I’m delighted to welcome Rosemary Hayes back to the writing blog. She has written many books for children in a variety of genre, from edgy teenage fiction, historical fiction and middle grade fantasy to chapter books for early readers and texts for picture books. Many of her books have won or been shortlisted for awards and several have been translated into different languages.
Rosemary has travelled widely but now lives in South Cambridgeshire. She has a background in publishing, having worked for Cambridge University Press before setting up her own company Anglia Young Books which she ran for some years. She has been a reader for a well-known authors’ advisory service, runs creative writing workshops for both children and adults and reviews for historical publications.
Rosemary has now turned her hand to writing adult fiction. Her historical novel ‘The King’s Command’ is about the terror and tragedy suffered by a French Huguenot family during the reign of Louis XIV. Traitor’s Game is the first book in the Soldier Spy trilogy, set during the Napoleonic Wars. The King’s Agent is the second and the third, Code of Honour, has recently been published.
Over to Rosemary to tell us about the fascinating history behind the stories in the ‘Soldier Spy’ trilogy.
Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington
The extent of spying on both sides during the Napoleonic Wars was considerable. Not only at a diplomatic level, through overseas embassies and through the Alien Office in London and highly placed double agents, but among networks of ordinary people, too, who passed on maps and documents, letters, money and even arms. Smaller documents or items of intelligence could be sewn into clothing or hidden in hollowed out walking sticks or riding crops. Or even, apparently, in a hatpin! Larger items were hidden in barrels or at drop off points on the French coast such as oyster sheds. And fishermen sometimes buried items on uninhabited islets for later collection.
Both sides employed complex codes and ciphers to protect their communications. Codebooks and cipher wheels were standard kit. One captured French codebook was worth its weight in gold to the British intelligence service.
In 1803, Britain declared war on France, ending a fragile peace between the two countries. In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of the French.
Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French
The Napoleonic Wars were global and by 1808 France dominated the majority of continental Europe. The wars finally ended in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington’s defeat of the French at Waterloo.
The ‘Soldier Spy’ trilogy is set during the Peninsular War (1808-1814) in which the British, Spanish and Portuguese fought against the French. The war started because Portugal continued to trade with Britain. French troops marched through Spain into Portugal. Spain’s uneasy alliance with France soon broke down and French troops occupied Madrid.
In May 1808, Napoleon’s brother Joseph was installed as King of Spain, causing rebellions across the country. After the French suffered some defeats in Spain, Napoleon himself took charge and enjoyed some success, forcing British troops to withdraw.
But Napoleon did not stay long and he never returned to that theatre of war. He left in 1809 to oversee the defeat of Austria and then the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. His marshals were left in charge of the French troops in the peninsula.
Battles continued to rage in Portugal and Spain but it was the British victory at Salamanca in 1812 that was a major factor in Napoleon’s downfall. By this time, the ‘unbreakable’ Paris Cipher had been more or less cracked by the British so Wellington had advance knowledge of the battle plans of the French.
This, then, is the background to my three books, which begin in 1808 and end in 1812.
In the first book Traitor’s Game, we meet Captain Will Fraser, sent back from Portugal having been dismissed from the army in disgrace. With him is his sergeant, Duncan Armstrong, who has been severely wounded in battle. In London, they go to find Will’s brother, Jack. But Jack has vanished and in their desperate search for him they become unwittingly involved in the murky world of espionage, with tragic consequences.
In the second book, The King’s Agent, Will and Armstrong are working as agents for the British Government. Despatched to France to rescue undercover spies who have been exposed by a traitor, they must embed themselves with the enemy and play a dangerous game of deception. And Will Fraser also has a very personal score to settle.
In the final book of the trilogy, Code of Honour, Will and Armstrong are back in the thick of the Peninsular War, but this time as spies. The French are using a new code which is proving impossible to decipher. Now they must work with Spanish guerrillas to intercept messages between French Commanders and pass them to Wellington’s codebreakers, putting themselves in constant danger.
And it is here that Will’s troubled past catches up with him. Four years ago he lied to protect the woman he loved. Now he must tell the truth to save himself.
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Connect with Rosemary
Website: www.rosemaryhayes.co.uk
Twitter/X: https://x.com/HayesRosemary
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosemary.hayes.129
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosemary-Hayes/e/B00NAPAPZC
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/80106.Rosemary_Hayes
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What’s Code of Honour about?
1812. Britain’s war against Napoleon continues.
Will Fraser and Duncan Armstrong have served their country well as spies, exposing traitors and rescuing betrayed royalists.
Now they are asked to support military operations in the Peninsular War. The French are using a new code which is proving impossible to decipher. Will and Armstrong must work with Spanish guerrillas to intercept messages between French Commanders and pass them to Wellington’s codebreakers.
Will is reluctant, however. Portugal was where he was falsely accused of cowardice and desertion and forced to leave the army. And Captain Harcourt-Browne, the jealous and vengeful officer who caused his downfall, is still serving there.
But Will is given a compelling – and personal – reason to carry out the operation. If he does go, there’s a slim chance he could be reinstated.
Enemy agents are soon on their trail; agents who want them dead. Somehow Will and Armstrong must evade them and join the guerrillas in a daring attempt to uncover Napoleon’s battle plans.
But Will’s troubled past catches up with him. Four years ago he lied to protect the woman he loved. Now he must own up to that lie to save himself.
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Buy Code of Honour here: https://books2read.com/u/bQLnNZ
This series is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
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My thoughts about Code of Honour
Another good story from this knowledgeable author. Although hero Will knows he’s been treated unfairly, he refuses to complain and has become reconciled that his military career has been peremptorily ended. He has adapted well to working on his father’s farm and is reluctant to leave it when the call comes. But, of course, although cautious at first, he will do his patriotic duty.
The period detail is rich and authentic, not only in the description of the London and in the Spanish Peninsula, but the practical side of life. You walk through the street with Will and his sidekick Armstrong, or travel in guerilla and enemy infested country and see it as it is in vivid detail. The secondary characters, from actresses to the powerful, fictional and real, are deftly drawn.
The author handles the plot well, with good pacing. It’s an entertaining read with a satisfactory ending, although one question isleft open. I wonder if the author has left open the possibility of a fourth adventure…
The story is so good that, again, I’m reluctant to mention some editing issues that jolt. However, that’s the responsibility of the publisher and should be remedied. Will Fraser’s adventures should be better served – the character certainly merits it.
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO and RETALIO, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories. Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers. JULIA PRIMA, Roma Nova story set in the late 4th century, starts the Foundation stories. The sequel, EXSILIUM, is now out.
Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines and taste world the latest contemporary thriller Double Identity… Download ‘Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email update. As a result, you’ll be among the first to know about news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
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