A FREE E-BOOK

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Like I can resist the word "free" when it pops up in my blog roll . .

Christine Rains pointed me to Candle Dark by author Carole Anne Carr.  Carol Anne is giving her novel away for free from 7/6 - 7/8.  The blurb sounds interesting enough to attract even my attention; and I don't normally read MG or YA.

The Blurb:  Joshua was nearly eleven and he’d worked down the Blists Hill coal pit since he was seven and a bit. He hated it down there. He hated working in the dark, he hated the rats and the stink of the tunnels, and he especially hated it when the mine flooded and his wet boots rubbed his feet raw. 

Then on the day that Bradley the horsekeeper gave him another beating so bad he ached all over, he made up his mind to run away and find work on the Severn trows. But what would happen to poor Drummer, left behind in the dark? What would happen to his mum and sisters if he left them to the mercy of the evil Isaac Whitlock? And how could he sail to Bristol, when his dad had been set to work in the most dangerous part of the mine? 

Afraid of the river gangs and worrying about his dad, Joshua must decide whether to run for his life, or to stay in Coalport and try to protect his family.

Historical Note 
Candle Dark describes the lives of children who worked in coalmines in England in the late 18th century, and the story is set in and around the Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire. At that time, Blists Hill was a remote mining community and the nearby village of Coalport was gradually acquiring commercial importance after the building of the Preens Eddy Bridge. 

Although the characters and events are imaginary, I have tried to reflect the working conditions, and the life of a family living in the Gorge at this time of rapid industrial growth - a period in history that was later to be known as the Industrial Revolution. 

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Ok, so maybe it is the historical note that sold me on this novel.  I like creative non-fiction.  Actual historical settings/issues mixed with fictional characters and author interpretation.  History is just facts; but fictional writers bring those facts/person's into real life, make them someone/something contemporary society can identify with.

I got mine; will you be downloading yours?  Don't forget that all important review once you've read the novel.