A new venture for me, a guest blog. This one is from Lynn Bryant – Writing with Labradors. Lynn and I have been friends for a Very Long Time, which means that editing her books gives me the flexibility to make as many jokes in the margin as I want. It also means that I get to know what the characters in her next book are going to do AGES before all her fans, which makes me unbearably smug.

Now, over to Lynn, but beware, there are spoilers!!

An Unattainable Stronghold – The Fictional Cast – SPOILERS!!

As An Unattainable Stronghold, book eight of the Peninsular War Saga, is published, I’ve decided to put together a brief introduction to the characters who feature most prominently in the book. My regular readers will know I have a huge cast of characters, both real and fictional. I’ve written a related post about the lead historical characters in the latest episode which you can read on Paula Lofting’s blog on https://paulaloftinghistoricalnovelist.wordpress.com/

Inevitably this post is going to contain some spoilers for anybody who hasn’t yet read all of the books and short stories. For those people, if you’re interested, you can find details of both series and their linked short stories on my website. By book eight, I can’t include too much back story so it will make a lot more sense if you start right at the beginning. For my usual readers…here goes.

Major-General Paul van Daan, Colonel-in-Chief 110th Light Infantry
In July 1813 at the beginning of the book, Paul van Daan is thirty-four and has been in the army since he was twenty-one. He’s made fast progress during those years, aided by his family money which has enabled him to make the most of the purchase system, his undoubted talent and capacity for hard work and his unlikely friendship with Lord Wellington. He also, as he once modestly mentioned to his future wife, has a personality it’s hard to overlook.

Paul has come a long way, both professionally and personally, from the young lieutenant we met in book one. His rise may have been swift but it hasn’t always been easy. He lost his first wife to childbirth in 1810 and almost lost his adored second wife Anne when she was taken prisoner by a French officer with a grudge in 1812. He has fathered six children, five of whom are being raised by his family in England. He has served in India, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Portugal and Spain, been seriously wounded three times and is currently in command of the third brigade of the celebrated Light Division under its Hanoverian commander, General Charles Alten.

In the previous book of the series, An Indomitable Brigade, Paul found himself at risk of losing several of his closest friends after French guns blew apart a church which was being used as a hospital during the Battle of Vitoria. While Captain Manson and Regimental Sergeant-Major Carter will be returning to the brigade, Paul’s childhood friend Carl Swanson has resigned his commission after losing a hand and has taken his wife home to England. It’s a big loss for Paul and he’s still feeling it as he and his brigade prepare for the next stage of the war, which may well take them onto French soil for the first time.

Noisy, overbearing and generous, with a fierce temper and a towering personality, Paul van Daan is at the heart of An Unattainable Stronghold as he works to keep his regiment and his brigade together in the face of recent losses.

Anne van Daan
At only twenty-four, Anne van Daan has done a lot of her growing up the hard way in the army camps of Portugal and Spain. Arriving in Lisbon at nineteen, married to a brutal first husband, she has survived hardship and danger; borne Paul two children and made herself an invaluable member of the brigade.

The most noticeable thing about Anne at first sight is her extraordinary beauty. The second thing is her no-nonsense Yorkshire common sense as she acts as assistant to the army surgeons or helps to manage the logistics of Paul’s brigade. She is beloved by both officers and men and is a particular favourite of Lord Wellington, who is generally ready to forgive any outrageous lapse of discipline in Paul’s brigade if he believes it was initiated by Anne.

At the beginning of An Unattainable Stronghold, Anne has fully recovered from the birth of her daughter and is back to her usual optimistic self. In between her usual activities, she is advising Michael O’Reilly on his love life, teaching her maid to ride side-saddle and managing a litter of puppies at headquarters. She is also beginning to feel concerned about a young officer whose future in the army seems uncertain.

Colonel Johnny Wheeler
Johnny Wheeler has been Paul’s second-in-command for many years now. Originally an officer in the 110th who struggled to achieve promotion due to lack of funds, he is now the respected commander of the 112th and one of Paul’s closest friends. He is also a man of property, having recently inherited his uncle’s estate in Derbyshire.

Johnny’s personal life has not always run smoothly and he found it hard to recover from his brief love affair with the wife of a fellow officer. During a visit to England during winter quarters however, he fell in love with Mary Ludlow, the daughter of his estate manager and is now engaged to be married. Johnny is also feeling the loss of Carl Swanson and is well aware of how much Paul is going to need his support and friendship through the next stage of the campaign.

Captain Michael O’Reilly
At thirty-five, Michael O’Reilly has done better in the army than he could reasonably have expected. Joining to avoid arrest after his part in the rebellion of the United Irishmen in 1798 he has risen to hold an officer’s commission in the 112th Light Infantry and is a valued member of Paul van Daan’s inner circle.

Michael is beginning to realise the limitations of his position however, as he contemplates his future seriously for the first time. After years of light-hearted philandering he has finally developed a serious attachment for Ariana Ibanez, otherwise known as Brat, Anne van Daan’s wayward Spanish maidservant. What is not certain is whether Brat can overcome her doubts about his previous reputation with women. Michael’s dilemma isn’t helped by the good-natured raillery of his friends, who seem to be enjoying watching the decorous progress of his courtship.

Ariana Ibanez
At just twenty, Ariana Ibanez is a farmer’s daughter who lost her father and her home when she was thirteen to the marauding French. Making her way to Madrid, she found what work she could and survived by begging and prostitution when starvation threatened. After a beating in an alleyway in Madrid in 1812, she was rescued by Michael O’Reilly and he took her back to Anne van Daan for medical care and food. Desperate to cling on to the first sense of security she had known since the death of her father, Ariana, or Brat as she quickly became known, followed Michael on the appalling retreat back to the Portuguese border. Dressed as a boy she acted as his groom and servant and Michael took care of her with casual kindness and a platonic relationship, but with no intention of keeping her on beyond winter quarters.

Brat resisted all attempts to leave her behind in safe quarters and followed Michael on a dangerous mission to northern Spain during the winter of 1812-13. As her confidence grew, she developed into an intelligent and resourceful young woman and by the time they rejoined the main army it became clear that her relationship with Michael was no longer one of master and servant – although still platonic, much to the amusement of his friends. At the beginning of An Unattainable Stronghold, Brat is working as maidservant to Anne van Daan and getting used to being a girl again, but she is determined not to become just another of Michael O’Reilly’s women.

Captain Giles Fenwick
Giles Fenwick is the nephew of an Earl and one of the few genuine aristocrats in the 110th. He is also permanently broke and often supplements his pay through a talent for playing cards. He spent several years serving as one of Wellington’s intelligence officers, along with his guide and closest friend, a Spanish guerilla called Antonio. During the mission to northern Spain with Michael O’Reilly, Antonio was killed during the savage storming of Castro Urdiales by the French.

With tours of duty in Alexandria, Walcheren and then the Peninsula, Giles has endured too much during the war. He is now back in command of a company of the 110th and is acting up as Paul’s brigade-major during the absence of Leo Manson on sick leave. He has come to value the friendship of Ross and Katja Mackenzie, of Michael O’Reilly and Brat and of his young lieutenant Thomas Oakley but he struggles at times with the things he has seen and experienced.

Captain Simon Carlyon
Simon Carlyon was a childhood friend of Anne van Daan and the brother of her first husband. Despite a difficult start in the third brigade, he has come to be one of Paul van Daan’s most trusted young officers. He has a close friendship with Colonel Johnny Wheeler after their shared experiences during the appalling retreat from Madrid at the end of 1812. His friendship with Anne makes him first choice for her to confide in when she begins to have concerns about one of Paul’s junior officers who is struggling to settle into army life.

Colonel Gabriel Bonnet
In the French lines, Gabriel Bonnet now commands the battalion and has married his long-time Spanish companion, Bianca. It would be usual at this point to say that the recently promoted officer is enjoying his new responsibilities but in the case of Bonnet that would be something of a push. Bonnet is good at his job and much prefers not having to deal with incompetent or lazy senior officers, so as far as it goes, he’s better off. He would really like a wholesale cull of senior officers, starting right at the top with the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. That would probably solve the whole problem for him.

Courageous, loyal and a devoted husband, Bonnet views the war as an unpleasant necessity which he needs to survive, preferably with his battalion intact, so that he can enjoy the rest of his life. His only other heartfelt wish is that he never again has to come up against the British Light Division, with particular reference to the 95th Rifles, whom he compares unfavourably to a plague of locusts. Sadly, Bonnet doesn’t get everything he wants in this book.

There are many more characters with parts to play in An Unattainable Stronghold, but I’m hoping this gives my readers a flavour of where we are as the book opens in July 1813, when the Light Division are enjoying a brief respite in the pretty Basque village of San Estevan, before Lord Wellington arrives with orders for them to march again.

The book was published on Kindle and in paperback on November 1st on Amazon. For more information you can find me on social media at these locations.

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