Cirrus@Austlit

'A story of passionate love and implacable hatred. ... And ink could not be black enough in which to write those words, for this is strong stuff that Mr. Timms has given us. Balsamo is a cripple of Genoa, a mild, self-effacing personality, whose anguish at the loss of Marie Pleyel, the girl he loves, turns him into a man of wild, unscrupulous daring, a fiend, who will stop at nothing in his desire to triumph over his enemies and gain his revenge.'

Source:

'The Book World', The World's News, 25 June 1930, p.33.

The story of a feud between two country families.

'The opening book deals with life in Nice amongst the fishermen, and the reader is taken to the court of Louis XIV of France, and afterwards to England in the time of Charles II. The characters stand out in a life-like manner, and the grim life on the boats of the pirates in the Mediterranean is depicted in a manner which holds the reader's attention. The descriptive writing is a masterpiece, particularly the portion descriptive of the destruction of the 'red fleet.' The underworld of Paris and the part played by Monsieur le Rat is a vivid bit of writing that haunts the reader.'

Source:

'Review', Illawarra Mercury, 13 July 1934, p.10.

'Mr. Timms's spirited historical romance deals with that period in the second half of the seventeenth century when Louis XIV, of France, was doing his utmost by dint of proffered bribes and promises to persuade his cousin of England, King Charles II, to proclaim his country's conversion to the Catholic Faith, and, what was even more important, to embroil his country with Holland, and thereby give Louis a better opportunity to proceed with his projects against Spain, and towards his own ultimate aggrandisement as the virtual Dictator of Europe. Against this deep-laid scheme for the betrayal of England, Sir William Somerset, known among his intimates as 'The Falcon,' a semi-piratical seafarer of high courage and determination, his beautiful young wife, Anne, the Earl of Wendale, and various other patriotic Englishmen and women are involved. The story runs a vapid and exciting course, which ends in the complete discomfiture of Louis and his chief emissary in England, the dissolute Chevalier de Toqueville, and the happy reunion of Sir William and his wife after their temporary parting and estrangement owing to a misunderstanding. The character of Charles II, Buckingham, Rochester, Falmouth, and other members of the Court circle are well drawn, and the dialogue throughout is natural and unstrained.'

Source:

'Some Recent Fiction', The West Australian, 6 June 1931, p.4.