Men of Sorrows
Subtitle: Smugglers of the Marsh
Publisher: AuthorHouse UK DS
Published: January 9, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 588
ISBN-13: 9781425961756
Subjects: Adventure / thriller; Action & Adventure; Fiction / Adventure; Fiction; Fiction - General
First sentence: The ‘Angel’ Alehouse, Hawkhurst, Kent, February 1719
‘Come and kiss your mother goodbye,’ the man said abruptly.
The child seemed to hesitate.  ‘Where’s she going?  Can I go with her?’  He glanced at the shape on the bed.  ‘Will she take the new baby with her?’With an impatient movement, John Gray grasped the child by the arm and swung him over to the bedside.  ‘She’s already gone.  Now kiss her cheek and get gone yourself. Lizzie Kennard and Hannah Webb will see to her now.’
The boy peered at his mother’s face and then obediently kissed her cold white cheek. ‘Goodbye, mumma,’ he said.  ‘I will try to be a good boy.’
Description: This is an entertaining novel interweaving fact and fiction about the true life adventures of the Hawkhurst Gang of smugglers who ruled the south coast ports in the 18th  century.  Tax was due to be paid on all the most used commodities, like tea and brandy,to finance unpopular foreign wars.   One way of avoiding this and making large amounts of money was smuggling the goods from France. Arthur Gray and his young brother Will become the leaders of the Gang,always keeping one step ahead of the authorities.  Though both brothers are devoted to each other, they fall in love with the same girl, the beautiful high-born Beth.  This is a very readable story of love, trust, comradeship and treachery set on the windswept acres of the Romney Marsh in Kent.
Notes: This novel features the actual locations where the events took place, from the villages,farms,  inns and churches on the Romney Marsh to the London Pleasure Gardens at Vauxhall and the great prison at Newgate.
Local readers will enjoy identifying places known to them and readers from other locations will be taken back to the early part of the 18th century in a timeless story of love and adventure