The key to Follett's absorbing new historical novel (after A Dangerous Fortune) lies in words that ``made a slave of every Scottish miner's son'' in the 1700s: ``I pledge this child to work in [the laird's] mines, boy and man, for as long as he is able, or until he die.'' When young Malachi (Mack) McAsh challenges this practice, citing its illegality, he begins a pattern of rebelling against authority while pursuing justice. Mack's dangerous quest for freedom makes him a fugitive in High Glen, where he is brutally punished by Sir George Jamisson in retaliation for his intention to quit the mines. After escaping to London, Mack confronts injustice again when he tries to break the monopoly of ``undertakers,'' who furnish crews to unload coal from ships; arrested and tried, he is transported to Virginia as an indentured servant. All this time, his fate is intertwined with that of Lizzie Hallim, daughter of the impoverished laird of High Glen, who is as spirited, independent-minded and daring as is Mack himself. (Readers may not quite believe her sexual aggressiveness, but Follett knows how to strike chords with feminists.) But Lizzie is gentry, so she must marry Jay, the younger Jamisson son. Follett adroitly escalates the suspense by mixing intrigue and danger, tinged with ironic complications. He also provides authoritative background detail, including specifics about the brutal working conditions of mine workers and coal heavers and the routine of an American tobacco plantation. History is served by references to real-life English liberal John Wilkes, who challenged the established view that the virtual enslavement of ``common'' men by aristocrats was God's will, and events in Virginia as the Colonies move toward rebellion. If the dialogue sometimes seems lifted from a bodice-ripper, and if far-fetched coincidences keep flinging Lizzie and Mack together, these flaws are redeemed by Follett's vigorous narrative drive and keen eye for character. BOMC and QPB main selections.
A Place Called Freedom
Narrated by Simon Prebble
Ken FollettUnabridged — 14 hours, 39 minutes
A Place Called Freedom
Narrated by Simon Prebble
Ken FollettUnabridged — 14 hours, 39 minutes
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Overview
Editorial Reviews
Follett's latest (following A Dangerous Fortune, Delacorte, 1993) begins in the coal-mining region of 18th-century Scotland. The author convincingly evokes the grim, hard life of the miners, one of whom defies the brutal authority of the owner and is forced to flee. Mack ends up in London, but more defiance causes him to be deported to the American Colonies. Characters, whom he seems to find no matter where he goes, are Jay Jamisson, the weak-willed and bitter younger son of Sir George Jamisson, owner of the Scottish mines, and Lizzie, Jay's spunky, soft-hearted wife, who soon realizes what a horrid man she has married. The characters are stereotypes and coincidental meetings abound, but the historical picture of suffering and of injustice done to the poor is well drawn. Also, the writing has a certain verve and energy that keeps the reader interested. Recommended for most collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/95.]-Patricia Altner, Information Seekers, Bowie, Md.
Praise for A Place Called Freedom
"Gripping . . . a very entertaining tale." —Chicago Tribune
"Compelling." —San Francisco Chronicle
"Quick-paced." —New York Daily News
"An altogether entertaining reading experience." —Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Follett skillfully combines tension, eroticism, and an unusual locale." —Detroit Free Press
"A richly colored plot . . . Entertaining." —Lexington Herald-Leader
"Superb storytelling." —West Coast Review of Books
"The action and the tension should keep fans happily turning pages." —Booklist
Mack McAsh is a young Scottish coal miner longing for freedom. His life converges with highborn Lizzie Hallim’s as they travel to the Colonies on separate missions. Ken Follett has penned an enthralling historical novel, which narrator Simon Prebble delivers with entertaining gusto. He changes characters in a natural and flowing manner, nourishing the continuity of the novel. His English accent complements a storyline filled with politics, love and travel. This audiobook is intriguing from the onset, inviting the listener on a trek through England and America of the 1700’s. B.J.L. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940171052348 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Recorded Books, LLC |
| Publication date: | 04/07/2015 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Read an Excerpt
Mack was in one of the common wards of Newgate Prison.
He could not remember all that had happened to him the night before. He had a dazed recollection of being tied up and thrown across the back of a horse and carried through London. There was a tall building with barred windows, a cobbled courtyard, a staircase and a studded door. Then he had been led in here. It had been dark, and he had not been able to see much. Battered and fatigued, he had fallen asleep.
He woke to find himself in a room about the size of Cora's apartment. It was cold: there was no glass in the windows and no fire in the fireplace. The place smelled foul. At least thirty other people were crammed in with him: men, women and children, plus a dog and a pig. Everyone slept on the floor and shared a large chamberpot.
There was a constant coming and going. Some of the women left early in the morning, and Mack learned they were not prisoners but prisoners' wives who bribed the jailers and spent the nights here. The warders brought in food, beer, gin, and newspapers for those who could pay their grossly inflated prices. People went to see friends in other wards. One prisoner was visited by a clergyman, another by a barber. Anything was permitted, it seemed, but everything had to be paid for.
People laughed about their plight and joked about their crimes. There was an air of jollity that annoyed Mack. He was hardly awake before he was offered a swallow of gin from someone's bottle and a puff on a pipe of tobacco, as if they were all at a wedding.
Mack hurt all over, but his head was the worst. There was a lump at the back that was crusted with blood. He felt hopelessly gloomy.He had failed in every way. He had run away from Hugh to be free, yet he was in jail. He had fought for the coal heavers' rights and had got some of them killed. He had lost Cora. He would be put on trial for treason, or riot, or murder. And he would probably die on the gallows. Many of the people around him had as much reason to grieve, but perhaps they were too stupid to grasp their fate.
Poor Esther would never get out of the village now. He wished he had brought her with him. She could have dressed as a man, the way Lizzie Hallim did. She would have managed sailors' work more easily than Mack himself, for she was nimbler. And her common sense might even have kept Mack out of trouble.
He hoped Annie's baby would be a boy. At least there would still be a Mack. Perhaps Mack Lee would have a luckier life, and a longer one, than Mack McAsh.
He was at a low point when a warder opened the door and Cora walked in.
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