16 h 39 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 16 h 39 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does a promise mean when loyalty divides families and honor comes at a cost?
In The Fate, G. P. R. James sets historical fiction against the strains of seventeenth-century England. Crown and parliament, faith and obedience pull people apart. Plots and sudden reversals of fortune shape this troubled world, where questions of honor, betrayal, and justice give loyalty its weight. The setting makes duty a difficult question rather than a simple answer.
James works in the historical tradition of Sir Walter Scott, placing invented people within a real age. His measured Victorian voice takes time to describe a scene before the action begins. Read with patience, and let the formal language draw you toward the moral questions at the heart of this kind of tale: who keeps a promise when keeping it costs dearly?
What you’ll discover
- A country under strain Enter an England where disputes over power and faith divide towns and families.
- The weight of honor Consider what loyalty demands when promises carry a personal cost.
- Fortunes that can turn Follow a historical world marked by plots, betrayal, and sudden changes of fortune.
- Scenes worth lingering over Give the measured prose room to establish its setting before the action unfolds.
- Duty under pressure Explore strong moral lines through a tale concerned with character, obedience, and justice.
Who will love it
For readers who love historical fiction about honor, divided families and secret identities, with a real rebellion and real judges in the background, and a narrator who gossips and moralizes as the story goes.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Poor Gentleman Seeks His Fortune
- The Astrologer on the Moor
- Two Letters and a Servant
- A Ball at Norwich Palace
- The Challenge
- A Day of Delay in a Country Town
- The Dead Cousin and the Hasty Flight
- Hiding in Dorset as the Rebellion Rises
- Flight, Battle and Capture on Sedgemoor
- Bribes, Bargains and a Dark Trial
- What the Tale Is Really About
- How the Story Is Told
Who’s who
- Ralph WoodhallA young Cambridge graduate from a poor branch of a noble family, honest and brave, who sets out to earn the right to marry Margaret.
- Margaret WoodhallLord Woodhall's daughter, who loves her cousin Ralph and tries to stay true to him under heavy pressure from her family.
- Hortensia, Lady DanversA rich young baroness in her own right, clear-minded and generous, who shelters Ralph for the sake of her mother's old friend.
- Gaunt StillingA former Tangier soldier and the village sexton's son, who serves Ralph without pay and carries a private grievance of his own.
- MoraberA white-haired astrologer on the Lincolnshire moor, who claims to read fate and guides Ralph and Margaret with letters and orders.
- Robert WoodhallRalph's cunning and spiteful cousin, who wants Margaret's hand and her father's estates and works through other men's weapons.
- Henry WoodhallMargaret's cheerful, hot-tempered brother, loyal to his family and quick to defend his sister's honor.
- Dr. M'FeelyA jolly Irish chaplain who loves wine and good company, hopes for a church living, and proves braver than he looks.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 16 h 39 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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The Fate
by G. P. R. James · 1851
A penniless scholar rides out to win Margaret, and a night duel in Norwich puts his name on a dead cousin's blade.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Fate is a historical novel by G. P.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Poor Gentleman Seeks His Fortune
The story opens at The Grange, an old monastery barn turned house on the edge of the Lincolnshire fens. Its owner, Mr. Woodhall, is a learned and whimsical man who gave up a promising law career when his beautiful wife died. He now lives among his books, his armor and his Latin sayings, with his only son, Ralph.
Ralph is twenty-one and has just left Cambridge. He tells his father he wants to try his luck in the wider world. His father warns him that a court life costs money and that nothing is ever quite the same after a change. Still, over punch with the parish priest and an Irish chaplain named M'Feely, he agrees to let the young man go.
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What is The Fate by G. P. R. James about?
It follows Ralph Woodhall, a poor young gentleman who leaves home in 1685 to win his cousin Margaret. A scheming relative, a fatal duel, Monmouth's rebellion and Judge Jeffreys's courts all threaten him, while an astrologer promises that things will come right.
Who is Moraber in The Fate?
Moraber is a white-haired astrologer who lives alone on the Lincolnshire moor. He predicts the fortunes of Ralph and Margaret, sends Ralph a servant, and watches over them by letter. His name and his purpose are explained near the end of the book.
When is The Fate set, and is it a true story?
The story takes place in 1685 and is fiction. Real people such as the Duke of Monmouth, Lord Churchill, Colonel Kirke and Judge Jeffreys appear, and the Sedgemoor battle and the Bloody Assizes are true events, but Ralph and his family are invented.
The author
G. P. R. James
1799–1860 · English historical novelist
George Payne Rainsford James (1799–1860) was an English novelist and historical writer, born in London. He wrote Richelieu, published in 1829, and Forest Days, published in 1843. He also worked as a British consul in the United States and in Venice. He died in Venice in 1860.
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