Seize May 1812 Narrated By M.M. Bennetts Format Kindle

Europe has been at war for twenty years, Britain stands alone against the greatest threat to peace the world has ever known, at daily risk of a French invasion and revolution.
In London, a handful of men struggle to protect their country and maintain the war effort, Among them, the Earl of Myddelton, codebreaker to the Foreign Office, strives to crack the most difficult French code yetthe Grand Chiffrebefore still more men die on the battlefields of Europe.


Then, onMay, the unthinkable happens, The Prime Minister is assassinated, Amid widespread panic and fear of a French conspiracy, the government falls,

From the ballrooms of London, to the backstreets of power, to the deathinwaiting coast of enemy France, Myddelton is drawn inexorably into the deepening crisishis private life unravelling all the while, as misunderstandings, gossip and spite mar his marriage, and threaten to destroy his career.
This ambitious novel takes place during the Napoleonic Period and is exquisitely steeped in detail that can only be written by someone who knows their subject well.
Reminiscent of Austin and Burney Bennetts creates complex characters and successfully combines the intricacies of their personal relationships with the political intrigue of the larger world.
This is either the third or fourth time i have read this Regency Romance, It has been some years since I last read it and I know each time I will enjoy it even more than the last time.

I will catch up with the second book soon to close the circle and in memory of this wonderful author we lost to cancer in August of.
A great loss. M. M. Bennetts is, in my opinion, one of the finest writers of historical fiction, This volume begins the author's series that focuses upon the British intelligence service during the Napoleonic Wars, And this volume is as close to a romance as, I think, the series is likely to come exploring the relationships between marriageable young men and women at a time when a parent could still force a match.
But unlike most romances, here it is the male point of view as a young manabouttown finds his freedom impinged upon just as his work for Britain's spy system become truly hazardous.


Always a superb writer, here Bennetts initiates us into earlyth century manly slang, adding such veracity to the portrayal of physical environment and social circumstances that the reader is given a truly extraordinary sense of authentic immersion in the period.
From who else could we have gotten such a blend of elegance and insult as here in a character's accusation, "You, Sir, are a fuckster, Sir!" As the title suggests, this book covers just over one month in.
It's also a long book, but in my opinion, not a page too long,

The Earl of Myddelton finds out that he was betrothed to a girl by his father, years ago before said parent's untimely death.
Now he must marry within a few days, At the same time he's involved in work for the Foreign Office, translating and decoding all hours of the day and night.
At the same time, in the wider world, this is the month the Prime Minister, Sir Spencer Percival, is assassinated, and Napoleon embarks on his illfated invasion of Russia.


The two stories, public and political, private and intimate, wind around each other, The hero and heroine must somehow come to terms amidst all the distractions, deal with some nasty gossip, and spend enough time together in order to fall in love.


The characters are well done, understandable and likeable, including the secondary characters, There is one sequel published, and I hope more will follow to tell their stories,

EditedSeptember

I reread this after the sad news of the author's death last week, All I can add is that I wish I could write like this, M. M. Bennetts is a tremendous researcher and grey contributor to the canon of historical fiction, Her work is such that all who like the period should consider time spent with her offering, Then though, one we have this tome,

There are a few things within

that take one from truly sitting with the piece and knowing what one is in for.
It does too much, at heart, It is not just an historical, for so much is made of the romance, the wedding of our hero, Nor is it a Regency Romance, for so much is made of the history, which has its absurdities within it, Our hero knows or is connected to all that is important at the end of April and beginning of May of, and so we must know all.


Without giving away too much, our hero just can't be that one person who is so caught up in everything that there were none other to carry the water.
Nor does that become more so when carrying that water is used as an artifice to prolong the consummation of the romance of our regency romance.
In this genre, the romance side, we are used to circumstance getting in the way of consummation, but even at its most silly, the reasoning seems balanced.


Here we have to suspend our disbelief a little, or a lot We do find that the hero and heroine are well suited to each other, which also seems an unlikely bit of circumstance again something we see in Regency Romance, but not necessarily as contrived as this seemed to bring our protagonists together.
The last thing that I find hard to lay to rest is that despite often such good history, there are a few places where the research falls through, and Mrs.
Bennetts has since argued extensively that her error in the manuscript and research is somehow justified when such is not supported by any primary or secondary source.
That is why a star gets deducted,

A good story, tropes integrated if perhaps too over the top, and much to be learned as well, "May" by same author, is even better if you felt you could have lived without the romance in this one, I read this in two days, rather a long time for me! and I am going to start rereading it probably tonight.


It's a fabulous novel, the writing drawing me into the era with its elegance and mannerisms and dictates, I knew I was onto a winner here when I began to seriously worry about Avery and Jane,

Some scenes were exquisitely written the death of Perceval and Myddelton's reaction was almost too painful to read and the prose was lovely.


Nothing 'jarred', nothing dragged me out of the story, nothing grated and made me sigh with annoyance, Maybe a bit too heavy on the politics, and the facts, but there again, this is not an average 'Historical Romance', This is solid and meaty and utterly satisfying,

Edit:. I have just noticed that this review is for the Kindle edition whereas I have the 'real' book, But I am also going to buy the Kindle version simply because this is a book I love reading and each time I do, I find more to love about it.
My only gripe is the sheer size and weigt of the paperback copy!,