The Midnight of Eights
by Justin Newland
Blurb:
1580.
Nelan Michaels docks at Plymouth after sailing around the world aboard the Golden Hind. He seeks only to master his mystical powers – the mark of the salamander, that mysterious spirit of fire – and reunite with his beloved Eleanor.
After delivering a message to Francis Walsingham, he’s recruited into the service of the Queen’s spymaster, where his astral abilities help him to predict and thwart future plots against the realm.
But in 1588, the Spanish Armada threatens England’s shores.
So how could the fledgling navy of a small, misty isle on the edge of mainland Europe repulse the greatest fleet in the world?
Was the Queen right when she claimed it was divine intervention, saying, ‘He blew with His winds, and they were scattered!’?
Or was it an entirely different intervention – the extraordinary conjunction of coincidences that Nelan’s astral powers brought to bear on that fateful Midnight of Eights?
Author, speaker and broadcaster Justin Newland writes novels that blend thrilling historical adventure with elements of crime, magical realism, speculative fiction and supernatural quality.
This guest post is about the threats, challenges and motivations of the main character of my novel, The Midnight of Eights.
Historians know the names of some of the crew of Sir Francis Drake’s vessel, The Golden Hind. One of them was a Flemish immigrant by the name of Nelan. I gave him the surname Michaels and made him the protagonist of The Midnight of Eights.
The novel is the second book in a two-part historical adventure series set in Elizabethan England. Although written as a stand-alone, Book 2 also continues the storyline of Book 1 (The Mark of the Salamander) and begins when Nelan returns from the circumnavigation in Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hind.
I evoked some of the complexities and uncertainties of the Tudor world to which he returns, which is fraught with dangers from both inside and outside the realm. Catholic Spain waits in the wings to invade England, a Protestant nation, sending spies to infiltrate the mansions, stately homes and the English courts, and to join up with the many disaffected Catholics who actively plot against Elizabeth, who according to the Pope, is a heretic and a pretender.
Nelan wants the one thing his parents could never provide for him; love, stability and security. Thus he wants to find and marry his fiancée, his beloved Eleanor, who he left behind when sailing around the world with Francis Drake.
Nelan also has to learn to make the best use of his newfound intuitive and clairvoyant powers. These come to the attention of Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster, Francis Walsingham, who recruits him as a special agent to combat the threat of the Spanish abroad, and of rebellious Catholics at home. Using these powers, Nelan is tasked with gathering vital intelligence about Catholic traitors and political conspiracies around the country. But the world of 16th century espionage is full of pitfalls and intrigue and he needs all his wits and powers of prescience to stay alive – and find his beloved.
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| Sir Francis Walsingham, courtesy of Wikipedia |
The threats to the Queen’s person pile up – Edmund Campion, Francis Throckmorton, and then, Anthony Babington, who conspires with the dangerous Mary, Queen of Scots, the Queen’s cousin, a Catholic, and a distant heir to the throne.
When Nelan helps to uncover the Babington plot to unseat Elizabeth, Mary is implicated and is executed at Fotheringhay Castle in 1587, prompting King Philip of Spain to prepare the Armada for the invasion of the Land of Angels, England.
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| Mary, Queen of Scots, depicted in mourning, courtesy of Wikipedia |
During this difficult time leading up to the invasion in 1588, Nelan uses all his powers to divine the intentions of the Spanish, and thwart their plans. He must also reunite with his old sea commander, Admiral Sir Francis Drake, and go back to sea once more, fighting in the most crucial naval battle that decides the country’s fate. Yet as the clouds of war loom over the English Channel, even more shocking dangers lie closer to home: the treachery and paranoia of the Elizabethan court threatens to put Nelan’s life at great risk – unless he can find a desperate way to escape before disaster strikes. At a time of conflict at home and abroad, Nelan is faces the ultimate test of loyalty; between his new country or his beloved.
These then are some of the threats, challenges and motivations that galvanise the boy, and make the man, Nelan Michaels, in The Midnight of Eights.
Justin Newland
18th March 2025
Justin Newland
Justin Newland’s novels represent an innovative blend of genres from historical adventure to supernatural thriller and magical realism.
Undeterred by the award of a Maths Doctorate, he conceived his debut novel, The Genes of Isis (ISBN 9781789014860, Matador, 2018), an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies.
His second book, The Old Dragon’s Head (ISBN 9781789015829, Matador, 2018), and is set in Ming Dynasty China in the shadows of the Great Wall.
Set during the Great Enlightenment, The Coronation (ISBN 9781838591885, Matador, 2019) speculates on the genesis of the most important event in the modern world – the Industrial Revolution.
The Abdication (ISBN 9781800463950, Matador, 2021) is a mystery thriller in which a young woman confronts her faith in a higher purpose and what it means to abdicate that faith.
The Mark of the Salamander (ISBN 9781915853271, Book Guild, 2023), is the first in a two-book series, The Island of Angels. Set in the Elizabethan era, it tells the epic tale of England’s coming of age.
The latest is The Midnight of Eights (ISBN 9781835740 330, Book Guild, 2024), the second in The Island of Angels series, which charts the uncanny coincidences of time and tide that culminated in the repulse of the Spanish Armada.
His work in progress is The Spirit of the Times which explores the events of the 14th Century featuring an unlikely cast of the Silk Road, Genghis Khan, the Black Plague, and a nursery rhyme that begins ‘Ring a-ring a-roses’.
Author, speaker and broadcaster, Justin gives talks to historical associations and libraries, appears on LitFest panels, and enjoys giving radio interviews. He lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.
Connect with Justin:
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Amazon Author Page • BookBub • Goodreads
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