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Barbara Winslow Rebel (1906) by Elizabeth Elllis ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Finished 2/7/2022
My copy of Barbara Winslow Rebel has the inscription ‘To Mrs. Riggs from Mrs. Sparks’. It was published in New York by Dodd, Mead & Company in 1906.
Barbara Winslow Rebel takes place in 1685 during the Monmouth Rebellion directly after the Battle of Sedgemoor. It is a wonderful tale following the adventures of Barbara Winslow, an extremely brave lady who endures all with grace and pride, a pride which is almost her undoing.
Barbara’s brother, Rupert, has joined the rebel army, and her family has a long-standing reputation for harboring rebels. She lives in the house with her cousin Cicely who is engaged to Rupert, and a few servants. In comes Captain Protheroe and his crew, a captain of the king’s army who is searching for Rupert. This is the start of a whirlwind of events that are exciting, though sometimes predictable and a little too convenient. This didn’t really take away from my enjoyment of the story, though, and I really think this could make a good movie if they followed close to the book.
Edit: Interestingly, there is a 1923 film with Constance Talmadge called The Dangerous Maid which was based on Barbara Winslow Rebel. It has been preserved by the Library of Congress.
Did I mention Barbara knows how to sword fight?
But I fear I have already said too much. I’d suggest that all with a love for adventure to read this. It is a story of adventure, sometimes horrifying, but mostly exciting, with a dash of love story, which never hurt a book none!
The author, Elizabeth Ellis (1874-1913), is also known as Beth Ellis, and between 1899 and 1913 wrote a handful of books and short stories, predominantly historical romance.
It’s on gutenberg, so read it already!
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/55464
