Bøger af John Mallon

Brindy is a fictitious midwife, healer, and herbalist who lived in the early 1700s in the rural village of Oakleigh, Somersetshire, England. About once a week she writes a blog about what has happened in her community. Her comments are about herself and her niece, Blythe, who is also her apprentice, and their interaction with members of the village, the local manor, and at local farms. Brindy and Blythe not only deliver newborns, but treat broken bones, other injuries, and illnesses. They are part of an extended family who are involved in medical treatment in several countries. They grow and collect herbs, to include plants that can be poisonous if not prepared properly. She somehow communicates her blogs with her friend, John, who lives in Florida in the early twenty-first century.

Thomas Bolton loosed his final arrow toward a target one hundred paces away with his new six-foot yew longbow. Alongside Thomas, his uncle and sole competitor, Moss Barker, peered across the dusty field and smiled. "You did well, but I got more in the middle circle." Thomas is determined to beat his uncle, the reigning three-time champion, at the annual Fall Festival archery contest only three months away. During the next ninety days treachery, attempted murder, and a search for hidden Roman gold make winning appear trivial. Set in 1706 rural Somerset, England, The Last Archers has an intriguing plot, memorable characters, and a strong sense of history in the fascinating Restoration period. The Last Archers weaves the lives of Thomas and Moss with local innkeepers, the ruling earl, the vicar, a midwife and her niece, and London dignitaries, including Queen Anne and the architect, Sir Christopher Wren. Drama, deception, humor, and romance enhance this intriguing narrative.

Daniel Bailey worked in Taunton, Massachusetts in the family's import-export business and served as a captain in the town's militia. In 1744 growing tensions between England and France disrupted his world and led to his appointment as aide and advisor to the colonial governor. When the declaration of war reached French forces at the Ile Royale fortress of Louisbourg, they seized New England fishing boats and attacked coastal towns. In response, the Massachusetts governor sought military assistance from London and recruited 4,000 militiamen from New England colonies. Because of Bailey's ability to speak French and his knowledge of the fortress, he was promoted to colonel and assigned as the commanding general's chief-of-staff. In 1745, with support from the Royal Navy blockading the harbor, the New Englanders lay siege to Louisbourg. After six weeks, the French surrendered the massive, stone-structure called the invincible fortress.

In 1708 midwife and healer Brindy and her niece, Blythe, return to their home in Salisbury, England. Underneath a neighbor's woodpile the bones of a missing woman are found. Over the next several days the two of them, along with Blythe's fiance search for three other missing women. During this time they are threatened. Nonetheless they uncover the murderer.

This is a collection of one hundred blogs ostensibly written in the early 1700s by Brindy Salisbury. She is a midwife, healer, and herbalist in the village of Oakleigh in Somersetshire, England. She comments on her daily life with her apprentice and niece, Blythe. Topics include the weather, patients and their treatments, friends, food, local buildings, and the nearby manor.

Mid-wife, healer, and herbalist Brindy Salisbury followed her dog to a shallow grave in a nearby apple orchard after he brought her a human arm bone. She determined the remaining bones showed signs of a violent death of a young man missing for four years. Despite protests that Brindy was a non-Christian woman and not skilled enough to make a valid judgment about the identification, she was requested to find the killer. With her niece and a local villager, they shifted through unfounded accusations and challenged reluctant witnesses who hampered their investigation. Set in rural Somersetshire, England in the early 1700's, Bones of Contention has a convincing plot and memorable characters. Intrigue and drama highlight this historical mystery.

Disorderly Fields is a memoir-based account of the author's experiences of seasonal work from 1980 to 1993 in the UK, Greece, Israel, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand. It is a gritty, funny, sad and absorbingly interesting record of the pleasures and vagaries of a life lived in camps throughout the world, picking fruit and vegetables where such work can be found-and it is often an exposé of the sometimes brutal, crude work and living conditions, recorded as it was observed. The account is void of political correctness because it had yet to be invented-and still doesn't really exist in seasonal circuits. Disorderly Fields is the second work in this genre. The first observations of a seasonal worker was published in 1990 under the same title. It was serialized in the travel journal The Overseas Jobs Express, whose editor also commissioned the author to co-write two relevant books. All in all, about 30,000 readers have read the first work. The author became an authority on seasonal work and has been interviewed on radio and interviewed for The Times, and invited on radio and television.