I am so excited to share my review of Ropewalk; Rebellion. Love. Survival (The Ropewalk Series, Book 1) by H D Coulter. Thank you so much to The Coffee Pot Book Club for your invite to take part in this tour.
Ropewalk; Rebellion. Love. Survival
(The Ropewalk Series, Book 1)
By H D Coulter
The working class are gathering. Rebellion is stirring, and the people are divided.
Beatrice Lightfoot, a young woman fighting her own personal rebellion, is looking for an opportunity to change her luck. When she gains the attention of the enigmatic Captain Hanley, he offers her a tantalising deal to attend the May Day dance. She accepts, unaware of the true price of her own free will.
Her subsequent entanglement with Joshua Mason, the son of a local merchant, draws all three into a destructive and dangerous relationship, which threatens to drag Beatrice, and all she knows into darkness.
Now, Beatrice must choose between rebellion, love and survival before all is lost, and the Northern uprising changes her world forever.
Look at that cover! You know what I am like about covers, and that is undoubtedly a pretty cover.
Bea is the ropemaker’s daughter, who spends her free time sat on the old harbour wall watching the boats come and go, longs for a life away from her overbearing mother (we will get to her in a minute). She makes lace and sells it—some would say lace that rivals that seen in Manchester and Boston. But it is not the life she wants, not the life she dreams of. Enter two men, both wanting the same thing—Bea.
Let us start with Bea’s mother. I don’t think it would be sensible to simply say ‘I hate her’ and move on, because that would provide no explanation, and you may assume I am a very hateful person. I am not, but some of the characters in this book certainly tested that assumption. Bea’s mother is horrible. She is controlling, angry, sometimes even violent towards her children. Bea raises her youngest sisters, and her mother gets mad at her for doing so, even though she does not do so herself. Honestly, I’m not sure how Bea is patient enough not to retaliate with the same violence her mother displays. Anyway, enough about that horrible woman. Let us move onto the two men.
Captain Hanley… I do not want to talk about him. I will admit, he had me hooked for a while, but the same happened to Bea and look where she ended up. He is a vile man, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but I don’t think that is fair to the poor wolf. Captain Hanley is a sly, conniving man with no morals and an insatiable need always to have what he wants. He is the other character who I can honestly say that I loathed with all my heart.
Joshua Mason… swoon. Now there is a perfect man. Need I continue? There is the slight issue that Joshua is rich and Bea poor and that Joshua’s father would never bless the union, but when has that ever stood in the way of true love? Quite often, it seems. Joshua and Bea are simply wonderful together, and I don’t think I have ever rooted for a couple more than I did for them.
There are some disturbing scenes in this novel, ones that left me with my hand over my mouth and a wrenching to my heart. Beatrice deserves nothing that she gets. Life is not fair, but it’s not that unfair. Fate does this strange thing, where those who least deserve it suffer and those who belong in hell get away with anything and everything. My husband actually threatened to take the book away from me at one point, as the story got so intense I was perched on the very edge of the sofa, one hand on my mouth and the other poised over my eReader, furiously turning the page routinely, every 45 seconds or so. Apparently, that is not normal human behaviour, according to him. Although when he threatened such a thing, he had since told me, I threw him the dirtiest look of ‘if you dare…’ that he didn’t want to face the consequences should he do such a thing.
There is heartbreak, love, horror and fear, everything that belongs in a book and then some. If it’s good enough that my exterior made my husband want to take the book away from me, it’s obviously one that you need to get your hands on immediately, if not sooner.
I received a copy of this book from The Coffee Pot Book Club but you can grab yours for only 0.99 on Kindle on Amazon UK and Amazon US. Or if you prefer, you can grab your copy from some other very reputable bookshops - Universal Link.
The sequel to this novel is now available on pre-order over on Amazon UK, Amazon Us, and your favourite online bookshops - Universal Link.
H D Coulter
Hayley was born and raised in the lake district and across Cumbria. From a young age, Hayley loved learning about history, visiting castles and discovering local stories from the past. Hayley and her partner lived in Ulverston for three years and spent her weekends walking along the Ropewalk and down by the old harbour. She became inspired by the spirit of the area and stories that had taken place along the historic streets.
As a teacher, Hayley had loved the art of storytelling by studying drama and theatre. The power of the written word, how it can transport the reader to another world or even another time in history. But it wasn't until living in Ulverston did she discover a story worth telling. From that point, the characters became alive and she fell in love with the story.
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