6/4/2023 0 Comments The stolen lake by joan aikenWe have to sweep away all that we thought we knew about the 19th century - and indeed previous history - and accept that we are in a parallel existence where, instead of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, we hear of Biru, Hy Brasil, Lyonesse and New Cumbria. New Cumbria? This is not a country known in our world, but it does exist in the alternate world of the Wolves Chronicles, Joan Aiken's highly idiosyncratic series set in a world where Victoria didn't rule in Britain but where the Stuart king James III did. And her real troubles start just as soon as she sets foot in New Cumbria. First pirates and a rebel ship have to be dealt with, and then she finds that the naval vessel has been sent two thousand miles down the eastern coast of South America to go to the aid of Britain's oldest ally. Or so she thinks: she has been at sea for most of the 18 months since she was shipwrecked in the North Sea at the end of 1833, and can't wait to get back to London and her friend Simon. It is 1835 and Dido Twite is heading back to England from Nantucket Island on board HMS Thrush.
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