The Halifax Connection

Zusatztext "What a delight it is to read a new and magnificent book by a consummate writer. Marie Jakober took me into a period of Canadian/American history that I had never explored or thought much about! then kept me awake for hours! night after night! enthralled by a tale of adventure and international intrigue to rival anything ever imagined by Ian Fleming! save that it unfolds mainly in Halifax! Nova Scotia! in the era of Sir John A. MacDonald! Lord Palmerston! Abraham Lincoln! Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. High adventure with high stakes and a wonderful love story. This is great stuff!" Jack Whyte! author of the bestselling Dream of Eagles series and the Knights Templar Trilogy The spy vs. spy intrigues in Canada during the War between the States was a subject crying out for a novel! and The Halifax Connection does it ample justice. Author Marie Jakober makes a drawing-room battle of wits no less suspenseful than a vicious knife fight or a chase at sea. At the same time as she brings the past to life! Jakober thoughtfully raises the still-current question: Can or should Canada stay out of American wars? The third strand to Jakober's remarkable achievement is a love story involving secret agent Erryn Shaw and chamber maid Sylvie Bowenone of the most vivid! plucky and articulate heroines I've met. Mel Bradshaw! author of Death in the Age of Steam Informationen zum Autor Marie Jakober Klappentext A Canadian counter-intelligence novel with a memorable romance at its heart! The Halifax Connection brings to life 1860s Montreal and Halifax with wit! action and a finale that will leave you breathless. Canada in 1862 is still a few scattered colonies run by an indifferent British crown. As the American Civil War heats up south of the border! Southern Confederates flood into Montreal and Halifax! among them numerous spies and military officers planning secret missions against the Union - missions they hope will provoke a war between England and the United States! throwing the whole weight of the British Empire into the Confederate camp. Erryn Shaw is a charming British aristocrat who has been banished to the colonies and now wants nothing more than to run a theatre. Instead! he is convinced to spy for the British and finds himself befriending Southern Rebels to learn of their plans. On a mission to Montreal! he gets wind of a sinister plot-a plan the Confederates believe will win them the war. And he can't seem to find a way to stop it. At the same time! he meets and courts an intriguing woman! Sylvie Bowen! who escaped the cotton mills of England seeking a better life. Though she's drawn to Erryn's charm and cleverness! she once met with disaster at the hands of the South! and he knows it is only a matter of time until she discovers his ties to the Rebels and turns against him. Drawing on actual events! The Halifax Connection captures a fascinating and largely forgotten piece of Canada's history. From the comfortable parlours and ballrooms of the bustling metropolis of Montreal to the back alleyways of the port town of Halifax! to the deadly high seas patrolled by Southern raiders! the novel draws a remarkable picture of Canada in the mid-1800s - its people! its power struggles! its hopes and its dreams. Prologue Halifax, July 7, 1864 We shall do such deeds within the next three months as shall make European civilization ­shudder. Unidentified Confederate agent, quoted by John Cordner, Montreal, 1864 Another toast, my friend, the Carolinian suggested, pouring generously. His ­name­or at least the name he chose to use ­here­was Maury Janes. To the Vessel of Retribution! Erryn Shaw smiled, clinked glass to glass, and drank. The vessel in question, the English Dover , was sitting down at Taylor's Wharf at the moment, grubby and ­...

Auteur

Marie Jakober

Texte du rabat

A Canadian counter-intelligence novel with a memorable romance at its heart, The Halifax Connection brings to life 1860s Montreal and Halifax with wit, action and a finale that will leave you breathless.

Canada in 1862 is still a few scattered colonies run by an indifferent British crown. As the American Civil War heats up south of the border, Southern Confederates flood into Montreal and Halifax, among them numerous spies and military officers planning secret missions against the Union - missions they hope will provoke a war between England and the United States, throwing the whole weight of the British Empire into the Confederate camp.

Erryn Shaw is a charming British aristocrat who has been banished to the colonies and now wants nothing more than to run a theatre. Instead, he is convinced to spy for the British and finds himself befriending Southern Rebels to learn of their plans. On a mission to Montreal, he gets wind of a sinister plot-a plan the Confederates believe will win them the war. And he can't seem to find a way to stop it.

At the same time, he meets and courts an intriguing woman, Sylvie Bowen, who escaped the cotton mills of England seeking a better life. Though she's drawn to Erryn's charm and cleverness, she once met with disaster at the hands of the South, and he knows it is only a matter of time until she discovers his ties to the Rebels and turns against him.

Drawing on actual events, The Halifax Connection captures a fascinating and largely forgotten piece of Canada's history. From the comfortable parlours and ballrooms of the bustling metropolis of Montreal to the back alleyways of the port town of Halifax, to the deadly high seas patrolled by Southern raiders, the novel draws a remarkable picture of Canada in the mid-1800s - its people, its power struggles, its hopes and its dreams.

Échantillon de lecture
**Prologue

Halifax, July 7, 1864

We shall do such deeds within the next three months
as shall make European civilization ­shudder.
–*Unidentified Confederate agent,
quoted by John Cordner, Montreal, 1864*

“Another toast, my friend,” the Carolinian suggested, pouring generously. His ­name–­or at least the name he chose to use ­here–­was Maury Janes. “To the Vessel of Retribution!”

Erryn Shaw smiled, clinked glass to glass, and drank. The vessel in question, the English Dover, was sitting down at Taylor’s Wharf at the moment, grubby and ­tired-­looking in the late evening sun. She was, as far as he could judge, the most ordinary ship imaginable, laden as usual with ordinary goods. All day she had rested at anchor, yielding up blankets and cast iron cookstoves and ­second-­rate rum, while ­blockade-­runners were slipping into Southern ports with desperately needed weapons and supplies, and Confederate commerce raiders prowled the seas, burning Yankee ships from New­­found­land to India. It was remarkable, to say the least, that anyone would call such a scruffy English freighter the Vessel of ­Retribution.

Erryn knew his companion was given to strong statements, even to exaggeration sometimes, but he had no reason to believe the man was mad. And Janes was happy tonight, triumphant, a fact all the more remarkable because he rarely showed feelings of any sort; indeed, there were times when Erryn wondered if he had any. Janes had never mentioned his age, but Erryn guessed him as close to forty, a man of average height and build, with indifferent features and straight, dull brown ­hair–­the sort of man who looked like everyone’s fourth cousin. The fine waistcoat and trousers he had bought for tonight’s celebration were appropriately expensive, but they did not give him any kind of style. They seemed, instead, an elaborate costume on an actor unsuited for his role. Janes was never going to be gentry, however hard he ­tried.

Erryn regarded him thoughtfully, remembering the first time they met, back in Octo…