This book is an interesting story with its ups and downs. Overall it is a bit slow and some of the characters weren't great. I would still read the third book to follow the family to the end.

Dark Tides is a great sequel that picks up the story after 21 years. Alinor and Alys are living on the south bank in London running a small wharf and Rob is now a doctor in Venice. Ned, Alinor's brother has gone to the new world and his story of living a Puritan life and also becoming friends with the Indians is interspersed with the European side of the family.

Lots of family intrigue when when not only does James show up on their doorstep wanting to meet with Alinor and claim a son he rejected when she was pregnant but a woman claiming to be Rob's widow. Alinor does not believe Livia when she says Rob drowned which leads to her trying to prove it. At the same time Livia is shipping antiquities to their wharf in the hopes of becoming rich.

Really enjoyed this sequel and look forward to now reading book 3.
Thanks to NetGalley.

This second novel in Gregory's Fairmile series can be read with others in the series or as a standalone. The story is set in 1670 and tells of various members of the Reekie family. Alinor, the matriarch, lives with her daughter Alys and grandchildren (Sarah and her twin brother John) in a run-down warehouse on the Thames. Alys is a wharf master and the family ekes out a living through her meager earnings and the coins earned by the twins through their indentures. Alinor's son Rob is a physician working in Italy. Brother Ned is in the Americas.

Rob's widow shows up with an infant in arms to break the news that he has drowned. Believing the family to be in much better financial straits than she found, Livia, the widow, is determined to improve at least her own lot in life by selling antiquities she claims belonged to her first husband. Wealthy Lord Avery encounters Livia during a visit to the family to attempt to sort through old family business.

Alinor refuses to believe her son is dead and sends granddaughter Sarah to Venice to investigate. Meanwhile, brother Ned is trying to walk a fine line between the British and the Natives whom he has befriended. War is on the horizon there and Ned is struggling with his loyalties.

Those who enjoy British historical fiction will read this one with pleasure.

Note: I read an ARC provided by NetGalley.

In this second book in the series, Philippa does a great job of writing about the family's next chapters in life. I was hoping to get a bit more in terms of the witchcraft aspect that was so enthralling in book one. That being said, I am such a fan of Philippa Gregory's writing, and the way that she weaves history to entertain and engross the reader. I did find this book a littler slower than the first, so took a bit more dedication until I felt that it pulled me into the story. Still entertaining in that way that only she can. Thanks so much to Philippa Gregory, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-arc.

A portrait of women that is accessible for this age! It has all the glitz and grit of two novels written into one story. I think readers in US and UK will love the span of this novel and the setting, especially the history as it intertwines!

After reading the first in the series, Tidelands, I wanted to read this one, the second in the series. However, I was not impressed. I honestly could not finish. The characters were all over the place and some were so unlikable that you just wanted to scream. The premise for this novel had me jumping for joy when I was given a copy to read. Sadly I was let down.


2 out of 5 stars

Thank you NetGalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Just like with Tidelands, I just couldn't get into it. Going to stick with the Tudor series by Gregory.

*Thank you @atriabooks for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Review not posted to Amazon/Goodreads because less than 4 stars or DNF.*

I didn't realize when I requested this book that it was the second in a series (I think trilogy?), so a lot of what I thought was being mysteriously set up for a later reveal was actually info that had apparently come in the first book.

I've always enjoyed Gregory's books, but I think not having the same historical context for this one as others had (ie already being familiar with her previous characters like the Boleyns) took a small amount of context away. There were parts where I was so intrigued that I couldn't stop reading, and others where the storyline got so absurd that I started losing interest. An unsatisfying ending took away a bit of my enjoyment, too, but maybe that's just a set-up for the next in the series? I am curious about the first book in the series, so my feelings about this one might change after I go back and read that.

Philippa Gregory is one of those authors I will always buy and read her books. They were what fueled my loved and passion for English history and after reading one of her books I would pour over everything I could do learn about the subject. I found that I struggled with this book, I found it boring at times where I was wished that it would just finish already.(mostly in the journey to America), but everything else kept the plot going. I just thought it was too much of the book.

One of the rare authors who can utterly engross you in a novel and carry you away into her imagined universe is Philippa Gregory. After reading Tidelands, the first book in this series, I was eager to get started on the second one.
Moreover, sequels are typically just a poor imitation of the original, but this one won't let you down.
You will be captivated by the richly developed characters and the exquisitely rendered environments thanks to the well-balanced interactions and descriptions.

Dark Tides is the second volume in Philippa Gregory's historical Tidelands trilogy, as we already established. Although this book may be read independently of Tidelands, it is recommended that you do so first. The story of the midwife and herbalist Alinor, her daughter Alice, and her children Sarah and Johnny are continued in this book. Hope and love are expertly woven together with loss and suffering...
Gregory once again wrote a fantastic tale about the English Restoration era filled with rich, complex characterization and unforgettable adventure.
The setting is London in 1670, where the already well-known characters Alinor and Alice now work and reside in their warehouse on the River Thames...

You should read this book if you want to experience a gripping narrative that takes you from London to Venice in the past while teaching you about the vital things in life.

Unlike the smoothness of Tidelands, Dark Tides is all over the place. Even with that said, the overall story carries over further in time and all the changes during the time gap from the first book to this. With Dark Tides, you see people get their due and you just keep rooting for those who should win. With old, known characters to new, sometimes sinister characters, Dark Tides is worth reading.

Philippa Gregory never disappoints. Tidelands was the first book I read by her, and it has stuck with my for quite a while. Sequels usually don't live up to the first book in a series, but I really enjoyed Dark Tides. As usual, my mind floats away with Gregory's writing to another time/place. Perfect escapism.

Dark Tides
The Fairmile #2
Philippa Gregory
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story is set in poverty and in the glamor of Restoration London. It is also set in the streets of Venice, and on the tensly frontier of early America. This is a book of greed and desire, all for love, for wealth, for a child, and a home.

I'll be honest this is not the kind of book I usually read from Philippa Gregory. It was a good book, but there were some very slow parts and at times I had a hard time keeping track of the chapters jumping back and forth. That being said I have given Ms. Gregory four solid stars and I definitely will read another book from her as I think she is a super talented author.

Dark Tides is the second book in Philippa Gregory's historical Tidelands series. The characters have gotten older but not necessarily that much wiser. They're still worth rooting for, though.
It's 1670, in London and Alinor and Alys are now working and living in their warehouse on the River Thames. James is no longer a priest and he arrives thinking that he can demand Alinor back into his life. He believes that being a wealthy landowner will cause her to forgive him for abandoning her two decades before.
Then a young woman claiming to be Alinor’s daughter in law arrives unannounced on their doorstep with her and Robert's son. They've just traveled from Italy and are in need of shelter. Soon, she's moved right in and is making herself at home.
Alinor senses, right away, that something is very wrong. She doesn't trust this daughter in law for a minute.

This is the second story in the Fairmile series, although it can be read as a stand alone, it is best to read Tidelands first. This book continues the saga of midwife and herbalist, Alinor, and her daughter Alys and her children Sarah and Johnnie. Once again, Gregory paints a vivid picture of the Restoration period in England with rich, multilayered characterization and adventure. Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is available now

I have read many books from this Author and have enjoyed them all, this did not engross me as much as the first in the series did. The character shift, felt disjointed and the character was so unlikeable that it made it difficult to read when you're already invested in the characters being deceived and manipulated. Alys is so easily manipulated it was maddening. The story build was positively lifted when Sarah became a focus, but despite enjoying the book on a whole, it did not grab me as much as the previous title in the series. I will still read everything available from this Author and enjoyed this book.

This, the second book in the Fairmile Series, chronicles an English tradespeople family in the late 1600s as various branches spread out to Venice and the new colonies in America. There are affairs, trysts, a suspicious death, forgeries, desires, all in an historical context.

The book is an excellent portrayal of Restoration London among the trades class, paralleling that with the rise of New England in the colonies.
The characters are well developed; the story engrossing
It would be a five star read except for some implausibilities in the Venetian storyline.

A shout out to my husband, a fan of historical fiction, who read this!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atriabooks.

This was not my favourite. I found the gullibility of Alys Stoney when it came to Livia was completely unrealistic and out of character. It was hard to swallow that a family that has had to work hard their whole lives coming from a shack to a successful merchant operation would so easily risk their fortunes for a clearly conniving woman they don’t know from a whole in the ground. I’m happy I read it to get to the next book in the story which I enjoyed much much more!

Thank you net galley!

I enjoyed reading Tidelands, and I was excited for the opportunity to read more of James' and Alinor's story. I enjoyed that we got to see so much more of other characters' stories, but this was also a downside for me, as I sometimes wish I was reading about someone else. While I didn't enjoy this as much as the first book, I still thought it was a good read

While not my favorite Philippa Gregory novel, and not as captivating as Tidelands, Dark Tides was certainly interesting!

Livia was insufferable from the very beginning, which is testament to Gregory’s writing prowess. Because of that, I found myself preferring Ned’s story line, which gave me a lot of things to look into myself.

However, all of that changed when Sarah took off to Venice and discovered the truth! I’m intrigued to read the next novel to see if James has any redemption in his future.