Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Carolyn Hughes’s recently released audiobook of her novel Fortune’s Wheel as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Fortune’s Wheel is the first book in The Meonbridge Chronicles series which follows a year in the life of the Hampshire village of Meonbridge as the survivors of the Black Death attempt to struggle on with their lives.

Blurb

How do you recover from the havoc wrought by history’s cruellest plague?

It’s June 1349. In Meonbridge, a Hampshire manor, many have lost their lives to the Black Death, among them Alice atte Wode’s beloved husband and Eleanor Titherige’s widowed father. Even the family of the manor’s lord and his wife, Margaret de Bohun, has not entirely escaped.

But, now the plague has passed, the people of Meonbridge must work together to rebuild their lives. However, tensions mount between the de Bohuns and their tenants, as the workers realise their new scarceness means they can demand higher wages and dictate their own lives.

When the tensions deepen into violence and disorder, and the men – lord and villagers alike – seem unable to find any resolution, the women – Alice, Eleanor and Margaret – must step forward to find a way out of the conflict that is tearing Meonbridge apart.

Excerpt

Review

My review of Fortune’s Wheel, the novel, can be found here. I would highly recommend Fortune’s Wheel as a novel which puts a human face to the upheavals of the 14^th century and provides a strong sense of the reality of the past.

Fortune’s Wheel and the other books in The Meonbridge Chronicles
are available to read in Kindle Unlimited
and via this Universal Buy Link

The audiobook edition of Fortune’s Wheel is available via these links
Audible UK • Audible US

Carolyn Hughes

Carolyn Hughes has lived much of her life in Hampshire. With a first degree in Classics and English, she started working life as a computer programmer, then a very new profession. But it was technical authoring that later proved her vocation, word-smithing for many different clients, including banks, an international hotel group and medical instruments manufacturers.

Although she wrote creatively on and off for most of her adult life, it was not until her children flew the nest that writing historical fiction took centre stage. But why historical fiction? Serendipity!

Seeking inspiration for what to write for her Creative Writing Masters, she discovered the handwritten draft, begun in her twenties, of a novel, set in 14th century rural England… Intrigued by the period and setting, she realised that, by writing a novel set in the period, she could learn more about the medieval past and interpret it, which seemed like a thrilling thing to do. A few days later, the first Meonbridge Chronicle, Fortune’s Wheel, was under way.

Six published books later (with more to come), Carolyn does now think of herself as an Historical Novelist. And she wouldn’t have it any other way…

For more information about Carolyn and her books click on the links below
Website • Twitter / X • Facebook • Bluesky • BookBub
Amazon Author Page • Goodreads

More information on the Coffee Pot Book Club and other works of quality historical fiction can be found on Twitter and Instagram.

Book Title: Fortune’s Wheel, The First Meonbridge Chronicle
Series: The Meonbridge Chronicles
Author: Carolyn Hughes
Publication Date: 22 Apr 2024 (Audiobook)
Publisher: Carolyn Hughes
Audiobook Narrator: Alex Lee @alexleeaudio
Listening Length: 11 hours and 54 minutes
Genre: Historical Fiction