The sights and smells of dockside Liverpool come alive in ways reminiscent of Dickens. So, too, do class conflicts tinged, as they frequently were, by issues of race.
Academic - Richard Blackett
Tells of Liverpool’s secret role in a conflict that still divides the US … brings the teeming streets of Empire-era Liverpool to vivid life.”
First-class storytelling. An addictive novel with love and gun smoke and a tremendous feel for its time and its settings, lived out by characters of real passion and true human complexity.”
Mojo Magazine - Paul du Noyer
A thrilling account of intrigue, deception, violence and forbidden love.
Pulitzer prize winning author - James McPherson
Those who want to know why the Confederate flag came down in Charleston in 2015 should read David Chadwick’s book.
David Chadwick’s prose is brilliant in Liberty Bazaar. He pens a story about a familiar time in history, but gives the reader a different and fresh perspective. Most Civil War novels are set on the battleground or on the plantation. Adding a bizarre twist to a well-known event, Chadwick highlights the plaguing effects of battle and slavery on the southern plantations by placing the narrative in Liverpool, England. Written in first-person, each chapter portrays a sequence of events. However the personal perspective changes from chapter to chapter. This technique allows the narrative to be read like a journal or a diary… Chadwick writes eloquent descriptions by using illustrious metaphors and profound analogies. I especially liked the comparison of feminine attire with medieval armor. Liberty Bazaar is a wonderfully written story.
Readers' Favourite - Cheryl E. Rodriguez
Liberty Bazaar is a joy to read. It plunges us straight into the nefarious doings of the American Civil War, through the distinctive voices of its two protagonists, Trinity Giddings and Jubal de Brooke. David Chadwick’s sense of place and time is extraordinary, and he throws an entertaining slant on a complex and fascinating period of history. The writing is lyrical, lavishly detailed and witty, too. This is an immersive, powerful historical novel – one impossible to put down.”
Sherry Ashworth author of Mental
A historical drama with nail-biting moments. I couldn’t put it down.
Liverpool Radio City Talk - Larry Neild
Vivid description, elegant sentences, diligent research, the highly readable Liberty Bazaar has it all, proving that David Chadwick is the real deal, a serious writer with a serious talent.
Chadwick’s prose paints his shuffling urban milieu with a nose for detail, inhaling the rich tang of docklands crowds, the sweeping egalitarianism of street life forming a tragic backbone for the limitations of the rich. What really stands out, however, is the twin narrative, muddying the heroic waters yet acknowledging their existence in a time of violent opposition. It amounts to a revealing look at vested interests, and the fact that Britain has more blood on its hands than it would care to admit.
The Skinny - Joshua Potts
★ 2015-04-08
