Five Stars
Imagine how you would feel if you were researching your genealogy and suddenly, in a very old microfiche file, you found out your great-grandfather died under gruesome circumstances. Furthermore, wouldn’t your curiosity be aroused when you found out that some months later his son, only 37, also died and that his younger brother seemed to have simply disappeared? When Frank Haddleton unearthed this information about his ancestors, using both fact and fiction he wrote the utterly engrossing historical fiction tale, Walker’s Key. What a wonderful tale he has created around the lives of two brothers, Tulley and Darby. As different as chalk and cheese, they both followed in the footsteps of their father, Kenelm, a ship’s captain, in his passion for the sea, but their personalities and sibling rivalry, primarily on Tulley’s side, made for a rocky relationship.
Walker’s Key opens dramatically. Haddleton draws readers into the story quickly when the adult Darby sets out to discover why the lighthouse beacon maintained by Tulley has gone out. Has something happened to his estranged brother? What he eventually finds and how it all happened is kept from us till the last few chapters of the book. Talk about keeping readers hooked! But, in the interim, Haddleton does a stellar job of weaving a tale around the lives of the brothers as they were growing up, and setting the stage for what we ultimately learn.
Walker’s Key provides interesting insights into the social, economic and cultural issues of the latter half of the 19th century when both racial and sexual attitudes were changing. Family and romantic love are explored but the themes of rivalry, along with the timeless battle between good and evil are of primary focus. Toss in some murder, a questionable suicide, duplicity and adultery and you have a great story in which to lose yourself as you stay warm by the fireplace on a snowy winter's night. Enjoy! By the way, if you’d like to know more about how Walker’s Key came to be written, a visit to the author’s website is fascinating.