Treason's Gift

Wintercombe #4

by Pamela Belle

Summer 1686. Wintercombe.

Louise and Alex mourn the death of their baby son.

In the aftermath of tragedy, grief and guilt cast their once happy marriage onto rocks.

Louise sinks into depression and Alex seeks comfort in the arms of another woman.

Then Alex does the unthinkable and Louise can no longer bear the sight of him.

Alex finds refuge and revolutionary intrigue in Holland while his cousin Charles, long desirous of Louise and the family home, returns from exile, intent on fulfilling his ambition at last: to be master of Wintercombe.

All affairs of the heart, however, are caught up in a larger swirl of events as James II is about to be dethroned and as anti-Catholic, nationalist sentiment swells--a movement clandestinely aided by Alexander and a courtier who proposes to Alexander’s plain-looking and plain-spoken spinster sister Phoebe.

The final installment of the Wintercombe saga.

Praise for Treason’s Gift

‘An outstanding historical novelist, Belle now adds another volume to her impressively researched and crafted series set during the English Civil Wars.’ – Publishers Weekly

‘A richly detailed and delightful family chronicle, quickening into an unputdownable adventure story’ – Rosemary Sutcliff

‘A restful cruise for the St. Barbe faithful and period-romance insatiables.’ – Kirkus Reviews

‘A gifted storyteller…who can conjure up a period of history so that we can smell, hear and see it’ – Sarah Harrison, author of The Flowers of the Field

Pamela Belle was born and bred in Suffolk, the daughter of a local prep school headmaster. She went to the University of Sussex, and went on to become a primary school teacher. She is the author of seven previous novels including the Wintercombe series and the Moon in the Water series.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Historical Romance, 17th Century, Fiction, English Civil War

587 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 8, 1992

About the author

Belle, who also writes contemporary fiction as Alice Marlow, always wanted to be an author. As a child the books she read were adventure stories like "Treasure Island," "Swallows and Amazons," and the novels of John Buchan and CS Forester. She wrote her first book at the age of twelve and having visited the site of a lovely Elizabethan manor house called Rushbrooke and observing the bare, moated island which was all that was left, she wanted to bring Rushbrooke back and chose to do so in print.
Over the next few years 'The Epic', as it became known, grew and grew. Belle drew up a huge family tree and a plan of the house very like Rushbrooke.
Married and a teacher of a class of six-year-olds, she wrote in longhand and, while publishers made encouraging noises, no one was prepared to risk publishing a large book by an unknown author. Eventually the agent Vivienne Schuster was wonderfully enthusiastic about it and found a publisher.
"The Moon in the Water" and its two sequels were published in the UK and the USA with considerable success. Belle gave up teaching in 1985 to spend more time researching and writing. She plans to write a book about Alfred the Great if she can fit it in between looking after the children, dogs, cats and husband.

Reviews

[Misfit · Rating 4 out of 5]

***If you have not yet read A Falling Star in this series and wish to remain spoiler free I suggest you not read further, nor read the product info on Amazon and Goodreads***

Treason's Gift is the fourth and last book in Belle's series on the St. Barbe family of Wintercombe. Louise is heartbroken with grief and guilt after the premature birth and death of her first child and it takes a heavy toll on her once happy marriage. Shunned from the marriage bed, Alex hies it off to stay with his sister Phoebe in Bath and a chance meeting with an old lover available is too tempting for Alex to resist, although he soon comes to regret the affair. Will Charles' mother Bab use her knowledge of the affair to destroy Louise's love for Alex and permanently drive a wedge between the two?

Without Louise to share it with him, Alex has no desire to live at Wintercombe and leaves it to his cousin and heir Charles (the estate is entailed to the next male heir), sails for Holland and is soon embroiled in William of Orange's plots to oust Catholic James II from England's throne. Can Alex and Louise ever mend their emotional wounds and find happiness again? Can Charles contain his mad obsession with Louise and Wintercombe or will it lead to further treachery and murder?

While not up to the same standards as the first two in this series and might be a bit too much of a romance for some readers (Alex and Louise do smoke off the pages when they are together), I still enjoyed it a great deal. I never knew much about this period in England's history, nor the events leading up to the "Bloodless Revolution" against James II and his Papist policies. Some of the retelling of the revolution was a bit dry - there was more telling than showing, but still interesting for history geeks like me. One very special treat was the way Belle managed to bring the Heron family and Goldhayes from her The Moon in the Water trilogy into this book - nicely done.

Belle is superb at peopling her novels with real characters and real settings appropriate for the time and place she puts them in, as well as the small details of day to day life and customs of the period. I'm very sorry this series has come to a close and I'll have no more Pamela Belle novels to look forward to (she's got a couple of fantasy novels but that's not my genre). Sadly out of print but worth hunting down, I highly recommend this and the Moon in the Water trilogy for anyone interested in 17C England. The series in order,

Wintercombe
Herald of Joy
A Falling Star
Treason's Gift

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another required read for fans of Wintercombe, starring again the obnoxious Alex and the arrogant Louise. The book is about their love for each other and problems in their marriage, but to me both characters are far too unpleasant to make good reading. The book is well written and yes the story is good, but I find myself wanting to punch Alex and smother Louise with a pillow to the face.

I really only read this book for the rare glimpse of Silence. :-)

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the Glo Rev has succeeded, protestantism is safe and all is well at Wintercombe, altho Charles is dead in the stable fire he set.

In the afterword the author compares the 17th century fear of Catholicism to the red scares of the 20th century and says that it's unbelievable how sane and sensible people of the 17th century attributed their misfortunes to the "papists." Yet, in the book, she refers to the tortures of the Hugenots by the Frenchand Louis xiv, the alliance of Charles II and James II with Louis, James' marriage to a Catholic from Italy, James' attempts to bring England back to Catholicism with forced conversions. Not to mention that all English people remembered Mary's executions of 300 people in 2.5 years, the Armada, the pope's fatwa against Elizabeth, the Gunpowder plot and the Spanish Inquisition. I would argue that Protestant's fears were well justified.

[Frances Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely difficult book to review as the ‘hero’ rapes his wife- no ifs or buts , while drunk (no excuse) he forces her to have sex with him.
That would usually be enough for me to DNF a book. However while I had given up on the romance , the historical story was just too fascinating to abandon - the Glorious Revolution so rarely features in books I was drawn into that story. I also wanted to see whether the person who was more revolting than Alex, his cousin Charles, would get his just come uppance.
And I am prepared to accept that by the skin of his teeth Alexander St Barbe just about managed to redeem himself.
Certainly two characters whose judgement I would value if I ever met them, Silence and Phoebe, felt that Alex was a changed man, a better man , who deserved the second chance his wife was prepared to grant him.
And Charles got what was coming to him!!!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth and final book in the Wintercombe series. I have very much enjoyed this series and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys great historical fiction. It's a series that would also stand up to multiple re-reads, as they are rich in detail. Highly recommended.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The historical detail is rich, and the continuation of Silence’s storyline is a pleasure, but the characters simply aren’t as engaging.

[Dkwallpdx · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two books in the Wintercombe series were wonderful. The last two, set two generations later, not so much so.

[Catie · Rating 3 out of 5]

**3.5 Stars**

[Mae Leveson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fitting conclusion to the Wintercombe series. I didn’t want to put this book down. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all four books and highly recommend them.

[TheFatMermaid · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good neat ending

I'm a fan of Pamela Belle and I enjoyed this series and this book. I was content and pleased with how it ended over-all and like most of this author's books has found a place in my heart.

[Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last in the "Wintercombe" series of books, which follows the story of Alex and Louise and their turbulent marriage up to the invasion of William of Orange in 1688. There are moments in this story where I seriously began to believe that neither of them deserved a happy ending, but the author managed to persuade me otherwise despite Alex's really appalling behaviour (possibly triggery for rape). As usual in Pamela Belle's books this is well researched and the characters are interesting, particularly Alex's sister Phoebe, but I did think it was a little long and repetitive in parts. It was very good to see characters from her other series of novels and find out what had happened to them. Even though I liked the other books a bit better this was still a strong ending to an excellent series, which was particularly good at showing how the complexities of 17th century history affected a family living through turbulent times.

[Karen Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. Now I will have to read the first three in the series. The book is about their love for each other and problems in their marriage, which is quite alot. I received this book from net galley for an honest review.

[Lori Greenlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. It didn't have the good reviews as the others but it was well written. I would like to read other books by her if I can find them in print.

[Beryl Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series

I found this series a fascinating read. The history of the 1600's in England showing the effects of religious fanatics, greed and disregard of the opinions of the general populace give a background to a family saga that is compelling reading. Well written and researched