Thank you to Kaleidoscopic Tours for the copy of the book in exchange for a review.
~About the book~
Written from a Spanish perspective, where the overall theme is a story of survival against the natural elements.
In the late sixteenth century, a farmer from Andalucía searches for his runaway son who has left home to join the ships of the Spanish Armada on their holy quest of 1588.
The story unfolds away from the façade of politics, religion and military objectives, to highlight the frailties of human beings in their will to survive against the raw power of nature.
Over several months the characters experience many dangers, where tough decisions have to be made for themselves, and others to survive. All entangled within the horrors of battle and numerous shipwrecks.
~Thoughts~
It didn't take long until I felt like I was being swept off on an adventure. With the Treasure Island/Pirates of The Caribbean vibe, I utterly adored how the book focused simultaneously on the curiosity of a boy and the true terrors of history in the war between Spain and England. I'm such a history nerd and loved all the details about the Armarda and Spanish history especially!
As the story focused on Alfredo's mission to find his son, I could feel the urgency and fear of a father. Juan Carlos was seeing everything as a big fairytale mission, where even facing English battleships was met with childlike wonder no matter the dangers. I loved how it showed both perspectives, of that of an adult and a child, and how their relationship prevailed under this worrisome scenario.
Lastly I loved learning about the history of the Spanish Armada and the timeline was especially helpful. The book was both entertaining and informative and will be great for history lovers too.
Rating: 3.5/5
Emoji response: 😫😳😱🏴☠️☠🚢💰
You can order Wrecked Lives HERE.
Message from the author
As a retired electrical project manager in the Petro-chemical industry, I found time to complete my art degree with the Open University. It gave me the insight into research which led to various opportunities completely out of my own experiences. The first of which was to become and online English teacher for students in China, which I really enjoyed. The second was to complete a book that I had started a few years ago. I enjoy searching for fictional stories intertwined in factual events, where the characters emerge from the pages by themselves. Wrecked Lives was one such novel, as it inspired me because of the way in which the weather affected the whole story. The actual events that took place along the Scottish and Irish coasts also allowed me to research my own ancestry. My maternal grandfather originated from Orkney, and I knew of the Westray Dons on the island that gave me a tentative link to the story. Other factors came to light which allowed the characters to emerge, and they became easy to direct. Research is an important tool when writing about historical events, although I have found there to be several variations of the same facts. As a fictional author, I simply used the information to suit my storyline. It has also led me to writing a sequel, as there were too many unfinished stories to the first book.
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