Dark Tides

Bridge. The second novel in the Fairmile series by Philippa Gregory is titled, Dark Tides. One of my gripes about reading the second novel in a series is the amount of repetition from the first installment. With this novel, I have no such complaint, but wish that the author had helped connect more of the dots. Protagonist Alinor Reekie from the first novel returns in a secondary role in a setting two decades after the first, with the Restoration as the backdrop. James Avery who left Alinor to fend for herself, is now a widower and returns expecting a warm welcome now that his family fortune has been recovered thanks to his support of the king. Instead of picking up on their thread in any direct way, the action involves the wife of Alinor’s son, Rob, a delightfully wicked manipulator and criminal named Livia. Another plot line involves the life of Alinor’s brother, Ned, who lives in New England, caught in the uncomfortable shifting tides between the indigenous people and the English settlers. Many readers will look forward to hearing more about the adventures of 21-year-old twins Sarah and Johnnie, the children of Alinor’s daughter, Alys. In the meantime, what we have here is likely a 450-page bridge between the introduction of the series in the previous novel, and the action to follow in the next. Patient fans of historical fiction are those readers most likely to enjoy this installment and this series. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Dark Tides from amazon.com.