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I listened to A Place Called Freedom on Audible narrated by Simon Prebble. This is the first time I listened to a Ken Follett book as opposed to actually reading the book. Despite its 4.06 star rating on Goodreads it was only a 3 star story for me.

The novel begins in Scotland, and assuming the historical details are accurate, I learned something I never knew about the plight of coal mining workers in that country. Apparently, there was a law that existed in Scotland (the book is set mid 18th century) that said if a man reached his 21st plus one day birthday and was still working the coal mine owner’s mine, he became a slave for life to that said owner. Also, these boys went into the mines when they were 6 or 7 years old.

So this is a classic story of rich versus poor in terms of the landowner Jamison family and the poor coal miner Malachi (goes by Mack) McAsh. McAsh is too smart for his britches - he gets away to London - but the Jamison’s are well connected and they manage to set Mack up so that he is arrested for a capital offense. And of course he’s found guilty. But a beautiful lady intervenes on his behalf and he ends up a convict “transported” to the Colonies. This was before England was sending all their criminal elements to Australia. That was the second thing I learned in this book. And pick pocketing was a capital offense. People were hung on the gallows for pick pocketing!

Mack’s experiences in America make up the rest of the plot and of course the intervening beautiful lady is also a part of the story. It’s just that I loved Follett’s Kingsbridge and Century trilogies so much more.

Goodreads 2024 Challenge - Book# 80 of 120

3.5 stars? Good story. Reveals a world that I've never considered: 18th Century Mining in Scotland and the society that structured it.

Really enjoyed this historical fiction with a bit of thriller and a bit of romance thrown in. Follett is good at writing about how the lower classes struggled under the often arrogant upper classes in years gone by and has delivered another great example with A Place called Freedom. It begins as a tale of downtrodden coal mining families working in horrendous conditions being kept in their place by the gentry that exploit them. From there it unfolds into a great story with about every ingredient you could imagine thrown in. Written in Follett's pleasing easy-to-read style, the pages fly by towards an entertaining conclusion.

Escrita fluida e história bem amarrada. Porém o autor pinta as personagens femininas com tintas bem machistas, causando certo incômodo na leitura.

Interesante narración que expone algunas situaciones de crueldad e injusticia y la prerrogativa del ser humano de denunciarlas y hacer todo lo que está en su mano para mejorarlas.
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Interesting narrative that exposes some situations of cruelty and injustice and the prerogative of the human being to denounce them and do everything in their power to improve them.

3.5 stars. Ken Follett is a master at bringing history to life, and this work is no exception. As the story opens, we are introduced to Mack McAsh, a coalminer in Scotland. Mack works in a mine owned by the Jamisson family. (I learned that coalminers were basically enslaved to the landowners during the 1700s). He eventually escapes to London, where he is convicted of a crime. In lieu of death by hanging, he is sent to the colonies (Virginia) to work for 7 years as a convict. (Convicts were sent to the colonies and sold as slaves, but unlike their African counterparts, convicts only had to remain enslaved for 7 years).

Not only is this a story of the history of coalminers and convict enslavement, but it is also a love story. A quick, easy, engrossing read.

Forget team Edward or team Jacob--

When I picked up this book it was only because I dissolve into the pages of every Ken Follett book I read.

Follett took me back in time to Scotland and I was that girl working in the mines six days a week. I felt the burn of the leather strap that pressed against my forehead as I dragged a load too heavy for my small frame to bear, not giving in to the danger, the fear, the exhaustion.

Then he introduced me to Mac McAsh and I fell deeply in love. He is also from the mines and carries himself with a Moses-like presence, you know the part of the movie when he grabs the task-master's whip and saves the woman he does not yet know to be his mother. That is the feeling of who Mac is. That is the essence of Mac who never submitted to the life of servitude he was born into. He struggles for the right to live as a free man.

I traveled with him to London, to the new world, and ultimately to a Place Called Freedom.

I don't understand how Follett does it, but he in so few words creates vivid worlds of texture and smell, of pain and pleasure. He brings the reader into these worlds and delivers.

I adored this book!

"A Place Called Freedom begins in the infernal coal mines of the Jamisson family, in the Scottish highlands, where twenty-one-year-old Mack McAsh spends most of his waking hours. Bound to his employer for life, Mack burns with an insatiable desire to escape.
He finds an unlikely ally in Lizzie Hallim, the beautiful, willful young aristocratic woman who yearns for independence in a male-dominated society.
Mack's hunger for freedom brings him into conflict again and again with the harsh rulers of eighteenth-century Britain. Accused of riot--a capital crime--Mack becomes one of the thousands of convicts who are shipped to the American colonies, to work as slaves for seven long years.
With its vivid, fascinating portrayal of the colorful streets of London and the endless landscapes of the New World, plus an unforgettable cast of heroes and villains, lovers, and rebels, hypocrites, hell-raisers, and whores, A Place Called Freedom is a magnificent epic of love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Telenovela

A Place Called Freedom follows the character Mack from a coal mine in Scotland to London where he struggles to earn decent pay for himself and other laborers. He ends up in the colony of Virginia still yearning for true freedom. This novel had great potential to be a story as gripping as Pillars of the Earth, but it feels rushed instead. I would have loved more detail about the surroundings and period details about dress, food, & everyday life. I especially thought the story fell short when Follett decided not to describe Mack's journeys in detail. We learn nothing of his trip from Scotland to London other than how long it took. The Atlantic crossing could have been very exciting and suspenseful, but instead is just brought to an end and we are told how many died. The characters, especially Mack, are interesting but not as developed as they could be in order to really feel that you "know" them and care about them. I couldn't decide if Lizzie was strong and independant or impetuous and selfish. I also never really understood why Jay's father hated him so much. Overall, I did like this book and enjoy reading about the time period covered, but I wish Follett had made it about twice as long.

10/10
mack es mi nueva personalidad
btw no entiendo a la gente que se del final?

La inceput am fost sceptica in privinta acestei carti, dar, ce carte frumoasa!
Un roman al libertatii si al revolutiei extraordinar de convingator, un savuros amestec de istorie, dragoste si aventura transatlantica.
Povestea este clocotitoare si alerta cu personaje pe care destinul ii arunca intr-o lupta care le va schimba vietile pentru totdeauna.
Este un roman istoric, despre libertate, revolutie, dragoste, aventura si destin.
Mi-a placut foarte mult cartea, o recomand tuturor.