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The Dorset Chronicles #3
A Simple Mistake
It started as A Simple Mistake… Believing himself spurned by the woman he loves, a distraught Thomas Davenport leaves Dorset, intending to go as far as possible to cause the most dismay at home. But fate takes him to Ireland, at the height of the 1689 James Stuart invasion. He meets Tristan Browne, an Irishman born in Barbados, coming home to a land in uproar. The Siege of Londonderry, like so much in the Seventeenth Century, pits countryman against countryman in a bitter war of attrition, starvation and resilience. Bridget Browne, Tristan’s cousin, is caught up inside the walls of Londonderry and writes a heart-rendering yet insightful account. Published in London, it is quickly recognised as a definitive narrative of the siege from the inside. Unknown to Thomas, his brother Matthew is also in Ireland, carrying out essential undercover reconnaissance for King William, although he wishes dearly to be back behind the pulpit in his native Dorset and with his new wife, Lady Eliza Merriman. Thrown together by fate, the four must flee Ireland when Matthew uncovers a corrupt scheme, the work of old adversary Parchman. His master plan is to supply arms and equipment to the Protestant forces at inflated prices and use the money raised in vicious acts of vengeance to destroy Great Little and Bagber Manor back in Dorset. Can these ancient and historic estates survive or will Parchman succeed and see his foes out on the streets, beggar bowl in hand? A Simple Mistake continues the journey of the Davenport family as they unwittingly contribute to the building of the proud and indomitable nation we know today.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 12, 2019
1 person is currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Chris Oswald
11 books15 followersThe Stories that would not Lie Down.
As far back as I can remember, stories have been a major part of my life. At first they were in my head, a whole set of worlds of wonderful make believe. Then they became verbal to wile away long car journeys, rehearsed during boring lessons at school. For the longest time nothing was put into writing except a little poetry and some songs.
Then adulthood came and, with it, responsibility. I tried to put my stories away and concentrate on a career in business. This took me to America where we lived for close to twenty years, also to Scotland where my family comes from. But the stories would not lie down, kept coming back to me. In a fallow period in my thirties I wrote my first book. It was terrible so I wrote another. Then I started ‘2024: A History of the Future’ and things seemed to come together. But it was still little more than ideas and so it remained for a long time until I sold my business and moved to Dorset.
The Dorset Chronicles is historical fiction at its best - local yet national, even international, accurate yet full of imagination, thrilling yet tender, full of description yet full of action.
Each book is a bundle of fiction and fact, entertainment and education.
Other books include 18 Acres of England, a humorous yet serious look into politics and prison life in America and The Stuff of Heroes, first in the Semblance of Order Trilogy, asking what would the 1960s look like if Germany had won the war?
Parallel with my love of stories is an equal love of history. Perhaps it is the millions of different ways things can work out that appeals to me. Or perhaps it is the unknown parts that allow the imagination to play. But my writing is infused with history, mixing and matching ideas and themes that talk of freedom, choices and strong social concepts. But at the end of the day, each book hopes to be a good story with twists, humour and characters that come alive to the reader.
As far back as I can remember, stories have been a major part of my life. At first they were in my head, a whole set of worlds of wonderful make believe. Then they became verbal to wile away long car journeys, rehearsed during boring lessons at school. For the longest time nothing was put into writing except a little poetry and some songs.
Then adulthood came and, with it, responsibility. I tried to put my stories away and concentrate on a career in business. This took me to America where we lived for close to twenty years, also to Scotland where my family comes from. But the stories would not lie down, kept coming back to me. In a fallow period in my thirties I wrote my first book. It was terrible so I wrote another. Then I started ‘2024: A History of the Future’ and things seemed to come together. But it was still little more than ideas and so it remained for a long time until I sold my business and moved to Dorset.
The Dorset Chronicles is historical fiction at its best - local yet national, even international, accurate yet full of imagination, thrilling yet tender, full of description yet full of action.
Each book is a bundle of fiction and fact, entertainment and education.
Other books include 18 Acres of England, a humorous yet serious look into politics and prison life in America and The Stuff of Heroes, first in the Semblance of Order Trilogy, asking what would the 1960s look like if Germany had won the war?
Parallel with my love of stories is an equal love of history. Perhaps it is the millions of different ways things can work out that appeals to me. Or perhaps it is the unknown parts that allow the imagination to play. But my writing is infused with history, mixing and matching ideas and themes that talk of freedom, choices and strong social concepts. But at the end of the day, each book hopes to be a good story with twists, humour and characters that come alive to the reader.
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