A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower - An Audio Excerpt
In this audio excerpt, Bethan Glentaggart, the heroine of A Noble Cunning, is awakened by a raucous mob of anit-Catholics determined to search her home for the presence of a Catholic priest. Being a Catholic in anti-Catholic Great Britain, Bethan was no stranger to such mobs of "priest hunters." As the mob's torches burn and their shouts are raised, Bethan responds cooly, hoping they will not find Father Jerome, the secret missionary priest from France she had been giving shelter to in a priest hole.
Praise for A Noble Cunning
A riveting tale of one woman's courage and determination! Bernstein has crafted a dazzling heroine in Bethan Glentaggart. After enduring the religious fanaticism of Protestants, the vain heroics of Scottish lords, and the insipid insecurities of King George I, Bethan must devise and carry out a daring plan to rescue her husband from the Tower of London before his execution for treason. Her forceful personality makes A Noble Cunning a gripping page-turner!
– David Blixt, author of What Girls Are Good For and Her Majesty’s Will
“I love a good historical novel about women with brains, heart, and courage. In A Noble Cunning, Patricia Bernstein’s finely-spun yarn of Jacobite sympathizer Countess of Clarencefield—inspired by the true adventures of Winifred Maxwell, Countess of Nithsdale—the author brings both the Scottish Lowlands and Hanoverian London vividly to life with a keen eye for period detail and a heart-stopping denouement.”
– Leslie Carroll, author of Notorious Royal Marriages
"This is a riveting and largely unknown story, based on true events, about a remarkable woman’s strength, love and courage against formidable odds. Set amidst English and Scottish hostilities in the early 1700s, and the terrible religious persecution of the period, Patricia Bernstein brings the countess’s extraordinary tale to dramatic life."
– Karen Brooks, International Best-selling Author of The Good Wife of Bath and The Locksmith’s Daughter
“Wow! This spellbinding historical novel captures the religious aspects of an intriguing and true story. I was especially taken by the extraordinary Countess, the unsung Catholic heroine in a time of unrelenting persecution of Catholics in England and Scotland. Her dedication to her Catholic faith and especially to the Virgin Mary, her unstoppable courage, unimaginable cunning, and unflappable determination exceeded most women of her day. I also loved that Bethan Glentaggart, based on the true story of Winifred Maxwell, performs her audacious feat with the help of a group of devoted and courageous women friends. Patricia Bernstein adds dramatic flair and suspense that capture you to the very end. It is a must-read.”
– Sister Jane Meyer, O.P., Former Head of St. Agnes Academy, Houston, an all-girl secondary school
“Patricia Bernstein's sumptuously detailed historical novel, A Noble Cunning: The Countess and the Tower, is set in 18th century Scotland and is based on the remarkable true story of a fiercely courageous woman fighting tirelessly against political and religious tyranny to save her husband, imprisoned and condemned to die in the Tower of London.”
– Kathleen Kent, NY Times Bestselling author of The Heretic's Daughter
“In A Noble Cunning, Patricia Bernstein paints a compelling and dramatic portrait of Scotland in the perilous time of the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion, seen through the eyes of the courageous Bethan Carlisle Glentaggart, Countess of a Clarencefield, a Catholic noblewoman who defies danger to undertake an ingenious plot to save her husband from a traitor’s terrible death. Fans of historical fiction will find much to enjoy in this immersive tale of adventure, rich with period detail.”
– Gillian Bagwell, author of The September Queen
