Read below what people are saying about Nights of the Road. Please feel free to submit your own review to us! You can post it on the Nights of the Road Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/nightsoftheroad, on your favourite online site, and/or in the Comments section of our blog, or via the website Contact Form. Looking forward to hear from you!
“Rock music meets the Stuart royal court in Midi Berry’s haunting tale of two heroines, each as beleaguered as she is loved. Could the fiercely-free spirit of long-dead Lady Frances truly slip four centuries to lighten the dark times of Sarah, musician’s muse and modern LA therapist? Midi Berry’s suggestion of past life regression is as intriguing as her research into the passion and predicament of the real-life Lady Frances Coke, unwillingly married in her mid-teens but rejecting the role of any man’s plaything. In Nights of the Road, profound ideas sit lightly on pages you cannot wait to turn. This is a novel of swashbuckle and self-discovery, shifting not only between time, but place – from hipster LA to the ruined ramparts of Corfe Castle. Read it fast for its pyrotechnical plot, or savour more slowly what is essentially a literary spritzer for the soul.” Madeline Kingsley (UK) journalist, book reviewer and counsellor.
“Nights of the Road is a big, bold, ambitious and thought-provoking book and I found myself thinking about it a long time after I had finished it. I found the parallel stories completely engrossing. I’m not quite sure how to capture the book’s essence in only a few words. “A compelling story that brings two time periods richly and vividly to life” is the best I can do!” Nicola Cornick (UK)k, international best-selling author.
Author Bob Calverley rated it 5 of 5 stars on Goodreads:
“Midi Berry’s debut novel is a captivating mashup of historical fiction and modern day romantic adventure. It “slips” between early 17th century England and today’s Southern California. As Berry notes, Frances Coke and everyone else in the 17th century chapters of this book were real people.
The author’s impeccable historical research made the 17th century portions my personal favorite. The historical thread concerns Frances Coke, a noblewoman and heiress who is forced into marriage as young teenager to the older Sir John Villiers (later Viscount Purbeck). She is part of the court of James the first and her husband suffers from episodes of violent mental illness while her wealthy mother exerts a controlling influence. Later, Frances experiences a deteriorating relationship with Charles the first during the run-up to the English Civil War. All of this is complicated by her long-term and open affair with Sir Robert Howard. By itself, this is a fascinating story. But as they say on late night TV, “there’s more!”
The book’s chapters alternate between the 17th century and today’s California where Sarah James, newly divorced and newly arrived from England, is establishing a counseling practice. She has also just begun a new relationship with rock promoter Bob Howard. Yes, that name is not a coincidence. One of Bob’s hard-drinking bandmates from his rock ‘n roll past kidnaps Sarah. The kidnapper calls her Frances and speaks of their romance…in a previous life.
That’s all I can say without giving too much away. Suffice, it resolves in the end. If you find, in the words of a rock ‘n roll icon, that time slipping into the future is a bit of a stretch, the story more than makes up for it, and flies like an eagle. I loved the book and highly recommend it.”
Author June Sobel rated it 5 of 5 stars on Goodreads:
“Nights of the Road is a remarkable debut novel by Midi Berry. It is a captivating page turner expertly weaving the fictional life of Sarah James in current Los Angeles with the historically accurate past of Lady Francis Purbeck, a feisty 17th century English heiress. After finishing this book, one can only wonder “Have I been here before?” A must read!”
“I expect Nights of the Road to be a success.The switching back and forth from twenty-first to seventeenth century worked seamlessly, and linguisiics helped the differentiation. The novel is well written and packed with verisimilitude relating to today and four centuries back.” William Keyser(US), author and entrepreneur.
