THIS DESIRED PLACE The Isles of Shoals

In the second novel of Julia Older's trilogy, Thom Taylor is cast onto the lawless Isles of Shoals at the gateway to the New World. Bawdy Butcher Babb and his saucy Barbadoes serving wench quickly teach him the ropes of turning cod into cash. They are but a few of the real-life characters that help and hinder the fictive narrator of this sweeping 17th century saga. 2007 hardcover, 456 pages.