Morland Dynasty 4: The Oak-Apple

The Oak Apple, the fourth book in the Morland Dynasty series, takes its reader to 17th century York, just before and during the Civil War. The Morland family is a house divided as Kit Morland joins the Royalist forces under Prince Rupert, his brother Ralph marries a Puritan, and Edmund Morland, the family patriarch, tries to be impartial. Hero Hamilton marries Kit, while her twin, Hamil, bitter over her marriage, joins the same side of the war as his enemy. And Ambrose and Nell Morland move to the New World, where they build a settlement in Maryland. I'm a little hazy about the details of the Civil War, so The Oak Apple was a great re-introduction to the period. I'm usually bored by descriptions of battles, but Harrod-Eagles makes the battles of Marston Moor and Naseby some alive on the page. But the best part of this novel are the people and the way they interact with one another; Harrod-Eagles may not be the world's greatest writer, but she knows how to create fantastic people and plots that suck you in. There's a large time gap between the events in this book and those in the previous book The Princeling (Morland Dynasty), but I found it was really easy to connect with the characters here. One of my favorites was Ruth, the dark horse of the family, who, unwed, bears Annunciata, a character I became familiar with through reading The Black Pearl (Morland Dynasty) a few months ago. Ruth isn't your typical pretty girl (instead, she's rather plain), and she holds up under an incredible amount of pressure both during the war and when the man she loves marries another woman. My only problem was with the dog named Dog--it seemed to live an awfully long time (nineteen-plus years). In all, a really fine addition to the series, and I can't wait to read what comes next.

During the clash between the armies of Charles 1 and the Commonwealth forces, lead by Oliver Cromwell, the Morland family followed their long tradition of being staunch supporters of the King. The ensuing time of strife that followed meant that the cream of the Morland men were killed in battle and that the times after that were made difficult and dangerous by the need to appear to conform to the Puritan code and the loss of a large portion of their fortune and lands through fines. Schisms form between father and son and husband and wife, separating sections of the family and even cause the beginning of the American branch of the Morlands settling in Virginia. It's a time of huge religious intolerance between different sects and, as usual, it's the poor and underpriveleged who suffer the most hardships. It's a great book 4 of this series which gives the reader a clear insight into the lives of a family in the 16th and 17th centuries.

In the fourth installment of the Morland dynasty books, the family are confronted with civil war, as king and parliament fight for control of England in the 1640s. The civil war divides the family - Roundhead against Cavalier, Puritan against Catholic/Anglican. The family members are torn between family loyalty and individual conscience. As with previous books, the fortunes of the characters are well blended with actual historical people and events. The Morland heir Richard marries a Puritan, while his brother Kit fights for King Charles I and gives up his life at the battle of Marsden. Their cousins are sent to Virginia to claim land for the Morlands, and become American pioneers. There is a large time gap between this book and the previous one "The Princeling". Characters that had just been born in the last few pages of book 3, are now middle aged adults with children of their own. It took some time to connect the current family members with those in the last book, but the family tree at the front was helpful. This book also had more to offer than it's predecessor in terms of characters too. It wasn't just a series of births, death and marriages. The characters were individuals and tied to real events, something that was lacking in "The Princeling". In particular, the reclusive and mysterious cousin Ruth was a nice change to the line up. The Morlands have once again found their place at the forefront English historical fiction.

Following "The Founding", "The Dark Rose" and "The Princeling", this is the fourth book in the MORLAND DYNASTY series. After many years of peace and prosperity, the reign of Charles I brings brutal civil strife to England. With their century-long history of fighting for what they consider a just cause, the Morland family is drawn inevitably into the bloody fighting. While the oldest son Ralph brings home a Puritan wife, thus creating a schism between himself and his father, his younger brother Kit joins the Royalist cavalry under Prince Rupert. Before leaving for the war, Kit marries his cousin Hero, thus making a lifelong enemy of Hero's brother Hamil. When the two cousins meet during the war, albeit fighting on the same side, the death of one seems inevitable. There are so many more stories in the book concerning the various branches of the Morlands that it is impossible to go into more detail. For the first time, the author includes Colonial America in the story, telling of the desperate struggle of a young couple to survive in a harsh New World. The characters are believable and the stories, which have been well researched, are full of rich historical detail. I simply could not stop reading until I reached the last page and then I rushed on to the next book. I have read the first six books in the series and have not yet been disappointed.