Anyone can make a mistake…

Believing himself spurned by the woman he loves, ThomasDavenport leaves Dorset, intent just to get away. He ends up inIreland, at the height of the 1689 James Stuart invasion. He meetsTristan Browne, an Irishman born in Barbados, coming home to aland in uproar.

The Siege of Londonderry, like so much in the SeventeenthCentury, puts countryman against countryman in a bitter war ofattrition, starvation and resilience. Bridget Browne is caught up init and writes a startling account, full of insight.

Unknown to Thomas, his brother Matthew is also in Ireland,wishing only to be on the pulpit in his native Dorset, but his senseof duty prevails.

Thrown together by fate, the four must flee Ireland whenMatthew uncovers a corrupt scheme, the work of old adversaryParchman, who is also wreaking havoc back home in Dorset.

Can Great Little and Bagber Manor survive as we have come toknow them, or will Parchman succeed and see his foes out on thestreets, beggar bowl in hand?

As we move relentlessly towards the modern age, our heroes andvillains have their own struggles, which build into the drama of anextraordinary nation in the making.