The House of Widows
A swashbuckling, epic tale of adventure: Volume 4 in The Family of William Neilson
Will be published approx. on 10. September 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-0354-2557-0 (ISBN)
Description
'A concisely rich reading experience like no other . . . immensely, continuously exciting to boot. Highly, highly recommended' Francis Spufford
'An epic voyage well worth taking' Telegraph
'There is nothing quite like a James Buchan novel' Financial Times
Autumn, 1785. Two young boys, in the uniform of officer cadets of the Royal Military College, are standing outside the porter's gate of a house in the faubourg Saint-Germain of Paris.
One of the boys is William Neilson, the third of that name. The other is Napoleon Buonaparte. They are the best of friends.
As the monarchy in France disintegrates, the boys take different paths, one towards military success, supreme power and immortal fame, the other into shame, disgrace, imprisonment and misery.
They meet, twenty-seven years later, each at the limit of his strength, equals once again, beside a frozen river in Russia.
The gripping and adventure-packed new instalment of the story of the Neilsons, a Scottish family in French service, over five generations and four continents.
'Delightful . . . The nearest series to this I can think of is Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin cycle' Francis Spufford, winner of the Costa First novel award
'A tight and bright romp of a read' ? ? ? ? ?
'His rollicking romp ranges widely across the world, taking in the French Revolution, the Jacobite rebellion, love affairs, duels, general skullduggery and much else besides, in prose as elegant as it is witty' ? ? ? ? ?
'An epic voyage well worth taking' Telegraph
'There is nothing quite like a James Buchan novel' Financial Times
Autumn, 1785. Two young boys, in the uniform of officer cadets of the Royal Military College, are standing outside the porter's gate of a house in the faubourg Saint-Germain of Paris.
One of the boys is William Neilson, the third of that name. The other is Napoleon Buonaparte. They are the best of friends.
As the monarchy in France disintegrates, the boys take different paths, one towards military success, supreme power and immortal fame, the other into shame, disgrace, imprisonment and misery.
They meet, twenty-seven years later, each at the limit of his strength, equals once again, beside a frozen river in Russia.
The gripping and adventure-packed new instalment of the story of the Neilsons, a Scottish family in French service, over five generations and four continents.
'Delightful . . . The nearest series to this I can think of is Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin cycle' Francis Spufford, winner of the Costa First novel award
'A tight and bright romp of a read' ? ? ? ? ?
'His rollicking romp ranges widely across the world, taking in the French Revolution, the Jacobite rebellion, love affairs, duels, general skullduggery and much else besides, in prose as elegant as it is witty' ? ? ? ? ?
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Headline Publishing Group
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
b/w maps
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0354-2557-0 (9781035425570)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
James Buchan is a novelist and a historian whose books have won many prizes and been translated into a dozen foreign languages. He has written widely on the modern history of Scotland, most recently in John Law: A Scottish Adventurer of the Eighteenth Century. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives on a farm in Norfolk.