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Audiobook edition · 11 h 30 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the stranger you trust carries a secret that could cost you your life?
In The Reckoning, Robert W. Chambers brings the American Revolution into the woods and settlements of New York. Neighbors, friends and families stand on opposite sides of a war fought close to home. Messages must be carried, strangers must be judged, and a wrong guess about someone can cost a life. Here, trust is never a small matter.
This historical romance brings a love story into a world of spies and risky errands. Personal feeling collides with public duty, while woods, rivers and lonely farms shape where people can go and who can find them. The frontier is more than a backdrop: it makes each secret harder to keep and each choice more dangerous.
What you’ll discover
- A war close to home Enter a divided New York where the conflict reaches into friendships, families and neighboring homes.
- Secrets worth a life Follow risky errands where carrying a message means deciding whom to trust.
- Love against duty Discover a romance shaped by the pull between private feeling and public obligation.
- A frontier that matters Explore woods, rivers and lonely farms that shape both danger and escape.
- Loyalties under strain Feel the uncertainty of a war where battle lines divide people who know one another.
Who will love it
Readers who love Revolutionary War adventure, spy stories with secret passwords, romance between quick-witted lovers, and the forests of upstate New York. It also suits anyone drawn to Iroquois history.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A spy hides in plain sight
- A sharp-eyed girl reads his secret
- Sir Peter's cheerful household has a price
- Butler arrives and the lost town gets a meaning
- A ball, a search, and a night of honor
- A forged joke and a ride to the rebel lines
- The Blue Fox brings praise, love and a confession
- North to Tryon County, where stones carry messages
- What the story is really about: honor and two worlds
- How the book is told: voice, songs, and shifts
Who’s who
- Carus RenaultA twenty-three-year-old spy for Washington in New York, adopted into the Oneida Wolf Clan, who longs to fight openly and to settle his score with Butler.
- Elsin GreyA lively Canadian girl of seventeen who is secretly promised to Butler, yet finds herself drawn to Carus and ready to risk everything for him.
- Walter ButlerA graceful, melancholy captain of Butler's Rangers who sings beautifully, plans to burn the frontier, and wants Elsin as well as the council at Thendara.
- Sir Peter ColevilleCarus's cheerful, generous kinsman, a gambler and cockfighter whose debts Carus pays, and who treats his guests with warm hospitality.
- Lady ColevilleSir Peter's witty, loving wife, who tries to match Elsin with Carus and fights fiercely to keep her husband from a duel.
- Jack MountA giant, joking Ranger and sharpshooter who calls himself a highwayman, speaks Latin when drunk, and guards Carus and Elsin on the frontier.
- Colonel Marinus WillettThe lean, dry-humored commander of Tryon County, who trusts Carus and asks him to go once more as a spy.
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Le Règlement de comptes
by Robert W. Chambers · 1905
A young spy in British New York hunts for a lost town called Thendara, and a Canadian girl upends his plans.
Medium level10–20 hours to readfrançais
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In short
What does a spy do when a girl with a sharp eye reads his secret off his shirt? The Reckoning opens in July 1781 in British-held New York, where Carus Renault serves as secretary to Sir Peter Coleville while secretly writing reports for American commanders.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A spy hides in plain sight
In July 1781 New York has been British for five years. Carus Renault is twenty-three and works as secretary to his kinsman, Sir Peter Coleville. For four years he has also sent a secret journal to American commanders through John Ennis, a tobacconist. No one suspects him, because he plays a harmless young man who cares more about lace than politics.
The work costs him. He locks his door twice before he writes, and he pictures the crowd that might one day watch him hang. He has made real friends among the loyalists he deceives, and he hates using them. Prison ships hold thousands of dying American prisoners, so he sends his whole salary to buy them food.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1905
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 7 h 30 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Chambers, Robert W. The Reckoning. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-reckoning.
Chambers, R. W. (2026). The reckoning. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-reckoning (Original work published 1905)
Chambers, Robert W. The Reckoning. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-reckoning.
@book{chambers2026reckoning,
author = {Chambers, Robert W.},
title = {The Reckoning},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-reckoning},
note = {First published 1905}
}
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What is The Reckoning by Robert W. Chambers about?
It follows Carus Renault, a young American spy in British-held New York in 1781, who is sent north to the Mohawk Valley. A Canadian girl, Elsin Grey, and the villainous Walter Butler complicate his task of protecting the Oneida nation.
What does Thendara mean in The Reckoning?
Thendara is not a town on any map. In the book it is the Iroquois name for the place where the ceremonial council opens, a lost town recalled in the rite and renamed at each great gathering.
Is The Reckoning based on a true story?
It is historical fiction, published in 1904. It uses real people and events such as Washington, Willett, the Butlers, Cherry Valley, the prison ships and the battle of Johnstown, and it places invented characters among them.
The author
Robert W. Chambers
1865–1933 · American novelist and illustrator
Robert W. Chambers was an American writer whose 1895 collection The King in Yellow became a cornerstone of weird fiction, casting its influence over H.P. Lovecraft and generations of horror writers since. He was a successful popular novelist in his day, but this early work is what endures.
More by Robert W. Chambers
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