PearlyBooks

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It's rare for a historical novel to feel so timely'
JO BAKER, Sunday Times bestselling author of Longbourn
'Impeccably researched and wonderfully atmospheric, with a heroine you can't help rooting for'
FRANCES QUINN, author of The Smallest Man
'Exciting and immersive. It took me straight into the heart of Restoration England in all its rich and vivid detail. I was gripped!'
NICOLA CORNICK, international bestselling author of House of Shadows
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1665. It is five years since King Charles II returned from exile, the scars of the English Civil Wars are yet to heal and now the Great Plague engulfs the land. Alethea Hawthorne is safe inside the walls of the Calverton household as a lady's companion waiting in anticipation of the day she can return to her ancestral home of Measham Hall.
But when Alethea suddenly finds herself cast out on the plague-ridden streets of London, a long road to Derbyshire lies ahead. Militias have closed their boroughs off to outsiders for fear of contamination.
Fortune smiles on her when Jack appears, an unlikely travelling companion who helps this determined girl to navigate a perilous new world of religious dissenters, charlatans and a pestilence that afflicts peasants and lords alike.
The Master of Measham Hall is the first book in a page-turning historical series. In lyrical prose, Anna Abney portrays the religious divides at the heart of Restoration England in a timeless novel about survival, love, and family loyalty.
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*MORE PRAISE FOR THE MASTER OF MEASHAM HALL*
'A thoroughly engaging romp... By turns entertaining, surprising and thought-provoking, this is an impressive debut'
JANE JOHNSON, author of The Sea Gate
'In elegant prose, this enthralling novel puts a human face to the trials, terrors and enduring hopes of the plague years'
CATHERINE MEYRICK, author of The Bridled Tongue
'The Master of Measham Hall is a vivid and extraordinary journey of survival, and ultimately an exploration of what we gain and what we lose as we pass through this world'
V. L. VALENTINE, author of The Plague Letters
'A powerful and engaging story, full of good characters, satisfying plot turns, and excellent scene-setting'
RICHARD HAMBLYN