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The McDonnell Clan #2
Years of Stone
When the man she loves is sent to prison in 1842, Deidre follows him to a world beyond the seas, Van Diemen’s Land in Australia. Their ship runs aground just as they reach the dreaded penal colony in Van Diemen’s Land (present day Tasmania).
As Mac toils on a road gang, Deidre cobbles together a job. Befriended by Lady Franklin, the wife of world-famous explorer, Sir John Franklin, Deidre finds a way to reassign Mac to Doc Morrell in Hobart Town. But Doc cannot help him once Mac fights with Constable Johnson. Mac must find a way to survive the prison at Port Arthur. Can Deidre and Mac build a new life for themselves in this rough and tumble penal colony?
What reviewers are saying:
"Beth Camp brings the early years of the 19th Century alive with her authentic settings and characterizations. The heartache and joy of Mac and Diedre's relationship keeps you glued to the page." –Amazon reviewer.
"Brilliant book! The continuation of the McDonnell story is just as gripping and real as the first novel. The fascinating characters and vivid historic landscape give a real sense of the life in early Australian colonies." –GoodReads reviewer.
"Years of Stone is a novel full of rich detail. Real persons from the time, such as the Franklins. are woven seamlessly into the fabric of the story, and the setting feels authentic. The story worms its way through every stratum of colonial society. I felt that I, like the main characters, had been transported to another land." –Amazon reviewer.
"What I love is Beth Camp’s fanaticism for research that page after page yields the precise, telling detail. Years of Stone is a rich, emotional read; highly recommended!" –GoodReads reviewer.
“Years of Stone” is a book of hope, and also a fascinating historical novel detailing life in Tasmania. You get a good panorama of the state as it was then. We see more than Hobart and the convict settlements. We are taken through the mountainous and treacherous bushland, to the lovely rural properties of early settlers, and to the misery of the Cascades Female Factory. The author has carried out meticulous research, and it shows. –Good Reads reviewer.
As Mac toils on a road gang, Deidre cobbles together a job. Befriended by Lady Franklin, the wife of world-famous explorer, Sir John Franklin, Deidre finds a way to reassign Mac to Doc Morrell in Hobart Town. But Doc cannot help him once Mac fights with Constable Johnson. Mac must find a way to survive the prison at Port Arthur. Can Deidre and Mac build a new life for themselves in this rough and tumble penal colony?
What reviewers are saying:
"Beth Camp brings the early years of the 19th Century alive with her authentic settings and characterizations. The heartache and joy of Mac and Diedre's relationship keeps you glued to the page." –Amazon reviewer.
"Brilliant book! The continuation of the McDonnell story is just as gripping and real as the first novel. The fascinating characters and vivid historic landscape give a real sense of the life in early Australian colonies." –GoodReads reviewer.
"Years of Stone is a novel full of rich detail. Real persons from the time, such as the Franklins. are woven seamlessly into the fabric of the story, and the setting feels authentic. The story worms its way through every stratum of colonial society. I felt that I, like the main characters, had been transported to another land." –Amazon reviewer.
"What I love is Beth Camp’s fanaticism for research that page after page yields the precise, telling detail. Years of Stone is a rich, emotional read; highly recommended!" –GoodReads reviewer.
“Years of Stone” is a book of hope, and also a fascinating historical novel detailing life in Tasmania. You get a good panorama of the state as it was then. We see more than Hobart and the convict settlements. We are taken through the mountainous and treacherous bushland, to the lovely rural properties of early settlers, and to the misery of the Cascades Female Factory. The author has carried out meticulous research, and it shows. –Good Reads reviewer.
380 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 2014
53 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
About the author
Beth Camp
19 books49 followersWhen I was a kid, I prowled the library to check out the thickest, heaviest books I could find. Two Years Before the Mast. The Wandering Jew. Quo Vadis. Books I could fall into and pretend I lived in the past. Places I dreamed of visiting some day. As a teen, I discovered my grandmother's 5-volume sets of Hemingway, the short stories of Poe and de Maupassant. I began writing poetry and short stories then.
Sometimes it seemed that my family moved every time the rent was due. I attended some 13 high schools on the West coast of the US and daydreamed of attending college. I balanced working full time with taking classes; it took ten years to earn my degree, with odd jobs and careers in international banking and corporate consulting along the way before I became an English teacher at a community college where I taught for 26 years.
Today, I live in Spokane, in eastern Washington, with my husband, and close to our daughter, her husband, and two amazing granddaughters. Restless feet and writing projects keep us traveling. This winter, we'll head south to Tucson, taking laptop along to work on my latest project . . . a mystery about art crime in Egypt! Happy reading.
Sometimes it seemed that my family moved every time the rent was due. I attended some 13 high schools on the West coast of the US and daydreamed of attending college. I balanced working full time with taking classes; it took ten years to earn my degree, with odd jobs and careers in international banking and corporate consulting along the way before I became an English teacher at a community college where I taught for 26 years.
Today, I live in Spokane, in eastern Washington, with my husband, and close to our daughter, her husband, and two amazing granddaughters. Restless feet and writing projects keep us traveling. This winter, we'll head south to Tucson, taking laptop along to work on my latest project . . . a mystery about art crime in Egypt! Happy reading.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 1, 2016
3.5 stars
I’ve always enjoyed Historical Fiction and Beth Camp’s Years of Stone didn’t disappoint. The novel is well researched and tells much of Tasmania’s early history and politics of the 1840’s.
The story follows the differing conditions for a free settler, a male convict and a female convict all arriving in Tasmania aboard the “Brilliant”.
Deidre, the free settler, is feisty and determined. She is well educated and respected and is soon befriended by the aristocracy of Hobart Town. She knows her mind and is unrelenting in achieving her goal. Her unstoppable, unfaltering devotion to Mac is commendable and shows her strong will. In contrast Kate is also feisty and determined but being a convict all this gets her is more beatings and no respect. Mac is a convict affianced to Deidre. He is hot headed and never seems to go by his own mantra of “bend, don’t break”.
I’m not generally one for great slabs of anguish but in this story I feel some more anguish would have been warranted. I felt the story was lacking in emotion.
This is book 2 in the McDonnell Clan trilogy however it stands on its own well.
A remarkable story of love and friendship, overcoming insurmountable odds, and the pain and lives that went into building our nation.
With my thanks to the author for my copy to read and review.
I’ve always enjoyed Historical Fiction and Beth Camp’s Years of Stone didn’t disappoint. The novel is well researched and tells much of Tasmania’s early history and politics of the 1840’s.
The story follows the differing conditions for a free settler, a male convict and a female convict all arriving in Tasmania aboard the “Brilliant”.
Deidre, the free settler, is feisty and determined. She is well educated and respected and is soon befriended by the aristocracy of Hobart Town. She knows her mind and is unrelenting in achieving her goal. Her unstoppable, unfaltering devotion to Mac is commendable and shows her strong will. In contrast Kate is also feisty and determined but being a convict all this gets her is more beatings and no respect. Mac is a convict affianced to Deidre. He is hot headed and never seems to go by his own mantra of “bend, don’t break”.
I’m not generally one for great slabs of anguish but in this story I feel some more anguish would have been warranted. I felt the story was lacking in emotion.
This is book 2 in the McDonnell Clan trilogy however it stands on its own well.
A remarkable story of love and friendship, overcoming insurmountable odds, and the pain and lives that went into building our nation.
With my thanks to the author for my copy to read and review.
December 3, 2014
A ship bearing Deidre, the protagonist, sinks just short of the Tasmanian shore. Thankfully, Tasmania is the final destination, a penal colony where Deidre's love has been for the past seven years. Immediately the drama begins. Diedre and a little girl from the ship fall into the ocean before they can make it safely ashore. Several of the women have met with the same fate, many have drowned, and Deidre struggles to save herself and Amalie, the little girl.
On shore, safe from the dangers of ocean storms and drowning, Deidre and Mac learn to make their life together after being apart for so long. Both of these characters have strong, compelling personalities. They leap right up from the page. And as the book is so filled with action (brawls), and compassionate love, it feels genuine.
Camp's hand at making the characters feel real extends to the setting and plot of the novel. Thoroughly researched, the novel beautifully portrays 1842 Tasmania as a penal colony. While the story enriches the soul, the novel as a whole illustrates the difficulties for the people living there, trying to make a life in such an inhospitable place. If you like historical fiction, this is certainly a book for you!
On shore, safe from the dangers of ocean storms and drowning, Deidre and Mac learn to make their life together after being apart for so long. Both of these characters have strong, compelling personalities. They leap right up from the page. And as the book is so filled with action (brawls), and compassionate love, it feels genuine.
Camp's hand at making the characters feel real extends to the setting and plot of the novel. Thoroughly researched, the novel beautifully portrays 1842 Tasmania as a penal colony. While the story enriches the soul, the novel as a whole illustrates the difficulties for the people living there, trying to make a life in such an inhospitable place. If you like historical fiction, this is certainly a book for you!
October 23, 2014
Tasmania in the 1840’s and Mac McDonnell has been transported from his Scottish island home for protesting about the evictions of crofters in midwinter to make way for sheep. His sweetheart, Deirdre takes a passage on the ‘Brilliant’ to be with him. They both survive after the ship founders on the shore, and Mac is taken to work on a road gang. Deirdre, now without any possessions, struggles to make a living. This is the story of the unspeakable hardships and cruelties undergone by the transportees, and of Deirdre’s courage and love as she fights to save Mac
December 19, 2014
An interesting, three-and-a-half-star read
Note: I encourage the prospective reader to take this review with a grain of salt. It is simply my own personal (and perhaps flawed) interpretation of the book.
If you’re looking for a book that’s one part romance, and one part female empowerment, then Years of Stone is for you. I highly recommend Years of Stone to romance and family-oriented readers of either gender seeking a female-positive, uplifting tale of triumph over severe adversity.
Nevertheless, I must say that that the book deconstructs itself. It champions compassion and humanity, yet the main characters (such as Lady Franklin) fail in their endeavours at reformation because they are unable to think outside the box. Characters such as Lady Franklin are a product of their times and can’t seem to break free of their Victorian era intolerances. For example, there is an aboriginal girl who, on a superficial level, is treated with love and kindness. A closer look at her plight reveals that she is treated more like a doll or an object than a real person. The girl’s wishes and desires are constantly refuted by her “loving” adoptive mother, Lady Franklin. Lady Franklin sees herself as loving and helpful and kind, yet she exudes an air of contempt for the aboriginals and transportees for she sees them as uncouth and lacking in genteel behavior. In the end, Lady Franklin becomes a tragic hero, because—despite her numerous virtues—she trumps propriety and authoritarianism over free will and democracy. Moreover, the best leaders function on “remote control” yet Lady Franklin micromanages everything and as a result fails in her managerial efforts.
Years of Stone left me with an urge to carefully re-read Foucault’s Discipline and Punish and Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents. For me, the overall theme of Years of Stone was subjugation. People were to be subjugated. The land was to be subjugated. The book’s 19th century Tasmanian setting clearly depicted the modern age entrenching its Industrial Era Victorian values within a virgin, aboriginal world. To elaborate, the book fleshed out the social dynamics of bondage and submission in modern society. For example, we saw how the transportees were brutally subjugated to the state and how they were indoctrinated with Victorian categorizations of what is “good” and what is “bad.” The book explored a lot of diametric good/bad categorizations, namely free man versus prisoner, genteel versus coarse, obedient versus rebellious, and 18th century colonial tyranny versus modern day post-colonial democracy. I doubt that these categorizations were so thoroughly indoctrinated within the minds of medieval Europeans or pre-colonial aboriginals. It would appear that the Age of Enlightenment and the subsequent Industrial Revolution set the stage for the horrid world of Victorian repression that the transportees and aboriginals found themselves trapped within.
To beat a dead horse, obedience to authority, and submission to society’s rules of “goodness,” is paramount within the narrative of Years of Stone. To illustrate this further, a “good” prisoner—who in truth wasn’t a criminal in the least—had to give up his free will and submit to higher authority. He had to allow a higher authority—in this instance a guard—mistreat a prisoner, for if he interfered, his act would be considered bad behavior, and he would be further criminalized (note: in the book, the exact opposite occurs and he is brutally beaten for doing the right thing and flouting the dictates of his morally corrupt superiors).
Years of Stone alternates between pitying powerless prisoners and supporting authoritarian reformers. Personally, I had more empathy and pity for the transportee prisoners (to include the heroine’s fiancé) than for the well-meaning yet thoroughly incompetent people who were trying to “reform” them.
Although parts of the novel were depressing, I admired the shrewdness of the “naïve” heroine, as well as her keen understanding of what it takes to survive in the world. In truth she was tenacious and a fast learner and not as naïve as people thought her to be. I was impressed by her eventual success and l was glad that she ultimately attained her goals of home, hearth and domesticity. Nevertheless, she too had her flaws, flaws that were similar to those of Lady Franklin. For example, one of the book’s characters was a lush who frequently caroused with men. The heroine could not understand why this lush of a woman behaved the way she did, not realizing that it takes all types to make the world go round.
The benevolence of Lady Franklin and Deidre the heroine was matched only by their intolerance towards those who refused to conform to Victorian etiquette. With so much repressed bitterness and resentment growing within the hearts of both the gentry and the transportees, it’s no wonder that life in Tasmania was so wretched.
For me, the characters who made the book shine were the prisoner who dreamt of fishing out on the open sea, the aboriginal child who refused to wear shoes and conform to social etiquette, the promiscuous “wild” woman who drank alcohol and who wouldn’t settle down with a proper man, and the female prisoners who sang and danced at night in their cells instead of pleasing their oppressive wardens by sleeping and keeping quiet.
In the end we do see the fisherman getting his chance to go out to sea and the rebellious lush getting (presumably) her one last chance to be wild and unfettered by society’s chains. Also, the aboriginal girl gains a measure of freedom by convincing Lady Franklin to allow her to be painted without shoes (the girl hated shoes; she was unaccustomed to wearing them, and they most likely bruised her feet).
Years of Stone deconstructs itself in so many ways that its worth reading, if only to see how the main characters so thoroughly contradict themselves. I cannot say I thoroughly enjoyed the book. However, after reading the afterword, I couldn’t help but admire the author. I’m giving the book three-and-a-half stars, not for the characterization or narration, but for the meticulous research, hard work and love that the author put into crafting this amazingly elaborate, historically-based tale. She truly put her heart and soul into this novel. I wish only the best for Years of Stone. With the right marketing, perhaps it will “break out” and find even greater success amongst its target audience :)
(On a side note, this versatile author has also written a fantasy short story collection about mermaids, and I definitely would like to check it out, especially the tale of the cowboy who meets the last mermaid. Sounds fascinating!)
Note: I encourage the prospective reader to take this review with a grain of salt. It is simply my own personal (and perhaps flawed) interpretation of the book.
If you’re looking for a book that’s one part romance, and one part female empowerment, then Years of Stone is for you. I highly recommend Years of Stone to romance and family-oriented readers of either gender seeking a female-positive, uplifting tale of triumph over severe adversity.
Nevertheless, I must say that that the book deconstructs itself. It champions compassion and humanity, yet the main characters (such as Lady Franklin) fail in their endeavours at reformation because they are unable to think outside the box. Characters such as Lady Franklin are a product of their times and can’t seem to break free of their Victorian era intolerances. For example, there is an aboriginal girl who, on a superficial level, is treated with love and kindness. A closer look at her plight reveals that she is treated more like a doll or an object than a real person. The girl’s wishes and desires are constantly refuted by her “loving” adoptive mother, Lady Franklin. Lady Franklin sees herself as loving and helpful and kind, yet she exudes an air of contempt for the aboriginals and transportees for she sees them as uncouth and lacking in genteel behavior. In the end, Lady Franklin becomes a tragic hero, because—despite her numerous virtues—she trumps propriety and authoritarianism over free will and democracy. Moreover, the best leaders function on “remote control” yet Lady Franklin micromanages everything and as a result fails in her managerial efforts.
Years of Stone left me with an urge to carefully re-read Foucault’s Discipline and Punish and Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents. For me, the overall theme of Years of Stone was subjugation. People were to be subjugated. The land was to be subjugated. The book’s 19th century Tasmanian setting clearly depicted the modern age entrenching its Industrial Era Victorian values within a virgin, aboriginal world. To elaborate, the book fleshed out the social dynamics of bondage and submission in modern society. For example, we saw how the transportees were brutally subjugated to the state and how they were indoctrinated with Victorian categorizations of what is “good” and what is “bad.” The book explored a lot of diametric good/bad categorizations, namely free man versus prisoner, genteel versus coarse, obedient versus rebellious, and 18th century colonial tyranny versus modern day post-colonial democracy. I doubt that these categorizations were so thoroughly indoctrinated within the minds of medieval Europeans or pre-colonial aboriginals. It would appear that the Age of Enlightenment and the subsequent Industrial Revolution set the stage for the horrid world of Victorian repression that the transportees and aboriginals found themselves trapped within.
To beat a dead horse, obedience to authority, and submission to society’s rules of “goodness,” is paramount within the narrative of Years of Stone. To illustrate this further, a “good” prisoner—who in truth wasn’t a criminal in the least—had to give up his free will and submit to higher authority. He had to allow a higher authority—in this instance a guard—mistreat a prisoner, for if he interfered, his act would be considered bad behavior, and he would be further criminalized (note: in the book, the exact opposite occurs and he is brutally beaten for doing the right thing and flouting the dictates of his morally corrupt superiors).
Years of Stone alternates between pitying powerless prisoners and supporting authoritarian reformers. Personally, I had more empathy and pity for the transportee prisoners (to include the heroine’s fiancé) than for the well-meaning yet thoroughly incompetent people who were trying to “reform” them.
Although parts of the novel were depressing, I admired the shrewdness of the “naïve” heroine, as well as her keen understanding of what it takes to survive in the world. In truth she was tenacious and a fast learner and not as naïve as people thought her to be. I was impressed by her eventual success and l was glad that she ultimately attained her goals of home, hearth and domesticity. Nevertheless, she too had her flaws, flaws that were similar to those of Lady Franklin. For example, one of the book’s characters was a lush who frequently caroused with men. The heroine could not understand why this lush of a woman behaved the way she did, not realizing that it takes all types to make the world go round.
The benevolence of Lady Franklin and Deidre the heroine was matched only by their intolerance towards those who refused to conform to Victorian etiquette. With so much repressed bitterness and resentment growing within the hearts of both the gentry and the transportees, it’s no wonder that life in Tasmania was so wretched.
For me, the characters who made the book shine were the prisoner who dreamt of fishing out on the open sea, the aboriginal child who refused to wear shoes and conform to social etiquette, the promiscuous “wild” woman who drank alcohol and who wouldn’t settle down with a proper man, and the female prisoners who sang and danced at night in their cells instead of pleasing their oppressive wardens by sleeping and keeping quiet.
In the end we do see the fisherman getting his chance to go out to sea and the rebellious lush getting (presumably) her one last chance to be wild and unfettered by society’s chains. Also, the aboriginal girl gains a measure of freedom by convincing Lady Franklin to allow her to be painted without shoes (the girl hated shoes; she was unaccustomed to wearing them, and they most likely bruised her feet).
Years of Stone deconstructs itself in so many ways that its worth reading, if only to see how the main characters so thoroughly contradict themselves. I cannot say I thoroughly enjoyed the book. However, after reading the afterword, I couldn’t help but admire the author. I’m giving the book three-and-a-half stars, not for the characterization or narration, but for the meticulous research, hard work and love that the author put into crafting this amazingly elaborate, historically-based tale. She truly put her heart and soul into this novel. I wish only the best for Years of Stone. With the right marketing, perhaps it will “break out” and find even greater success amongst its target audience :)
(On a side note, this versatile author has also written a fantasy short story collection about mermaids, and I definitely would like to check it out, especially the tale of the cowboy who meets the last mermaid. Sounds fascinating!)
December 1, 2020
“Years of Stone” is a close-up and personal historical about the difficult early years of white Australian settlement. This book is set in Tasmania, then Van Diemen’s Land. It follows the fortunes of a settler and her convict fiancé. It is the touching story of a woman who never gives up on her man.
Deidre follows fiancé Mac McDonnell to faraway shores. Cast from their home in Orkney, Scotland, he is paying for standing up against an avaricious landowner. Mac warns Deidre that she might not see him for a long, long time.
That does not stop Deidre’s relentless quest to obtain a pardon for him. It does not stop her trying to get him assigned to her as a servant. It does not stop her slipping little gifts to him in prison when his suffering is at its worst. It does not stop her visiting, despite him constantly turning her away due to his own concern for her.
Deidre’s sojourn in Hobart town is fraught with frustration. But Mac’s fate is much worse. He experiences the cruel drudgery of the Port Arthur penal colony. What is more, he has a bad habit of defending the meek without thinking of the consequences. Every time he stands up for justice he suffers. But Deidre never gives up on him. You, as the reader, will not want to either.
There are many colourful characters. Kate Dallow, who has to prostitute herself to get by, and finds an illicit bolt for freedom hard to resist. Lady Franklin, who does her best for the community’s women, but ends up terribly misunderstood. Mac’s convict mates, some teetering on the brink of madness.
“Years of Stone” is a book of hope, and also a fascinating historical detailing life in Tasmania. You get a good panorama of the state as it was then. We see more than Hobart and the convict settlements. We are taken through the mountainous and treacherous bushland, to the lovely rural properties of early settlers, and to the misery of the Cascades Female Factory. The author has carried out meticulous research, and it shows.
This is an intensely absorbing book. The constant drama of Deidre trying to free Mac, or at least find some chink of light- some measure of hope- is riveting. The knowledge that Mac, all along, was only doing what he thought was right, is heartbreaking. You want things to work out for them so badly. I’m not going to say what happens, just that I really enjoyed this book. It was a very rewarding read.
Deidre follows fiancé Mac McDonnell to faraway shores. Cast from their home in Orkney, Scotland, he is paying for standing up against an avaricious landowner. Mac warns Deidre that she might not see him for a long, long time.
That does not stop Deidre’s relentless quest to obtain a pardon for him. It does not stop her trying to get him assigned to her as a servant. It does not stop her slipping little gifts to him in prison when his suffering is at its worst. It does not stop her visiting, despite him constantly turning her away due to his own concern for her.
Deidre’s sojourn in Hobart town is fraught with frustration. But Mac’s fate is much worse. He experiences the cruel drudgery of the Port Arthur penal colony. What is more, he has a bad habit of defending the meek without thinking of the consequences. Every time he stands up for justice he suffers. But Deidre never gives up on him. You, as the reader, will not want to either.
There are many colourful characters. Kate Dallow, who has to prostitute herself to get by, and finds an illicit bolt for freedom hard to resist. Lady Franklin, who does her best for the community’s women, but ends up terribly misunderstood. Mac’s convict mates, some teetering on the brink of madness.
“Years of Stone” is a book of hope, and also a fascinating historical detailing life in Tasmania. You get a good panorama of the state as it was then. We see more than Hobart and the convict settlements. We are taken through the mountainous and treacherous bushland, to the lovely rural properties of early settlers, and to the misery of the Cascades Female Factory. The author has carried out meticulous research, and it shows.
This is an intensely absorbing book. The constant drama of Deidre trying to free Mac, or at least find some chink of light- some measure of hope- is riveting. The knowledge that Mac, all along, was only doing what he thought was right, is heartbreaking. You want things to work out for them so badly. I’m not going to say what happens, just that I really enjoyed this book. It was a very rewarding read.
January 12, 2021
The British had a problem. They had lots of criminals and political prisoners and no place to keep them. They sent them to Australia and Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania). The British penal code was strong on punishment.
Mac McDonnell protested British policy in Scotland. He was sent to Tasmania for a seven year sentence. His fiancé Deidre Scott follows him. The year is 1842.
The penal system is determined to break Mac and has the work gangs to do it. Deidre is determined to win his freedom and makes the contacts she hopes will do so. One or the other must give way.
This book is historical fiction set in the political turmoil of Tasmania. The penal system is maddening in its inhumane cruelty. It is still fascinating, easy reading both for the story of Mac and Deidre and for its frank look at the British attitudes about incarceration, insensitivity to foreign cultures and hypocrisy in its society.
Mac McDonnell protested British policy in Scotland. He was sent to Tasmania for a seven year sentence. His fiancé Deidre Scott follows him. The year is 1842.
The penal system is determined to break Mac and has the work gangs to do it. Deidre is determined to win his freedom and makes the contacts she hopes will do so. One or the other must give way.
This book is historical fiction set in the political turmoil of Tasmania. The penal system is maddening in its inhumane cruelty. It is still fascinating, easy reading both for the story of Mac and Deidre and for its frank look at the British attitudes about incarceration, insensitivity to foreign cultures and hypocrisy in its society.
July 25, 2014
Historical fiction is brutal. I wince and cringe when characters I love are subjected to one trial, tragedy or injustice after another. Beth Camp is a writer like no other for bringing to life people who are so real, you'd swear she met them in real life, or via time travel. Her years of careful research and travels to the sites of her novels really show. It also shows that she was an English teacher back in the day when schools taught correct usage of the language rather than the new watered-down version. Few writers today can craft prose as flawlessly as Beth Camp does.
Mac is one of the best characters I've ever met in all of fiction. He is a simple fisherman, hard working, with a heart of gold. Mac is a little bossy with his younger siblings, especially when both parents die and he must take the role of man of the house. That happened before page one of the first book in the series, Standing Stones. Mac has his own ideas of how things should be done, so he's all the more resistant to change when the new lord of the island imposes "safe" new ways to build a boat. Lord Gordon has other terrible ideas, like evicting inhabitants of the island who've lived and worked there for generations. Even granny gets tossed out, homeless. Mac's little home soon fills with cast-offs. Okay, I'm still talking about Book One here. No spoiler alert if I say Mac's temper gets him in jail, and on a ship to Tasmania, where prisoners back in the day were often sent.
This novel opens with a sinking ship, which is quite the metaphor for hitting rock-bottom from page one. Deirde proves herself worthy of being Mac's fiance. She is as strong, enterprising, courageous and compassionate as Mac. She's also a rare person for her time, not judging the prostitute but befriending some of society's most scorned people.
Mac faces a seven-year sentence, but on seeing an elderly prisoner kicked and abused, his temper flares again. Now add 100 lashes with a whip, solitary confinement, and worse. Time after time, Mac jumps from the frying pan into the fire because he cares too much and fights for others. It breaks my heart.
We don't get much of the other McDonnells in this novel, but do get word of Moira and her daughter, living in the otherwise vacant house of the awful lord who (thank God for small miracles!) died in Book One. I'm afraid Moira's husband will never return. In real life, that sort of thing happened all too often, and Beth Camp is notorious for delivering stories that are true to life, rather than pipe-dream stories that serve to make us feel good.
The next novel will deal with two of my other favorites, Mac's brother Dougall and his plucky little wife, who'll disguise herself as a man in order to... well, wait for Book Three! I stalk Beth on Facebook and Twitter, and email her on occasion, or I wouldn't be privy to details about the upcoming setting -- the Pacific Northwest. The tough, hard-working McDonnells in America? I can't wait!
Mac is one of the best characters I've ever met in all of fiction. He is a simple fisherman, hard working, with a heart of gold. Mac is a little bossy with his younger siblings, especially when both parents die and he must take the role of man of the house. That happened before page one of the first book in the series, Standing Stones. Mac has his own ideas of how things should be done, so he's all the more resistant to change when the new lord of the island imposes "safe" new ways to build a boat. Lord Gordon has other terrible ideas, like evicting inhabitants of the island who've lived and worked there for generations. Even granny gets tossed out, homeless. Mac's little home soon fills with cast-offs. Okay, I'm still talking about Book One here. No spoiler alert if I say Mac's temper gets him in jail, and on a ship to Tasmania, where prisoners back in the day were often sent.
This novel opens with a sinking ship, which is quite the metaphor for hitting rock-bottom from page one. Deirde proves herself worthy of being Mac's fiance. She is as strong, enterprising, courageous and compassionate as Mac. She's also a rare person for her time, not judging the prostitute but befriending some of society's most scorned people.
Mac faces a seven-year sentence, but on seeing an elderly prisoner kicked and abused, his temper flares again. Now add 100 lashes with a whip, solitary confinement, and worse. Time after time, Mac jumps from the frying pan into the fire because he cares too much and fights for others. It breaks my heart.
We don't get much of the other McDonnells in this novel, but do get word of Moira and her daughter, living in the otherwise vacant house of the awful lord who (thank God for small miracles!) died in Book One. I'm afraid Moira's husband will never return. In real life, that sort of thing happened all too often, and Beth Camp is notorious for delivering stories that are true to life, rather than pipe-dream stories that serve to make us feel good.
The next novel will deal with two of my other favorites, Mac's brother Dougall and his plucky little wife, who'll disguise herself as a man in order to... well, wait for Book Three! I stalk Beth on Facebook and Twitter, and email her on occasion, or I wouldn't be privy to details about the upcoming setting -- the Pacific Northwest. The tough, hard-working McDonnells in America? I can't wait!
March 15, 2018
A couple of years ago I read the previous volume in this series and I've had this one on my list for a while. It's a wonderful cozy read for the current mild winter, and I settled in a few times with a generous glass of Scotch for an evening. I've never before read anything specifically about Tasmania, and I know precious little of Australian (and Tasmanian) colonial history, except for the tidbit everyone knows: once upon a time those crazy Brits used to send prisoners there, overwhelming and marginalizing the native populations.
The book opens with quite a scene, in the middle of a shipwreck, and follows the two protagonists on their separate journeys. Aside from being a good story about what happens to Deidre and Mac after they leave Scotland following the "clearances", the book was historically quite interesting. There are a number of real-life characters in here, alongside the fictional ones. There are several strong female characters of varying backgrounds; and I'm sure in real life at the time the frequently-unwilling colonists would have had to be pretty tough. Aside from the two protagonists Deidre and Mac, I have particular fondness for two other characters: Deidre's friend Kate of dubious reputation, and Mathinna, the little girl with the unusual pet who doesn't like wearing shoes. (I don't either.)
In a brief afterword, the author explains a few minor historical liberties within the story's framework, as well as giving some broader context. Now I'm looking forward to eventually reading the third book in the series.
Oh, right... I'm somewhat acquainted with the author, and I obtained a gratis copy of the book, with no obligation. It's a high-quality indie publication. The writing is crisp and clear; and the editing is good.
The book opens with quite a scene, in the middle of a shipwreck, and follows the two protagonists on their separate journeys. Aside from being a good story about what happens to Deidre and Mac after they leave Scotland following the "clearances", the book was historically quite interesting. There are a number of real-life characters in here, alongside the fictional ones. There are several strong female characters of varying backgrounds; and I'm sure in real life at the time the frequently-unwilling colonists would have had to be pretty tough. Aside from the two protagonists Deidre and Mac, I have particular fondness for two other characters: Deidre's friend Kate of dubious reputation, and Mathinna, the little girl with the unusual pet who doesn't like wearing shoes. (I don't either.)
In a brief afterword, the author explains a few minor historical liberties within the story's framework, as well as giving some broader context. Now I'm looking forward to eventually reading the third book in the series.
Oh, right... I'm somewhat acquainted with the author, and I obtained a gratis copy of the book, with no obligation. It's a high-quality indie publication. The writing is crisp and clear; and the editing is good.
August 11, 2014
In the first book of Beth Camp’s series on the McDonnell clan, we get to meet the whole family. I don’t want to tell you how that book ends, but I will say that you want to read more about these people. In book two, “Years of Stone”, Beth focuses in on two characters, Mac the head of the clan, and Deidre, the woman who loves him and puts everything on the line for him. And I mean everything. She is one dedicated chick. She will stop at nothing to keep Mac in her life, but along the way, she remains compassionate to everyone she runs into, helping them whenever she can.
Meanwhile, Mac is trying the best that he can to survive the harshest of conditions living as a convict in Tasmania of 1842. I think it is rather crazy that anyone thought it was worth the money to ship all these convicts from Britain, Scotland and the like, but that is what they did, and that is how Tasmania, and Australia as well, became countries. I found it fascinating, so I did some of my own research. Not that I was questioning Beth, but like I said, I was fascinated.
But I needn't have gone searching for more information. Everything there is to know about this time in the struggling formation of Tasmania – called Van Diemen’s Land at the time – is in Beth’s book. It’s wonderful the way she was able to weave so many facts into her story without the reader realizing it.
I cannot wait for Beth’s next book, to hear how several more members of the family are faring.
Meanwhile, Mac is trying the best that he can to survive the harshest of conditions living as a convict in Tasmania of 1842. I think it is rather crazy that anyone thought it was worth the money to ship all these convicts from Britain, Scotland and the like, but that is what they did, and that is how Tasmania, and Australia as well, became countries. I found it fascinating, so I did some of my own research. Not that I was questioning Beth, but like I said, I was fascinated.
But I needn't have gone searching for more information. Everything there is to know about this time in the struggling formation of Tasmania – called Van Diemen’s Land at the time – is in Beth’s book. It’s wonderful the way she was able to weave so many facts into her story without the reader realizing it.
I cannot wait for Beth’s next book, to hear how several more members of the family are faring.
October 8, 2014
Mac McDonnell has been sentenced to seven years in Van Diemen’s Land. His love, Deidre (‘I am affianced.’) Scott, follows him there on the same ship, Brilliant. The novel opens with the ship sinking. Can Deidre overcome the series of obstacles keeping them apart?
Years of Stone is a novel full of rich detail. Real persons from the time, such as the Franklins. are woven seamlessly into the fabric of the story, and the setting feels authentic. The story worms its way through every stratum of colonial society. It reminds me of Zola’s Rougon-Macquart novels. I felt that I, like the main characters, had been transported to another land.
It is the second novel in a series, but it feels complete in itself. I will definitely look up the first book when I get a chance.
On to the bad stuff... I can’t really think of anything to be honest. Mac was often his own worst enemy, but I suppose it is easy to have patience when you aren’t breaking rocks twelve hours a day. Years of stone, indeed.
I received a free copy of this book for an honest, non-reciprocal review.
Years of Stone is a novel full of rich detail. Real persons from the time, such as the Franklins. are woven seamlessly into the fabric of the story, and the setting feels authentic. The story worms its way through every stratum of colonial society. It reminds me of Zola’s Rougon-Macquart novels. I felt that I, like the main characters, had been transported to another land.
It is the second novel in a series, but it feels complete in itself. I will definitely look up the first book when I get a chance.
On to the bad stuff... I can’t really think of anything to be honest. Mac was often his own worst enemy, but I suppose it is easy to have patience when you aren’t breaking rocks twelve hours a day. Years of stone, indeed.
I received a free copy of this book for an honest, non-reciprocal review.
February 25, 2015
Sequel. to Book One - Standing Stones. The author spent a lot of time getting the facts accurate which made this historical fiction enjoyable to read. The story depicts what life was like back in 18th century Scotland for the hard working people of the time and the injustices they had to endure. The punishment in those days was to banish criminals for any offense to Van Damien Island now known as Tasmania. Just getting there took over 4 months under terrible conditions and if you made it alive, you were subject to worse conditions in the prison. I look forward to reading Book 3 - River of Stones.
September 16, 2016
What I love about Beth Camp’s writing is first, of course, her careful characterization of Dierdre and Mac, her protagonists, and, yes, her tight, exciting plot as Dierdre searches for and finds Mac after he’s been shipped to Australia as a felon and against all odds they find a home there, but for me, what I love is her fanaticism for research that page after page yields the precise, telling detail. Years of Stone is a rich, emotional read; highly recommended!
Author video at: http://www.booksmyfriendshavewritten....
Author video at: http://www.booksmyfriendshavewritten....
January 24, 2015
Another great book in this trilogy. Years of Stone follows the story of Deirdre and Mac while Mac serves his sentence at a penal system in Tasmania. While Mac attempts to just survive the terrible conditions and corruption of the prisons system, Deirdre works very hard to save him. I am looking forward to the next book in McDonnell families struggles.
April 3, 2019
The second book of the trilogy, this one centers on Mac the oldest of the five McDonnell siblings. He has been transported to Transmania for protesting the evictions of his friends and family on their Orkney Island homeland. His fiance follows him and works to improve his situation. Learning some interesting facts about transporting in the mid 1800's.
March 14, 2015
Brilliant book! The continuation of the McDonnell story is just as gripping and real as the first novel. The fascinating characters and vivid historic landscape give a real sense of the life in early Australian colonies. Can't wait for the next book!!
March 5, 2019
Fabulous
Another great tale that toys with your emotions along the twists and turns. Was nice to follow.Deidre and I look forward to next book
Another great tale that toys with your emotions along the twists and turns. Was nice to follow.Deidre and I look forward to next book
February 5, 2021
Years of Stone, the second book in the McDonnell clan series by Beth Camp, starts where one of the chapters in Standing Stones left off, adding the right amount of backstory. I appreciated the seamless transition from book one, but I’m glad I read that one first. It gave me a more complete picture of book two’s main characters, Mac and Deidre.
The story documents dark times in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in the 1840s, where Mac is supposed to sit out a seven-year prison sentence. The conditions in the work camps are dismal. His fiancée, Deidre, also struggles with any task she sets out to do. New friendships help her but also bring her extra trouble.
Lots of new characters are introduced (some not adding anything to the story), which created confusion. Sometimes, these supporting characters are referred to by their last name and sometimes by their first name. Initially, I wondered if they were the same person. Likewise, some people seemed to have come out of nowhere, just disappeared, or reappeared without any context.
That being said, I was completely pulled into this well-researched story. The book was hard to put down and the time period, location, and plot were engrossing. I enjoyed following Deidre and Mac’s journeys throughout all their struggles. What a hardy, strong, and determined lot the inhabitants of the Orkneys were!
The story documents dark times in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in the 1840s, where Mac is supposed to sit out a seven-year prison sentence. The conditions in the work camps are dismal. His fiancée, Deidre, also struggles with any task she sets out to do. New friendships help her but also bring her extra trouble.
Lots of new characters are introduced (some not adding anything to the story), which created confusion. Sometimes, these supporting characters are referred to by their last name and sometimes by their first name. Initially, I wondered if they were the same person. Likewise, some people seemed to have come out of nowhere, just disappeared, or reappeared without any context.
That being said, I was completely pulled into this well-researched story. The book was hard to put down and the time period, location, and plot were engrossing. I enjoyed following Deidre and Mac’s journeys throughout all their struggles. What a hardy, strong, and determined lot the inhabitants of the Orkneys were!
October 30, 2022
loved it
I'm loved this book couldn't put it down! So much action with Deidra and Mac! And Kate smh idk maybe Deidra need to leave her alone! Mac always was lucky I wish I had love life Deidra loved Mac♥️♥️
I'm loved this book couldn't put it down! So much action with Deidra and Mac! And Kate smh idk maybe Deidra need to leave her alone! Mac always was lucky I wish I had love life Deidra loved Mac♥️♥️
July 26, 2020
An enjoyable 2nd book in the series, now going to start the third!!
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