Review: Burning Secret by RJ Lloyd
Today, I'm thrilled to share my review of Burning Secret by RJ Lloyd. It's a fictionalised account of the intriguing life of one of his ancestors – and well worth checking out!
Burning Secret is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Do check out the other fascinating posts here!
Burning Secret
RJ Lloyd
Burning Secret is a fictional account of the life of Enoch Price – or Harry Mason as he became to be known. Enoch is the author's great-great-grandfather who disappears from English records, only to reappear in the US under a different name. New beginnings...
The novel begins with his trial for bankruptcy. Having been cheated out of his profitable business of making corsets for ladies, he ponders his options. His wife, Eliza, and their three daughters would face hardships, with him imprisoned.
An idea forms in his head. How about he flees to Canada and sets up a new business in corsetry, or some such? Eliza and the girls could follow, and they could build a new life. But Eliza isn't keen. Undeterred, Enoch buys passage on a ship bound for Quebec, determined to prove her wrong.
But on the way, he learns that Canada has an extradition agreement with Britain, which would still leave him vulnerable. On his arrival, he decides to reinvent himself, calling himself Henry Mason. He also buys a train passage to New York. There was no extradition agreement, and there were opportunities to find work and establish yourself. On his journey, he meets a well-off American lady, who calls him Harry, and the name sticks.
Hating New York, he follows an advertisement to Florida, where he swiftly finds work as a bartender. Soon he becomes good friends with the saloon owner, Nicky, and his Danish wife, Agnes. As he puts in the hard work, Jacksonville is expanding and trade is booming. He regularly sends Eliza money and urges her to join him, but she dithers. Staying with his remarried mother, she wants for nothing, so their correspondence grows less and less.
Then he meets Bessie, who thinks he's a widower (the story he told people on arrival). After another year, he asks her to marry him, as it is expected in his circle and people would wonder. From Eliza, only silence, despite his letters.
Then fate has a surprise in store for him and his fortune increases. But then disaster strikes in form of the Yellow Fever. How will Harry and his small family fare? Find out in the novel!
I didn't expect to like Enoch/Harry. He abandoned his family to avoid prison, leaving his wife and his mother to care for their three daughters. But RJ Lloyd has managed to turn Harry into a really likeable character. A fortune seeker, perhaps, aware of how to beat the system. An opportunist, with a dash of luck. A bigamist, too, but one with a conscience and responsibility for his first wife. But it's not difficult to like Harry, as we follow his exploits in America.
As his fortune and standing increases, Harry is fully aware of his fraudulous background, and keen to keep tabs on his past. Perhaps that's why only one photograph of him exists, that the author could find.
The description of locations, of the poverty on one hand, and the wealthy elite on the other, paints a realistic image of the era. It's not overdone, but it feeds a reader's emotions. I felt transported into a changing, growing America with its opportunities, but also with its concurrent crime, exploitation of workers, and daily dangers immigrants faced.
The author's research into the era, the habits, dress code, and social attitudes is impeccable. He brings Harry's environment vividly to life – wherever Harry is. And he shows us his ancestor’s ambitions – and his guilt. But with a rise in circumstances come uncomfortable choices. And Harry's conscience battles against some of his decisions, which adds a human touch.
Burning Secret is a fascinating tale of a man who reinvented himself, from almost ending up in prison, to being a bartender, and onwards to become a powerful member of his community. A man who, throughout his life, felt a stab of guilt at leaving his wife and daughters behind. A man of many façades, who learns how to hide his feelings and how to play the game.
Utterly compelling, vividly told, Burning Secret takes you back in time, to an era of opportunities and chances, of survival and determination. And I'm absolutely sure the author made his ancestor, Enoch Price, proud with this novel.
A highly recommended read.
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Blurb:
Inspired by actual events, Burning Secret is a dramatic and compelling tale of ambition, lies and betrayal.
Born in the slums of Bristol in 1844, Enoch Price seems destined for a life of poverty and hardship-but he’s determined not to accept his lot.
Enoch becomes a bare-knuckle fighter in London’s criminal underworld. But in a city where there’s no place for honest dealing, a cruel loan shark cheats him, leaving Enoch penniless and facing imprisonment.
Undaunted, he escapes to a new life in America and embarks on a series of audacious exploits. But even as he helps shape history, Enoch is not content. Tormented by his past and the life he left behind, Enoch soon becomes entangled in a web of lies and secrets.
Will he ever break free and find the happiness he craves?
Influenced by real people and events, Enoch’s remarkable story is one of adventure, daring, political power, deceit and, in the end, the search for redemption and forgiveness.
Buy Link: International Buy Link
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About the Author:
R J Lloyd
After retiring as a senior police officer, R J Lloyd turned his detective skills to genealogy, tracing his family history to the 16th century. However, after 15 years of extensive research, he couldn’t track down his great-great-grandfather, Enoch Price, whose wife, Eliza, had, in living memory, helped raise his mother.
It was his cousin Gillian who, after several more dead-ends, called one day to say that she had found him through a fluke encounter. Susan Sperry from California, who had recently retired, decided to explore the box of documents given to her thirty years before by her mother, which she had never opened. In the box, she found some references to her great grandfather, Harry Mason, a wealthy hotel owner from Florida who had died in 1919. It soon transpired that Susan’s great grandfather, Harry Mason, was, in fact, Enoch Price. From this single thread, the extraordinary story of Harry Mason began to unravel, leading R J Lloyd to visit the States to meet his newly discovered American cousins, and it was Susan Sperry and Kimberly Mason, direct descendants, who persuaded R J Lloyd to write the extraordinary story of their ancestor.
R J Lloyd graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in Philosophy and Psychology and a Masters in Marketing from UWE. Since leaving a thirty-year career in policing, he’s been a non-executive director with the NHS, social housing, and other charities. He lives with his wife in Bristol, spending his time travelling, writing and producing delicious plum jam from the trees on his award-winning allotment.
Connect with RJ:
R J Lloyd graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in Philosophy and Psychology and a Masters in Marketing from UWE. Since leaving a thirty-year career in policing, he’s been a non-executive director with the NHS, social housing, and other charities. He lives with his wife in Bristol, spending his time travelling, writing and producing delicious plum jam from the trees on his award-winning allotment.
Connect with RJ:
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