the Troubles

Google the term “the Troubles” and you’ll see that in our modern history it refers to the “ethno-nationalist conflict” in Northern Ireland in the late twentieth century. “Troubles” is a pretty mild euphemism for a conflict in which 3500 people died.

A Master of Understatement

But I was surprised to see that it wasn’t the first use of the term by an Englishman describing an ethno-nationalist conflict. King George III mentioned the Troubles in 1776.

Hmm. What happened that year?

Oh, right! He was talking about his lovely American colonists and their Declaration of Independence!

Address to Parliament

On October 31, 1776, George III addressed the British Parliament. In case you’re having trouble reading this photograph of the piece from the July 3, 2017 Wall Street Journal, here’s a partial transcript:

Nothing could have afforded Me so much Satisfaction as to have been able to inform you, at the Opening of this Session, that the Troubles, which have so long distracted My Colonies in North America, were at an End; and that My unhappy People, recovered from their Delusion, had delivered themselves from the Oppression of their Leaders, and returned to their Duty. But so daring and desperate is the Spirit of those Leaders, whose Object has always been Dominion and Power, that they have now openly renounced all Allegiance to the Crown, and all political Connection with this Country.  

Other Troubles

Besides the problems in those pesky colonies, King George also had serious Troubles in Ireland, with insurrections led by Lord Edward Fitzgerald, son of the Duke of Leinster, in 1798 and Robert Emmet in 1803. I touched on this subject in a past blog post about William Wickham, Chief Secretary for Ireland during the Emmet era.

The Viscount’s Seduction

The Georgian era Irish Troubles are the backstory for Lady Sirena Hollister, daughter of an Irish earl and the heroine of the next book in my Sons of the Spy Lord series, The Viscount’s Seduction. Lady Sirena’s brother, the heir to her father’s earldom, was a traitor to England who died when the ship on which he was escaping sank. The hero, James Everly, Lord Bakeley, is the heir to the Earl of Shaldon, the Spy Lord who made an appearance in Book one of this series, The Bastard’s Iberian Bride.

Soon, very soon, I will have a luscious cover for The Viscount’s Seduction, and the book itself releases on September 12, 2017. Here’s the back cover copy:

Searching for the Truth

Lady Sirena Hollister has lost her family, her home, and even her fey abilities, but somehow the fairies have handed her an unexpected chance at a Season in London. From her place on the fringes of high society, she resolves to find the truth about her only brother’s vanishing, and settle her family’s score with the wily English Spy Lord, the Earl of Shaldon. Soon enough, her schemes stir up an unknown enemy…and spark danger of a different sort, in the person of the Earl’s handsome heir, Viscount Bakeley.

Seducing the Beauty

The impertinent hoyden Bakeley met years earlier was as wild as her Irish roots, and just as unlucky. And she’s still an Irish traitor’s sister! But Lady Sirena has grown into a beauty whose charm and courage intrigue him. When danger threatens, Bakeley comes to her rescue, risking scandal, the ton’s disapproval, his interfering father’s ire…and his own heart.

Stay tuned! I’ll have more information as soon as it’s available!

Images: King George III, Wikimedia; Picture of WSJ article, the author