This is a beautifully written book that is a pleasure to read. Even though some of the content brings images of war and atrocity to mind it seems a gentle book in the way the story unfolds. John Lacroix returns from the Spanish war in a poor state of health in both mind and body, and makes his way to his childhood home which is being looked after by the former housekeeper where he is nursed back to health. After being visited by a regimental officer and being made aware he is expected to return to the war he decides instead to leave home and make his way to Scotland. It is the story of John's journey, the development of his character and the people he meets that really make this book tick. The addition of a villain, a soldier who committed atrocities but who has managed to shift the blame to John and is now his pursuer, adds to the story.
I was in two minds about this book and wasn't sure I'd like it - I did!

While the descriptions were magnificent, and the detail of the Napoleanic Wars very interesting, the story was just too slow-moving for me. The author seemed more interested in the setting than fleshing out characters and the story.

Highly recommended. A modern classic.

This is a marvellous historical novel, beautifully written, and at the same time quiet a page turner. The last chapter in particualr I coukd not read fast enough.

A soldier returns from the Peninsula war with France. Damaged, traumatised,but why ? Two. men are despatched to track him down and return him dead or alive.. This is the story in simple terms but as we discover the whys and hows of the narrative we are transported ourselves to these times... the start of the nineteenth century. We will travel by ship, by stage coach, visit a hospital , a Herbridean island or two and the retreatng armies of HM.in Spain and Portugal.

As a glaucoma sufferer I particulalry enjoyed the descriptions of the treatment of this disease some 200 years ago!

Bravo Senor Miller!

A disappointment.

I truly have no idea what this author was trying to achieve. I actually pursued this book right to the end, although that was a challenge as it's pretty dull. I was on a 3 hour EasyJet flight however with nowhere else to turn.

The lead character is weak, wet and morally pathetic. His pursuer is worse. The pursuer's companion is a nothing. There is no depth to the family living a 'free' life on the Scottish island. The whole story dribbles along like a drop of rain sliding down a window and comes to an end just as wetly. And that's not a pun.

If you're seeking characters with depth and verve, forget it. Just finding one you might like is unlikely, to be honest.

This is totally different to my usual read but it intrigued me and I’m glad it did. The story pulled me in and I just wanted to read on and on. It’s definitely the type of book I’ll look at in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Another wonderful story by Miller, where we are led through a cathartic experience of post war trauma, quite literally a journey of suspense, with unknown to him his bete noir hard on his heels, determined to bring him to conviction for war crimes.of dubious integrity. It starts in Somerset and progresses to the Scottish isles, with flashbacks to the French wars and an incident of brutality which haunts and follows him.
I think the author is quite superb at creating atmosphere, and treats the tortured soul in such a subtle way, I couldn’t put it down, and think this is on par with The Crossing and Pure.

Now We Shall be Entirely Free is an atmospheric adventure tale, set at the height of the Napoleonic wars, that won me over right from the opening page.

It begins with an unconscious man travelling by coach through a rain-drenched English countryside. He is Captain John Lacroix, son of a wealthy Somerset family, who has returned home from a disastrous campaign against Napoleon's forces in Spain. He'd set off for the war full of optimism and splendidly equipped with new (and expensive) leather boots, a pelisse with fur-lined collar and numerous shirts, waistcoats and neckties.

He returns in borrowed and patched clothes, his feet bound with strips of cloth and his hearing damaged. He is a broken man.

He's nursed from the brink of death by his housekeeper. But he is clearly a man changed physically and mentally by his experience of war.  It's not until much later in the novel that we discover the cause of his breakdown: an atrocity committed in a quiet mountain village while the British army was in retreat.

When a fellow officer turns up at the house with instructions for John to return to his return, he flees to Scotland. What he doesn't know is that some time earlier in Spain a military committee held to inquire into the atrocity decided that someone must be held responsible. They determine Lacroix is that someone. So they despatch a British officer called Calley to find and kill him. .

Lacroix's escape and Calley's pursuit sets up the dramatic focus of the novel. Will the regiment catch up with Lacroix before Calley? How long can Lacroix survive on his own wits (the signs are not good because almost as soon as he sets foot in Scotland he is robbed and beaten). The suspense is maintained throughout by alternating Lacroix's narrative with that of Calley and his companion Medina, a Spanish officer.

Miller excels at creating atmosphere and characters. Calley is the most interesting. He's a man entirely devoid of principles. A man on a mission to kill. He thinks nothing of torturing and beating up the people he believes have information that will help him track down his quarry. He tells one of his victims:

"You want to know who I am? I'll tell you who I am. I am the war. Yes? And today the war has come to you. It has come right into your house and struck you down."

But in one moment of candour he tells how he learned from an early age how to take care of himself. Working as a piecer in a cotton mill as a child, he would crawl underneath the machines to clean them. One slip and he'd lose his fingers or have his arm ripped off.

While Now We Shall be Entirely Free is certainly an adventure story, there is an element of romance. When Lacroix hides out in the Scottish Hebrides he encounters the Fender siblings, a small community of free thinkers.  Lacroix is enthralled by one of the sisters, Emily, accompanying her to Glasgow for a highly risky operation she hopes will restore her failing sight.  Miller fortunately spares us some of the more gruesome details of the procedure.

The budding romance, which is quite touching in its gentleness and innocence provides a lovely counter to the darkness of the war and the theme of culpability.  Early on in the novel a shadowy officer involved in the military query observes that “No ancient and honourable institution is without its ancient and honourable crimes.”   Lacroix himself is pushed by the Fenders, who do not believe in violence, to question his motives for becoming a soldier. He has to admit he had thought more about the uniform than the fact he would be expected to kill.

If he can evade Calley, will his love for Emily enable Lacroix to put aside his memories of the war? The ending of the novel is deliciously ambivalent. I'm not going to spoil other readers' enjoyment by revealing the details.

It’s 1809 and John Delacroix has returned severely wounded in the Peninsular campaign. As his body slowly heals it becomes clear that his mind and heart are still haunted by the war and his role in it and when he receives a summons to return to his commission he takes flight to the Hebrides, whose culture and songs had enchanted his father. On his trail is the deliciously despicable Calley and Medina, a thoughtful Spanish officer, sent to hunt the man accused of a war crime.

The contrast between Delacroix’s growing peace as he finds a place with the eccentric Fender family on a remote island and the relentless, ruthless hunt of Calley is masterfully played, juxtaposing Miller’s most graceful, limpid prose with the coarse language of his antagonist. The tension grows, both from the chase and from Delacroix’s developing relationship with Emily Fender, whose sight is failing. It’s not often that a writer can accomplish character and plot so well, without privileging either, but Miller manages it. My heart was racing as the two journeys converged and the final few pages of stunning description and singing tension were breath-taking

And behind it all is the spectre of war, of atrocity and of accountability. Miller considers the price of violence for both victims and perpetrators and what it truly means to be free; from pain, from responsibility, from our mistakes and personal histories.
I honestly though that this beautiful, thrilling novel would have been a contender for the Man Booker Prize this year. It shows Miller’s remarkable range from lyrical landscapes, to rude humour, to delicate character relationships. His characters are removed from us in time only, though the shape of society is different they share our thoughts and fears so closely that it diminishes the distance between us to nothing.

I read Pure some years ago and was drawn into the lyrical prose of this author. This one is an exciting story of a fugitive. Lacroix, and his pursuers, Calley and Medina. The chapters alternate between them and the suspense builds up as the chase progresses. There are some very tense moments and a couple of shocking ones as Calley reveals his true ruthless nature. The characters have depth and the setting in time and place is evocative. I was a little disappointed by the ambiguous ending and went back searching for clues as to which of two fates awaited the protagonists, to no avail. So I picked one.

"Now we shall be Entirely Free" is an historical novel, a thriller, perhaps an anti-war book, whose protagonist is an officer in the English army who fought Napoleon's army in Spain in 1809. The plot centres round his attempts to avoid continuing to serve in the army, and to evade discovery by one of the most brutal, evil and callous villains I have come across in literature.

All the characters in this novel are fully rounded, even the minor players, and there are many fascinating historical details, such as innovations in surgery and the birth of modern geology, which remind the reader that the action is taking place not only against the backdrop of war but also during the Scottish Enlightenment. The sea and the weather are both important to the plot, and there are some beautiful, evocative seascapes as well as intricate details of towns and of the landscape.

I have no idea why this excellent book has not been nominated for awards and have no hesitation in recommending it.

With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me a copy of the book in exchange for this honest review.

A man is brought home to a house in Somerset, unconscious, from the ongoing war in Spain against the French. He is very ill, and consequently nursed back to health by his maid. Once he is feeling better, he decides to travel to the Scottish Islands to collect traditional songs. As the story progresses, you can see that there is a sense of urgency involved with this trip: he isn't properly better, but he has to get moving. John Lacroix' story is told alongside that of two other men: a British Infantryman and a Spanish cavalryman, who have been sent to find an officer who is supposedly responsible for the sacking of a aSpanish village. They are to kill him. The Englishman is brutal in both word and deed.
John Lacroix (who changes his name to Lovell) meets a family (two sisters and their brother) who are free thinkers who want to live a free life. Just what Lacroix needs, I think.
I liked this. The writing style had a peaceful, reigned air to it, even in the more unpleasant parts. It's a brutal story, gently told, in fact.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

I did enjoy this; but not as much as some of his previous titles. It was a very slow story in places, with strange complex characters and a slowly expanding storyline.

The opening chapters of Now Well Shall Be Entirely Free drew me in immediately as I read about Captain John Lacroix’s return to England from Spain in 1809, close to death after the battle of Corunna, during the Peninsular War. Miller’s descriptive writing, lyrical and poetic, vividly sets the scene as Lacroix is nursed back to health by Nell, his servant. But it is clear that he is on the edge of a breakdown, mentally and emotionally, saying little about the battle and indeed, unable to face the memories of the horrors he experienced. When another officer arrives ordering him to report back to duty, he decides instead to leave for the Highlands to recuperate.

This is followed by an account of the investigation of the atrocities carried out in the village of Los Morales during the army’s retreat to Corunna. The village was burned down, men were lynched and women raped. Two men, a vicious Englishman, Corporal Calley is ordered to track down and kill the officer responsible and a Spaniard, Lieutenant Medina, a liaison officer with the British army, is assigned to accompany him and report back that the execution has been carried out. It is soon obvious that the officer is Captain John Lacroix and so the hunt is on, as Calley and Medina follow his trail from Somerset to Bristol and Glasgow and then on to the Hebrides, leaving a trail of violence and death behind them.

The pace is brisk, until Lacroix reaches the isles, where he meets the Frend family, a brother and sisters, living as part of an isolated community. Jane is pregnant and Emily is slowly losing her sight. At this point in the novel the pace dropped partly because of the vagueness in describing the location of the island (somewhere in the Outer Hebrides beyond Mingulay) and Lacroix’s own mental and physical slowing down on the island – after being attacked and robbed in Glasgow, he began taking opium to relieve his pain. My attention began to wander until he and Emily returned to Glasgow for an operation to improve her eyesight. The pace picked up and I was fascinated by the medical details, with intriguing insights into new discoveries in medical treatment.

But then the ending came all too quickly and left me feeling uncertain about what actually happened – the ambiguity surrounding their ‘freedom’. Freedom is a theme throughout the novel – its definition and how it differs for men and women. The relentless brutality of war, of course is another theme, demonstrated through the inhumanity of Calley’s actions and its effects on Lacroix as he finally reveals what had happened in Spain.

I enjoyed the historical details, the medical techniques as well as the effects of industrialisation, and in particular the conditions in the cotton mills, where Calley laboured as a child. He had worked as a ‘piecer’ mending the cotton threads and cleaning the machines, in danger of losing a limb, deafened by the noise in the hot machine room where the air was thick with little bits of cotton filling up your nose and lungs.

But most of all I enjoyed the writing. Miller’s ability to write in such a lyrical style, to convey emotions and create such complex characters that are so believable that you can empathise, to a limited extent, even with a thug like Calley, make this book remarkable.

Thanks go to Hodder and Stoughton and NetGalley for my copy of this book for review.

A very good book by a very good author. The writing is great - the kind of writing that makes you want to read on. The storyline is engaging and you bond with the main character. Definitely recommend!!

It took me sometime to get into this book. It is well written but for me quite slow paced to begin with. I didn't particularly warm to the character John so I found it hard to get as involved in the story as one should. It is not a modern day thriller but evocative of its time and setting.

It’s 1809 and a wounded man is being carried into his home in Somerset. His name is Captain John Lacroix and he has just returned from Spain, where he has been fighting in the Peninsular War. Injured, exhausted and haunted by his experiences, he seems close to death, but with the help of his housekeeper, Nell, he slowly regains his strength. Unable to contemplate returning to the war, he sets off for Scotland instead – first to Glasgow, then to the Hebrides, in search of some peace and redemption.

Meanwhile, in Spain, a British soldier called Calley is providing evidence to a military inquiry regarding atrocities carried out in the Spanish village of Los Morales during the retreat of the British army. He says he can identify the man responsible for this war crime, the man who was in command of the troops as they raped and murdered. To satisfy the Spanish that justice has been done, Calley is sent to hunt down and punish the perpetrator of the crime, accompanied by a Spanish officer, Medina, who will act as a witness.

Due to the alternating of the two narratives, it very quickly becomes obvious to the reader that the man accused by Calley is John Lacroix…but can it be true? Can the quiet, decent, sensitive man we have been getting to know on his journey to Scotland really have carried out these appalling deeds? Either there is more to the story than meets the eye or we don’t know John Lacroix as well as we think we do. There’s plenty of suspense as we wonder when we will find out exactly what happened that day in Los Morales and what sort of man John Lacroix really is.

As we wait to see whether Calley and Medina will catch up with their target, Lacroix arrives on a remote Hebridean island where he meets Emily Frend and her siblings, Jane and Cornelius. Together with their absent leader, the mysterious Thorpe, they are the last remaining members of a small community who have made the island their home. Intrigued by their lifestyle, Lacroix compliments Emily on her freedom, only for her to explain to him that she does not consider herself to be free at all: “Is it because I take off my stockings to paddle in the sea?” she asks. “That I have let you see me do it? Is that my freedom?”

Now We Shall Be Entirely Free is a beautifully written novel and although there were one or two aspects of the plot that I found unconvincing and although I was disappointed in the Hebridean setting, which I would have expected to have a much stronger sense of place, I could overlook these things because there was so much else that I liked. Andrew Miller has a lot to say about so many things: guilt and blame, the atrocities of war, independence, redemption and love. This is only the second book of his that I’ve read – the first was Pure, a dark and fascinating novel about the destruction of a cemetery in Paris. I enjoyed both but preferred this one because the characters are stronger and because it left me with more to think about at the end. I’m sure I’ll be reading more of his books; I like the sound of Ingenious Pain, so maybe I’ll try that one next.

Now We Shall be Entirely Free was an unexpected pleasure to read. Rich literary fiction that envelopes the reader in both time (1809) and place (Somerset, England; Scotland and Spain), we follow John Lacroix as he returns from the Peninsular War. An officer badly wounded during the campaign and its aftermath, Lacroix travels home to recuperate then embarks on a journey to the Hebrides, instead of rejoining his regiment. But, things are not as they seem. John is scarred by his military service and, as he flees to a remote Scottish island, a British soldier and Spanish soldier have been sent to find and return him to Spain.

This is a smoothly paced novel truly comfortable in its own skin. It does not rush a single moment but that seems right as the beauty of this story requires time to be fully realized. Technically, this may be a thriller but it is a slow speed cat and mouse chase. There are a few close shaves to quicken the pulse but on the whole it is well thought through and considered. The final climactic moments, and the revelation of Lacroix's actions, do not disappoint. The blossoming relationship between Lacroix and Emily is touching. The adventures they have add a fresh dimension to this lovely tale full of depth and gentle moments.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an unbiased review.
I don't normally read this type of genre i.e historical thriller, but thoroughly enjoyed this.
Very descriptive narrative from the author and set in the early 1800's.
The journey takes us from Spain to the remote Scottish islands and Glasgow.
As a resident of the West of Scotland resident the references to Glasgow locations were of particular interest to me and I found myself being able to visualise exactly where events were taking place.
Background to the story is the man hunt for John Lacroix and won't give away the storyline but suffice to say I found it enjoyable and have no hesitation in recommending

A man runs away from his past…

This brilliant historical novel is set in 1809, a turbulent time in Europe with the Napoleonic wars at their height. The hero, John Lacroix, returns to England after the retreat from Corunna, a broken man both physically and mentally.

Once returned to health he decides he cannot face going back to the fight and instead sets out on a journey to the Scottish Isles where he hopes to pursue his love of music and poetry.

The opening atmospheric chapters have you gripped from the start with their harrowing account of the journey through a storm of this soldier, scarcely alive, as he is delivered back to his ancestral home. The housekeeper Nell nurses him back to physical health, but he has been mentally damaged by what he has been through. A terrible massacre committed by the retreating armies in which he was somehow involved is haunting him and has now put his life in further peril. An inquiry in Spain into this incident has been made, and a vicious English Corporal and a Spanish Officer are despatched with orders to track down and kill the Captain, John Lacroix. Unaware of this, he sets out on his travels, an adventure that takes him on a perilous sea trip to Glasgow and finally to a small commune on a remote Scottish island.

The plot is highly detailed, with all the settings, from the battles in Spain to an operating theatre in a Glasgow hospital, brought to life and written with great authenticity. This beautiful book is part thriller, and part love story and the tension of the chase is maintained to the very end.

The question always hangs over the narrative, will John Lacroix find redemption in his quest to be ‘entirely free’?

This wonderful book was a joy to read, and I thoroughly recommend it.

Jane

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Miller has a way with words. This was hugely rich in language, beautiful in description and utterly absorbing in story. A fantastic work by Miller.