The Bastard

The Kent Family Chronicles, Book 1

By: John Jakes

Narrated by: Marc Vietor

Set against the colorful tumult of events that gave rise to our fledgling nation, this novel of romance and adventure introduces Phillipe Charboneau.

The illegitimate son of an English nobleman, Phillipe flees Europe and, as Philip Kent, joins the men who set our course for freedom.

The Bastard is the first volume in the Kent Family Chronicles, a series of novels that details one family's journey in the early years of the American nation.

©1974 John Jakes (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Looking forward to this series.

I was a big fan of the North and South series by John Jakes and I enjoyed this book just as much. The characters and stories are well developed and the narrator gave an excellent performance.

Awesome book!

I love this author. I have read most of his books and just started listening to them.

Great story with amazing narrator

This is a fantastic story, and well written. But the narrator is what really shined to me. He does different accents from Great Britain, different accents from America, male voices, female voices, and even sings in tune.

The birth of America

From the writings of Diderot and Rousseau to the speeches of Samuel Adams, the whole sweep of the war of independence seen from the viewpoint of a poor French lad who, by chance (and expert writing) stumbles into the path of such Names as William Pitt, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Reviere and others as he is caught between a nobleman's life in England of King George III and a tradesman (and ultimately, soldier) in the American colonies. Although I was put off by the frequent lapses into "Harlequin romancesque" porn, it wasn't enough to to take any stars off of the five star review. Although very well written and researched, that makes it less than suitable to bringing up young patriots in these morally bankrupt and seditious times that we live in. Parental guidance definitely needed.

That said, this is truly a great work of historical fiction and with patriotism and so much knowledge injected into it, a very educational read!

If you want a saga...

I think if I knew more about American History, I would have liked this book a little more. I like historical fiction, but tend to lean more towards the history of Europe rather than North America… I never really found it compelling, but when presented in this format the details worm their way into my brain without me knowing it – and it is interesting!

As it was I did not dislike the story, I was in the mood for a sweeping multi-generational family saga and this story does certainly tick all those boxes.

I am committed to Books 1 (The Bastard) and 2 (The Rebels) and plan to read them back to back… we’ll see if I am still hooked on the series after that. If I am, I’m in for a treat since there are 8 books in the series!