Books by Phyllis Harrison

About the Books: The Fires of Europe      Plowshares in the Palatinate

	The Fires of Europe The Fires of Europe is a story about a young man’s attempt to solve a mystery for his family business and while he is doing so, to make sense out of the world around him. This simple proposition would be difficult enough for any teenager, but made much more so in dangerous times and dealing with a foreign country. While trying to live up to his father’s expectations, he puzzles over the contrasts between vastly different cultures and the three young women who enter his life. Miraculous cures and instant communication have not been invented yet in the 17th century and the ongoing religious wars, fought with sword and law around him, further complicate his life when not only warring sects from one major religion but also other major world religions enter the picture, all demanding recognition and respect. Far from clarifying the issues and setting boundaries, secular laws only compound the confusion and bring up new issues.

A variety of people are in hiding in the sanctuary of 17th century Amsterdam for a variety of reasons: Actual guilt in a crime, circumstances of life beyond their control, and a past they want to bury for any number of reasons. The ongoing war has washed over them, changing the course of history and creating new eddies of reality that have left lasting marks. The fighting that lasted for over thirty years is not yet labeled a “world war” but this strife colors everything around him while trade with the recently discovered new world is starting to open up new possibilities exponentially. At this point in time and world history, the greatest luminaries and villains of the day share their space and time with Gilles: Rembrandt, Descartes, Richelieu, Peter Stuyvesant, and Joseph D’Acosta as well as other lesser known heroes and villains that history did not bother to note. It is not so easy to pick out the “good” people from the evil ones because there are good and bad in both camps, committed followers on a mission, and uncommitted people who are only trying to say the right thing at the right time so they can simply continue on with their own lives and agendas.

This was a time in history that would shape the consciousness of humanity and lend its concepts to a forthcoming constitution, an expression of what living and being could be, personified in the individuals that went forward in spite of great odds to build a new nation across the sea, using the existing banking, trade, government, and political systems as a basis on which to form New Amsterdam, systems that were later adopted and incorporated by the conquering English when they renamed the city in the new continent “New York”. The simple little town of Amsterdam in the Netherlands was singularly remarkable in history as a hotbed for the seeds of democracy and freedom. To simply survive, Gilles realizes that he must embrace change and live each day as though it was his last, as it might very well be.

Selected Text From The Book

        From this news and the priest’s demeanor, Gilles began to understand how serious the charges against him were. He could not believe that his life could have changed so much, could possibly even be finished. Just days ago it seemed that his wonderful future was just starting. Gilles’ first thought was panic and then that he must not be afraid. The archbishop had said that he was here to help. Gilles struggled to regain his composure and then impatiently waited for the man of God to speak again.

        The priest reached into his pocket and Gilles thought for a moment that he might be pulling out a weapon for him. Instead he pulled out the church’s chief weapon, a rosary.

        “Your father sent it for you and be sure that they see you using it! If they ask you directly, tell them that you repent and you wish to embrace the church anew. Even if they don’t ask, tell them that it is so. I have the power and the connections to save you. You do wish the church to save you from the fires of hell, don’t you Gilles? You are so young... ” The priest reached out and touched Gilles’ hair, holding a strand of it in his fingers for a brief moment. Gilles looked down at the smooth brown beads and knew his father believed him to be close to death if he was sending him a rosary. A vivid picture of the front drive at home came to Gilles’ mind for no particular reason and he felt close to tears. He gripped the beads tightly so that they would hurt his fingers but the pain stopped his tears from coming.

        “Have you ever seen one of the burnings, Gilles?” the priest asked softly. “It is a terrible thing. The skin turns pink, then red, then it starts to blister. The blisters darken to char, all the time with an outpouring of blood and sweat and terrible screams of agony coming from within the very soul...”

        “You said you were here to help me?” Gilles asked the priest, confusion and fear reigning supreme in his mind, unable to stop hearing the words although he tried to shut them out.

        “Let us pray together for the deliverance of your soul, Gilles.”

Historical Characters in the Book

Arent Van Corlaer

Joseph D'Acosta

King Louis XIII of France

Pieter Stuyvesant

Kiliaen Van Rensselaer

Cardinal Richelieu

Claes Van Zeelandt

Father Isaac Jogues (see his monument at the Lake George Historical Association)

Comments About the Book

“It's a wonderful and readable book, love it very much ... Good going..."             Lynn M from New Hampshire

“I so enjoyed reading all about Gilles ... (The author has) a way with a story... Can't wait to read book two."             Jennifer G.T., New York

“Just about half way done with your wonderful book! I'm enjoying it lots."             Carole V. - Wisconsin

The book can be purchased from this website, Quail Ridge Books, Bulls Head Bookshop, iUniverse Online Bookstore, McIntyres Fine Books, Regulator Bookshop and other major outlets.

	Plowshares in the Palatinate During the 17th century religious struggles in Europe, French Protestants or “Huguenots” are obliged to flee their Catholic homeland or face execution. Although it has already been ravaged by the many battles fought in that region during the Thirty Years War, one small German state, the Rhenish Palatinate, offers refuge to anyone who wants to try and live there. After fleeing France and living for a time in Holland, a young Huguenot tries to reconnect with his former countrymen and his heritage, bringing his growing family along with him as he joins a group of French colonists who have come to this rural outpost seeking religious freedom. Establishing a viable settlement on the banks of the Rhine River proves to be a greater challenge than anticipated, threatening collective as well as individual survival. The hardships that they endure take the pioneers to the limits of their mental and physical capacities, testing their faith in their god and their faith in themselves.

Selected Text From The Book

         “Non,” Gilles answered immediately, although a small part of him was not completely convinced. “I’m no longer a Catholic, you can ask The Church about that.”

        “Gilles, even though the Church would not claim you, you may forever be a part of that Church in the eyes of others, even if you renounce it publicly and embrace a new church. There are those that believe baptism to be an irrevocable contract, as the Marranos escaping the inquisition in Spain well know.”

        “I guess I’ll have to find out for myself then,” Gilles replied.

        “I blame the English and their putting up with their insane King Henry for this entire debacle! After all, if it had not been for his excessive appetites when it came to women and his complete lack of self-control and discretion, none of us would be in this mess today! Imagine being forced under threat of beheading to switch from being Catholic one day to Anglican the next, then back to Catholic and then Protestant again, all in the space of one generation! That generation must have been at the very least, greatly confused, and it left the survivors of that time and place without any moral compass whatsoever. It’s no wonder the Puritans were able to shut down all the theaters and even after these hundred years since the bloated old ox died, the world continues faith-based torture and killings! It might not have turned out quite so badly if he hadn’t married his brother’s Spanish Catholic widow and then divorced and deposed her.”

        Jean shuffled through some papers on his desk, apparently looking for some particular item. His usually tidy office space was filling up with work and he was busier than he had ever been before. He moved two ledger books to the side, nearly upsetting a bottle of ink and continued to sift through a new pile, cursing softly in French under his breath.

        Gilles had opened his mouth to reply, but knowing that no one would know more about religious intolerance than Jean with his mixed parentage and difficult heritage, Jean who had suffered at everyone’s hands, Gilles shut it again without addressing this particular issue. He took a breath before he attempted to steer the conversation in another direction.

        “Well, enough pontificating!” Jean declared, speaking again before Gilles had the opportunity. “You know all this, I’m sure. Each country deals with the issue in their own way, Spain and France reinforcing Catholicism by force, England in essence doing the same thing, supporting Protestantism, and the Netherlands and the Rhineland trying to ignore the whole mess. Just watch what you say around your neighbors.”

        “Are you saying that you think I should not go?” Gilles asked.

        He attempted to control his voice but he was growing irritable with Jean. He was beginning to think that he should not have told anyone, Jean included, until just before they boarded the ship to leave.

        “Not at all! If that is what you truly want to do,” Jean said with an expression of satisfaction on his face as he held up the document that he had been seeking for the past few minutes. “I’m simply telling you to be very careful and to make as few enemies as possible. What did Ste Germaine say when you told him?” Jean asked. “I’ll wager a bottle of cognac that he wasn’t pleased.”

        “I haven’t told Ste Germaine yet. I will tell him soon.” Gilles squirmed at the question.

        Jean looked up at him. “I would hope so! He has come to rely on you and it will be difficult for him to replace you, especially on short notice. So you haven’t booked passage yet?”

        “Well, as I said, I don’t know which captain is best,” Gilles said.

        Jean set down his paper. “You haven’t told Ste Germaine and you haven’t booked passage. Are you really going or is this just some wild idea, some possibility in the distant future? I misunderstood you to say that you were going soon.”

        “We really are going soon,” Gilles said with determination in his voice but he felt foolish now that Jean had pointed out this discrepancy between his words and his actions.

        “If you are serious, and I have to wonder if you really are, Gilles, I can book a passage for you for next Monday. I am handling some of the accounting for that particular venture and I happen to know that they have some room left for a few more people that could be had at a very good price, or at least they did a few days ago. Now I ask you, should I do this for you or not? Take some time to seriously consider this move. Another ship will go at another time if you want to wait. The country will probably still be there next year.” With a more kindly expression on his face Jean concluded, “I sense hesitation in you now, and the Gilles that I know would not hesitate for a moment to do something that he truly wanted to do. And of course I will miss you…”

Historical Characters in the Book

Gustavus Adolphus

Rene Descartes

Resolved Walrond

Comments About the Book

"Religious persecution tears countries apart. "Plowshares in the Palatinate" is the story of one Huguenot, or French Protestant who has left France to go to a small German country on the Rhine River. But founding religious freedom is never easy as this individual founds a new settlement for his protestant brethren away from the oppressive French crown. "Plowshares in the Palatinate" is an intriguing piece of historical fiction on the value of one's beliefs."              The Midwest Book Review

“Thrilling novel well worth staying up late to keep reading.”             Christiana R.- N.C.

Anita Masse on Goodreads.com-

Here we are again with book # 2, I give this two thumbs up!!
I was so drawn into the story that i could not stop reading. And Francois.........we'll meet again.
This was a quick read, yup couldnt put it down, from start to finish, total days 5.
I am ready for book # 3
To all my dear friends, dont miss this Novel!!!!

Anonymous on Barnes and Noble
ENJOYABLE READING
Reader Rating Posted January 8, 2010, 12:14 PM EST: The unexpected turn of events and the suspense in the story made it hard for me to put this book down. It was also very interesting to see if the characters had made progress in realizing their goals since the first book, "Fires of Europe". It's obvious that the author has carefully researched the habits and the customs of daily life during that time, and has made this reader realize the hardships our ancestors had to endure. It was an enjoyable read and I would look forward to more advenures of Gilles and his family.

The book can be purchased from this website, iUniverse Online Bookstore, McIntyres Fine Books and Regulator Bookshop