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The Haggard Chronicles #1
Haggard
Haggard’s Penn, Barbados, 1780.
John Haggard is the richest sugar planter in the West Indies, boasting a plantation big enough to be a town in its own right and two thousands slaves to work the fields.
Young, strong, handsome, and successful, he seems to live a charmed life.
But beneath the success lies a bitterness he cannot assuage. For a few brief, happy moments, his life was perfect — and then his beloved wife was taken away, leaving him with an infant son and an aching emptiness that he cannot fill.
Spurred into killing a man because of a woman’s foolishness, Haggard is overwhelmed by a cruel desire to hurt women — any woman will do. Destined for the gallows, Emma Dearborn is exactly what he beautiful, white, and wholly at his mercy.
At first terrified by her new master, over the years Emma grows to love Haggard. When she suggests they journey to England — her place of birth, though an entirely foreign land to him — Haggard seizes upon the idea, packing up Emma, his three children, and a bevy of black slaves and setting sail for Britain.
But London is vastly different than the world Haggard has always known. Polite society is scandalised by the idea of a man’s mistress, and their issue, living openly with her master — that Emma is so far below Haggard socially makes the whole scenario that much more shocking. For the first time in Haggard’s life, his vast wealth cannot buy him everything he desires.
Though interested in taking up his seat in Commons, Haggard swiftly moves his household to the country, where he hopes that a kinder eye will be cast upon the unusual family. But trouble swiftly begins to brew beneath the surface — slavery is outlawed in England, and Haggard’s ownership of slaves rapidly becomes a serious point of contention.
Nor is that the only trial awaiting Haggard in his new life, as he struggles to balance the life he was born to with the life he is living. Haggard is a vivid, violent tale of power and intrigue, the story of a tragic man and the women he loved…and abused.
Again and again he asks Are you a bad man, John Haggard?
‘If Haggard is the taste of what is to follow…let’s hope No. 2 and No. 3 won’t be too long before they make an appearance!’ — Book Buyer
Born in 1930, Christopher Nicole spent his early years in British Guiana and the West Indies — years that would later strongly influence much of his writing. Many of his fifty novels are historical with a West Indian background. While his well-known Caribee saga tells the history of the British West Indian plantocracy, Haggard tells instead the tale of those West Indian nabobs who returned to England — and the difficulties they encountered there.
John Haggard is the richest sugar planter in the West Indies, boasting a plantation big enough to be a town in its own right and two thousands slaves to work the fields.
Young, strong, handsome, and successful, he seems to live a charmed life.
But beneath the success lies a bitterness he cannot assuage. For a few brief, happy moments, his life was perfect — and then his beloved wife was taken away, leaving him with an infant son and an aching emptiness that he cannot fill.
Spurred into killing a man because of a woman’s foolishness, Haggard is overwhelmed by a cruel desire to hurt women — any woman will do. Destined for the gallows, Emma Dearborn is exactly what he beautiful, white, and wholly at his mercy.
At first terrified by her new master, over the years Emma grows to love Haggard. When she suggests they journey to England — her place of birth, though an entirely foreign land to him — Haggard seizes upon the idea, packing up Emma, his three children, and a bevy of black slaves and setting sail for Britain.
But London is vastly different than the world Haggard has always known. Polite society is scandalised by the idea of a man’s mistress, and their issue, living openly with her master — that Emma is so far below Haggard socially makes the whole scenario that much more shocking. For the first time in Haggard’s life, his vast wealth cannot buy him everything he desires.
Though interested in taking up his seat in Commons, Haggard swiftly moves his household to the country, where he hopes that a kinder eye will be cast upon the unusual family. But trouble swiftly begins to brew beneath the surface — slavery is outlawed in England, and Haggard’s ownership of slaves rapidly becomes a serious point of contention.
Nor is that the only trial awaiting Haggard in his new life, as he struggles to balance the life he was born to with the life he is living. Haggard is a vivid, violent tale of power and intrigue, the story of a tragic man and the women he loved…and abused.
Again and again he asks Are you a bad man, John Haggard?
‘If Haggard is the taste of what is to follow…let’s hope No. 2 and No. 3 won’t be too long before they make an appearance!’ — Book Buyer
Born in 1930, Christopher Nicole spent his early years in British Guiana and the West Indies — years that would later strongly influence much of his writing. Many of his fifty novels are historical with a West Indian background. While his well-known Caribee saga tells the history of the British West Indian plantocracy, Haggard tells instead the tale of those West Indian nabobs who returned to England — and the difficulties they encountered there.
- GenresHistorical
505 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 1980
About the author
Christopher Nicole
229 books60 followersChristopher Robin Nicole was born on 7 December 1930 in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), where he was raised. He is the son of Jean Dorothy (Logan) and Jack Nicole, a police officer, both Scottish. He studied at Queen's College in Guyana and at Harrison College in Barbados. He was a fellow at the Canadian Bankers Association and a clerk for the Royal Bank of Canada in Georgetown and Nassau from 1947 to 1956. In 1957, he moved to Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom, where he currently lives, but he also has a domicile in Spain.
On 31 March 1951, he married his first wife, Jean Regina Amelia Barnett, with whom he had two sons, Bruce and Jack, and two daughters, Julie and Ursula, they divorced. On 8 May 1982 he married for the second time with fellow writer Diana Bachmann.
As a romantic and passionate of history, Nicole has been published since 1957, when he published a book about West Indian Cricket. He published his first novel in 1959 with his first stories set in his native Caribbean. Later he wrote many historical novels set mostly in tumultuous periods like World War I, World War II and the Cold War, and depict places in Europe, Asia and Africa. He also wrote classic romance novels. He specialized in Series and Sagas, and continues to write into the 21st century with no intention of retiring.
He signs his books as Christopher Nicole and uses several pseudonyms, some of them female. Pseudonyms used include: Peter Grange, Andrew York, Robin Cade, Mark Logan, Christina Nicholson, Alison York, Leslie Arlen, Robin Nicholson, C. R. Nicholson, Daniel Adams, Simon McKay, Caroline Gray and Alan Savage. He wrote disaster thrillers in collaboration with his wife, Diana Bachmann, under the penname Max Marlow. Under his different pseudonyms he has worked with many publishing houses: Jarrolds, Hutchinson, Simon & Schuster, Coward-McCann & Geoghegan, Jove, Michael Joseph, Mills & Boon, and Severn House.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christop... and
http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL1009...
On 31 March 1951, he married his first wife, Jean Regina Amelia Barnett, with whom he had two sons, Bruce and Jack, and two daughters, Julie and Ursula, they divorced. On 8 May 1982 he married for the second time with fellow writer Diana Bachmann.
As a romantic and passionate of history, Nicole has been published since 1957, when he published a book about West Indian Cricket. He published his first novel in 1959 with his first stories set in his native Caribbean. Later he wrote many historical novels set mostly in tumultuous periods like World War I, World War II and the Cold War, and depict places in Europe, Asia and Africa. He also wrote classic romance novels. He specialized in Series and Sagas, and continues to write into the 21st century with no intention of retiring.
He signs his books as Christopher Nicole and uses several pseudonyms, some of them female. Pseudonyms used include: Peter Grange, Andrew York, Robin Cade, Mark Logan, Christina Nicholson, Alison York, Leslie Arlen, Robin Nicholson, C. R. Nicholson, Daniel Adams, Simon McKay, Caroline Gray and Alan Savage. He wrote disaster thrillers in collaboration with his wife, Diana Bachmann, under the penname Max Marlow. Under his different pseudonyms he has worked with many publishing houses: Jarrolds, Hutchinson, Simon & Schuster, Coward-McCann & Geoghegan, Jove, Michael Joseph, Mills & Boon, and Severn House.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christop... and
http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL1009...
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 21, 2017
A stirring piece of historical fiction and drama
I'm not sure where to say, other than this is the strongest work of Nicole's I've read so far. A stirring piece of fiction, about pride, forgiveness, human cruelty, anger, redemption and all that encompasses the many variants of human emotion. It is at once a tragic tale and yet a story of triumph. That out of the ashes and the fallen broken pieces, good may yet come out. Most historical fiction stories I've read have really been about the history and the cultures involved. But this is a true drama, a prescient family saga, full of compelling characters and wrapped so neatly in the backdrop of the late 18th century and early nineteen century. Even more impressive is how Nicole is able to infuse this story, the personal stories of his main characters and yet touch on many big themes from beginning to end: pride, slavery, class warfare, the onset of the industrial revolution, sexuality, human rights, power and many others. The ending was a tad bit disappointing, though I'd attribute that to the sheer depth the story ended up taking and it doesn't discount from the overall quality. I won't say much else but I do have to admit, that this surely far superior to any of Nicole's works I've read so far. Definitely top five of the best historical fiction novels I've read. Just brilliant!
I'm not sure where to say, other than this is the strongest work of Nicole's I've read so far. A stirring piece of fiction, about pride, forgiveness, human cruelty, anger, redemption and all that encompasses the many variants of human emotion. It is at once a tragic tale and yet a story of triumph. That out of the ashes and the fallen broken pieces, good may yet come out. Most historical fiction stories I've read have really been about the history and the cultures involved. But this is a true drama, a prescient family saga, full of compelling characters and wrapped so neatly in the backdrop of the late 18th century and early nineteen century. Even more impressive is how Nicole is able to infuse this story, the personal stories of his main characters and yet touch on many big themes from beginning to end: pride, slavery, class warfare, the onset of the industrial revolution, sexuality, human rights, power and many others. The ending was a tad bit disappointing, though I'd attribute that to the sheer depth the story ended up taking and it doesn't discount from the overall quality. I won't say much else but I do have to admit, that this surely far superior to any of Nicole's works I've read so far. Definitely top five of the best historical fiction novels I've read. Just brilliant!
December 19, 2020
Surprised
I chose 5 because except for the preponderance of details about war with the French which were too much for me, I loved this saga. I didnt want it to end. I cared about the characters whom I had gotten to know over the full length of the book. The sexual nature of those times was well described in a sensual manner and sometimes in a savage manner, but was always within the confines of the story. I will likely want to follow the family.
I chose 5 because except for the preponderance of details about war with the French which were too much for me, I loved this saga. I didnt want it to end. I cared about the characters whom I had gotten to know over the full length of the book. The sexual nature of those times was well described in a sensual manner and sometimes in a savage manner, but was always within the confines of the story. I will likely want to follow the family.
September 5, 2018
"So then, are you a bad man, John Haggard?"
I won't answer. I was lost in him. I'm on to the next story, next Haggard, God help me.
I won't answer. I was lost in him. I'm on to the next story, next Haggard, God help me.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews