Barbados 1652. In the aftermath of the English Civil War, the vanquished are uprooted and scattered to the ends of the earth. When marauding English soldiers descend on Mairead O’Coneill’s family farm, she is sold into indentured servitude. After surviving a harrowing voyage, the young Irish woman is auctioned off to a Barbados sugar plantation where she is thrust into a hostile world of … hostile world of depravation and heartbreak. Though stripped of her freedom, Mairead refuses to surrender her dignity.
Scottish prisoner of war Iain Johnstone has descended into hell. Under a blazing sun thousands of miles from home, he endures forced indentured labour in the unforgiving cane fields. As Iain plots his escape to save his men, his loyalties are tested by his yearning for Mairead and his desire to protect her.
With their future stolen, Mairead and Iain discover passion and freedom in each other’s arms. Until one fateful night, a dramatic chain of events turns them into fugitives.
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From the very first page, Severed Knot captured my imagination and wouldn’t let go. Cryssa Bazos takes a story buried in history and blazes it to life in this sweeping, romantic, and dramatic tale of an Irish woman and a Scottish man sold into indentured servitude on the island of Barbados in the 17th century. Bazos combines careful attention to historical detail with lush descriptive writing and a knack for getting inside her characters’ heads. The relationship between central characters Iain Johnstone and Mairead O’Coneill is mesmerizing in its own right, and their struggles to survive add to the emotionally charged atmosphere throughout the novel.
Like all great historical fiction, Severed Knot inspired me to learn more about the truth behind the story. I was surprised to learn that the English did a brisk trade in shipping Scottish and Irish prisoners to the Caribbean and selling them into long-term servitude on sugarcane plantations. Bazos unearthed some wonderfully rich historical resources, all evident in her riveting details of daily life on the plantation and ocean crossings in the early modern era.
This is an all-around excellent novel. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves history, romance, and high-seas adventure.
OMG, this book! I was up until almost 2am reading this and it was totally the loss of sleep. I did not and could not put it down! It will definitely be in my top 3 reads of 2019!
Severed Knot is one of the most unique and original historicals that I’ve ever read. Set in Barbados, which is a new setting for me, just after the English Civil War, it tells the story of Iain and Mairead. They meet on a ship bound for Barbados, both as indentured servants, and fall in love amidst the most horrid of conditions. It was really heartbreaking to read and I had to stop several times to get my emotions in check. That’s how good Bazos’ writing is. I know I don’t think will never forget Iain and Mairead and their story.
With exquisite writing, Bazos masterfully crafted a harrowing tale of love and fighting for what you want. Prepare to be swept away and completely engrossed in this incredible historical!
I cannot wait for more from Cryssa Bazos but while I impatiently await her next novel, I shall pick up her previous one, Traitor’s Knot, and be a happy reader! Highly recommended!
Spotlight on English Slavery in the Colonies
As an American, I tend to think about my country’s African slavery system whenever someone mentions the topic of slavery. But this book certainly brings home the fact that in the British colonies, British subjects were sold into slavery or punished with indentured servitude (which was only a step or two above slavery). This book portrays the aftermath of the English Civil War when certain enemies of Cromwell were sold into slavery or sent off of the colonies as indentured servants. The author has drawn these characters so well, and we can’t help but feel for those who have had their freedom denied and their futures changed. We see the absolute cruelty of the slavery and servitude system. We want these poor people to get out of their hideous circumstances and be free again. The author has clearly done a lot of research about this time period and the slavery system in Barbados in the 1600s. The author has an evocative writing style that pulls you right in and immerses you in the story, making you feel as if you are there seeing and feeling what is going on. This is certainly not an easy book to read, but it is a deeply engrossing one that shines the light on something that is probably as abhorrent to British citizens as our own slave history is to Americans. A very well-done book.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
Severed Knot is the exciting second release by Cryssa Bazos. I loved her debut Traitor’s Knot, and i loved this one even more! She has great talent and I believe she has herself a writing career for years to come.
In Severed Knot, the historical details made me feel as though I was right there witnessing the story. I adored this fabulous tale with Iain and Mairead. I highly recommend it. It is getting five plus stars from me. This is one of those books that should not be overlooked for 2019.
Well done, Cryssa, well done!
I received this book from the author, but was not required to write a review. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
I read this book via an ARC from the author, for Rosie Amber’s Review Team. The fact that is was free does not affect the honesty of this review.
I enjoyed this book so much. The basic story: Iain Johnstone is a Scottish soldier imprisoned by Cromwell’s men after persuading many of his contemporaries to go south and fight for Charles II. Mairead O’Conneil is a young woman staying at her uncle’s house in rural Eire for ‘safety’ while her father and brothers fight the Parlimentarians ~ but then the soliders come… and both Iain and Mairead find themselves on a slave ship bound for Barbados.
I hadn’t read this relatively new writer before, but I’m glad I’ve discovered her; she’s seriously talented. The book is professionally presented, which I appreciated so much; it is clear that the research has been both meticulous and extensive, but at no time was I overly aware of it; I never felt that I was reading her research notes, as can so often be the case. The atmosphere of the prisons, the slave ships and the Barbadian plantations, with all their horrors, is colourfully illustrated, and her characterisation and dialogue kept me engrossed, throughout. I liked, too, that it gave me a view of how the English troubles spread far and wide. Aside from all this, it’s a terrific adventure story.
Within the plot is a romantic thread, a background shadow in the first half of the book that steps closer to centre stage as it goes on. The theme is the romantic novel standard of two people taking against each other on sight then being extraordinarily rude to each other whenever they cross paths before finally admitting their passion, which can work well if cleverly written, and this was.
Sadly, though, because of the descriptions of Mairead (tiny, skinny, frizzy-haired, plain, sprite, ‘Mouse’) I could only ever picture her as a sort of meek teenage imp, rather than a woman likely to inflame the passions of the Sean Bean-as-Sharpe/Boromir-like Iain, so it fell a little flat for me. This sort of opinion is only ever personal viewpoint, though, and I must bear in mind that I not a fan of romantic fiction, generally; I was glad that other non-love stuff made up the main body of the book.
4.5* from me 🙂
I really enjoyed this tense and romantic thriller and highly recommend it if you want a page-turning read that will leave you enthralled and breathless. Set in the 17th Century after the King has been exiled, it tells the story of Iain and Mairead, one Scottish, the other Irish, when they are captured, shipped to Barbados, and taken into forced servitude. A bleak and brutal life awaits them on a sugar plantation, where people are expendable and treated as beasts of burden. The plot moves swiftly from one set piece to the next, as the newly-arrived exiles try to find their feet in a horrific new world of slavery and repression. Iain’s clan of supporters are all individuals, and Cryssa Bazos’s gritty dialogue adds to the building tension in this powder-keg of servants versus masters.
However, although the central lynchpin of the plot is the unfolding relationship between Mairead and Iain, this is not just a romance, the history is extremely well-researched, and the author gives us authentic detail about sugar manufacture, the war with the Dutch, the plight of the Irish under the Commonwealth, and much more besides. The writing is smooth, with plenty of historical references to keep the reader anchored in the past, and there are enough battles to make this a story to be savoured by those who like plenty of action. Mairead is a character you’ll love to root for – determined and stubborn, she never gives up on her quest for freedom and the man she loves.
A brilliant book, well worth your time and money.
From the moment I made the acquaintance of Iain Johnstone as he languished in despairing squalor as a POW, I was hooked. I suppose that reflects my liking for men who have the courage to face up to whatever circumstances life throws in their way, even when they know deep inside that some experiences will likely scar them permanently or kill them. Iain is a Scotsman who happened to fight for the losing side at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 As a consequence, he ends up shipped out as indentured labour to Barbados. And let me tell you, Barbados in the 17th century was not exactly a place of rum-punch and oildrum music.
Ms Bazos does not shy away from describing the gruelling and humiliating reality of being bonded labour at a sugar plantation. And where Iain struggles to survive, to somehow maintain a scrap or two of pride, the other protagonist, Mairead, faces additional dangers. As an indentured female servant, Mairead and her female companions are fair game–at least according to the slime who owns the plantation on which both Mairead and Iain end up.
Despite the despair, despite the hopelessness of their situation, something beautiful grows between Iain and Mairead. Two people battered by life find renewed strength in a love that slowly unfurls from the shyest of buds to a glorious bloom. But is there a future for a man determined to somehow make it back to his beloved Scotland and a woman just as determined to make it back to her home in Ireland? Well, dear reader, you will just have to read the book to find out. Mind you, long before we get to that point, Ms Bazos has taken us on something of a roller-coaster ride, from abuse, nail-biting flight, through escape, recapture, near-death, hangings and one or two sea-battles. No wonder my nails are chewed to the quick!
Ms Bazos has written a fast-paced adventure–but she has ensured it is firmly anchored in historical facts, be it Prince Rupert’s sudden appearance in the West Indies to the details of life in a sugar plantation. Beautiful prose, a well-constructed plot and two lovely, beautifully developed main protagonists combine with a perfectly executed historical setting to make this something of a WOW read. Very warmly recommended!