A romance written during the mid-late 19th century set on the fringe of Exmoor in the late 16th century. The gentle giant, John Ridd, farmer and loyal son delays revenge on his father’s killers, the notorious Doone clan until, in adulthood and knighted, he is persuaded to lead a party of vigilantes to wipe out the clan. Lorna, it transpires is not Lorna Doone but the Lady Lorna Dughal, a wealthy heiress agrees to marry Sir John, and eventually they live happily ever after. I say eventually because there is much adventure and anguish before peace finally breaks out. A rip-roaring tale with some difficult regional dialect, much of it at the very beginning and thus quite off-putting, but the reader’s perseverance is rewarded, and is soon into an engaging romance with many twists and turns before matters are finally settled. This yarn offers a small insight into the confused and bloody politics of the day. Loyalty to King and country and to one’s family and friends is made much of, as is the brutality of the suppression of the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion and the extermination of its perpetrators by the terrible Judge Jeffryes. All human life is here and I am puzzled why I haven’t read it before my 68th year, it is at least as good as the books of similar ilk by Sir Walter Scott, if not better.
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