1549 - A COUNTRY DIVIDED
Two years after the death of King Henry VIII, England is a turbulent realm. His son, Edward, the child monarch is too young to rule, and the government is factious. The nobility jostle for personal power and prestige. The treasury is empty and the elite of wealthy landowners are bent on exploiting the poor.
AN UNLIKELY LEADER
When a yeoman farmer from Norfolk, Robert Kett, finds himself at the centre of a local dispute, his impulsive actions plunge him into a precarious alliance with the dissenting commoners.
THE AFFRAY
To prevail, Kett must bring order to the chaos, impose his own justice, overcome the deception and betrayal that surrounds him and stay true to his cause. As events spiral and disobedience sparks rebellion, can his leadership withstand the dangers and opportunities of a country struggling to leave its past and discover its future?
BASED ON REAL EVENTS
A video from the Author
Tim takes us through some of the settings of Spirals of Fate
East Anglian Book Awards (Runner Up)
"This truly is a story of rich vs poor and it was written with very high literary merit. I am drawn to this book not only as it is set locally in East Anglia and embodies the local culture and history of the area, but is also written about a genuine local hero, it is the kind of story that you can get lost in which is a sure sign of a good read! The characters are believable, easy to visualise and identify with, thanks to the wonderful way in which the story is written."
Bittern Books
"For a first novel, this is a remarkable book, taking us on the journey with Robert Kett from a seemingly minor outbreak of high-spirited vandalism in Wymondham and Hethersett, to an uprising of thousands which changed the course of government and a monarchy. Tim Holden uses the historical fiction format to present a theory of how local small landowners and merchants Robert and William Kett ended up leading this massive uprising. But in addition to laying out the historical events, Tim weaves in the stories of fictional characters and how their lives were changed by the events of 1549."
IndieReader
"Draws the reader back into the socially, economically, and religiously conflicted world of Edward VI, son of Henry VIII. Author Tim Holden does a particularly spectacular job of tracing not only the individual and personal growth, but also the inevitable-in-hindsight growth of the rebellion... Characters leap off the page, full of personality, with understandable human motivations and human feelings, changing and growing as the story goes on."