Neil McLocklin Libri

In the seventeenth century, Sir John and Lady Mary Bankes, the well-respected Royalist owners of Corffe Castell in Dorsetshire, face the horrific prospect of civil war, instigated by Parliamentarian opponents of Charles I, who has angered his subjects by dissolving the government with the aim of ruling ‘by decree'. The nation is divided and friends turn against friends in the growing threat of deadly conflict. Lady Bankes, a remarkable woman of fortitude, beauty and intelligence, defends her beloved home with the (mostly) loyal backing of the household workers and villagers and with particular support from a retired cavalry captain. Will the Castell and its inhabitants survive the onslaught and to what end?

Two years have passed since Lady Bankes lost her home, husband and lover at Corffe Castell. Now she is faced with new challenges including her melancholic son, the loss of a daughter and the need to find husbands for two others. But the nation is still divided as the Second English Civil War breaks out and there is financial and economic hardship across the country. The more radical amongst the parliamentarians see the trial of the king as the answer to draw a line under the conflict and build a new nation. Colonel Tom Harvey is asked to bring King Charles to justice from his imprisonment on the Isle of Wight, and he enlists Lady Bankes and her son to help him on his quest. In getting to know the king will their views change and what challenges will they face along the way, both emotional and from the threats of those who want the king dead and those who want him saved.