Two Different Women. One Shared Destiny.
Mary English, a dockworker’s daughter from Faversham, England, travels to South America to escape a scandal from her past. She ends up running a cacao plantation in Colombia, at a time when women were not legally allowed to own businesses there.
Manuela Sáenz, tempestuous lover of Venezuelan revolutionary Simón Bolívar, serves as a colonel in his army. She joins him in battle to fight the Spanish and twice saves his life from assassination attempts.
This is the story of two real-life remarkable women, both fighting oppression, hardship and danger in 1820s Colombia, who come together to change the course of a nation’s history.
What did I think?
Having loved Arden by GD Harper I was keen to read more of his books so I was delighted to get my hands on a copy of The Other Life of Mary English. South American history is not something I know a lot about but I thoroughly enjoyed the history lesson and the unusual setting.
My favourite things to find in a book greeted me when I turned the first page: a cast of characters and a map. As the book is inspired by real people and real events, the characters are all real people from history and the things in the book actually happened. GD Harper just uses his imagination to embellish the facts with what the characters might have thought or said to create an incredibly entertaining and interesting story.
It is meticulously researched and told from the points of view of Mary English and Manuela Sáenz, two very strong women who made a lasting impression on the country of Colombia. Mary is escaping scandal after her bigamist husband rendered their daughter illegitimate, and Manuela's own illegitimacy didn't hold her back from becoming the trusted aide and mistress of South American liberator Simón Bolívar.
I found the whole story fascinating as I had never considered the history of South America before. I knew that the Spanish had settled there but I didn't know how the countries ultimately gained their independence. There's also a photographic section about two thirds of the way through the book to enhance the reading experience and bring the whole story to life.
The Other Life of Mary English is a compelling, interesting and fascinating historical fiction novel. I loved it and would highly recommend it.
I received a gifted ARC for the Rachel's Random Resources blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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About the author:
GD Harper became a full-time author in 2016. He has written three psychological thrillers, Love’s Long Road, A Friend in Deed and Silent Money, and two historical novels, The Maids of Biddenden and Arden.
The Maids of Biddenden was the winner in the historical fiction category of the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the largest international awards program for indie authors and independent publishers, and was shortlisted for the 2023 Selfies Award at the London Book Fair. Arden was placed third in the 2024 Yeovil International Literary Prize. The Other Life of Mary English was a finalist in the Eyelands Book Awards. He has also been longlisted or shortlisted for fourteen other awards.
His books have had over one million page reads on Kindle Unlimited, been number one most downloaded e-book on Amazon UK, number three on Amazon worldwide, and garnered over two thousand reviews and ratings on Amazon and Goodreads, with an average rating score of 4.4.
He lives in East Sussex and, when not writing, can be found wild camping in the Scottish mountains or in the mosh pit at live music events.
Social Media Links:
Website: www.gdharper.com
Instagram: gdharperauthor
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