Tildy

Tildy #1

by Sara Fraser

The first of a series featuring a courageous young woman in the exploited 1820s nailmaking community of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. In an unhospitable land she becomes the spirited challenger to the nailers' oppressors in their - and her - struggle for a better future.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Fiction

Audio Cassette

First published July 1, 1998

About the author

Sara Fraser is a pseudonym for Roy Clews, a one-time Marine Commando and Foreign Legionnaire who has traveled and worked all over the world.

Reviews

[Josephine (Jo) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tildy is a young girl in service as a maid to a vicar and his overbearing and self-righteous wife. Having been forced to drink alcohol Tildy is raped by the footman and becomes pregnant. She is forced to marry the odious Tom Crawford and they are turned away from the vicarage in disgrace. Tom takes Tildy back to his home town near Bromsgrove to live in a place called the Sidemore where the only trade available is nail making. It is a backbreaking, crushing job, working all day and most of the night in order to make enough nails for the next weighing day. Men, women, and small children all have to work in the tremendous heat of the forges, stripped down to the bare minimum of clothes in order to endure the ferocious heat.

Tildy is heavily pregnant and finding it unbearable working alongside Tom Crawford whom she loathes. He spends what little money they earn on drink and Tildy is left to struggle alone when she goes into labour. In her fear and pain and at the height of a violent storm she runs away to have her baby. Having given birth, for just a short time she finds peace and happiness but that is short lived and she ends up back in the Sidemore.

The dreadful poverty and hunger drag Tildy down to her lowest physical and mental state and she has just one friend her neighbour Hester.

The story is set just after the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester in 1919 and many of the men who work in the forges are veterans of the battle of Waterloo. It is a dreadful time to be poor, you either slave until you drop or you starve. The nail masters are hard and cruel knowing that there is nowhere for the workers to turn.

I found the historical accuracy of the story really good and the accent of the area and the earthy language of the time were very convincing.

I first read this series in the nineteen eighties when it was first published but it is still just as interesting now as it was then.

[Deanne Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking place in 1820's England. At 18, Tildy meets Tom Crawford. She is forced to consume a large amount of alcohol and half conscious she is raped by him. With the coming child she is forced to marry the father by the church. She despises the father and wants to build a better future for her child. When a horrible circumstance occurs she has had enough of her harsh life and runs away while she is in labor. She is rescued and has her baby in the poorhouse . After recovering she is put out of there and taken in by someone. Even though she is shown kindness, which she is not used to in her marriage she feels she must leave her rescuers house and try to make another go of her marriage.
Tildy is the first book in an eight parts series about her struggles in a very harsh world.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was curious when I read the author's bio, and wondered how a former Marine would treat the Regency Era.

This was a wonderful story about resilience in an era that would be challenging to all but a few. The author gives such interesting detail about the plight of women, the cottage industry of nail making, and the struggle between classes.

Bravo!

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tildy series is unlike most other historical romances in being very detailed, down to earth and gritty. In this first instalment, the young woman who was working in a house as maid, was seduced by another servant, who was then obliged to marry her as she was pregnant. But the clergyman householder, who insisted on the wedding, doesn't have quarters for married servants, so he pays them off. They have to return the much tougher and more deprived nail making community in the townland. I find you can read the books in whatever order you come across them, then go back and fill in the gaps.

Worcestershire is well depicted and customs, trades like nail making and travelling farm labourer and their hardships are brought to our notice. Life was very physical and tough for all but a few, whose viewpoints are also shown.

The author Sara Fraser is actually a man, a former soldier called Roy Clews according to Goodreads. This accounts for his portrayal of the male viewpoint in all his books, alternating with the courageous Tildy's viewpoint. I believe this also explains why hard work is looked at in such detail and so much gritty realism is shown. This series is excellent for those who don't mind some strong language and adult behaviour in context and who know there is more to historical romance than ballgowns.
This is an unbiased review.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the moment she meets handsome and violent Tom Crawford, Tildy Seymour knows her life will never be the same. Raped & now heavily pregnant, Tildy finds herself with no recourse but to marry the father of her baby, only to find themselves in the same day homeless, jobless, and penniless. With nothing left to them, the newlyweds must return to Tom’s birthplace of the Sidemoor in the Midlands, a savage and oppressed community of nail-makers.
Surrounded by misery, saddled with a husband she despises, and desperate to build a future more positive than her own for her unborn child, Tildy holds her head high, refusing to be daunted, and faces all that her new life throws at her.
I did wonder how an ex marine would approach a Regency era novel & I was more than pleasantly surprised. This is the first in a series of eight & I so hope Tildy’s life improves. It was good to read a regency era novel not set in London & featuring the ton but the lives & struggles of the poor & working class. I felt the author dealt with Tildy’s trials & tribulations with a deft touch, the pace of the book was good & kept me turning the pages. I was also left wanting to continue Tildy’s story so I’ll be reading more in the series. A very good series opener

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book

[Fay D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

A great descriptive insight to the life of Tildy and those of the nail.workers. I'm looking forward to the next book

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

well written, in the style of the period, but awfully grim tale of a young woman who is raped when she's had too much to drink, falls pregnant and then suffers a LOT of consequences. Tildy not only loses her job, she's forced to marry the creep, who definitely does not make her life easier. I was not familiar with the nail industry before= and that's one of the positives in this book. You'll certainly learn about a sector of life in the UK you were not aware of (and possibly could have happily ignored forever.) I admire the writing. Beware a sex scene early on. Thanks to NETGALLEY for the ARC of what I understand is the first of 8 books centered around Tildy, who is a very strong woman- I hope things look up for her along the way.