Havoc, in its Third Year
by Ronan Bennett

England in the 1630s: an unsettled country in turbulent times. People are gripped by fear: fear of crime and disorder, of foreign invasion, of Catholic conspiracies, of the vagrant poor. In a town in northern England a group of Puritan reformers tightens its hold on the lives of the inhabitants.

John Brigge is the local coroner, a respected man who wants nothing more than to work his farm and be with his wife, now expecting their first child. But when he is called to investigate an infanticide, Brigge finds himself drawn unwillingly into a vicious power struggle. Katherine Shay, a fiery Irishwoman, stands accused of killing her baby. The Puritan faction demands her immediate execution. Brigge suspects their haste has little to do with justice. What are they hiding? Does he really want to know? Against a background of looming crisis and paranoia, Brigge is torn between the desire to protect his family and the need to see justice done. And he is haunted by the mystery of Katherine Shay.

Powerful, dramatic and utterly gripping, Havoc, In Its Third Year is a superb novel. Its canvas is large, its characters full-blooded, its atmosphere apocalyptic. Like the best historical novels, it vividly captures the period yet resonates with the present.

Ronan Bennett was brought up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is the author of three novels, The Second Prison, Overthrown by Strangers, and, most recently, The Catastrophist, shortlisted for the 1998 Whitbread Novel Award. He has also written screenplays for film and television. Ronan lives in London with his family.