, a feared and revered former Jacobite. The army is marching at Burgoyne’s dogged insistence towards Albany on the Saratoga campaign, but without reinforcement from General Howe’s troops hope ebbs away and there is a sense of impending doom.
Fraser is tough but allows Southworth to slowly but surely redeem himself. One of Balestri’s great strengths is her development of engaging characterisation, without losing focus on Southworth, she beings a broad range of other figures vividly to life. We see Fraser, stern yet tender, in some ways like a Highland clan chief to his troops and the other aides are evoked well. Lieutenant Blanding, the diligent clerk with tuberculosis and atheism, ever straining under the stigma of his illegitimate birth, Lieutenant Talbot and Captain Vaughan, intimate friends with shared Celtic blood (Welsh and Irish). Lieutenant Fraser, a kinsman of the General and Donald Stuart, of the ill-famed dynasty. Initially Southworth is shunned by his peers on account of his earlier scandal, and he befriends a private Lofthouse and captured rebel drummer boy, his social circle by nature and necessity having a broader scope than his own officer class. In time he is accepted by his fellow aides having proven himself in adversity and is even initiated at Fraser’s request into the life-saving Highland art of knife-fighting by Stuart. Balestri certainly does not neglect historical details, but she is at least as interested in psychological states and interpersonal relations as dates and battle fields. Nor does she neglect to represent women and children, the relations between General Philipps and Elen, a young lady on the farm where he is quartered, and those between Nancy the blind girl Southworth leads back to her father in a less than straightforward way, are finely drawn. The contrast between the Fraser’s ferocity in battle and ability to befriend children as well as calm their mothers is telling.
There are many substantial dialogues, fleshing out the contexts of these characters, not least the figure of Fraser fighting to defend the Hanoverian dynasty he had previously opposed. Whilst maintaining a brave face in public he senses that this war is unlike previous conflicts between monarchs and would-be monarchs the world had seen: “what we are facing here is something I fear we cannot yet fully comprehend, something that will chew up the world and spit it out in shambles. What troubles me most is what they will replace us with should their dream prevail. I don’t think they’ve thought hard enough about what they’re tearing down and what will rise up in their stead. Perhaps, some day, they will look back, and regret the shedding of our blood and the desecration of our honour, wondering if the world was made richer by the change, or poorer.” (p302) He sees the terror which is to come as Saratoga beckons, but he bears his fate like a man, inspiring his men to do the same while worrying about the women and children. For the most part Balestri does an excellent job with her characters giving the cultural (including religious) and political context to the world of her novel. They speak in a manner that does not feel contrived, even if General Fraser’s apology for “unloading”(p47) on Southworth might seem better suited to a twenty-first century millennial than an eighteenth century general.
Balestri brings out well the complicated and bloody nature of what was in many ways a civil war. The Loyalist colonists who supported the British are given their due, from the troops inspired to Captain Vaughan to the farmer George Palmer who hosts Southworth overnight at great risk as he goes about a near-suicide mission as a courier. There is a grim realism in the accounts of atrocities committed with fratricidal fury by both sides, the rebel captive Forrester, with his still beloved brother fighting on the other side and his loyalty to his cause tested by severe torture embodies much of this. This is no book for children and the violence is harrowing, but its telling is warranted by the nature of the story, and it is told fittingly, without undue coyness or sensationalism. As the title of the novel relates, this is a brutal kingdom of wolves and humans being wolves to humans. The author is balanced in her depiction of all sides, including the Iroquois Native Americans who side with the British when it suits them but have learned to only trust and respect the white man within strict limits. Their so-called savagery, scalpings and all, is at least untainted by hypocrisy, as the Chief Red Elk observes contemptuously to Southworth, the whites have more customs than they know how to keep.
The past, and the coming future of America, catches up with Southworth. The faith of his fathers, which he had never truly submerged brings him to a public crisis. This story ends on a bleak note, but the reader will want to know whatever will happen in the final instalment of this saga. Balestri writes with great power and humanity capturing blood-soaked darkness and conflicting loyalties with unflinching realism while never succumbing to nihilism. Inspired by her deep and by no means simplistic faith, the author leads us with Southworth into a dark wood, but with the compass given to him by Fraser along with the moral and religious compass of his upbringing, the reader and the protagonist come through wiser.
July 22, 2026
“In good King Charles’ golden days, when loyalty no harm meant,
A zealous high churchman was I, and thus I got preferment.
To teach my flock I ne’er did miss: kings were by God appointed,
And lost are they that dare resist or touch the Lord’s anointed.
And this is law I will maintain until my dying day, sir:
That whatsoever king shall reign, I’ll still be the Vicar of Bray, sir!”
Chapter 2 of this second book of the trilogy “All Ye That Pass By” carries the title “The Nature of Fealty”.
The protagonist, Ned Southworth, is attempting to rehabilitate himself with his army colleagues after the fateful episode that concluded Book 1, and also to receive absolution to ease his own conscience.
General Phillips shows sympathy towards Ned’s lingering Roman Catholic instincts but concludes:
“But I believe it is fundamental to our calling as true soldiers to show ourselves utterly faithful servants of our king, affirming all his titles, and holding no foreign princes over him. That is what the pope is, a prince. That’s why, despite their virtues, we must not be swayed by Papist ways. There’s no good end for them, any more than there will be for the rebels here. Do you understand, Lieutenant?”
To press home his point, the general sends an Anglican chaplain who speaks to Ned and gives him a book by the Anglican missionary Thomas Bray. The name recalls to Ned the Vicar of Bray who in the song aligns his own principles with those of the king or queen who happens to be on the throne at the time. And whilst Ned finds himself admiring both the devotional sentiments and good works of Dr Bray, he wonders, “How could this man, so overflowing with good intentions, determined to reform prisons, open libraries, uphold the dignity of slaves and Indians, and win the whole world for Christ, align himself with a schism wrought by a man so utterly unlike himself, Henry VIII, the embodiment of every deadly sin? Indeed…how could Edmund (Ned) himself be aligned with it?”
These questions hang over the ongoing narrative and dialogue in “Kingdom of Wolves”.
We are drawn into the internal dynamics of General Fraser’s staff and their relations with the staff of Generals Burgoyne and Phillips, Indian allies, loyalist Americans and captured rebels. We are taken deep into the souls of the Generals and Ned in particular, but also of one young rebel prisoner. Until the two pitched battles in the closing stages of the book, the rebels are a circling menace to the British force, as the wolves will be later for the battle wounded.
The author depicts vividly the members of the British force and the way they speak and behave to friend and enemy. King George III is acknowledged by Ned and his fellow officers as a much more virtuous king than Henry VIII. Even General Fraser, still conscious of his own rebel past when he supported Bonnie Prince Charlie, finds good words to say about “the illustrious House of Hanover”. But the action unfolds in the year following the 1776 Declaration of Independence adopted by the thirteen colonies, and Ned’s ancient knightly instincts must confront modern ideals that affirm that all men are created equal, have inalienable rights, and are under a duty to abolish a government that becomes destructive of these rights.
The author has read surviving letters and memoires of the historical characters that she portrays and brings them to life through their spoken words. I enjoyed the intimacy this brings and this kept me turning the pages. The consciousness of all the characters of their past and present and the identity that this gives them makes this so much more than the story of a single campaign.
A zealous high churchman was I, and thus I got preferment.
To teach my flock I ne’er did miss: kings were by God appointed,
And lost are they that dare resist or touch the Lord’s anointed.
And this is law I will maintain until my dying day, sir:
That whatsoever king shall reign, I’ll still be the Vicar of Bray, sir!”
Chapter 2 of this second book of the trilogy “All Ye That Pass By” carries the title “The Nature of Fealty”.
The protagonist, Ned Southworth, is attempting to rehabilitate himself with his army colleagues after the fateful episode that concluded Book 1, and also to receive absolution to ease his own conscience.
General Phillips shows sympathy towards Ned’s lingering Roman Catholic instincts but concludes:
“But I believe it is fundamental to our calling as true soldiers to show ourselves utterly faithful servants of our king, affirming all his titles, and holding no foreign princes over him. That is what the pope is, a prince. That’s why, despite their virtues, we must not be swayed by Papist ways. There’s no good end for them, any more than there will be for the rebels here. Do you understand, Lieutenant?”
To press home his point, the general sends an Anglican chaplain who speaks to Ned and gives him a book by the Anglican missionary Thomas Bray. The name recalls to Ned the Vicar of Bray who in the song aligns his own principles with those of the king or queen who happens to be on the throne at the time. And whilst Ned finds himself admiring both the devotional sentiments and good works of Dr Bray, he wonders, “How could this man, so overflowing with good intentions, determined to reform prisons, open libraries, uphold the dignity of slaves and Indians, and win the whole world for Christ, align himself with a schism wrought by a man so utterly unlike himself, Henry VIII, the embodiment of every deadly sin? Indeed…how could Edmund (Ned) himself be aligned with it?”
These questions hang over the ongoing narrative and dialogue in “Kingdom of Wolves”.
We are drawn into the internal dynamics of General Fraser’s staff and their relations with the staff of Generals Burgoyne and Phillips, Indian allies, loyalist Americans and captured rebels. We are taken deep into the souls of the Generals and Ned in particular, but also of one young rebel prisoner. Until the two pitched battles in the closing stages of the book, the rebels are a circling menace to the British force, as the wolves will be later for the battle wounded.
The author depicts vividly the members of the British force and the way they speak and behave to friend and enemy. King George III is acknowledged by Ned and his fellow officers as a much more virtuous king than Henry VIII. Even General Fraser, still conscious of his own rebel past when he supported Bonnie Prince Charlie, finds good words to say about “the illustrious House of Hanover”. But the action unfolds in the year following the 1776 Declaration of Independence adopted by the thirteen colonies, and Ned’s ancient knightly instincts must confront modern ideals that affirm that all men are created equal, have inalienable rights, and are under a duty to abolish a government that becomes destructive of these rights.
The author has read surviving letters and memoires of the historical characters that she portrays and brings them to life through their spoken words. I enjoyed the intimacy this brings and this kept me turning the pages. The consciousness of all the characters of their past and present and the identity that this gives them makes this so much more than the story of a single campaign.
June 15, 2026
Kingdom of Wolves by Avellina Balestri is a haunting, atmospheric triumph—the powerful middle volume of the All Ye That Pass By trilogy. Set during the pivotal 1777 Saratoga Campaign, it follows young British officer Edmund “Ned” Southworth as he marches with Burgoyne’s army through the wilds of upper New York. Assigned to the staff of the charismatic Brigadier General Simon Fraser, Ned confronts the brutal realities beneath the initial patriotic bravado of the British expedition.
Balestri masterfully strips away illusions, revealing war as a true “kingdom of wolves,” where empires fracture, loyalties shatter, and every side consumes its own ideals. Vivid sensory prose makes the frostbite sting and the moral weight press heavily: the scent of Christmas gingerbread and family warmth in flashbacks clashes painfully with rope burns, howling wilderness, dysentery-ridden camps, and the blood-soaked fields of Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights. Battle scenes are visceral and unflinching—close-quarters volleys, bayonet charges, and hand-to-hand savagery—yet never overshadow the intimate human cost.
Ned’s Catholic faith, tested by civilian deaths, divided allegiances, and the symbolic stain of his scarlet coat, emerges not as easy piety but through quiet acts of mercy amid hatred. Supporting characters feel authentically alive: a zealous rebel preacher, conflicted comrades like Captain Kirby, and young Nancy, whose life Ned once spared. The narrative refuses tidy heroism or cheap redemption, delivering instead raw conscience, grief, and fragile grace.
With contemplative pacing balanced by tactical grit and period-accurate dialogue, Balestri crafts a lyrical yet unflinching portrait of the Revolutionary War’s human tragedy. The mortal wounding of Fraser and Burgoyne’s surrender carries poignant weight, leaving Ned’s wounds open as the story builds toward the trilogy’s conclusion.
Luminous in beauty, moral complexity, and historical depth, Kingdom of Wolves stands as outstanding faith-infused historical fiction. It chills with war’s savagery while warming with mercy’s stubborn light. Highly recommended for readers seeking thoughtful Revolutionary War stories that honor both grit and the soul. The wolves feast, but grace endures.
Balestri masterfully strips away illusions, revealing war as a true “kingdom of wolves,” where empires fracture, loyalties shatter, and every side consumes its own ideals. Vivid sensory prose makes the frostbite sting and the moral weight press heavily: the scent of Christmas gingerbread and family warmth in flashbacks clashes painfully with rope burns, howling wilderness, dysentery-ridden camps, and the blood-soaked fields of Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights. Battle scenes are visceral and unflinching—close-quarters volleys, bayonet charges, and hand-to-hand savagery—yet never overshadow the intimate human cost.
Ned’s Catholic faith, tested by civilian deaths, divided allegiances, and the symbolic stain of his scarlet coat, emerges not as easy piety but through quiet acts of mercy amid hatred. Supporting characters feel authentically alive: a zealous rebel preacher, conflicted comrades like Captain Kirby, and young Nancy, whose life Ned once spared. The narrative refuses tidy heroism or cheap redemption, delivering instead raw conscience, grief, and fragile grace.
With contemplative pacing balanced by tactical grit and period-accurate dialogue, Balestri crafts a lyrical yet unflinching portrait of the Revolutionary War’s human tragedy. The mortal wounding of Fraser and Burgoyne’s surrender carries poignant weight, leaving Ned’s wounds open as the story builds toward the trilogy’s conclusion.
Luminous in beauty, moral complexity, and historical depth, Kingdom of Wolves stands as outstanding faith-infused historical fiction. It chills with war’s savagery while warming with mercy’s stubborn light. Highly recommended for readers seeking thoughtful Revolutionary War stories that honor both grit and the soul. The wolves feast, but grace endures.
July 25, 2026
Avelina Balestri’s All Ye That Pass By: Kingdom of Wolves, the second volume of her American Revolution trilogy, immerses her readers in the horrors of combat as protagonist Ned Southworth faces his first test as a soldier in the British Army at the Battles of Saratoga. Balestri continues to demonstrate a deep commitment to accurate historical research, an ear for the pace and rhythms of authentic dialogue, and an abiding love for her cast of characters, whom she paints in vivid prose as complex, even contradictory figures. Her Brigadier General Simon Fraser of Balnain is a professional warrior with the soul of a poet, while young Southworth is portrayed as a man torn between loyalty to his God and his oath as a soldier.
Balestri’s prose remains as elegant as that of her first volume, Gone For a Soldier, and themes of morality, comradeship, and duty are woven throughout Kingdom of Wolves. Where the volume truly succeeds is her introduction of a grittier side to the Saratoga Campaign. Southworth and his comrades face the patriot army at Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights, and Balestri proves herself equal to the task of writing convincing combat scenes. She immerses her readers in her battle descriptions and does not shy away from describing the noise, horror, and confusion of combat. Balestri further commits to exploring the effects of war on men’s psyches. She delivers compassionate but unflinching descriptions of emerging post-traumatic stress in an era where succumbing to psychological pressure could be construed as evidence of flawed character.
Kingdom of Wolves is sure to increase Balestri’s legion of fans. Her loyal readers will delight in the further adventures of Ned Southworth and Burgoyne’s northern army. Those who seek more traditional military fiction will be drawn to her descriptions of battle. Rich in historical detail, action, and emotional depth, Kingdom of Wolves is a worthy continuation of a remarkable trilogy.
Balestri’s prose remains as elegant as that of her first volume, Gone For a Soldier, and themes of morality, comradeship, and duty are woven throughout Kingdom of Wolves. Where the volume truly succeeds is her introduction of a grittier side to the Saratoga Campaign. Southworth and his comrades face the patriot army at Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights, and Balestri proves herself equal to the task of writing convincing combat scenes. She immerses her readers in her battle descriptions and does not shy away from describing the noise, horror, and confusion of combat. Balestri further commits to exploring the effects of war on men’s psyches. She delivers compassionate but unflinching descriptions of emerging post-traumatic stress in an era where succumbing to psychological pressure could be construed as evidence of flawed character.
Kingdom of Wolves is sure to increase Balestri’s legion of fans. Her loyal readers will delight in the further adventures of Ned Southworth and Burgoyne’s northern army. Those who seek more traditional military fiction will be drawn to her descriptions of battle. Rich in historical detail, action, and emotional depth, Kingdom of Wolves is a worthy continuation of a remarkable trilogy.
June 14, 2026
A deep dive into the heart of the British experience of Burgoyne's campaign in the American Revolutionary war. Everyone, including Ned are battling their own inner demons as the campaign struggles and morale drops steeplas inevitable battle with the rebels draws near.
I felt for Ned, whose goodness shows out often, but is tormented by his guilt and the horrors all around him. The mentors he idolizes, Fraser and Burgoyne, fight the darknnesses within and without as they are faced with terrible choices. The ideals that led them to battle clash with the reality of the battlefield and sheer survival.
I enjoyed the interactions of the makeshift band of brothers who bond. The young men, brave and determined to serve with pride and honor such as Donald Stewart of Bonnie Prince Charlie's line, Ned's fellow clerks and the soldiers.
Engrossingly written, highly researched storytelling blending fact and fiction and characters who stick with you long after you turn the last page.
I felt for Ned, whose goodness shows out often, but is tormented by his guilt and the horrors all around him. The mentors he idolizes, Fraser and Burgoyne, fight the darknnesses within and without as they are faced with terrible choices. The ideals that led them to battle clash with the reality of the battlefield and sheer survival.
I enjoyed the interactions of the makeshift band of brothers who bond. The young men, brave and determined to serve with pride and honor such as Donald Stewart of Bonnie Prince Charlie's line, Ned's fellow clerks and the soldiers.
Engrossingly written, highly researched storytelling blending fact and fiction and characters who stick with you long after you turn the last page.
July 4, 2026
Avellina surprises me with every new book. This time it’s with the super realistic depictions of the war atrocities.
The book is huge and heavy on dialogue.
The book is huge and heavy on dialogue.
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