It was interesting to read a historical novel by her whose main characters were not royalty but rather from a poor person’s Viewpoint. I enjoyed it but found the ending rather abrupt and leaving unanswered questions. I am not sure if this means there is still more to come

I received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

With Tidelands, the first installment of The Fairmile Series, Philippa Gregory leaves the Tudor Dynasty and moves ahead to the English Civil War of 1648. Oliver Cromwell is in power and King Charles I is imprisoned. Alinor, a midwife and wise woman, lives in the Tidelands, far from London, but the Civil War is brought right to her door with far reaching ramifications for herself and her family.

Like her other works, Gregory's research is meticulous and prose is excellent. She paints a detailed portrait of life during this time period with extra emphasis on the lives of women. As the first in a series, a background history takes up a large portion of the book with the last portion of the book moving very swiftly to the conclusion. While I enjoyed this book immensely, I felt that the ending was a little too swift and left me feeling a little unsatisfied. However, I look forward to reading the next installment. So, I guess, Gregory achieved her goal.

4.5 stars. This is a little different from the usual Philippa Gregory novels if you're a reader of the Tudor and Plantagenet series like I am. There is still strong historical reference present in the text, but the approach of the primary characters is something new. Gregory just has a way with weaving an intriguing story and her historical knowledge and little bits of detail are always fantastic.

The start to this one was a little slow, which did hurt things in the ratings department, but really shouldn't be held against it too hard. The story is still really good and the narrative is detailed without being tedious. And when it came to the last bits of the book, I was shook. I couldn't put it down and I couldn't read the ending fast enough. It was well-built suspense and I was loving it.

Overall, this is a great read with a ridiculously strong ending. I am very much looking forward to continuing with the series.

The enemy from without and the enemy from within.........

Philippa Gregory has always left her thumbprint on novels of English castles and royalty. But this one has a particular flavor centering upon Sealsea Island near the tidelands in 1648. We're introduced to Alinor known as Goody Reekie. Alinor has climbed to the top of the church tower at midnight gazing out to sea for her lost husband, Zachary. Zachary has been missing for almost a year. Neither widow nor wife, Alinor keeps her vigil.

Alinor notices that she is not alone. From within the darkness, she hears a man's voice. He tells her that he is Father James and must meet with Sir William Peachey. As an herbalist and a midwife, Alinor is not familiar with the changing times occuring in London where King Charles has fled and Oliver Cromwell has taken control. There is unrest in the countryside with those supporting the king and those who wish him to stand trial. We will come to know this Father James more closely and observe his true colors as Alinor becomes more and more imvolved in his safety and well-being.

But at the core of it all is Alinor's solid allegiance to her daughter, Alys, and to her son, Rob. They exist within the hardships of life in the tidelands with work that furrows the brow and coins that rarely touch the palm.

Long held secrets permeate Tidelands from the wider scope of the English Civil Wars to the personal interactions of parent to child and neighbor to community. Philippa Gregory begins this one with a low simmer and then gradually brings this one to a rapid boil towards the end. The dialogue is true to era and the characters reflect the historical angst. The ending opens the door that will shed a light upon the road of the future for Sealsea Island and its inhabitants. Whether you are a die-hard Philippa Gregory fan or a new one in the making, Tidelands is one novel that will sweep you away.

I received a copy of Tidelands through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Simon & Schuster (Atria Books) and to Philippa Gregory for the opportunity.

I absolutely love Philippa Gregory’s Plantagenet and Tudors series so I was really excited to get the opportunity to read an advance copy of her new book. Besides the Tudors, I love witches and history from the time of the witch trials both in Europe and America. Alinor is a midwife in a very small village in the tidelands of England. Everyone knows everyone and everybody knows everybody else’s business. Alinor is very careful to make sure to correct people who ask for potions or charms. She is just a midwife, not a witch. She comes from a long line of women in this line of work and so far they haven’t had any issues with being put on trial for being a witch. Her husband has been MIA for months. She and her children, Alys and Rob, are living in poverty on the edge of her brother’s tenancy where he runs the ferry for the island that they live on. If I’m being perfectly honest, this was a really slow moving book. And I often found myself thinking that it felt a little repetitive as well. Alinor meets a priest and they end up falling for each other despite him being a Catholic priest in a time where Catholics had to hide their beliefs. Things with this man do not go quite as well as she had hoped. His actions in the last part of this book made me really dislike him. Alys was such a bratty teenager. She didn’t care about anything besides getting the money she needed to marry a local farmer’s son. And she does some things that she has to know will put her mother in an incredibly bad situation. Really, the only character in this book I didn’t end up disliking by the end of the book was Alinor’s son Rob, mostly because he was too young to be anything other than a good boy. I was a little surprised about the ending. It seemed pretty abrupt and unfinished. I’m hoping that since this is the first book of a new series that there will be more continued in book 2. Overall, I guess I was a little disappointed with it but it managed to hold my interest for about 60-65% of the time.

Do you know how much I wanted to read Philippa Gregory's new novel Tidelands? I requested it on NetGalley, but then I realized that I'm probably too small-time for an eARC, and used one of my precious library request slots for it. I can only have 10 ebooks on hold at once, which is a TERRIBLE system,  because it turns out that I'm not the only person in Boston who hears about a book on NPR and then requests it, and that ties up a slot forever, and then I have to be careful about what to request.

Anyway, I was so excited to get this, and read it in pretty much one sitting. Like the author's historical novels, Tidelands has realistic  characters from different parts of society coming into conflict, largely because they have different backgrounds and expectations, in a way that really makes you feel for both (all) the combatants. There's great historical detail here, too.  Like the Wideacre series (and the Jacquetta historical), there may be new and modern ways of thinking, but old ways are still happening the shadows.

But I don't understand how characters can hide a pregnancy for months and months. This was kind of annoying in Wideacre, but I figured that a truly manipulative person, seen only by close family members who really wanted to believe her could pull it off.  But someone out and about? Working physical jobs and trading all around town? No one noticed anything? 

I was very unhappy with the ending. Without giving too much of a spoiler, the central conflict is not resolved at all, and about twenty new questions are raised in the last couple pages. The ending was so much of an unsatisfying setup for a sequel that I felt like I was watching a Marvel movie.

Would I recommend it? I don't know, it's only a random chunk of a story.

Tidelands was much different from Gregory’s normal Tudor novels full of princesses, silks, and castles. It had a gritty element of poverty and is told mainly through the perspective of a single mother who’s husband has been missing as she struggles to survive with her two children. This is a story that was slow to take off for me, but as I continued to read I became increasingly more invested. I found it interesting to learn about the Civil War across English lands and the varying beliefs of the people during this time. I felt compelled to learn the history of England leading up to 1648 so that I could follow along with more clarity. It’s amazing how much research Gregory does to create historically accurate and intriguing novels. However, I would have liked to see more action, as the majority seemed to be laying the foundation for the new Fairmile series, which this will be book one of, and it wasn’t all that eventful for me. Fans of historical fiction, and novels like Outlander will enjoy this. Overall, I appreciated the story and thought it was solid, despite the pace. I am interested to see where this series goes with the next book and if it picks up more. Even though it took time to get there, that ending was a shocker and I can’t stop wondering what will happen next. I gave it 3.5 stars and rounded up to 4.

The story is set in the Sussex tidelands during the English civil war where King Charles has been dethroned and confined on the Isle of Wight. The poor widow of a missing fisherman, Alinor, comes across James hiding in a graveyard. James is a Catholic priest who believes in the old religion and restoring the King to his rightful place on the throne. Alinor hides him for the night and helps him pass through the dangerous tidelands.

This book gets off to a slow start because it is clogged with details -- about the economy of the town, the landscape of the Tidelands, and most especially about how Alinor eeks out her living working as an herbalist, midwife, and forager of all sorts. I find these kinds of details about everyday life fascinating and think they add depth and richness to the story.

Alinor herself is a very strong character living in a time period where women had no rights. In the book, she had to face an agonizing decision. About this decision, James tells Alinor that it doesn’t matter. Alinor responds, “It matters to me. I matter: in this, I matter.” She is a strong woman who decides not to take the easy way out. In her corner of the world Alinor does matter; she makes a difference the only way she can despite her austere life.

There is some strong foreshadowing in this book about Alinor’s fate. It made the lead up to the ending a page-turner and I could not put the book down until I figured out what happened to her.

I most definitely will be purchasing a copy of Tidelands when it is published so I can read the Authors Notes, which to me is an integral part of historical fiction novels. Tidelands is the first in a series and I can’t wait to read the next book!

This e-ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A general warning that some of the midwife/medical discussion can be a bit graphic, especially for the squeamish.

I was very interested to read Philippa Gregory's latest book, as I've read most of her others and loved most of them. This one, Tidelands, was different from her most recent series, however, as she veers away from the royal courts and tells this newest tale from the perspective of a poor woman living on the edge of England in 1648 during the English Civil War. I struggled at first to get into the book, but once I did, I found that Tidelands is a thoroughly researched historical novel that weaves the intrigue of the loyalists versus the reformists into the backdrop even as the main focus is on Alinor, a midwife and healer who is just trying to make a better life for her children. .

The descriptions of day-to-day living in 17th century England were richly detailed, though I was less interested in the romance between Alinor and James, a priest on a mission to restore King Charles to the throne. I understand that it helped push the story forward, but the book lingered on them a bit too long and it became tedious. The rest of the story was well-crafted though, and Gregory's excellent writing style made for pleasant reading.

In all, the details and the historical aspects made Tidelands worth the read, and although I'm more of a fan of Gregory's Tudor/Plantagenet books. I do plan on picking up the next book in this series to find out what happens next.

I did not finish this book. I have read many books by Philippa Gregory and enjoyed them, but I found this particular title tedious. The intrigue of the secret relationship between Alinor and James seemed less than captivating. The suspicion of the town of Alinor's healing ways and midwifery, not to mention her uncertain marital status seemed to be too much. Ned's constant harping about the King and Cromwell's advances were tiresome. From the other reviews that I read, it seemed that others found it enjoyable, and that the ending was really good. I just couldn't make it that far. I look forward to seeing what the author creates next!
Thanks to the publisher for the advanced reading copy in return for my honest review.

Another incredible book from the talented author Philippa Gregory. She puts so much effort into research in each of her books, and Tidelands is no exception. Everyone needs to get your hands on this stellar new novel of hers! Thank you SO much for allowing me the opportunity to review this book!

3.5 stars rounded up.
It’s a hard life for Alinor and her children who live on Sealsea Island, off the south coast of England, the tidelands “neither sea nor shore”. She’s a healer who grows herbs for medicine, delivers babies and works at times for the more well off residents as does her thirteen year old daughter and son. Her husband is missing, yet in 1648, a woman is defined by her husband and she is “not a widow nor a wife”, so when good fortune comes to her son, there are innuendos that she conjures up healing with more than the herbs she mixes or worse with curses. This grueling life they live sees no relief until she meets a young priest, and assists him through the mire to finding the place of safety he is seeking. The meeting not only changes her son’s life, but Alinor’s as well in ways she never imagined. Her daughter’s desire to change her fate of the poor life they’ve lived causes more than innuendo of witchcraft for Alinor.

The first part of the story was slow moving with just way too much detail about her daily work routines and it felt repetitive at times. But then the story came to life as I’ve come to expect from Phillipa Gregory and I became quite engaged . While this is different from the other Gregory books I’ve read in that the main characters here are not the royals we are used to, the political circumstances are part of the story, the English Civil War and she depicts the history as well as she usually does with her research reflected here. While I felt bogged down at first, the ending was more than enough to keep me wondering what will happen to Alinor, and I’ll be eagerly waiting the second book in the series. A captivating story once things got moving so I’ll round up to 4 stars.

ARC was provided by Atria via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book by Philippa Gregory, and it won't be my last. I thought the writing and characters were fantastic! She is very detailed in her writing and at some points it felt like to much. Overall I can't wait for the next in the series! Definitely would recommend.

I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

3 stars
Ugh. I think I realized I just don’t like historical fiction. It bores me. I did enjoy the cliffhanger ending but overall this book is very forgettable and I will not be continuing with the series. Sorry. However, my dislike for historical fiction is the reason for my lower rating not the authors writing style.

Struggling to read this one and I used to be a Philippa Gregory fan (I’ve read almost all of her past work, including the YA Books)

This book has it all, intrigue, mystery, romance, espionage, witches, priests, royalty, and so much more. The historical detail was well researched and woven into the story seamlessly. Enjoyable read.

I always forget how much I love Philippa Gregory...until I pick up another one of her books and she sucks me back in. The only reason I regret getting this e-galley is because I’ll need to wait what feels like forever to find out what happens next! Philippa Gregory’s description of the tidelands is impeccable and she manages to enrapture you with the daily activities of an extremely poor woman in the 1600s that you normally wouldn’t give a second thought about. The amount of research Ms. Gregory puts into her novels is incredible. Tidelands was both enlightening and heartbreaking, and ended with the best cliffhanger I’ve experienced in a longtime.

Philippa Gregory works her magic in summoning a distant time and place, crafting a captivating tapestry--as well as an intriguingly feminist look at history.

"Tidelands: neither land nor sea, but wet and dry twice a day, never drowned for long but never drying out."

This setting for the newest Philippa Gregory novel is a character in and of itself. A brand new series for Gregory (The Fairmile #1) lures the reader to the Saxon shore in the mid-17C as a civil war (King vs Parliament) is in full swing. Love, injustice, discrimination, and loyalty take center stage as themes running throughout this novel. The set-up to the series keeps the pace controlled (some may say slow) but speeds up significantly in the second half.
".... the ugliness of these people’s lives on the very edge of the shore, with their loves and hates ebbing and flowing like a muddy tide, with their anger roaring like the water in the millrace, with their hatreds and fears as treacherous as the hushing well." There are joys and triumphs as well, and a surprising betrayal which kept this reader guessing until the final pages.

I have enjoyed Ms. Gregory's writing since "The Other Boleyn Girl", but took an unintentional reprieve from the Tudors more than a few years ago. It's wonderful to be back, appreciating her smooth dialogue and lyrical prose, in what I'm sure will be a historical fiction favorite.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my review.

The harsh and precarious life of a poor midwife, who is also an abandoned wife is contrasted with the circumstances and lifestyle of her neighbors in the surrounding area: the household of the lord of the manor, the prosperous miller and the independent landowner farmer. Against this background glimpses of King Charles I and his family and royalist supporters versus the Cromwell supported parliament members serve to bring the contrasts even sharper. Alinor is a hard working single mother who is well respected for her talents as a healer but viewed with underlying suspicion that she maybe too talented and perhaps employing the dark arts. She helps a visitor find his way to the royalist lord and over the course of the summer a secret forbidden romance develops. Alinor may be able to declare her husband legally dead in a few years and be free to marry her secret lover, her daughter Alys will be able to marry her beau, the farmer's son with the money for a proper dowry and her son will be apprenticed to an apothecary. All will be better with the family and then everything goes wrong. I was biting my nails at the end of the book and am eagerly waiting the next installment to the tale.