Helpful Score: 3
A great story about a family of Scottish immigrants in 1766. Ken Follett is amazing!
Helpful Score: 1
A wonderful book that only took me 2 days to read..I couldn't put it down. As usual, as in other stories of Follett's, there is a hero and a herion that are not only mismatched, but, there is no way that a romance could ever happen for them. She is from the Scottish gentry and he is a slave in the coal mines. Disparing of the brutality of the owners and over-seers of the coal mine, he decides to run away. His mis-adventure lands him in a slave ship headed for America..the same ship that is carrying her, as the new bride of a Virginia plantation owner. This story has all of the wonderful characteristics of Follett's other novels, well told and riveting. He makes you feel as if you are there with the characters, sharing their joys, pain, heartaches and troubles.
Helpful Score: 1
A great author. His character's are a study of human nature. Historical fiction at its best. He puts the reader
in the time and place
in the time and place
Helpful Score: 1
Another excellent Ken Follett book. I fyou are a fan of Pillars and World Without End, you will be pleasantly surprised to find the same writing style but now in 1700 Scotland. The way he makes the characters so real in every century and every situation. A wonderful book.
Not my usual reading, but I really enjoyed this
If you have never read Ken Follett you should! In this novel he blends history with fiction and gets a great read!
Helpful Score: 1
Intriguing book! I enjoyed the plot and characters. It described the basic struggle and desire of all humans: freedom, even with the impossible roadblocks others put on them. I recommend this book!
This book provides good insight into human injustice and slavery in Europe, as well as America, in the 18th century. Poor and uneducated people of every race were taken advantage of. Follett does an excellent job of weaving a tale of love and loss into the political and social history of England and the American colonies in the 1770's.
History, action and love. Quick paced. Follet can write about any subject. Great read.
Good story of a coal miner in late 1700s Scotland who crosses paths with an heiress and other well-drawn characters. Fast moving adventure tale.
Ken Follett continues to be my favorite author. This was a great story of how some immigrants came to be in America.
Not one of my favorite stories by Ken Follett. Even thought the theme is good and interesting, it lacks in detail and character depht. It was a quick read but easily forgettable.
Mack McAsh struggles out of his life of misery in the mines of England in 1766 and eventually makes his way to America during the American Revolution. His only ally is the love of his life, Lizzie Hallim who is trapped in her own kind of hell and together they search for a place called "freedom". A wonderful story.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's set in the late 1770s-1780s beginning in Wales and London, then Virginia at the time when both France and the soon-to-be US were in revolution. It was particularly relevant to me since we had just returned from 2 weeks travelling from Philadelphia to Jamestown, steeping ourselves in everything historical, especially during that period. As with many of Follett's books, the historical and geographical setting as well as his characters truly drew me in.
I loved this book. I couldn't put it down from the start. I wish Ken would wright a sequel to this.
Ken Follett is by far the best story teller. He brings the times and the countries alive. And his characters are so real. You fall in love with them all and miss them when I am finished with the book.
I haven't finished 'A Place Called Freedom' but I know that it will leave me feeling not only good but I will understand the period and the people of history much more than I do before.
Back to reading...
I haven't finished 'A Place Called Freedom' but I know that it will leave me feeling not only good but I will understand the period and the people of history much more than I do before.
Back to reading...
This thrilling novel begins in the infernal coal mines of the Jamisson family in the Scottish highlands. The hero is twenty-one-year-old Mack McAsh, a miner. Longing to escape his brutal existence, he finds himself accused of riot, a capital crime in eighteenth-century Britain.
Shipped to the American colonies with thousands of other convicts, his story rings with love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Set against the backdrop of a world in ferment, it is a tantalizing read.
Shipped to the American colonies with thousands of other convicts, his story rings with love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Set against the backdrop of a world in ferment, it is a tantalizing read.
Excellent opportunity to learn about the coal mining industry in Scotland in the 1700's and follow the story to London and America where the hero again seeks freedom.
Master storyteller, Ken Follett, takes us from the Jamisson family coal mines in the Scottish Highlands to the shipping industry in London and onto the Virginia tobacco fields of colonial America with a powerful story of love, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Mack McAsh and Lizzie Hallim are searching for A Place Called Freedom amid a cast of heroes and villains, lovers, and rebels, hypocrites, hell-raisers, and whores. With well-developed characters and a plot with twists and turns, I found the book unputdownable. I look forward to my next Follett book and I would recommend this one to those who love historical adventure.
Set in 1776 against an era ripe with riot and revolution, his turbulent, unforgettable novel brings together a vivid cast of heroes and villains. lovers and rebels, hypocrites and hell-raisers strong willed men and women propelled by destiny toward an epic struggle and a perilous climax that will change their lives forever
Looks like a great beach read, set in London and virginia in the mid 1700's; Ken Follett always does a great job.
scotland, London and a Virginia plantation, set in 1776, brings Mack and Lizzie together...in their serch for freedom...
From the teeming streets of London to the infernal hold of a slave ship headed for the American colonies to a sprawling Virginia plantation, Ken Follett thrills us with this magnificient tale of love and liberty set in 1766 against an era ripe with riot and revolution.
Altogetherentertaining reading experience - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Sentenced to a life of misery in the brutal coal mines of Scotland, twenty-one year old Mack McAsh hungers for escape. His only ally: the beautiful, highborn Lizzie Hallim, who is trapped in her own kind of hell. Two restless young people, separated by politics and position, bound by their passionate search for a place called freedom...
Sentenced to a life of misery in the brutal coal mines of Scotland, 21 yr old Mac McAsh hungers for escape. His ally is the beautiful highborn Lizzie Hallim, who is also trapped in her own kind of hell, both search for a place called freedom.
Sentenced to a life of misery in the brutal coal mines of Scotland, twinty-one-year-old Mack McAsh hungers for escape. His only ally: the beautiful, highborn Lizzie Hallim, who is trapped in her own kind of hell. --from the cover
FROM THE PUBLISHER
A story of adventure and passion, A Place Called Freedom mirrors the intimate desires of the individual heart with the dramatic events of a world in ferment. London trembles on the edge of chaos; the American colonies prepare to defy the British monarchy; a young woman bursts the bonds of a loveless marriage; and a proud man risks everything to grasp at a tantalizing dream of liberty. With its vivid, fascinating portrayal of the colorful streets of London and the endless landscapes of the New World, plus an unforgettable cast of heroes and villains, lovers and rebels, hypocrites and hell-raisers and whores, A Place Called Freedom is a magnificent epic of love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
A story of adventure and passion, A Place Called Freedom mirrors the intimate desires of the individual heart with the dramatic events of a world in ferment. London trembles on the edge of chaos; the American colonies prepare to defy the British monarchy; a young woman bursts the bonds of a loveless marriage; and a proud man risks everything to grasp at a tantalizing dream of liberty. With its vivid, fascinating portrayal of the colorful streets of London and the endless landscapes of the New World, plus an unforgettable cast of heroes and villains, lovers and rebels, hypocrites and hell-raisers and whores, A Place Called Freedom is a magnificent epic of love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Sentenced to a life of misery in the brutal coal mines of Scotland, twenty-one-year-old Mack McAsh hungers for escape. His only ally: the beautiful, highborn Lizzie Hallim, who is trapped in her own kind of hell. Two restless young people, separated by politics and position, bound by their passionate search for a place called freedom...
This book has been read once.
