The Turn of Midnight

by Minette Walters, Helen Keeley (Read by)

Overview

The compelling, taut and suspenseful conclusion to The Last Hours

As the year 1349 approaches, the Black Death continues its devastating course across England. In Dorseteshire, the quarantined people of Develish question whether they are the only survivors.

Guided by their beloved young mistress, Lady Anne, they wait, knowing that when their dwindling stores are finally gone they will have no choice but to leave. But where will they find safety in the desolate wasteland outside?

One man has the courage to find out.

Thaddeus Thurkell, a freethinking, educated serf, strikes out in search of supplies and news. A compelling leader, he and his companions quickly throw off the shackles of serfdom and set their minds to ensuring Develish’s future—and freedom for its people.

But what use is freedom that cannot be gained lawfully? When Lady Anne and Thaddeus conceive an audacious plan to secure her people’s independence, neither foresees the life-threatening struggle over power, money and religion that follows …

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982647308
Publisher:	Mira Books
Publication date:	08/27/2019
Series:	Last Hours Duology , #2
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 5.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Minette Walters is an internationally bestselling author with more than twenty-five million copies of her books sold worldwide. Her suspense has won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best crime novel, the CWA New Blood Dagger for best British debut crime novel, and two CWA Gold Daggers for best British crime novel. She lives in Dorset. The Turn of Midnight is the sequel to The Last Hours, Walters' historical novel about the arrival of the Black Death on England's shore.

Hometown:

Dorchester, Dorset, England

Date of Birth:

September 26, 1949

Place of Birth:

Bishop¿s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England

Education:

B.A. in French, Dunelm (Durham University), 1971

Website:

http://www.minettewalters.co.uk

Editorial Reviews

2019-05-27
Survivors of the Black Death's terror search for safety in this sequel to The Last Hours (2018).

In 1348, while pustules and agonizing death plague the rest of the English countryside, Lady Anne has the good sense to wall off Develish and surround it with a moat. So no one there dies from the plague, but they can't survive indefinitely in isolation. "Milady" has backup from Thaddeus Thurkell, a strong, intelligent, and courageous serf. Readers of the first novel will know many of the details already because the two books are one tightly woven story. For example, Sir Richard, Anne's late and unlamented husband, not only impregnated their daughter, Eleanor, but carelessly helped spread the plague (the dirty rat!). Most have no clue of the plague's cause. The official answer of church and royalty is that God really, really hates sinners—apparently even those whose infractions are trivial or imagined—so He inflicts a pestilence that could "[rob] all England of its peasant class." Of course it afflicts nobles as well, because "the pestilence makes equals of us all." But Milady sees the problem as not wrath but rats, hence the wall and moat. She conspires with Thurkell for him to go away and return as My Lord of Athelstan so he'll be better able to protect her people. Then he must safely lead everyone from the village through a countryside laid low by disease. They face strong opposition from enemies such as Master de Courtesmain, who thinks Thurkell a "harlot-hatched bastard" as well as a thief and murderer. Courtesmain also correctly accuses Milady and Thurkell of conspiring to let the serfs of Develish buy themselves out of bondage. Thurkell's bravery complements Lady Anne's use of "kindness and reason to quell the anger in men's hearts." We should be "loved and honored for who we are," Lady Anne writes. Yes indeed.

Thoroughly enjoyable, if less exciting than The Last Hours. Read them both, and in order.

Kirkus Reviews