1815: The war is over but for the inmates at Dartmoor Prison, peace - like home - is still a long way away.
On
the eve of the year 1815, the American sailors of the Eagle finally
arrive at Dartmoor prison; bedraggled, exhausted but burning with hope.
They’ve only had one thing to sustain them – a snatched whisper
overheard along the way.
The war is over.
Joe Hill thought
he’d left the war outside these walls but it’s quickly clear that
there’s a different type of fight to be had within. The seven prison
blocks surrounding him have been segregated; six white and one black. As
his voice rings out across the courtyard, announcing the peace, the
redcoat guards bristle and the inmates stir. The powder keg was already
fixed to blow and Joe has just lit the fuse.
Elizabeth Shortland,
wife of the Governor looks down at the swirling crowd from the window
of her own personal prison. The peace means the end is near, that she
needn’t be here for ever. But suddenly, she cannot bear the thought of
leaving.
Inspired by a true story, Mad Blood Stirring tells
of a few frantic months in the suffocating atmosphere of a prison
awaiting liberation. It is a story of hope and freedom, of loss and
suffering. It is a story about how sometimes, in our darkest hour, it
can be the most unlikely of things that see us through.
*
'Wonderful - a story I never heard before, told with style, pace, character, texture, and tension ... bliss.' Lee Child
'Bristling with energy, written with passion, Mad Blood Stirring is a joy to read.' John Boyne
Read more at https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1113867/mad-blood-stirring/#AZoDJzMuJAtRbf0V.99
BHP
